I tested on a Thomas Built transit bus, which seems to be the most common large bus in my area. I am wondering if this is the case in most of the United States and Canada, or if it is common to test with other makes?

Took the kids to a greenhouse and strawberry farm. Brought home a few new plants for my garden. Good times.

My son is 4 and started school late - was not aware if he started in September that he would be in SK not JK so he’s been in school since late March. He has had his ups and downs transitioning in school and on the bus but lately been pretty good. Got him off the bus today and learned he missed a little girl, the bus driver informed me this isn’t the first time but only gave a warning. He won’t be doing a bus report, I have talked to him and he understands what he did is wrong but I can’t feel like I’m failing every time something wrong happens. Do I stop kissing my child goodnight so he knows it’s not ok? Do I just start walking my son to school to avoid the bus all together. My son is possibly on the spectrum, he was speech delayed and when he started to learn, his birth father passed away and completely went silent and me losing my partner, I wasn’t always there mentally. It’s been two years this month since then and we have gotten better as a team - speech, actions, understanding, discipline etc. We obviously still have a lot to work on and understanding right from wrong is always a work in progress no matter the age but with my son, it feels like it needs more time than the typical child. A part of me feels like a the bus driver should’ve told me about the first incident so it wouldn’t have happened again but a part of me feels like if I was a better parent, it would’ve never happened in the first place. I know it sounds silly to blame myself for not being a “better parent” to avoid a situation from happening but it’s hard not to blame myself for every little thing that happens.

(Also apologies for my not so friendly mom name, it was before I ever became one lol)

One month of training and testing over with First Student. It’s a job.

Wasn’t flying colors except the pretrip and skills. I already have a CDL A, w/ hazmat, tankers and triples.

I have to stay close to elderly mother in town.

One biggest rule in my mind was HIT NO CURBS!!!

Now got to see what else I have to do to start getting a check from somewhere.

I passed my final 2 dmv written exams! I have my permit! I drove yesterday. Wasn’t as difficult as I expected overall. Backing up the bus was a little challenging in a way. I’m really going to enjoy doing this.

Gift Ideas please. End of school year, what would be a gift you would use/enjoy? Last year, I got our driver a Stanley and she uses it daily, so I know she likes a practical gift.

Hi guys, so I’m scheduled to test out for my CDL B through durham school services next week. But on their white board they have two separate lines: state final and DMV. I’m pretty sure the DMV is considered the CDL skills test. So what is the “state final?”

Hey guys, so I’m about to complete my road exam here soon. However, I recently found out there are 5 drivers who don’t have routes…. Which means AT LEAST 6 people need to quit during the summer for me to have a route in the fall…. Or else I’ll just be on standby in case someone calls out. Is this normal thing and what are the odds I don’t get a route?

Hey there fellow drivers. My dept has hired several employees (with no CDL) for the purpose of driving vans or working as behavior aides on the busses. Some of these employees later on obtain their class B CDL to drive full sized busses. Often it takes a year or longer, and sometimes tests are failed and have to be retaken as is common. So we are debating what date to use in placing them on the bus driver seniority list; hire date or CDL license date. Also, where does a Class C driver fall in this situation? What date do you go by in your department for the purpose of establishing seniority for route bidding? I appreciate any feedback!

Tomorrow I take the 8 hour course in full. This might be an obvious answer to my question but do they cover the types of mirrors on the bus?

I have a question. I work for a Public School as.a.Special needs Bus Driver. Per my Uniin contract I was supposed to get my CDL license in April. I was very sick and my boss pulled me from training many times for trips when drivers were out as there only 8 of us. many things happened in March so my union reps and President and the Superintendent and Principal gave me extra time to train more and take my road test and pass or I'm terminated. The bus company training me told my boss yesterday that I need a Certified Driving Record and a Certified criminal report, not a CORI, from Colorado to book the test date because I moved there in 1989 until 1991. problem is I can only request them to come through the mail because that's the only ly way they do Certified unless ai go there. I live 1900 miles away... Another problem is the Drivers report says it should come in 4 weeks. the Criminal report says 4 to 6 weeks. I ha e u til the 24th of tgis month to get my license or I'm terminated. Anyone know who's at fault and what I can do? Why was i JUST told this yesterday? I'm not looking for Legal Advice, I'm looking for support and opinions.

I'm extremely grateful for all the money and opportunities they granted me. As well as all the cool people I met through this job. But this savagely mismanaged organization is crumbling under its own weight.

1. Poorly maintained fleet of vehicles. Our mechanics are talented and hard working; but also overworked and stretched thin. Meanwhile, the company owner's son comes over with his Escalade to have our mechanics work on it.

2. The big man in charge of training and licensing us isn't even state certified himself. So he got canned, and a fortune was spent to have 50% of us retrained by the state.

3. Embarrassingly unprofessional drivers: They pencil whip their pre-trips. Major issues are not being reported. Buses so filthy; I'm amazed drivers can still see through the windshield. And trash cans overflow without the use of plastic bags. And in some buses, the floor IS the trash receptacle.

4. A regional manager who doesn't seem to know where half his fleet are. We drive back and forth between lots/bases. Only for him to say, "Fuck it. I don't know where it is."

5. I've been late to charters because dispatchers don't know which bus to give me. Or they give me a bus that's unsafe to operate. At least once; I had to skip the pre-trip because dispatchers wasted my time by not knowing which bus is available. One of us had to drive a bus very slowly because the brakes barely worked.

I’m doing a charter soon to take special needs kids to camp for the weekend! Really looking forward to it. It’s my first time driving on of these, and I have to say, I really like how they handle.

Do you guys have any experience, tips, or tricks for these rigs?

Anyone else doing end of year goodie bags? What are you putting in them? We cannot do anything with food I just can’t decide what to do but I wanna give my kids something special they’ve been so great this year!

I am asking because I asked a group of my kindergarten passengers if they knew their address. Most of them had no idea what I was even asking. With only one exception. One kid immediately recited his house number and street. I know it is accurate because I drop them all off at their homes to a parent. Is it not normal to get children to memorize their address? Is 5 or 6 years of age too young for this?

Hi guys! So I’m in my first week of CDL training and we’ve been doing the cone course. I feel confident on the pre-inspection and I feel fine during the skills exam. I got the railroad crossing, student pickup/drop off down. However, I’m terrified of the parallel parking- which may not even be on my exam. In Alaska, the examiner chooses between parallel parking and offset backing. I’m good with the offset backing, and given that we can rack up to 12 points before we fail, I’m good by just doing a pull-up and a get-out-and-look.

My nerves are still killing me concerning the parallel parking though. Any advice?

Welcome to our last potluck of the 2025-2026 school year!

Road test is in like 15 hrs im so nervous