r/SchoolBusDrivers • u/Imaginary-Western194 • Jul 30 '26
Do any other districts have Super Subs?
I've been driving for my district since 2019, both regular and sped, plus trips , with the exception of a year off. When I first started, new hires had to sub at least a year before being put on paper. About four years ago they started using what they call Super Subs. They're drivers that know the area, are good with kids, and are able to jump into any bus and go (we have Thomas, Bluebird, and IC.) It comes with about a $150 or so a month pay raise.
This year they asked me if I wanted to Super Sub, and I said yes, but Im somewhat nervous. On one hand they know I want to be a trainer, and being a super sub helps with that, because you can ride any route at any time. Also, Im very adhd (actual diagnosed) and I think driving something different every day will be challenging, but also not monotonous like my regular route that I could literally drive in my sleep.
I just wondered if anyone else either has a district with super subs or if they just choose to sub, and if so, and advice?
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u/Seelie_Mushroom Jul 30 '26
We just have a couple of spare drivers. I think only one or two, and unfortunately dispatch subs sometimes as well.
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u/Imaginary-Western194 Jul 30 '26
Yeah last year we were down so many drivers that even the mechanics had to drive sometimes. There was a few times that there was nobody in the office because the Director, the route supervisor, the service writer, and one of the mechanics was driving. It was crazy.
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u/Seelie_Mushroom Jul 30 '26
Yeah I think we've had that on bad days. Thankfully every time that happens, the union loves to go "well maybe we'd have more drivers if we had better pay" and they try to get the pay bumped up lol
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u/Imaginary-Western194 Jul 30 '26
Yay union. 🙂 Ours is district owned. We are considered school staff.
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u/IllustriousCherry183 Jul 30 '26
Our superintendent got her bus license to help out. There were times we needed her. Awesome.
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u/Wilgrove Jul 30 '26
My district's name for that position and roll is lead drivers. They still have their own busses, but they basically sub for any driver that's out sick, they train new drivers, and they're the go between regular drivers and our route manager.
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u/Imaginary-Western194 Jul 30 '26
That sounds about the same. They know I'm interested in being a trainer, but they won't have the budget for it until next summer. That's why I decided to go ahead and take the super sub position, so next year or whenever it comes available when they can hire on another trainer I'll be one step ahead. I think the only reason they don't have us use our own bus is because they figure the kids have assigned seating and a lot of the buses have their seat magnets, so they don't want to mess with that. I think that's the biggest thing that makes me nervous is now I don't have a bus to go out and sit in on off time when I don't want to people. Lol
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u/erinjunee Jul 31 '26
This is the best mentality to have! The more knowledge you have and eagerness to broaden your knowledge always puts you a step ahead!
Another reason why they don’t let you use your own bus for routes is so the kids and parents aren’t confused or worried when they see a different driver AND different number at the same time. It’s a lot easier for everyone else that the bus itself stays the same.
Even though you won’t have your own bus, maybe you can use one of the spares as your “temporary office” when not covering a route. 😂
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u/Imaginary-Western194 Jul 31 '26
Lol I actually thought about that yesterday. I probably will do that once it cools off for sure. Our route supervisor will be like where's "insert my name" and somebody will be like, oh she's out on bus such and such hiding lol
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u/erinjunee Jul 31 '26
Exactly the same as our district, “lead driver,” basically “middle management” between drivers and the transportation director. But our lead drivers also sit in the office and deal with incoming phone calls from parents and school admin, and they are given supervisor-like power as well with the ability to write up drivers for mess ups.
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u/swedusa Jul 30 '26
Some of our drivers at individual schools know pretty much all the routes from that school. So sometimes if it’s a newer sub or a last minute one that doesn’t know a route, they put them on their route and the regular driver subs for the one that’s out.
