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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Last Answer on February 07, 2021

Best Rated

What do a parent do when the school bus driver picks up there child in the morning to take them to school and puts the child off the bus at a corner and leaves the child there, and never calls dispatch to let them know of a issue.

Asked by Queen over 6 years ago

Assuming this is the same route run so basically the child was picked up and then before being dropped at school was dropped off at a location not the child's stop. First it would depend on the age of the child. As a general principle we are not supposed to drop a child at any stop other than their designated stop or on school property unless an emergency dictates (bus fire, tornado etc). If there was a behavioral issue the driver should have notified dispatch and the school and you as the parent. Now that being said, I have had a few high school kids forget an item at home in which case i was less than 2 to 4 houses from their stop, i let them off to go get the item and instructed them on where to meet me. Hope this helps.

If you typically do not ride the bus and you go to ride it for the first time and the bus passes by you. Is that allowed?

Asked by Rob over 6 years ago

Yes, if you are not a typical rider in the morning, it is your responsibility to notify the driver either the night before or by calling the bus yard in the morning so that the driver can know to stop at your stop. We are not mind readers. If we are going slow enough and you are out with other students at a stop then we will pick you up but if your stop is a single stop with no other students its best to call ahead.

My daughter did something very bad on the bus and the next day a totally different bus driver told all of the kids on her bus what my daughter had done. To me this is bullying by a bus driver. Is she allowed to share personal info to other students?

Asked by Tanya almost 6 years ago

Truthfully, how did the driver even find out? 98 percent of what I hear comes from the kids themselves. Chances are good there was a discussion on what your child did and maybe the bus driver wanted to not encourage the students to follow in her footsteps. That being said, it should blow over in a week or so. If it keeps getting brought up then i would take more issue with it.

On the other hand, whatever your child did obviously had negative consequences and now she is seeing the negative effects and consequences to her actions. Welcome to life.

My sister starts training classes Monday for bus driver. When will she be drug tested? Before driving a bus or randomly? She takes Loracets that are prescribed.

Asked by beasleyguy08@gmail.com over 6 years ago

Drug testing happens at random and will usually happen at the pre employment physical. As long as she is prescribed these and her doctor can clear her to drive it should not affect her ability to get cleared to drive a bus.

This is a comment so feel free to delete it. I think it is fine but
I know there are mixed feelings and I just wanted some feed back. Thank you! I do think around 80 is when I would see some concern though. Thanks for answering my question.Imeantwel

Asked by Dr.Pepper is the best drink about 6 years ago

Fair enough. We do have to go through yearly physicals and pass those before we are allowed to drive. What gets me is that people are allowed to drive those ginormous campers without training.

Okay I have a question on time. In the morning how long should I wait before I contact the transportation supervisor? I get that things happen but I think more then 10min is excessive.it can be cold or raining. Also we live a block away from thebusbn

Asked by Ronna about 6 years ago

Given that most bus companies are experiencing a shortage of bus drivers at the moment, maybe instead of calling or complaining, you can apply for a job as a bus driver! Until then be patient, the bus will get there or drive your child yourself.

I can’t remember for sure does the “Jake Break” slow you down to 15 or 5 mph or something else? Does it depend on the make and model?

Asked by Davi about 6 years ago

This is more of a semi truck driver question than a bus driver question. On most buses it is fairly common to have automatic transmissions and air brakes. We do not have a jake brake system that allows the vehicle to slow rapidly. I don't know about older model buses.