School bus drivers have to go through strict training and testing before they are ever allowed behind a wheel, but there are many tricks to driving a bus that can only be learned with years of experience.
Shawn from SchoolBusDriver.org has over 25 years of experience in the school bus field as driver, instructor, and contractor and his time in the industry has shown him a few simple little tricks and tips that can make any driver’s job easier.
The tips cover everything from improving bus performance and making it easier to deal with bad weather to simple ways to help keep students behaving properly on increasingly long rides. You can find my favorite tricks below, but the full list is available on Shawn’s site.
1. Keep windows from fogging any time of year by opening the driver’s window just a couple inches. This keeps the air circulating through the bus from front to rear without a lot of cold air. A great side-effect is this helps alleviate some odors coming from the front as well.
2. During the coldest months, some school bus drivers keep a piece of heavy carpet material under their feet to help keep them off the floor while driving and insulate their feet from the cold floor.
3. A cheap can of ice remover is much better than spending your mornings scraping windows and cleaning mirrors by hand. If your buses are kept outside, this could be your best friend in winter.
4. If your fleet allows you to ride with the roof hatches open, popping the hatch even from front to back creates a venture effect which efficiently draws heat out of the bus.
5. Giving students a “thought of the day” posted inside the bus can help keep their minds busy on the ride. Shawn initially started the practice for elementary school students, but it turned out to be a hit even with the high school kids.
6. Many buses don’t have heated mirrors, even in snowy climates. If yours aren’t heated, school bus drivers can tie plastic grocery bags or even disposable shower caps over the mirrors to keep from having to scrape mirrors in the morning after a snow.