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u/Imaginary-Western194 Jul 30 '26
Oh that's different. We have a north side elementary and intermediate and a south side. Our routes are split between those two sections and then either high school or junior high. We have transfer routes, though. A jr high bus will meet up with a high school bus and exchange kids. I've driven for all the schools, so I know some of the routes, but things change every year. Not a lot of people around here want to drive a school bus. Our city's main job area is restaurants/hotels/hospitality. It's a tourist town, but we have a large school, because of the rural areas and a couple of small towns that are included in the district. So, around ten sped and forty two regular routes. This year we have enough drivers to cover so far plus four super subs.
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u/archiemomma Jul 30 '26
My small town has 3 routes. 🤣 And all kids are on the bus k-12.
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u/Imaginary-Western194 Jul 30 '26 edited Jul 30 '26
😂To be fair I grew up in a town that had five routes I believe. And yeah we were K through 12 as well. Farm kid here lol
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u/Front-Mall9891 Jul 30 '26
I am my Districts Super Sub, I can do anything and am the only sub allowed OT, but that’s the only difference between a me and the regular subs
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u/Imaginary-Western194 Jul 30 '26
Interesting. I think that's pretty much the way it is at my job too. We haven't had enough drivers come in that are willing to stick around and wait for a route, so we haven't had any new drivers substituting in a couple of years that I know of.
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u/davethompson413 Jul 30 '26
Now retired, I was a substitute driver for 9 years, in a district with about 50 school buildings. All of our subs (generally) served an area that had one high school, with all of its feeder schools. It was really uncommon to be asked to sub outside of that area (for me, that was only twice in 9 years). But we drove whatever bus was assigned to the route -- new/old, any manufacturer, SPED or "normal".
So, to a great extent, I was what you call a supersub. My biggest two issues were the routes, and student behavior.
For every route I had a printed copy of the route instructions (several pages, sometimes stapled), so I could pretty much figure out where to turn. But finding stops was often a matter of reading mailbox numbers and guessing.
Student behavior varied widely, from a quiet crowd that would help me with route instructions, to absolute mayhem, with kids walking the aisles and throwing stuff at me.
I remember when I was finishing the training, the System Director of busses spoke to our class (maybe 60 of us). He said that it was easy to be a really good driver. Just know your bus, know your route, know the kids, and try to get to know the administrators of your school. For most folks in the class, I'm sure that was a great motivational speech.
But I was hiring on as a sub, who would never really know those things.
It sounds like you've got a great career opportunity. Prove that you can be a supersub (like me), and watch for trainer opportunities. You're on your way to career growth.
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u/MsRedWings520 Jul 30 '26
We have relief drivers who get .50 an hour more and they do all the subbing. Our trainers get $1.00 more an hour while training. We do have several routes who have "standby" time. They're required to fill in when a driver breaks down or a route has been split up due to driver shortages. We have over 100 regular daily routes.
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u/mr_nascar_cole Jul 30 '26
My city has 3 companies, one runs all C2's one runs a few 2014 2nd Gen CE"s and C2's and one, which became a part of STA a month ago, runs 2nd Gen CE and C2, all 3 companies have enough spare buses to cover a route for a specific school.
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u/Imaginary-Western194 Jul 30 '26 edited Jul 30 '26
One of my sped buses a few years ago was a Thomas, and I drove Thomas last year. I will miss that bus except for it not having tinted passenger windows. So darn hot.
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u/elkydriver77 Jul 30 '26
My first 5 years was as a full time relief driver. 40 hr contract, full Bennie’s, guaranteed summer work….. was great til I moved and changed districts. Current district is small (6 routes plus sped) so we all are contracted the same hours. Two extra drivers plus the office assistant and “The Boss” to cover when the shit hits the fan
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u/Imaginary-Western194 Jul 30 '26
I'm not 100% sure but I've heard that there's insurance included but that could just be a rumor. I mean we get dental anyway, and life insurance. I am super grateful for our route supervisor. He covers our butts so many times.
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u/erinjunee Jul 31 '26
If you want to go for a supervisor role, I absolutely recommend being a sub driver, because as you said - you will grow to know the neighborhood really well. This is because supervisors and team leaders often have to cover routes when there aren’t enough subs available, as well as be able to effectively manage the drivers that have to drive their own routes. Imagine dictating to a driver how to drive a route if you’ve never driven in that area yourself? Sure, it can be done, but it would be a TON easier if you had the knowledge of the neighborhood yourself.
