# I am a School Bus Driver **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 28, 2021, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-school-bus-driver/951517 "2021-09-28T13:44:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-school-bus-driver/951517/1 "2021-09-28T13:44:57Z")
After six months of retirement, I have finally settled into a new job. I drive a school bus. Starting off training during the summer was not the best decision. Once I finished, the district did not have any work for me. So I called a nearby district and they offered my $3 more an hour and Blue Cross health care. Now school is back in session and so I am working six hours a day. Anyway, there is a nationwide shortage of drivers, so school buses seem to be all over the news. Perhaps there is enough interest to support a discussion. Ask away. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-school-bus-driver/951517/2 "2021-09-28T13:47:47Z")
Do you enjoy the work? Why/why not? Is temperament crucial or is it just a matter of driving skills? ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-school-bus-driver/951517/3 "2021-09-28T13:52:58Z")
“Driving is the easy part,” all the experienced drivers say. Running the route, turn here, go there, it is worse to be early than to be late, that is the hard part. That said, the first day I was doing solo with students I managed to back into a bollard. Do you know what they do to you if you dent your bumper? They send out a policeman to make an insurance report and then tell you to continue the run. Then you take it to the garage for repair and have to fill out an accident report. Every person you meet smiles and say, “That’s nothing! I bent the entire frame and totaled a car too!” Nothing much happens. The calls on the radio amaze me. “Can someone get to Edgewood and pick up two students for 54?” I hardly know the streets, these guys just ad lib their routes. It is very impressive. I have told everyone to leave me alone until Christmas, I just have to master my route first. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-school-bus-driver/951517/4 "2021-09-28T13:53:16Z")
What’s the age range of the kids you’re dealing with? ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-school-bus-driver/951517/5 "2021-09-28T14:23:53Z")
In the morning I pick up high school students for the Catholic schools. Then I rendezvous with three other buses who transfer their Catholic school students to me. Then down the highway about ten miles and I drop them off. In the afternoon, I pick up those students at their schools and take them home. Then I go over to an elementary school and pick up their students and take them home. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-school-bus-driver/951517/6 "2021-09-28T14:33:48Z")
> [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](#): > > They send out a policeman to make an insurance report and then tell you to continue the run. I got hit by a bus, destroyed my car, honestly surprised my car didn’t roll over (surveillence cameras on nearby buildings showed both passenger side tires up in the air). The cops took 45 minutes to get there and I remember his supervisor saying, to me, ‘if the police aren’t here in the next few minutes, we’ll just exchange information. I have to get him back on the road’. No drug test, no ‘what the fuck happened’ conversation, no ‘I need to check your phone to see if you were talking/texting’, no ‘how did you not see him as you pushed his car down the street’ nothing, The most important thing for her was getting him back on the road. And somehow he didn’t even get a ticket. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-school-bus-driver/951517/7 "2021-09-28T14:47:17Z")
Are you allowed to drop kids off anywhere along the route at their request or are you bound to stopping only at designated points? Reason I ask is my high schooler is the only kid at his stop and it’s about two blocks past our house. To get to the stop the driver goes past our house every day to get there. It’d be pretty convenient if he could get dropped off right in front of the house but something tells me the bus driver isn’t allowed to do this. Is that correct? ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-school-bus-driver/951517/8 "2021-09-28T15:04:15Z")
We modify our routes to suit. I am now picking up and dropping off a number of children right at their homes rather than at a nearby intersection. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-school-bus-driver/951517/9 "2021-09-28T15:17:14Z")
Do the kids socialize with you at all? ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-school-bus-driver/951517/10 "2021-09-28T15:19:18Z")
The bus is noisy and I am busy. I do not even know their names yet. More experienced drivers report they know their students. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-school-bus-driver/951517/11 "2021-09-28T15:24:58Z")
Are you in a labor union? In Boston, they’re in the Steelworkers. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-school-bus-driver/951517/12 "2021-09-28T15:29:07Z")
Are the kids intimidated by your 1000 yard stare or do the just treat you as if you were invisible to them? ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-school-bus-driver/951517/13 "2021-09-28T15:29:09Z")
The first district had just recently voted in the Operators Union, I do not remember the exact name. It was too soon for the union to have an impact. This district has some educational professional union. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-school-bus-driver/951517/14 "2021-09-28T15:29:50Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Are the kids intimidated by your 1000 yard stare or do the just treat you as if you were invisible to them? I do not understand your question. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-school-bus-driver/951517/15 "2021-09-28T15:32:18Z")
Bus drivers are sometimes messed with by the kids if they think they can get away with it, especially new ones. Any issues with any of them yet? ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-school-bus-driver/951517/16 "2021-09-28T15:34:28Z")
I have not had any issues with the children. Honestly, the high school students have their noses stuck in various electronic devices. The elementary students are still real people, making noise and talking to each other. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-school-bus-driver/951517/17 "2021-09-28T15:45:54Z")
I know a lot of counties around us are desperate for bus drivers, but I’m not that bored with retirement. Do you have to have a special license to drive a school bus? When my husband drove (40-some years ago) it wasn’t required (in Michigan, I think.) ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-school-bus-driver/951517/18 "2021-09-28T15:50:41Z")
Yes, that seems to be the problem. The training programs shut down due to the plague and more than a few semi-retired people took the time to decide to become really-retired. First you need to pass the physical and police background checks. You need to pass written tests at the DMV for bus, air brakes, and the regular commercial vehicle stuff. That gets you a school bus learners’ permit. Then you do on-the-road training followed by an on-the-road test. I failed this the first time. Frankly the local training program was too long as they had only a few very-busy instructors. After almost two months, I was proficient in actually driving the bus, but I was not really happy with the training. So now we have a shortage. Unless they fix the local training programs, there will be no near-term fix. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-school-bus-driver/951517/19 "2021-09-28T15:58:06Z")
[_Hail to the bus driver Bus driver Bus driver Hail to the bus driver Bus driver man_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pWTh092mz8&ab_channel=AreaEightyNine) ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2021, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-school-bus-driver/951517/20 "2021-09-28T15:58:25Z")
Are you or the kids required to wear seat belts? Have you or your colleagues resorted to or will you ever resort to, “_Don’t **make** me stop this bus!_” 😀 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-school-bus-driver/951517.md?page=2)