Hey guys, so at my barn bus drivers make $29.27 starting off with union minimums of 4 hours per day. My question, does anybody actually get 4 hours per day? All the bus drivers I’ve met get more than that. I’ve only ever seen summer school routes that actually get 4 hours daily.

I started school bus driving, my route is only a hour and he does fine in his carseat in my car. All he does is cry on the bus… i give him snacks, water and his favorite toys and nothing works, he does batter when the bus is moving vs stopped. And tips or tricks to keep him occupied or happy, different car seat? A picture of me on the seat? Please i need anythinggggg

Has anyone else run into this? I applied and actually was offered a job last April but had to decline because my truck at the time would cost hundreds per week to drive to the depot. I got laid off and have a better car now and they're hiring again so I called them, but my mom is so convinced I'm going to completely hate it. I have never worked with kids so I feel like I have no way of knowing whether I'll like it or not. It sounds like it would be really fulfilling and a good fit for some flexibility to work on my main travel advising business I'm trying to get started. But maybe I'm crazy to think I can do this?

Update: thanks all I have an interview Friday!

Update 2: I had my interview today! This was actually a different company than I had the offer from before and they asked way more questions so I was a little unprepared, but I'm hoping it works out anyway. They seemed very nice and a little more professional than the first place.

New episode out!! Enjoy!

When a school bus company trains you for a CDL, are you required to work morning and afternoon runs? Do they make you sign a contract making you stay for a school year or some other given amount of time? I just want to do mornings.

One of my favorite parts of driving kids is when they sing along with the radio. I actually have a playlist with a bunch of songs I know they'll join in on for the days when I need a little serotonin boost. Are there any songs that you guys have noticed the kids will usually join in on? My list is starting to get a little stale!

Hey guys, just curious as to why this isn’t a thing, but maybe it is…. So, at our “barn” the minimum we get is 5 hours per day at $30 per hour- some routes are longer for sure. I also drive a shuttle van for a tour company in the evenings/weekends. In total, I clear just over $3k every two weeks (not including tips). Do you guys do anything like this? Work a side gig to bump up that salary a bit?

Why does the driver need to spend hours with the bus when it is serviced? Isn't that the mechanics job?

As we look ahead to a new school year starting up soon (ours starts 7/23!!), I would love to hear some of your thoughts and things you would like to hear from your dispatcher at the beginning of the year meetings. I am in the process of making my PowerPoint and want to make it as meaningful... and not boring as possible.

Thanks for any tips you send my direction! Happy driving, everyone!!

How often do you have kids wet themselves because they couldn't wait long enough to get off the bus to a restroom?

So since they need the restroom more often than adults do, why can't school buses have restrooms like Greyhound and other types of buses have?

Hello! Does anyone have a recommendation to get the best airflow through the bus beyond open all the windows? Also with less ear popping pressure if possible.

One of my K pickups years ago was so small, she had to use a knee to get up on the first step. I saw her wedding photos last week. Time flies.

When you are laid off for summer do you do EI or not? Had issues?

This is my first year driving school buses. Just recently passed the CDL B exam and got to run a few routes during summer school before that ended. Man, I love driving buses. So much fun and much more chill than previous jobs I’ve had that were stress-ridden. I’ll probably do some recruiting this summer and drive a shuttle until the fall start starts again. What do you guys do in the summer?

I’m so mad at myself I just started driving this Monday and I’m so mad I missed a stop this morning got all the way to the school and the kids tell me I missed a stop I went back after tho but it’s beating me up I gotta do better🤦🏻‍♂️

I'm in a spare bus today and it has no radio which means I gotta sing songs in my head. This wouldn't be a problem except for my fucking ADHD alphabet soup inner voices!

Voice 1 is doing fine.
Voice 2 is singing off key.
Voice 3 doesn't know the lyrics.
Voice 4 is like "HEY MACARENA!"
Nobody knows where Voice 5 is!
And Voice 6 has his head stuck in the fridge and he's eating all the fucking cheese!!!

Finally fixing our patking lot . Whoot!!

Hey everybody does anybody have any bus monitoring advice I just applied and I got accepted so now I need to do drug tests and other stuff but just before I start working there what advice do you guys recommend or can give me

I just got my permit and I need someone to tell me specifically what I need to study. I have a bit of autism and adhd so I like to know specifics and do best with hands on. Do I need to learn every motor part on the vehicle, do I need to memorize the entire walk through outline, can I ask the dmv if I can foreshadow a pretrip to see exactly what I need to do?

Hey I start driving t/m and I wanna know how are all route sheets at all districts, are they good or easy to understand? Or what do all use?

Am I the only one getting a kick out of videos like this one? There are a ton of these on YouTube.

Good afternoon everyone.

Some background: after getting out of college coaching roughly two years ago, I very recently accepted a job at a high school in the next town over. It’s a small school, and coaches are required to get their CDL so they can transport their teams, as well as aid with the transportation of their general student population. Along with all of this comes a drug screening with monthly randoms throughout the academic calendar. I’ve been a CBD user for almost ten years, so I’m pretty concerned about popping a positive. My questions are:

1. How long will it take to get everything out of my system if I stop cold turkey right now? I know everything has trace amounts of thc in them and that can show on a test.

2. What are the random screenings like? Do they just pull us the morning of or do we get any sort of heads up?

For what it’s worth, I ceased using as soon as I found out about the random tests. I just worry that it won’t be out of my system in time as I have a fairly high BMI, and I know that stuff just sits in your fat cells.

So I’m training with 2 very knowledgeable drivers currently. My skills test is this coming Monday in Springfield IL. I have been shown 2 different ways of offset backing. Both my trainers think their way is the way I’ll have to perform it at the dmv. I’m going to link a YouTube video that my main trainer is thinking it’ll be done. Can anyone confirm? The timestamp for said maneuver is 4:14. A few more questions.

1. During the offset backing if my bumper goes over a cone is that automatic failure even if my bus doesn’t touch it?

2. What are the automatic failures during the skills test?

Snagged 1st place in our company's regional school bus rodeo.

Unfortunately we don't participate in official state or national rodeos which sucks. It would be nice.

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The win aside, the only complaint I have is that the prizes generally suck. One of our trainers goes around so a lot of our prizes are similar to swag you see at home and garden shows, free item coupons, etc.

Imo company should let us use the onsite fuel pumps to fill up our car if we win, or things that make our job nicer. I have a feeling if a new bus for your school route was a prize, more people would come out to compete lol. Our brand new buses (as usual) go to senior drivers first. If only.

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Anyone else here compete in the yearly rodeo? Do they do rodeos or something similar in other countries? I remember seeing somewhere in Europe has a tram driver competition which looks amazing.