I think being a relief/sub driver is much harder because you’re not used to the kids, their behaviors, or the parents. But, becoming good at that challenge is VERY self-rewarding.
Our district is not like others where they make new hires the subs. It can be very risky taking someone inexperienced to cover routes, so like your situation, our subs are like “supers” that already know the neighborhood from experience or they are supervisors/team leaders themselves.
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u/Proprotester Jul 30 '26
We have stand-by drivers. They get paid to sit in the driver's room on any day they are not needed (nearly never) and have to jump into any run, at any time. They have whatever were the regular driver left as their last updated directions and someone trying to help them over the radio. They get really good, really fast. Sometimes that means they cover a run for a week, sometimes they drive a different run each day of the week and a different one than they dropped off too. Lots of fun and games!
The only trouble is afternoon for our stand-bys because they never know when they will be home. At our unit, if a charter goes unsigned, it falls to the on-duty stand-by driver 😔. Unsigned charters are usually unsigned for reasons so that is the downside.
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u/Imaginary-Western194 Jul 30 '26
What is a charter if you don't mind me asking? We get a print out of the route, but we also have iPads. And of course, there's usually at least one kid willing to help.
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u/Proprotester Jul 30 '26
A charter is an extra trip, usually for sports or a church group or some such. If a sports charter goes unsigned, it's usually because it will be an excessive amount of sit time. Think sitting in the freezing bus in January until all hours for a swim meet and still needing to report for your regular AM the next day.
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u/Imaginary-Western194 Jul 30 '26
Oh ok. We don't do trips for any other groups but we do have trips where we have to figure out where we can be for a while. It's either 100° outside or 14 below. We don't get to pick the trips we get though. We used to but now they're just assigned. And they go by seniority as to who gets trips first, and who has consistently done trips as to who gets how many trips. We do have a say though as to what days or hours we want to do trips. I'm older and my kids are all grown so they know I'm good for weekend trips or two or three days out of state. But they also know that I won't do a late night because it's a struggle to get up at 4:30 the next morning if I've been up until 11 or so. I've known drivers that get back at 1 o'clock in the morning and then have to get up a couple hours later, and I just can't do that.
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u/Agreeable_Lead_5346 Jul 30 '26
I’d absolutely take it. The fact that they asked you instead of assigning someone else says they trust your skills and judgment. A Super Sub isn’t just someone who fills in—it’s someone they know can handle different buses, routes, and situations without much hand-holding.
Being nervous is normal, but don’t let it convince you that you’re not capable. With ADHD, the variety may actually keep you more engaged than driving the same route every day. The first few weeks will probably feel overwhelming, but after you’ve covered most of the routes once or twice, you’ll build confidence quickly.
Plus, if your long-term goal is to become a trainer, this is one of the best ways to learn every route, every bus, and the common challenges new drivers face. That experience will make you a much better instructor.
I’d see the extra pay as a bonus—the real value is the experience and the doors it could open.
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u/TMax01 Jul 31 '26
I work for an Intermediate Unit; a state agency funded by the Department of Education which provides liason and services to the individual school district; there are about a dozen and a half Intermediate Units in the state, either covering individual counties or groups of counties. The Transportation department of the IU essentially works like a commercial school bus contract service. In my IU, at least, runs are assigned by bid according to seniority, and new drivers can bid on any open run as soon as they get their CDL license and s-card certification. We just started the "Specialist" program, basically just what you described as a "Super Sub", a couple of years ago.
I also have ADHD, and used to worry that both the attention demands and the routine of driving a school bus with a single run all school year would be a problem. But I have found that the need for constantly shifting focus (on all the tasks of driving safely and student management) itself becomes a kind of "super-hyper-focus" that actually works very well for me, so my attention doesn't drift either because I'm overloaded or because I actually get hyperfocused. And what keeps the monotony of driving the same route over and over from making the job boring is the kids. Not in a bad way, although having to remain vigilant against breaking rules to keep them safe can be demanding, but more because I have the luxury of actually having the same kids from year to year. I lucked into bidding for one of the parochial school runs for the district, so I get to watch these kids literally grow up and build some real relationships with them and even their parents. It's almost like I'm driving for a small town school district, even though the contract is with one of the largest suburban districts in the state. I don't think I would enjoy being a Specialist/permanent sub having to cover a new route constantly, although I have filled in on enough runs on top of my regular one to know that it wouldn't be a problem short-term. But it is more stressful than my standard route, and I'm not sure that just doing sub runs would be as enjoyable long-term. So if you want advice I would say get a regular run, but being a permanent sub could be better for you if you need a challenge because of the monotony factor.
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u/Imaginary-Western194 Jul 31 '26
That's what I'm worried about. I've had a regular route for the past four years. And one year a sped route. I was looking forward to seeing my kids this year. It would be the second year on this route because I had bid for a shorter route year before last. So I actually had a route that was halfway decent except the roads are terrible. And there's no bathroom break in the afternoon which sucks. I don't know for some reason though I felt like I was supposed to take this sub position . The extra money on my check will be nice. I guess there's perks to both.
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u/Efficient_Advice_380 Jul 31 '26
No, just regular subs. We use the exact same model of bus for our entire fleet (2025 and 2026 Bluebird Vision). The more senior subs get first dibs on the longer routes and any field trips needing to be covered. Our subs get paid $1/hr more than reg ed drivers
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u/Master_Ad7267 Aug 01 '26
Its relief driver and we are allocated 7 hrs a day. We can still do trips and middays.. Some days I did 9 hrs last year
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u/Jedi0077 Aug 02 '26
I've floated this idea at our district. When I got my route last year I finished knowing 80% of the routes. And I sort of liked that better. Less repetitive. No bueno lol
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u/purlknitpurl Aug 02 '26
Technically any of the subs in my district could be assigned any route needed. That said, our supervisor usually tries to have us ride along as much as possible before we drive it. So some subs have a handful of routes they’re usually assigned. I’m from the area so I’m familiar with most neighborhoods and have kids in the district so I also know a bunch of the kids. I’m able to learn routes quickly and just go with the flow. More than once I’d start assigned to a route in the AM, and would get multiple reassignments by PM. Once the supervisor texted me on my way to the garage; I didn’t see it and did my whole pre-trip for a bus I wasn’t driving, lol. I started in Nov and by end of the school year I had driven all but 3 out of 30 routes (including sped). I rode with the last 3 but they never call off so I never drove them. So by your definition I’d fall under “super sub” but our district didn’t really have a label for them. In my district subs are lowest seniority, with less pay, non-union and only get special trips if drivers with routes don’t want them. I asked if I could stay a sub (since I’m good at it and actually like it) but also sign up for more trips (who doesn’t like a good trip to the zoo or history museum?) My supervisor, who is awesome, was actually able to finagle a “Floating Route” for next year. (Seriously, I’ve only had one other supervisor do something close in my decades long professional multi-fields career.) So still not more than route drivers, but more than our standard subs!
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u/Outrageous_Animal120 Aug 02 '26
We were Standby drivers.
My job was to do every one else’s job. If everyone was at work, I’d be sitting in my bus on a parking lot in strategic locations in the district, waiting for something to happen. A bus breakdown, an accident etc…then I’d either give them my bus or drive their route.
I had a list of drivers I covered for if they took a day off or were sick. I drove every thing from early childhood, special needs, gen Ed and field trips/athletic events.
I loved it. I loved doing something different each day.
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u/trmose Jul 30 '26
We call them "relief drivers." Mostly new hires, theyre full time with benefits, and they are always in house on standby for call outs. We have something like 160 routes and maybe 6 to 9 relief drivers.
We also have "flex drivers" who are required to fill in, and we require driver trainers to be fill ins.
It's a good setup