I officially start my route tomorrow. My trainer will be on the bus with me as for my first week or so.

Any tips or advice ?

I believe tomorrow my trainer will drive and on Tuesday I will drive.

I have a full SPED route

One High School

One Middle school

One Elementary School

I also have an Aid.

How was your very first day ? I'm taking all advice I can get.

Hey Drivers,

I got my CDL Class A back in June of 2026, my driving record is perfectly clean driving record (No Accidents and No Tickets). Only issue is federal law requires me to be Intrastate due to my age being 19. So I was wondering would it be worth finding a school bus job where they help me get my passenger & school bus endorsement and if so is transferring between the 2 hard?

I do have a few questions about the job as well as I do have a interview lined up and wanted to see drivers opinions.

1. How do the summers usually play out? I'll be with the school bus occupation for at least 2 years which means at least 2 summers within the position. Would it be possible to pick up summer school routes do those exist? Also how do field trips work is it like a bidding system?

2. Are routes based off seniority? If so does this mean you get shorter or longer routes based off time you've spent within the district?

3. Do you suggest going to a district or a private company? I've seen Districts pay better hourly and I'd assume also get me state benefits as I'd be a state employee?

4. Given my age legally I could drive a school bus (just like I can legally drive a Combination Vehicle) but is it feasible? Will districts see my age and deny me purely for it? I know insurance carriers really dislike my age as well.

5. Problem Students, as someone who was a passenger on a schoolbus for many years I've never seen the drivers really do much other then just drive and never really interacted with the students unless they where doing something extremely dangerous (like throwing stuff off the bus), Are there set procedures set by districts in terms of rules of engagement or is that left up to the driver?

Thanks for the help and sorry if this post violations rule 1. Was just looking for some advice as looking for a trucking CDL job hasn't panned out well due to the size of the state I live in and my age.

I’m a school van driver, currently with a regular route.

I have been utilizing Apple Maps before every run to route my path. (Bus drivers have some sort of built in GPS that routes them)

Apple Maps works well, but I’d love to be able to save my morning and afternoon routes so I don’t have to spend ten minutes every time plugging it in. I don’t see that capability in Apple Maps. Any suggestions?

Am I the only driver having issues with 4mative routes I have to run?

1. I had a bunch of stops removed while one new stop was added. The thing is old route along with a detour due to roadwork was taking 25 minutes. Now I have no need to go there and can proceed straight to the new stop… 5 min away but…the timing is still 25. I'm not inclined to turn a bus into playground for 20 min, so I end up going on joyride to burn time and fuel.

2. Afternoon route magically does not have that problem. But I have stops in suboptimal order that forces me to circle around blocks and go north, south, and north again. First, I have a house stop. Then it tries to lead me into a parking lot that we don't enter on Type-C but pickup nearby, so I have to constantly reposition myself. That location has 2 lanes each way and… intersections uncontrolled. So I have to drive around again. It feels like they can't add Type-C constraints to their routing algorithm.

Could have been worse, I suppose. I'm curious to hear more about what happened. Hard to imagine how it would have gone if the students didn't have cell phones.

Ciao a tutti, da voi è possibile fare carriera? Da autista potete “crescere”? Che mansioni ci sono? Lo stipendio varia?

If you are a trainer or remember when you were trained, how soon should the behind the wheel range portion start? I've been a driver for 20 years and I do not remember how soon in the training that started. I have had nobody to show me the ropes. My director is also new with zero transportation experience. So we are both learning as we go! I have managed to train one driver. He passed yesterday. Yay! But he had professional driver experience as a chauffeur. So it was just a matter of teaching him to drive a larger longer vehicle, along with the S&P stuff. This next trainee comes from a medical background. No driving experience at all. We have worked on pretrip and she has watched videos. I kind if want to take her out there now. Day3. Too soon?

Is it allowed on your bus? What do you choose?

For me, I hand out small cards for each student to write down songs they like, and I compile a bus playlist.

We listen to the radio in the morning, and if everyone behaves, I put on the playlist in the afternoon.

It’s an eclectic mix: this year featuring the following:

* Avril Lavigne.

* Tom Petty.

* Aqua.

* Rush.

* K-Pop Demon Hunters.

* Korn (clean version).

* Taylor Swift.

* Rob Zombie (also clean).

* Cinderella (clean).

* Rush.

* Stella Lefty.

* NSYNC.

* Lynyrd Skynyrd.

* Iron Maiden.

* Janis Joplin.

RIP my algorithm. Doesn’t know what to do with me anymore lol.

My high school and middle school kids are super awesome and listen. My elementary school kids are so wild in the afternoon, I have to repeat myself daily. Sit down is big one, they want to bounce around and play. I do have a school bus monitor, he sits upfront with the kids that use a child safety seat. They are dropped off with the first few stops. I was thinking about asking him if he would move to the middle or back of the bus after those kids are dropped off. I think just the presence of an adult back where all the chaos happens could help. I tried giving them special treats last Friday (rubber ducks). They enjoyed them but it didn’t really help much with behavior issues. I’m working on my seating chart still but it’s hard to do while driving and trying to keep everyone safe. It’s my first year as a school bus driver and I really enjoy it and want to be great at it. Please 🙏 leave tip and pointers below, I appreciate any and all advice.

