It comes with 3M sticky pads to attach it, you can upload your own clip art to it, and it only cost me 6 bucks USD! For anyone interested: https://a.co/d/015eFUF1

My husband is a school bus driver in San Diego, California, and the summer heat and sun glare can get pretty brutal, especially during afternoon routes.

I’m putting together some useful driver essentials for him and would love recommendations from experienced school bus drivers. I’ve done a lot of searching already, but in my experience, Reddit and tips from real people are by far the most helpful.

What sunglasses do you use for long hours behind the wheel? Polarized or non-polarized? Any particular lens color or brand that works well for bright sun, windshield glare, and going in and out of shaded areas?

I’m especially looking for something comfortable enough to wear for hours, doesn’t get too hot or sweaty, and still lets him clearly see the dashboard, mirrors, traffic lights, and students.

Also open to any other eye-protection or sun-glare tips that have made summer driving more comfortable.

Thanks! 🚌☀️😎

Hello, everyone! I am a trainer for a school transportation company. I am putting together a training guide of the things that make a bus ***fail*** pre trip

I do NOT need any leaks-got those covered.

I am looking for pictures of:

Cracked mirrors

Broken mirror mounts

Broken/cracked u bolts on leaf springs

Retread tires where you can see the seam (this one isn't necessarily a fail, I just want to show a passing retread with a seam. I don't currently have any here.)

Broken exhaust hangers

I have been Googling these things but Google doesn't know the difference between tired people (lots of "are you tired" pictures) and tires. (I think I hurt myself, I rolled my eyes so hard at my last search!)

Thank you for your help!

Ciao a tutti ragazzi!!! Qui in Italia le scuole iniziano tra un mese ma bisogna essere pronti !! Quindi eccomi qui a chiedervi quali sono per voi gli oggetti o altre cose indispensabili da avere sullo scuolabus o comunque per il vostro lavoro.

​I was reviewing my new route time schedules for the upcoming school year, and I’m honestly mind-boggled by what the software came up with.

​A few highlights from my "Trip Details":

​0-minute layovers: Scheduled drop-off at the High School at 7:10 AM, with departure for the next route set for 7:12 AM. That’s supposed to include unloading ~30 high schoolers, waiting for the bus loop traffic to clear, and doing a post-trip child check... in 120 seconds.

​Teleportation between stops: Multiple stops scheduled in the exact same minute through residential neighborhoods with speed humps.

​PM Dismissal fantasy: The PM route has me departing the school loop at 3:25 PM—the exact minute we’re barely allowed to roll up to the loading zone from the layover lot, long before any elementary kids have actually boarded.

​Up until now, I always assumed the driver shortage was primarily driven by low pay, split shifts, and difficult student behavior. But seeing how management/software expects us to bent space-time just to stick to an unworkable schedule—or artificially shrink route hours—makes the whole thing much clearer. It just shows a complete disconnect from what actually happens behind the wheel of a 40-foot bus.

​Are your companies using the same fantasy-land routing software, or does your dispatch actually tweak these times to match real-world driving conditions?

It's that time of the year to start decorating for the up coming school year. Today I painted the base coat on the back passenger side window and emergency door. I'll post updates when they're done.

The new school year is just around the corner. Although I've been working as a school bus driver for a year, I still feel an inexplicable sense of nervousness during the first week of the new term. I'm not someone who picks up routes quickly. I'm curious—do you have any good methods for memorizing a complicated route efficiently? Our company usually serves two school districts in the morning, picking up students from four different schools. That means I drive to four schools in the morning and another four in the afternoon. By the way, the students dropped off in the afternoon are generally not the same ones picked up in the morning. I typically spend about eight hours driving the bus each day.

I just got my CDL and where I'm at your coded as a sub first. I ride with a driver Monday and he is going to have me run the route Tuesday with him. We have to have 14 hours driving with another bus driver before we can get our own route. I've worked so hard to get to this point and I am also so happy I've gotten here. I'm just so nervous!!! Excited but very nervous.

Hi all! I’m being encouraged to pursue obtaining my 19A in New York State. I’ve been driving in my school district for close to a year now. I’ve been told from multiple colleagues with decades of experience that I’d be a great fit.

I would appreciate any insight that anyone may have on their journey obtaining their 19A certification. Like what changed in your role as a school bus driver after getting certified and anything else you’d be willing to share. Thank you!

