School Bus Driver

School Bus Driver

The Bus Driver

15 Years Experience

South, ..

Female, 37

I have been a bus driver since late 2006. I know the inside story, the scoop, the down low dirt of what it takes to be a bus driver, how to handle kids and adults, and how to survive on the "streets" so to speak. I used to have a blog, feel free to browse it or ask me a question here.

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1007 Questions

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Last Answer on February 07, 2021

Best Rated

Do you need a CDL to drive a mini bus?

Asked by Joel almost 7 years ago

It's always best to have a cdl class b to drive any commercial vehicle but it depends on the company's requirements.

Has someone ever tried watching porn on your bus? If yes what happened? If no what would/will you do in that situation?

Asked by Rocco almost 7 years ago

Generally if someone chooses to watch explicit material they are discreet about it and use headphones. I can usually tell if something isn't right by the looks on kids faces and whether or not they draw a crowd. With the added availability of technology everywhere, explicit material is widely available to even the youngest person. If someone were to be reported for watching porn, I would have to write them up and confiscate the device.

Those regulations are a joke and no one follows them. So what are they going to do about it really? It’s a waste of money to get rid of a good bus that could be updated and retrofitted and buy a whole new bus. That new bus could explains the fleetBut instead it’s replacing a bus that did not need replacing. I don’t think they where breaking any regulations in my state. So it’s just weird.

Asked by Kelly almost 7 years ago

Retrofitting a bus costs about as much money as purchasing a brand new one off the line. Sometimes its cheaper to get new and as the buses age its like cars, the parts become obsolete and unavailable over time.

Have you ever had a bus fire? What did/would happen?

Asked by Johnson almost 7 years ago

Not personally but there have been a few fires in my district. Thankfully no students injured and in both the fire was quickly extinguished by either the driver or the fire department. As for your other question which has been removed i took items out of my bio that i felt could be used to narrow it down to where i am and my district. Its a protection.

Good point. Now would it be better if the bus was used on a long route or be a extra spare bus until needed for a district that had a lot of trips that went out of state. Or is this still overkill?

Asked by Interviewer almost 7 years ago

That's a tough question. Most districts purchase buses based on capacity and usability. The capacity of these buses are 48 passenger, 40 for the ones that are wheelchair accessible. The standard capacity for a school bus is 72 passengers at 3 to a seat. Of course this figure is impossible the older and larger a child gets. My route alone takes me an hour and a half in the morning and almost 2 hours in the afternoon. I transport more than 85 to 90 children across all age groups on a good day. A bus like that while appealing because of the comfort items, is impractical because even at full capacity i would need to make at minimum 2 rounds to get everyone to and from school. Many routes are designed to have the maximum number of ridership and in some cases will exceed that amount. Even on the longer routes. If the district had drivers available and enough finances available then sure. But otherwise i think it would waste valuable resources.

Do you think it’s a good idea to charge students for riding the bus? Kids on free or reduced lunches can be discounted or ride for free. But I think it could save on taxes and as long as it’s not too much but what do you think?

Asked by Trump is amazing over 6 years ago

No. Riding is a privilege not a right. The moment we bring money into it we remove the authority to kick a child off the bus for acting out simply because his parents pay for the service exclusively.

Have you been doing any kind of work during this COVID-19 deal? If so what have you been doing meals or parking buses so kids can get on WIFI just things I have heard of

Asked by 02938457 over 6 years ago

As of now our district is not using us bus drivers yet. We don't have wifi on our buses though i wish we did.