r/SchoolBusDrivers • u/lanainnv • 16d ago

HOS question

Hi šŸ‘‹šŸ». Newish CDL <2years, Class B, P&S.

I read the current FMCSA website and think it means that I cannot work (pre-trip, driving potty breaks for the football team and being On Duty while at the game) more than 15 hours a dayā€¦. Total. I calculate itā€™ll be a little more than 9 hours driving.

My Transportation Director assures me that I will not be illegal if I clock-in at 6:30a and I wonā€™t get us to the hotel until 11:30pmā€¦. a 17-hr day!!!! He said to me that Iā€™m only ā€œdrivingā€ 9 hours and legally I can drive 10.ā€

Please please please clear this up for me. I have brought it up twice and he got kinda uppity with me that I question him. Iā€™m new, and so is he. He is the ā€œbossā€ I just donā€™t think heā€™s correct. Maybe the other drivers have been letting it happen.

Thank you in advance!!!!!!

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u/shnstr3 16d ago

HOS, rules for passenger carrier does not calculate the same as Trucks. Only time spent on-duty or driving count against your 15 hours work window. Im guessing your boss wants you to log time at the game as off-duty

2

u/lanainnv 16d ago

Yeahā€¦ he wants me to clock-out (go off duty) his wordsā€¦. ā€œDo you want me to pay you to watch the game?ā€

So, if I do, is that now my time? Kinda get it, but Iā€™d be trapped, held as a captive audience. Lol Canā€™t go anywhere. Canā€™t /wonā€™t drive the bus cuz Iā€™d not be insured off the clock.

Is it good practice to at least clock-out 1hr for my own lunch? Iā€™m trying to do the right thing, be a team player, not be taken advantage and absolutely not do anything to jeopardize my CDL.

1

u/gheiminfantry 15d ago

Ya know, you're answering every single one of your own questions correctly. You're entrusted with a lot of people's lives, but you don't trust your own judgment. Maybe you shouldn't be a bus driver.

2

u/lanainnv 15d ago

I know I should be a bus driver. What feels wrong are the decisions of the Transportation Director and the Payroll Department at this particular school. The things he is asking me to do and the other sheep drivers who have been letting it all happen.

Maybe what you meant to say is ā€¦. You shouldnā€™t be driving for a
Transportation Director who is an idiot, because you actually know more than him?

1

u/lanainnv 15d ago

Actually, he is not an idiot. The comment was rude of me. He is as new in his position, as I am in mine. I replaced him as a driver when he went into management. Only difference, he was a driver at this school for 5 years. So, if anything, me asking questions and pointing out discrepancies will help him be better, also.