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largebus
Advanced Member
USA
468 Posts |
 Posted - 11/10/2001 : 1:03:09 PM
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How many of the bus drivers here have driven other buses (ie shuttle buses, transit/commuter buses, private buses or commercial/charter/tour buses)? How does school bus driving compare? Which is the highest paying? How would you rank these 5:
-School Bus Driving
-Public Transit
-Shuttle
-Commercial
-Other (nonprofit, private)
I look forward to seeing what people think!
"Getting them there is half the battle" |
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cowlitzcoach
Advanced Member
USA
325 Posts |
Posted - 11/11/2001 : 08:36:55 AM
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It is really hard to compare the different kinds of bus driving since they are so very different.
School bus driving is regular work with lots of time off. If you work for a school district you then are usually eligible for the state retirement and medical/dental/eye care.
Public transit usually pays more per hour and more days than school bus driving with the same kinds of benefits.
Shuttles can be extremely boring if you have to drive short trips many, many times. Pay and benefits go from really good to really poor.
Commercial, as in Greyhound and charter bus driving, is extremely different from any other kind of driving. As long as the passengers are not doing anything illegal, you the driver really do not have to worry about them. If you have a problem you can drop them off somewhere with a phone, give them a quarter, and then you can go on your way. Pay generally in the industry is $10.00 per hour plus per diem for days away from home. Benefits are usually not that great.
Churches, YMCA's, and other not-for-profit type operations usually doesn't pay anything. If they do pay, it is usually minimum wage. Most times the equipment can be pretty poor.
The real upside of driving charters is two-fold. First, no two days are the same. Not only will you have different locations but the group changes as well. Second, most of the time the passengers will tip the driver. Sometimes the tips will be more than the wages.
My favorite would have to be charter work for a lot of reasons. Chief among them is I don't have to deal with student discipline and uncooperative adminstrations.
Mark O.
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largebus
Advanced Member
USA
468 Posts |
Posted - 11/16/2001 : 6:10:22 PM
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I would imagine that charter/motorcoach driving would be a lot of fun. All the drivers at our local company (Coach USA of WNY) love it. Public transportation seems a bit risky, as here in Rochester NY an RTS (Regional Transit Services) driver was killed in an apparent homicide. All the drivers pulled over for a moment of silence. Intercity bus driving seems even worse. I think non profit would be fun to do as a part time job. I would imagine school bus driving is the most rewarding.
"Getting them there is half the battle" |
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thomas86_a
Top Member
USA
4413 Posts |
Posted - 11/16/2001 : 6:38:40 PM
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I couldn't imagine driving anything other than my big yellow school bus. There is just something that sets school bus driving apart from the others. For me its driving my good old Thomas Built School Buses, for others it may be different. As CowlitzCoach said he likes charter work because he doesn't have to deal with student discipline and uncooperative administrations. I've been driving for 23 years, I havn't had a student yet that has made me loose any sleep at night. I can handle the job, admin I just deal with our pompous superintendant as little as possible.
Thomas Built Buses- The best buses on the road.
Posts dedicated to 86-A. The best will never be forgoten.
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buswench
Active Member
USA
38 Posts |
Posted - 11/16/2001 : 9:12:21 PM
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I have driven all of the types of buses that you have mentioned, however I only did a shuttle run (which was inside a steel mill). Before you drive a charter bus, you have ideas of all the things that you will get to see. If you don't care what you see, then it will not bother you too much. When I would get in an area like Rapid City, I would have a list of things that I wanted to see, but always had to follow the agenda of someone else. I also was considerably more fatigued as a charter driver. The steel mill left me feeling as though my lungs were coated with the soot that was residual on the seats and floor. The transit bus was really boring for me... back and forth.. back and forth....I just love those school buses. Of course, each area has it's bad and good points. Supervisors , I thought, were a bigger pain in the butt in transit driving. At least on a school route,if traffic is heavy, or weather is bad, I did not have to explain and explain why I did not drive like a wild woman to stay on the appointed time (it seemed like parents wanted the children behind someone safe and a little later..but CTA riders have jobs to get to, and they often expect timliness no matter what the conditions are).
San |
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SchoolBusCharter
Senior Member
USA
61 Posts |
Posted - 11/20/2001 : 12:49:04 PM
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The best driving vehicle is a coach, then school bus and transits for large passenger capacity. Nothing like a commercial Champion with AC in summer and comfort, but give me a yellow bus anyday. In my career I have driven almost everything.
Ryan Mathews |
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Debusguy
Senior Member
USA
114 Posts |
Posted - 12/04/2001 : 1:30:06 PM
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I can identify with your question,as I started in public transit back in 1980, worked my way into the office/operations by 1986, then left to become transportation supervisor of a rural district in Pennsylvania in 1993. Many similarities & dissimilarities..some beneficial from the standpoint of a public transit driver, some better for the public school bus driver. Public transit drivers usually do not have to 'jump through hoops' when dealing with a student discipline problem. I had the ability to ask an unruly group of middle schoolers to exit the bus (after they had just put their fares in the box, I might add.) Reflecting back to that time, it seems strange but rue that parents will more readily accept that their child was in the wrong in a public transit setting, but will 'circle the wagons' when a school setting is involved. In terms of daily work, public transit offers a more varied day. You could have a day-shift- from about 6:00AM to 2:00PM, a 'Banker' - from about 10:00AM to 6:00Pm, or a Split (most like a school run, but usually dedicted to the local work force). I remember, however, public transit as being pretty tedious over the long run, which is why I chafed at the bit to leave.. maybe it was the 2,000th trip to the trip to the malls, or the fact that snowy days did not affect whether we ran or not.
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BusBoy
Top Member
USA
2042 Posts |
Posted - 12/05/2001 : 05:55:04 AM
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I drove for a company (FedEx) that shuttled people to and from their parking lot. This was a very boring job!
I am on a call sheet for a local Coach company that makes alot of trips to casino's, college and Schools hire for long trips out of state. The money for the charters is not good, but you make really good tips! I love to drive a good group of people that you can really have a good time with!
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Bus Driving
