Decision time!

[CTyankee54]

We have friends who are school bus drivers but I've never asked him how much per hour they make...thought it might be a delicate question. However, they said that the benefits are better than the pay and that's one reason they drive. They only get paid for the time that they drive and have to get up at 4 am to make the rounds...then they have time off in the middle of the day and then work again later in the afternoon. Many of the routes are long because of the rural nature of the area (outside MB proper). One of my friends was thrilled when he landed a "helper" job at one of the schools which fills his time in the middle of the day. He also drives a bus for handicapped children which he says is much better than the general population busses. Of course, he says the drivers he knows that drive general population busses say they would never want to drive a handicapped bus...LOL. So, I guess it's all in perspective.

[CampingMom]

Originally Posted by Butterfly4u

Campingmom,
12 an hour is real good pay in the south.
Many people work for a lot less than that.
Where are you going next?

We have been looking into the Savannah area also. $12hr is good for a newbie who has never driven. But with almost 30 years in, I'd hope I'd be worth more than that along with 5 years working in the office doing dispatch, registrations, and administrative duties. No one pays for experience these days, no matter how much experience, you get to start over like you are fresh out of high school or college. I need to make a living wage.

[CampingMom]

Originally Posted by vrexy

I know nothing about the job of a school bus driver other than having ridden a school bus while I was in school. $12/hr. does sound low, given the amount of responsibility, but as someone else mentioned, for coastal SC that is very common. Wages here are low, from what I hear.

I am just curious - are bus drivers only paid for the time spent actually driving the bus, or are there other things involved in that job? Are they paid for a whole day, but only work for several hours, or what?

Most districts either pay per the route or by 5 hours per day. 180-185 days per year. It's a part time job. My drivers I supervise drive from 6:30am to 9am have off for a mid day break and come back in from 1:30pm to 4pm. Yes, there are routes that are longer and they go to the senior drivers since in the district I work for, the drivers pick their routes based on seniority.

I am hoping that I can get back into the dispatch office or into the management end again. I'm on the list here in NYS for assistant transportation supervisor with Civil Service. So I've got a good resume behind me, but if I have to start all over again like I've never driven a bus, I'll do it. But I'd want to get back to where I am now in my career. I hate starting all over from scratch. That's the issue with my industry. No matter how many years you have done the job, if you switch districts, you almost always go to the bottom as if you had never touched a bus before. It's why no one leaves to go to other districts, you lose out on a lot.