Driving busses

[bigred]

Gary,what I meant was that as a whole we had an excellent safety record.During the time NC was using 16 and seventeen year olds as drivers ,I don't remember one fatality that was caused by a teen driver .Had one once where a brake line rusted into but there was no way you could fault the driver for that one .The buses back then were strait drive with hydraulic brakes and no PS Governored to 35 MPH. Of course these were easy to defeat 

[Zephod]

I am surprised that a school bus driver doesn't have to fill out a DVIR.  I am a part time driver for WDW and every bus has to have a pre trip inspection lodged into the DVIR and a post trip every day.  Also if there is a change in drivers on the bus the old driver logs out and the new driver logs in and checks the bus before he or she starts to drive. Every day that I work I drive at least 2 and most of the time three different buses.  Most days I am the last driver of my last bus so I have to do the post trip.  There aren't as many things to check on the post as the pre trip.  Our buses don't go off Disney property ( unless by mistake )   
Jack

We do a pre trip inspection. Basically, lights, glass, doors, alarms, stop arms, gauges, tires, seats. We do a post trip walk through of the interior. At the end of the day we drain the air tanks.

[ArtGill]

My first bus driving experience was a school bus in NC at 16.  I think the driving course I took to drive a school bus was so safety orientated that it has made be a better driver for over 50 years. Most students only drove for one year and didn't have time to get complacent.  Also, we also got paid $1.50/day.

You need to get your coach changed to an RV/Housecar because that exempt you from many regulations.

Art

[Zephod]

My first bus driving experience was a school bus in NC at 16.  I think the driving course I took to drive a school bus was so safety orientated that it has made be a better driver for over 50 years. Most students only drove for one year and didn't have time to get complacent.  Also, we also got paid $1.50/day.

You need to get your coach changed to an RV/Housecar because that exempt you from many regulations.

Art

Oh, undoubtedly. I was always a good driver. No accidents caused by my actions nor contributed to by my actions or inactions in at least 25 years. I thing doing the CDL has made me a way better driver. It has made me more observant and increased my braking distances. I find I look both ways more thoroughly when I cross railway lines now in my car.

The mechanic wants to remove the governor off my bus. I'm not so bothered. 55 is the most fuel efficient speed and the tires are rated at 65. I'm not in a tearing rush to get anywhere.

I'm the slowest bus driver on the lot because I refuse to go over the speed limit though I have on occasion found myself driving a school bus at 50 instead of 45 on the interstate (oops).

[bigred]

My first bus driving experience was a school bus in NC at 16.  I think the driving course I took to drive a school bus was so safety orientated that it has made be a better driver for over 50 years. Most students only drove for one year and didn't have time to get complacent.  Also, we also got paid $1.50/day.

You need to get your coach changed to an RV/Housecar because that exempt you from many regulations.

Art

They were strict as all get out too! If you got a ticket even if you were in your own car,your career was through!! Same if you were involved in an accident whether you were at fault or not plus they would actually go out and spy on us to make sure we were driving the way we were supposed to .To this day though,I can't take off on a hill with out seeing MR.Alexander getting on the bus with that danged drink bottle!!lol

[HB of CJ]

My first job school bus driving was back in 1969.  Kern High School District in Bakersfield Ca.  Their driver training program was superb.  Lots of time spent learning how to shift the Spicer and Fuller manual transmissions.  The main fleet was all Crown Supercoach.

Later my daily assigned ride was old Bus 21, a 1963 Crown Supercoach 3 axle 40 foot 10 wheeler.  One summer they turboed the 743 220 Cummings and hung a RTO 910 Fuller.  Ran up and down the Ridge Route every day.  Single stage Jake.  Very nice.  Easy shifting.

Those driving skills stayed with you.  Later driving a Fire Engine for the City Of Bakersfield Fire Department, those skills were passed forward to all the new guys.  Manual transmissions back then.  Young kids make great bus drivers if the time is taken to train correctly.

Also suspect they would make great airplane pilots, rocket scientists, brain surgeons and astronauts.  All it takes is smarts, time and dedication.  Oh ... to be young again.  Yikes!