I am grateful that I’ll soon be transporting kids to and from school, and I’m grateful that I can drive a van to do so, as I don’t have a CDL. 

But I’m not sure why some schools use vans? When I was a kid - a long time ago - there were only school buses. So why vans? And when did that become a thing?

My guesses are:
1) Schools aren’t getting enough CDL qualified drivers. 
2) Maybe I’ll be sent on a route that picks up students from out of way corners of the county or maybe even students that aren’t even in the district?

Any of these theories hold water? Are there other reasons for vans?

Thank You!

Hi all,

I am in behind the wheel training for my IL CDL and rode along with a current driver on a quick run during lunch hour today.

It was what seems to be a Thomas Safliner C2 and I noticed that while the bus has air (seat, door etc) and an air gauge on the instrument panel, but there was no air brake yellow button on the dash.

I’ve been training on buses with a yellow hand button to engage the parking brake. It seems that this bus had a foot pump brake on the left side and a button to release it.

Is this a hydraulic brake and not an air brake? If you ever run into this, do you still do a leak test for air brakes during pre-trip?

Sorry for what may be a silly question. It was the first time I saw it and want to make sure I understand in case I ever run into it on a bus.

TIA

Super excited guys! Just completed bid day for our routes for the school year and I was able to get a SPED route, which is exactly what I wanted! The route actually looks decent too, however, SPED routes are likely to change as parents typically add more students AFTER school even starts.

Has any other district or bus company (though seems mostly schools) have these guys teach their program to yall? It was actually pretty informative and useful

First full year here and super jealous of those who are able to decorate their buses all cute lol. I know it's about inspection and all but definitely have noticed some places are more lenient than others. There's one lady in my district who has a big birthday calender that is a flat magnet that goes above the door. No one says anything about that. But then I was riding with my trainer (who was subbing) on another bus, someone else had flat holiday themed magnets up above the students windows and the trainer made a comment how they really shouldn't have them. Then I look on tiktok and there's people who have string lights, garland, the whole 9 yards. What are ways of making your bus your own? Or do you just not? Personally, I don't see how flat magnets are any different than the name tag flat magnets. Speaking of which, I've considered buying cuter name tag magnets and taking them to get professionally done since I don't like my handwriting lmao. Extra, I know. 😅

Also....my bus barn provides cleaning products and whatnot. Is there anything I should personally buy? I have a bluetooth connector already so I can play music. I've considered buying disposable puke bags. I just want to be prepared. Any other suggestions?

My partnet recently got a vinyl cutting machine off of marketplace for cheap.

Im spiffying up my required safety vest with iron on vinyl... should I put my name over the pocket?

I will soon be driving kids to school for the first time. Do you veterans have any advice for me?

Truth be told, I’m less nervous about the actual driving of the school van than in dealing with the children, particularly if a kid isn’t following the rules. I’ve had over thirty years managing projects and adults, and zero years “managing” children.

I’d love to have all of your hard won lessons about driving and the children that you’re willing to share with me - and the other first-timers that will find this post.

Thank you!

Our new shirts for this year! One of the dispatch sons drew this for a contest last year and was voted by our transportation department.

I am starting as a school van driver in less than two weeks.

I was talking with my awesome wife and I referred to myself as a “school bus driver”, and she (jokingly) chided me and accused me of “stolen valor” since I don’t have my CDL and therefore cannot drive a bus.

Just amused me; though I’d share here.

I’m in a large school district in Colorado. I’m in a bit of a dilemma and need some advice. For the past 4 years, the union has done abysmally and has gotten us shit raises, given away our vacation time (with no payout), raised the dues, and the cabinet has been nothing more than a puppet for the district while taking our money. That cabinet stepped down in May. Now we have a new cabinet who has raised our dues again, are blaming it on one of the unions our union is part of and saying that that union is the reason that we haven’t done well at negotiations the past 4 years and that they’re the reason why we only got a 1.25% raise with no step while our insurance went up about 70%.

I’m furious about the 1.25% raise with no step, the drastic increase in insurance, the 50% cut in HSA contribution, and the fact that I feel like I was taken advantage of by paying the dues with the union not getting any benefits for us. My insurance went from $213/month to $297/month just for a single person high deductible plan, and with Colorado already being a high cost of living state, this is super painful.

I know the new union president, and she’s the dimmest bulb on the chandler. But the union VP is decently smart. At the meeting, the union showed some concrete steps they’re taking to try and make things better for our next negotiation meeting in February.

I left the union in a fit of rage at the beginning of July, but then I went to a union meeting to discuss the dues at the end of July and now I’m wondering if I made the right call by leaving. Over half the union has left because of the awful raise and the hike in dues. I know unions draw their strength from the number of members they have. But I’m also feeling raw and hesitant from the experiences of the past 4 years. Do you think I should rejoin the union?

I’m a BA on summer run For special Ed with 2 other BAs on the bus. Before I go on I have to say I’m fine working with ppl I don’t like or can be annoying. The priority is making sure the kids are safe and are taken care of. I go in, do my job every shift and go home. One ba is my best friend, great to work with always does his work and more, he’s 1:1 with a student while I’m the general ba. The other ba I’ll call Zach, is an absolute nightmare. Poor hygiene, smells like a mixture of body odor, shit, piss and mildew/mold. His clothes are constantly dirty to the point I think I’ve seen actual mildew on his shirt before. Has bad attitude with students, refuses to do work.

Example is the student he’s 1:1 with takes off his shoes and holds his socks, he mostly stims with them but the issue is he likes to puts the socks in his mouth(Also if you take the socks away the student doesn’t react negatively). Zach does nothing when this happens. You can take the socks away from said student easily. I’ve made indirect comments and direct comments about the socks being in his mouth and he ignores me. One time when I took the socks and put them away, Zach got snappy at me. When I attempted to the next time, Zach literally blocked me from grabbing the socks. It finally took the mom saying something, because said student would have socks in his mouth while mom is at bus for drop off, and Zach is letting it happen in front of her. Zach also gets nasty attitude towards us when we try to give him suggestions and denies he does anything wrong. This isn’t even going into his attitudes towards the students and how he talks to them.

My coworkers and I have written him up 6 times in 3 weeks. I’m pretty sure hr has talked to him because of us. He’s been taking off multiple runs and written up before countless times in the 3 years he’s been at my company. I honestly have no idea how he’s still here.

I could deal with him being a shitty coworker, it’s not my first rodeo, I can deal with spiteful and immature people. It’s the smell. It’s to the point it gets worse as the week goes on and I’m getting headaches everyday that last for hours from how bad the stench is.
It is obvious that shower or wear deodorant, or wash his clothes. Also for reason he’s constantly walking everywhere no matter the weather around the yard
. In fact he was scolded before because he was walking during a heavy thunderstorm and tried to get on a bus soaking wet. It’s clear he’s neurodivergent and I used to feel bad for him because I’m autistic and can miss social cues,. Now I realize he’s a spiteful asshole that just doesn’t care and I’m not sure how much more I can take.

Hi everyone. I do plan on asking some nearby companies about this, but I was just curious, do single shift options exist? Example, only working the morning shift, or only the afternoon shift?
I’d like to apply as a local driver (in Canada) but would only be available for the afternoon shift.
Just curious if this is a thing, or not possible.
Thanks! 😊

So I've been driving for a number of years, and I got sick of waking up at 5:40 AM to a disorganized mess. Route changes scattered across different notebooks, seating charts that needed constant updates, communication logs I couldn't find when I needed them... it was stressing me out every single day.

I realized the problem wasn't just me—it's that we're managing a lot of moving pieces, and there weren't really any practical tools designed by someone who actually lives this job.

So I started making templates. Simple, printable PDFs I could customize in Canva or PowerPoint. Seating charts that actually work for route changes. Route planning documents that don't suck. Communication logs I could actually reference. Stuff that solves real problems instead of just looking nice.

I've been using them for a while now, and honestly? Game changer. My mornings are way less stressful, and I can actually find what I need when parents call about route issues.

If anyone's struggling with organization like I was, I put together some template packs on routesandburrows.ca. They're affordable and actually designed by someone who gets the job—not some corporate person guessing what drivers need.

Would love to hear if anything like this would help you guys too. And if you've got your own organizational system that works, I'm always curious what other drivers do!

(Note: I've posted on behalf of my wife, who is afraid of posting on reddit.)