I've been a bus driver for several years. I started in an excellent yard with a great boss and a close knit co-worker community. After three years of employment there the plug was pulled and the awesomeness was washed down the drain. I ended up at one of our sister companies. I had filled in as a spare driver there more than a few times so I knew everyone important and most of the monitors. Not alot of chances to meet the drivers when you're driving lol.
After three years of comradery I felt like one of the group. I recently switched companies altogether for a nice incentive bonus and an hourly raise. My previous boss took a job there so it seemed like a no brainer. It was in a yard/area that I had filled in at a bunch of times with my former company so I knew the area and a handful of the people who had stayed to complete the switch.
I have worked with many drivers & monitors; in the city and back woods, wealthy and poor areas, well kept and "don't these people pay taxes?" areas. However I wasn't prepared for the day to day ridiculousness of this place. There was mayhem the first month of school at least. In case you didn't know let me give you the generalist breakdown of my job: Get the sheet of who to pick up, where and when...and go do it. Simple right? There were calls every day from parents whose kids weren't picked up at all. When the driver was asked when he was at that stop they would respond " my bus doesn't go down that road", or "I don't do that stop." My boss was like "what do you mean it's right here on your sheet!" They would really respond with "well it wasn't last year." WTH
This was some weird shit I tell you. Granted it's a pretty small town but it has lots of Navy housing and a base. There's license plates from all over the country and some from outside. Did these people not have a clue that some people move either in or out of the town? I had one driver who was also a type of supervisor tell me to drive all his stops from last year before doing the ones on the list! I did this for three days and there were never any kids at the old stops. Then I started talking to the kids who responded that most of those kids either moved or graduated. DUH!!!
The school's weren't any better. I'm not sure what type of business relationship they had with the previous company but it's weighing heavily on us. o.k. so we had drivers not picking up kids, so now here comes all the schools putting kids not registered to our buses on and telling us to bring them home. Or get to a stop and there's extra kids that the school told the parents where and when little Johnny was to catch the bus. Only they didn't tell the bus company and maybe that bus was already full to capacity! So as far as safety regulations, we had overcrowding and emergency data responsibility was null and void. How can you keep track of whose on your bus where in an accident if the school (mind you most buses deliver 3 different ones am and pm) doesn't communicate with the bus co and you don't know the kids on your bus!
.....pretty sure there was a boy in that seat....who is it? ....Not sure cuz the school just threw him on the bus. Very scary.
It is slowly working itself out as we break everyone in. That's after a nasty write up in the daily local about us screwing everything up. Of course the long standing bureaucracy wasn't going to take any responsibility for being dumb asses. Mind you the grandfathered drivers are still super weird and fight over who goes where at the schools and where they park there buses in our tiny yard. They complain at each-other over the radio and they all think they know better than the other. Very annoying. I usually turn my radio down, which my boss knows and he'll call my monitor if there's an issue which there rarely is. I just drive the damn bus! I prefer to buffer negative energy away.
On a final note I am going to weigh in on the school bus seat belt issue. Most conventional size school buses are capable of carrying 71 passengers. A mini may hold up to 3o. So, the bus is smoking, filling the cabin. Kids are freaking out, some are injured, others non responsive. Most children kindergarten through high school don't respond well to emergency situations and even being in close proximity they won't register a command that you give them. They panic. How long do you thin it would take either the driver or monitor to unbuckle that many student who may not be able to unbuckle themselves due to freight and may be in shock. I say one or the other because one of them ( if you are lucky enough to be in a state that requires monitors...you may be on your own!) has to be at the emergency exit helping them off the buss and directing them to safety. Can you picture a mini full of pre-k on it's side that's been hit by a large truck? Most mini buses have seat-belts. More so for pre-k and special needs. Three year olds slide of the seat just from taking a 15mph corner lol. Please absorb this info before you weigh in. thanx for listening and Blessed Be!