Unless you’re independently wealthy, you will, sooner or later, feel the pinch of the increased cost of living. If you’re lucky enough to be a professional or successful business owner, you may be able to pass that increased cost of living on to your clients; however, if you’re a wage earner, it is more of a challenge to increase your take-home pay.
One thing that many, many people do today is learn to drive school buses. Believe it or not, the pay isn’t bad and as long as you have some idea of how to deal with young people, you can even enjoy yourself.
So what can you earn? Bus drivers make anywhere from $13 to $22 per hour. It depends on the area of the country you live in and the school system. Additionally, you can make a lot of extra money by, in addition to regular school runs; taking field trips and students to their extra-curricular activities such as sports event and speech contests.
If you decide to undertake such a mission, what can you expect, and what are the steps you should take?
First, if you have a bad driving record, this is not a field for you because you will not be accepted however, presuming that you have driven with reasonable acumen the last ten years, the first thing to do is find a school that will “sponsor” you. That will not be a hard task. Busing is big business and it takes a lot of people to take care of the driving demands put upon a school district.
The drivers’ license that you need to obtain is a class “B” license. The class “B” license allows you to drive most every vehicle except a semi tractor-trailer truck. You can get a book to study from the Secretary of State’s Drivers’ License Bureaus of your state. Then, you need to be sponsored by a school district. They will put you through a school that will allow to you to take a written test. When you pass the test, you will be issued a “Practice or Temporary License”.
After attaining the license you will be trained on several non-driving techniques which you need to know such as “walk-rounds” which is an external bus safety check. You learn to check all lights and make sure that you’re carrying things such as safety fuses.
After that you learn to walk the inside of the bus to make sure the seats are secure.
When you know the bus inside and out you practice driving. You will practice using mirrors; backing and parking. The driving is intense and there is a lot to learn but, you will have a new respect for the field.
The temporary license gives a person three tries at trying to get their regular license during a one-year period
The written test and the driving test will give you the opportunity to have an “air-brakes” endorsement, or, the ability to drive a vehicle with air-brakes (which most buses have these days. Additionally, there is a passenger endorsement which allows you to carry more than fifteen passengers.
Driving a school bus is an avocation that can bring in a lot of extra money and, it can be a very rewarding avocation.
