Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire School bus jobs? (yeah... I *dare you* to drive a school bus today!!!)

That's right... Everywhere you look, there is a shortage of school bus drivers. Every state, every city, every town, every school district. Well, duh!!!

Why is that, you ask?

KIDS TODAY ARE <expletive> BRATS!!!!

They don't give a "F" and their parents are too afraid to discipline them, like we all remember back when we were kids! Kids today have full access to the internet, social media, etc... and they are way too big for their britches, as the saying goes. A parent smacks their child today? Pfffffttttt.... the kid calls up DSS (Dept of Social Services) and reports their own mom/dad for "child abuse".

Anyway, believe me... honest and straight from the heart... It takes an act of God to keep a school bus on the road, with one eye on the road in front of you, and one eye in the rearview mirror watching the kids acting all crazy! Pull the bus over, put on the 4-way flashers, get up out of your seat, and use your "school bus driver voice". Well, to your surprise, little Johnny goes home and complains to his mom about the "mean bus driver". The mom calls the school, who then calls the county transportation (the school bus office), and.... *YOU* get called into the office!

I will be 62 next month and can collect early Social Security. God, please let me retire after 11 years of this nonsense! I am a retired military veteran (US Coast Guard), and already have healthcare, VA benefits, etc.. and don't need much to survive. I'm done....

ANYONE OUT THERE WANT TO DRIVE A SCHOOL BUS FULL OF SPOILED BRATS?!?

They start out at 20 an hour where I retired from

40 years ago for a couple years. That was enough.

"Rookies" just getting out of School Bus CDL training school --- $15 bucks/hr

Two friends, retired do it for extra bucks. One did it long enough for another retirement. Both were always involved with school activities, mostly sports and enjoyed the job of bus driving.

No I Choose Life.

I know some drivers who LOVE doing sports and field trips. They have it made in the shade, as the saying goes! Then again, I "heard about" a bus driver, in today's era, who kind of got into it with a hostile middle school student. Don't know, don't want to know, just know hearsay and/or rumors.

- Obnoxious middle school kid acted out, and tried taking a swing at the bus driver.
- Old gray haired bus driver (served in Vietnam), took matters into his own hands, and stood his ground, blocking the punch.
- MS kid used the most filthiest, foul, language, directed toward the old bus driver, and tried swinging again.
- The old Vietnam Vet bus driver, decided to use "self defense" as his plea, and restrained the MS kid in a headlock.

D'oh.... That was it.... Ka-Boom.... Instantly fired right then and there!! No matter what was said, who was a witness, etc... the bus driver "physically laid a hand" on the MS kid, and in today's world --- GOODBYE, YOU'RE FIRED!!!

They prolly require drivers get the jab too. F that.

Our bus driver was a cool dude when I was in school. I liked him. Every so often, he'd pull over and have someone that failed to follow orders spread eagle against the side of the bus for some licks with the paddle.

Jab? Oh yeah... From what I know, everyone... Principals, Teachers, Librarians, Bus Drivers, Cafeteria ladies, Custodians, etc.. *ALL* had to get the jab.

I used to run a garage for a school bus contractor, never drove though . We installed cameras in all the busses, and we would call in the parents to watch video of their kids jumping over the seats etc. Parents would stand there and say that’s not my kid..

Fighting on the school bus used to get you two weeks of walking to school, I know this from experience.

Many places it's like driving around a bunch of wild animals in a big box.

It was bad enough when I did it . 1970 -72

ButchA61- Teaching can be just like that. I can tell you most teachers get 18-22 students per class. They pile in 33-35 for me and they are the ones on the ropes. I have had very good luck recently showing them youtube videos of generative AI and how that if you don't work hard you'll be some lightbulb's bvitch.

I know... My daughter is a 4th grade teacher, and we (often hilariously) try to compare outcomes. I have the (bad) kids for maybe 20-25 minutes. She has them ALL DAY!

I tried once (fail) to explain to the awful elementary school kids, about what it was like when I was their age, back in the 60's. I opened up and said what need to be said, and didn't give a damn. I told them, that I misbehaved on my elementary school bus back when I was in school, and Mr. Parliman (I can still see his face in my mind --- glasses, gray hair, flat top crew cut, nasty and mean as a SOB!) couldn't deal with it anymore. He pulled the bus over, got out of his seat, came over to my bus seat, grabbed ahold of me by my jacket, picked me up out of my seat, looked me straight in the eye, face to face, and bellowed, "KNOCK IT OFF!" and then slammed me right back down into my seat!" Scared the sh** outta me!!
What I learned quickly enough, is that Mr. Parliman knew my dad, and all the other guys on the local volunteer fire dept & rescue squad back then. Mr. Parliman called my parents and told them what I had done on the bus. Ooooooo, the a$$ whippin' that I got.....
Anyway, long story short, I "politically correct" told this 60's school bus story to my elementary school kids, and the whole bus just sat there with "deer in the headlights" looks of shock. "Why didn't your bus driver go to jail?" "OMG.... I can't believe it!" "You parents beat you as a child?"

*sigh*

Funny timing. We were just talking about a couple of retired loggers driving bus here. Judging by the speed of the rigs on snow/ice, I've decided the kids are probably too scared to act out.

I taught and coached for 30 years. Driving a bus for athletic events and field trips was just an expected part of the job. It is totally different with its own challenges. I never drove a route.

The advantages of what I did were much better disciplined kids, and other teachers/coaches to deal with the rare issues.

But I worked a lot of days from 7-3, then drove a bus 3 hours to a ball game, then 3 hours home after the game. I got home between 2 and 4 AM many times.

We took 3 busloads of 8th graders to the gold mining museum in Dahlonega every year in October. It's about a 2-hour drive, but on some steep, narrow mountain roads. Since I knew the roads better, I was in the lead bus. One year on the way back we ran into thick heavy fog and rain coming down one of the worst stretches of road. I had to slow to 5-10 mph and couldn't see anything but about 10' of yellow line ahead of me on the road. We did this for about 20 miles before we broke out of the fog.

After we got back to the school both other drivers told me they were just following my taillights. If I'd driven off the road, they would have followed me.

It was a tremendous liability to be in that position with 40-50 kids behind me. I wouldn't do it again. But a friend of mine who retired the same year is now driving for a tour company. He was driving one of the buses on that field trip in the fog. He drives groups cross country and is making a lot more than he made teaching and being the band director.

They are so short of drivers they make the mechanics drive routes as part of there job description

Been there done that. I come from a long line of CDL holders. I spent 30 plus years in education, the last 25 or 30 as either principal, Title I, or Asst Superintendent. Also was a sub bus driver. The last 5 years I was Asst Superintendent in charge of Transportation, 16th section lands, technology and whatever else the woman elected superintendent decided not to handle. Had the old family name, never supervised anyone, came tight out of SPED classroom. Feckless and played on computer all day. Anyway had to fire a black bus driver who had 3 wrecks in one year causing our insurance agent to want to drop us unless he was gone. Fired him and could not find a driver for love nor money. I wound up with the route. 4:30 in the morning comes early. Route started at 6:15 and was 1.5 hours. Kids had to ride the bus without a restroom stop. Finally worked out and arrangements with some rural parents who let kids use personal restrooms. School provided the cleaning supplies and tissue and water association helped us out on their water bill. Bus route helped increase my retirement and gave me great insight on demographics and won parental rapport. Knew my county intimately. Was running for Superintendent until I suffered a stroke and short term memory loss and had to medically retire.

growing up in PENN in the 80s, we had a bus driver who had just gotten out of the USMC. Still had a high and tight hair cut, didnt say much to us, other than: SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP!