The job sucks. I did a bunch of research because I keep getting spammed with these ads on facebook, they promise $20-30/hr, they will help you get you CDL class B and endorsements, then you drive a school bus. The problem is the pay, and the shifts.
CDL Class B – b does not stand for “bus” like you might think. A class B is basically any type of vehicle over 26000 pounds – such as a dump truck, school bus, box truck, also it allows you to drive those vehicles with a small trailer attached. There are jobs that pay $60/hr for CDL class B drivers.
The split-shift. You are required to work 2 hours in the morning, and 2 horus in teh afternoon. They pay you 4 hours for that day. So your schedule looks like something like this:
Drive to the bus yard and be there at 6am. Drive the bus route and bring kids to school, and now you are done with your shift and no longer being paid. You have a school bus that you are responsible for. You can either drive it all the way back to the yard, or park it somewhere and sit around for hours. Most drivers will sit in the bus all day, from the moment they start their shift, til the moment they return the bus to the yard. So in turn, you work 4 paid hours, but have 4 hours unpaid, sitting in a bus. They don't want you to waste gas so you'll likely just sit there in extreme heat, cold, whatever. Then you have to go back to the school and drive everyone home for the second 2 hour shift. Then you have to drive back to the yard, get your car and drive home.
The pay – again it's a CDL Class B. If you work one of these jobs, see how long its required before you can take your CDL class B they helped you earn, and go make more than double your pay and drive a dump truck or something else that Class B covers.
And then there is the job itself. Dealing with school children, being harassed by them and such. We've probably all ridden on a bus and seen the shit kids do while they ride the bus. I remember most of the bus drivers being miserable jerks. Now I know why.
I am confident that this is how the majority of the school bus driver industry operates. It's ridiculous, and I feel very bad for anyone being taken advantage of in this sort of situation. I'm also confident there are a few bus companies that actually pay their employees fairly, but those are outliers and it's not the norm.