Or “How To Drive A School Bus”

My successful job application was for the role of School Bus Driver. Twenty-five or so hours a week, on a split shift, bussing the students of Chatham-Kent to and from their schools. I’d never driven a commercial vehicle before, and obviously had never ridden in a North American yellow school bus. But how hard could it be? Training free, but unpaid, so not too bad.

I’d applied months before and heard nothing, but the manager of the local bus company, First Student, called me and asked if I was still interested, and if so, would I come in for interview? I didn’t need asking twice.

At the bus yard, I was interviewed by the Safety and Operations Manager who, having commented that I had filled the many forms in really quickly, gave me a cursory interview, checked my drivers’ licence and told me when I was going to start training! The regulatory stuff regarding the bus drivers’ licence was more tricky, especially was when I applied for the licence, I had to submit a medical and a drugs test. Safety first.

Training went well, on road and off road stuff, and a whole heap of classroom work. Training was undertaken by a couple of drivers, suitably qualified of course, who did that as well as drive bus runs morning and afternoon, so training hours were nicely in the middle of the day. As I remember, it was November and stupidly cold, but hey, this is Canada I guess.

Things ground to a halt, though, when the the licensing people referred my application to the Medical Review Board, on account of my having had a TIA a couple of years previously. Cutting a very long story short, the application was approved months later and in late January 2015 I passed my written and road tests and became an Ontario School Bus Driver.

There’s much to write about that job, which can wait until later. I drove regular bus runs for a year before being elevated to a full time job in the office as Safety Officer. I became a Driver-Trainer (suitably qualified) and worked in the “Wash Rack” cleaning buses for a while. All along, I drove bus routes when the need arose. The pay was lousy, the expectations too high for the compensation, but it was an education, an experience, and a job.

All of that said, though, I’m very happy to be retired now.