Appreciating the drivers of the big yellow buses

 Those big yellow buses; have you ever considered being a route or activities school bus driver? If so, you are a rare breed. First of all the question as to why would you consider that. I applaud those who do or have taken on this important occupation.

It is a long drawn-out process to begin with, securing a CDL and a passenger license called an S endorsement. I drove for the Perkins County Schools for 20 years, full-time, part-time and subbing. When I took the training classes they were held at the college in Kearney for two days, then written tests came next at the driver examiner office, driving the bus in an area with cones and directions from the examiner

as he rode with you, a walk-a-round of the bus to point out places on the bus that should be checked daily if not weekly. Before all of this happens a physical from your local doctor has to be presented to the examiner. That is the way it was back in 1989 when I started to get a license. The drivers today have some different avenues to follow in obtaining a license. The bus that you drive for the test determines which class of license the driver will get depending on GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Ratio) of the bus whether it is a Class A or Class B etc. Then there are yearly classes for Level 1 and Level 11 certifications. Often times a school bus driver might be called into the school office and be told that their name has been called at random from the state to report at the hospital for a urine test. The driver then has to initial the tape on the urine cup and supply a list of all the medications they are taking at the current time.

At the present time there are three Route Drivers who pick up and take students to designated points in Perkins County, they do not go door-to-door anymore. Richelle Janssen goes north to the Trinity Lutheran Church and picks up students from the parents waiting there, Rex Burge goes west to Venango to get students waiting at a church and then makes a stop in Brandon. Jeff Craig goes east and picks up students at the Elsie Post Office and the Madrid Post Office. District Drivers that drive for activities and sports events, field trips etc. are: Jeff Marquardt, Tim Bishop, Brandon Wood, Rex Burge, Jim Koop, Mark Bottom and Rick Dreiling. Buses used to go to each students homes to have them board. Before the consolidation there were five routes in the Perkins County Schools and three routes for Wheatland Schools. The buses had to leave much earlier and the students had to board earlier when the buses went door-to-door to get to school when the first bell rang. Ideally a bus was to spend two minutes at each stop. With the challenges of muddy roads, snow drifts and all kinds of weather it was a challenge. Driving, watching mirrors, counting heads, and traffic all before 8a.m.

Several years ago a group of EMTs from Southwest Public Health from Mid Plains Community College approached the school with a mock accident training event. Mr. Burke was the superintendent at the time and I had been driving a route bus and he asked me if I would take part as the driver of a bus for this training. The Grant Fire Department, sheriff’s office, ambulance crew, hospital employees and the school were all in this organized training. Diana Tate was the head of the drama department at the school and was asked to see if some of her students were willing to become “victims” in the “bus accident”. The EMTs dressed up the kids with wax to look like open wounds and fake blood and look-a-like injuries. We loaded the bus and I drove to the Turn-a-Round between Madrid and Elsie and parked the bus at an angle off-road. I was sent down the road to be out-of-sight to not be available when the ambulance showed up for them to ask me any questions. After the bus was in place the ambulance and sheriffs department and fire department were all called. They came to take the kids to the hospital. The students were given assignments as to what role they would play: laying outside of the bus, in-between the seats, wondering around in a daze etc. I was to provide a list of what students were on the bus that day and the names of the parents and phone numbers, which the ambulance took to the hospital and with the help from the school the parents were called. The parents were all in on this drill also. I called Don Softley and Diana Tate to check to see if they remembered this and if I had all the details correct. One of them said I had a better memory than they did.

Another time there was another training that just that involved a school van and students. Again I was asked to drive. The mock accident was staged just north of Mar’s Service. This time I was also taken to the hospital along with the students. Just the local emergency services were in on this one.

School bus drivers have to conduct bus evacuation drills twice a year. The older students are directed to help with the back doors and get out first and help lift the younger kids off the bus, the side door is also used. The kids are then directed to a place of safety away from the bus.

If you would interested in being a driver the school would probably be interested in extra drivers with the many activities that go on all school year.

If you are a driver you might have to put up with kids who get ill on the bus and vomit, or have medical issues such as a seizure. You need to check the bus after each route to see if there is still a little one who may have been lulled to sleep during the ride and can’t be seen unless the driver does a walk through and finds them laying down in a seat. Drivers need to do this anyway to see if kids have left snow boots, backpacks etc.

Another training that I took was HazMat training in North Platte at the HazMat building, John Long and Kurt Payne and myself and one other went to learn how to identify any dangerous incidents that might occur if a tanker truck or farm vehicles with chemicals were disabled in the vicinity of the bus and how to read the placards on the tanker truck and to report it and get out of the area to safety.

Here are some quotes I ran across on Facebook from drivers:

“A school bus driver is like a truck driver except their cargo whines, cries, vomits and won’t sit down.”

“Some people count sheep. I count how many times I’ve said ‘Sit down!’

“If you don’t drive it you’ll never understand it.”

“If patience were a sport, school bus drivers would be Olympic Champions.”

“At the Pearly Gates: it says here that you should be in Hell but since you were a bus drivers we’ll consider it time served.”

“Just a bus driver? I’m not JUST a bus driver. I also monitor 60+ students with ADHD, ADD, ODD, inside trash pickup, all while safely navigating through heavy traffic, and manage complicated routes with precious cargo, wake students up to get off at their proper stops, resolve conflicts, and make constant reminders to SIT DOWN all with a smile on my face! I’m no JUST a bus driver, I’m a BUS NINJA-MASTER!!!”

I told a teacher once if they wondered what it was like to drive a bus was just imagine their classroom with just a big mirror in the front of the room, behind their desk, and not being able to turn around to correct and control the class.

I always enjoyed driving the kids to and from school. I told the parents that I treated each of the students as my own kids while considering their safety and I tried to greet each with a smile each morning to help them with their day at school. I still like seeing those big yellow buses and remembering all of the students I drove for. Good memories along with a few gray hairs, that all goes along with the job. .