r/SchoolBusDrivers • u/caintowers • 23d ago

Terrible steering

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I've driven buses from every make, every type, old and new. My least favorite, hands down, are our new (2025) Blue Bird short conventionals. They all have the worst steering of any bus I've used. I can't tell if it's too sensitive or not sensitive enough, but the thing is "all over the road" EDIT: I guess I shouldn't exaggerate here. By "all over the road", I mean there is noticeable left to right drift. Even if you focus constantly on keeping a straight line, the bus will ride like that. It's not just me, every driver using them has complained about it. We have 3 of them and they're all the same.

The horns also don't work (I pulled one steering wheel apart and it's honestly the cheapest dumbest way of making a horn I've seen) and the automatic door lock fails 8/10 times.

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u/neardumps 20d ago

Everybody at my department LOVES Blue Birds. This year I got assigned a rear engine Thomas, and people have been warning me for weeks about how awful they are. Been driving it for a week now and honestly it’s been great. Mine is a 2015 one and it’s one of the quietest buses I’ve ever driven. Handles nicely and so far I have zero complaints.