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

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

Asked by Johnson over 6 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.

Yea but can it be considered vandalism if you pressed the issue? Or even theft? What about throwing a pack of cigarettes or chew away?

Asked by Samantha almost 7 years ago

Still illegal.

Hello, so this kids teacher made them stay behind in class for a extra few minutes or so. So when he got to the buses we where pulling out and she obviously saw him and we where yelling at her to stop. She told us to shut up and left him.

Asked by Ndnddndnd over 6 years ago

No the driver cannot get into trouble. It is the student's responsibility to get out to the bus on time. Bus drivers are on a time schedule. It is not the fault of the driver that the student stayed after at the teacher's request. We are not taxi's.

What do I do if the bus is always later then the posted stop time by five, ten, sometimes fifteen minutes but substitutes come pretty close to the stop time. Would calling the transportation director and asking to have the stop time raised be okay?

Asked by Sydney almost 7 years ago

Actually thats a good solution. If your regular driver runs late but the sub runs on time then the transportation needs to be aware so that they can make changes to the route so kids don't miss the bus by mistake.

Oh and by the way there have had two way radio trainings and that has not stuck with them!

Asked by The angry redneck over 6 years ago

Happens here all the time. The radio can be tied up for 10 minutes or longer on non essential crap.

Hey do you know what the difference is between air brakes and vacuum brakes? Thanks! Also air and vacuum doors, stop arms, etc. Thanks

Asked by Conner over 6 years ago

I've never heard of vacuum brakes or doors but I can explain manual doors, air brakes, and standard brakes. On a majority of buses, there is an air system that controls the door, stop sign, crossing arm, and brake system. There is a compression tank that fills to capacity when the bus is turned on. Some drivers are required to "bleed" the brakes when the bus is switched off (more on that in a few). When the system is working properly the items come out like they're supposed to and they operate properly. Of course there are overrides for the systems. In both the drivers seat and in the door frame there is a switch that will override the stop system and shut it down if its malfunctioning. The door has an emergency override switch that allows the air to be released so you can open the door in the case of an emergency. Note that manual doors do not have this. They are operated by the driver manually with a hinge that the driver uses to open and close the door from the driver seat. Air brakes are similar in that there is an override for them but it requires you to bleed the tank by pressing the brake pedal till the emergency parking brake pops out and the brakes set on the bus. Some buses do not have this and have the standard brake system found in all cars.

Hello, is your district ever going to have you deliver meals to kids like the ice cream truck or naw?

Asked by Bro about 6 years ago

I wish we could but right now the answer is no.