The vast majority of people have been on a school bus at one point or another in their lifetime, but have you ever wondered how the person driving that bus got there? Many don’t know the actual process of becoming a school bus driver, so today we are going to share the ins and outs of the steps it takes to become a school bus driver through Rohrer Bus! Keep in mind, these are today’s buses and today’s standards, and things sure have changed over the years! These are not the same buses they were when we were most likely riding them.
At our company, we train and license all school bus drivers in-house (not to mention, it’s PAID!) This is great because it makes the process seamless, and (hopefully) easy to navigate through, with the help of our Personnel team, Trainers, and District Supervisors.
Applying to become a school bus driver is the first step in the process. At Rohrer Bus, this can be done online, over the phone, or in-person. This step is crucial because it gives us an applicant’s driver’s license number so we can run their Motor Vehicle Record. Safety is of utmost importance to us, so we very carefully screen each driving record from every single applicant.
If an applicant’s driving record passes our safety standards, we invite them to participate in a 15-20 minute phone conversation with a member of our Personnel team. This is the step where we share more information with them about the process, and also get information about them, their work history, and how they feel about becoming a school bus driver.
If a candidate has a good phone screening, we invite them to come into our office to do their new driver paperwork. This is an essential step for our drivers to receive their credentials to work within a school district. It also gives them the opportunity to tour a bus (which are completely different today) and sit in the driver’s seat.
Following a paperwork session, we send our future drivers to get their pre-employment drug screening and physical. This is an important step in the process, because all drivers must meet certain physical standards in order to do the job.
After we receive a candidate’s drug test and physical results, they are placed into a school bus certification class. At Rohrer Bus, we usually hold our certification classes two times a month. These are a minimum of 14 hours, and we now offer extra CDL tutoring sessions as well!
Every school bus driver must pass four exams in order to become licensed. They must take their general knowledge exam to get their Class B CDL, the airbrakes knowledge test, a passenger endorsement knowledge test, and school bus endorsement knowledge test.
After passing all four of the necessary knowledge exams, drivers can start their on-the-bus training. This lasts typically from 6 to 20 hours, with six being the state minimum. If an individual feels like they need more than 20 hours of training, they can certainly elect to spend more time with their trainer.
At Rohrer Bus, we want our drivers to be as prepared as possible for the job at hand, so we recently added in incorporating school bus ridealongs into the training process. This is where the candidate will go with an already licensed driver on their morning and afternoon school bus runs, so they can see first-hand what it’s really like.
Upon completing the aforementioned steps, the driver candidate will now be ready to take their road test. One of our in-house School Bus Examiners will take the driver out on the road to see if they can meet all of the qualifications and pass each required skill such as parallel parking, backing, railroad crossing, and many more.
After a driver passes their road test they are ready to start their new, rewarding career! Typically, school bus routes last between 2 to 2 1/2 hours in the morning in the 6:00 to 9:00 AM timeframe, and then again for 2 to 2 1/2 hours in the afternoon in the 2:00 to 5:00 PM timeframe. The split shift hours give drivers the opportunity to handle things they might not normally be able to do during the day, such as doctors appointments, grocery shopping, cleaning the house, or even taking a nap! We also allow our drivers to bring up to 2 preschool-aged children with them on the bus, which saves them time and money!
If you’d like to get into a rewarding career where you can serve your community while forming meaningful relationships with your coworkers and the kids you transport, consider applying to be a school bus driver! Although these steps may seem intimidating, our dedicated, knowledgeable, and friendly team will be there to help you every step of the way. For more information or to fill out an interest form, visit https://www.rohrerbus.com/company/drive/.
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