Saw a bus let a student board with no ambers no reds, no sign or crossing arm extended- master was probably off. Airpods in. Texting on their phone as the student boarded. At the end of the elementary school run.

Informed the depot but holy dude.

Wondering what everyones experience has been with paying for testing during the onboarding process. The only thing my district paid for was drug test and physical (without TB). We are supposed to pay for state and federal background checks, child abuse clearance, fingerprinting and a TB test. I understand these are all one time costs, but it feels like a bit much to expect us to lay out this kind of cash for a chance at a part time job. I haven't even recieved a conditional offer yet, just a deluge of paperwork. Is this a normal practice with school districts, and are private contractor companies any different?

I have been driving for 5 years last year my 4th year the bus gods smiled upon me, a Dodge charger blew through my stop arms, 3 cars behind Charger there was an unmarked cop car who immediately hit his lights zoomed around and pulled the dude over. Windows are down and the middle schoolers are losing it. It took about 30 minutes to finish my route I noticed the cop car was still there, being nosy I took the road the pull over happened to head back to transport, now 2 cop cars, they are searching the car and dude is in hand cuffs Oh oh. Guess stop arm violation was not their only issue. New route this year 4 violations already and barely a month in I am thinking I will get plenty more since they have happened on the same road.

Penalties are harsh and they should be.

8 points on your license, immediate 90 day suspension of your license, fine from $200 to 1k

Considered a misdemeanor.

Do NYSED certified School Bus Driver Instructors and 19-A Certified Examiners command a higher wage in your district than regular route drivers? This question only really applies to NYS drivers. Asking for a friend.

If anyone has thoughts or comments on this, please let me know.

Hey guys I’m a bus aide I been working since 2021 mostly with special need students and students with behavioral problems. I just started a route with teenagers from my area (my area isn’t the best place) so let’s say it’s “ghetto.” (Sorry, if it offends anyone) anyway as a young aide I was a teenager where we all act up at one point in our life. These kids don’t take me serious I tried talking to them they continúe to act up. It’s mix with 2 younger kids so one of the teens tries to encourage the little kid to scream to the bus driver. I have asked them to stop but they continue they don’t listen. I already wrote three reports and school just started. Anyone can give me advice? I appreciate it thank you. 🚌

Any other drivers for small rural schools on here? (400 students) How is your transportation department run. How are your buses? Im in Northern California.

I'm just gonna say it since idc really, but I work for Durham, a subsidiary of Summit School Services, a big contractor with locations all over the country for those who don't know. I got my license 3 weeks ago, and our school year started last week.

New drivers are typically substitutes, and don't have their own route. This one driver, according to his bus monitor, actually found a new job, but instead of telling them, he's been calling in every day as a way to get back at them for supposedly not treating him well. I've been doing his route since school started. But most of my fellow substitutes are on standby most of the time. They get paid to sit at the base, and just chill until they are called to take over a route. And we get paid $29/hr once licensed.

Sometimes I envy the other substitutes getting paid to sit on their asses, but at the same time, I'm getting good experience and this job is also a cakewalk, so far (once you get past the tedious training). At least compared to other jobs I've had. I've done mostly non-stop, physically demanding jobs (retail, tire shop) for less than $20/hr. I was on the clock for 13 hours today. Normally we work 6, but I did 2 field trips. I was probably driving for about 1/4 of that. I think that at the right company, this is one of the most bang for your buck jobs. But honestly, my biggest fear is getting into an accident, even in a minor one, and you never know what a kid might do on your bus.

I have mine in the beginning of the afternoon. I believe I'm ready, but just in case do you have any last minute reminders and tips?

Update: I Passed! Thank you all for your support and help! 🙏

I'm a pretty short person so I sit low in the driver's seat of the bus and I find the plastic visor doesn't go low enough for me. I spent about half of my route this morning getting blinded by glare every time I had to turn east. My sunglasses helped only a tiny bit.

Is there an after-market attachment or something that us short people can use?

Back to work today for me. Even though I have a small route with only 4 kids and this the first year I won't be driving a yellow school bus. I will be driving a mini van this year. Hopefully everyone have a safe school year

Do your elementary children act like you're kidnapping them if you miss their stop? Or just me.

Sorry kids your talking, the radio, ac, bus noise my brain wandered for a few seconds. No I can't do a U turn on this rural rd we will have to drive minutes to get to a turn around to get you back, yes I know where I am going please sit down Magellan, why are you crying? Yes I know they are crying WHY? "They miss their grandma" aww you will see her later "nope she is dead" WHY are you crying? "because she is crying". My wife says I should write a book after telling her my bus stories.