I was a programmer for 25-some years but I haven’t written a line of code since 2019. I now get my engineering jollies from the used school bus I converted to a motorhome and from the house I bought three years ago and am finishing up renovating. For money I drive a school bus, which pays about 1/6 of what I used to make but is infinitely more satisfying. As far as retirement goes, I’m hoping to die a painless death before AI replaces all the CDL jobs in the country. I think AI will work fine for school buses, mainly because kids are easier to replace the younger they are.
Ok, I had to reply because this runs parallel to my own retirement plans. What’s the easiest path to a CDL? What’s the cost and length of time instruction to actual licensure? Any caveats or roadblocks (pun not intended, but I’m not editing it out).
I know I can look this up on different school websites, but I wanted to get a first hand accounting of the process. My currently ill-defined goal is to be a bus driver for the local transit company (rural). Some F550 with a bus body, and some actual buses.
Do you have a Class B or C? Passenger endorsement, I’m guessing, too. Would it be wise to get a class B just in case I needed to pivot to driving something else, like a commercial dump truck for construction?
Some school districts will train you for the CDL, and some even pay you while you’re training (mine didn’t at the time). My training didn’t take very long because I already owned a used school bus and knew how to drive it, at least. You have to take four standardized tests (general CDL, airbrakes, passenger endorsement and school bus endorsement), have a driving exam, and take a 14-hour special school bus class (this is all in PA, at least). The standardized tests aren’t super-difficult, but you do have to actually know the shit, you can’t guess your way through it and hope to get a passing grade. I just crammed the free online tests over and over until I was getting 100% on them. I think it was maybe a month and a half between when I started my training and my first day on the job, but that was with not doing a whole lot each day. My district was (and still is) a weird combination of desperate need for drivers with a frustratingly slow pace of actually training people.
I have a class C. I wouldn’t bother with a class B unless I actually needed it.
I was a programmer for 25-some years but I haven’t written a line of code since 2019. I now get my engineering jollies from the used school bus I converted to a motorhome and from the house I bought three years ago and am finishing up renovating. For money I drive a school bus, which pays about 1/6 of what I used to make but is infinitely more satisfying. As far as retirement goes, I’m hoping to die a painless death before AI replaces all the CDL jobs in the country. I think AI will work fine for school buses, mainly because kids are easier to replace the younger they are.
Ok, I had to reply because this runs parallel to my own retirement plans. What’s the easiest path to a CDL? What’s the cost and length of time instruction to actual licensure? Any caveats or roadblocks (pun not intended, but I’m not editing it out).
I know I can look this up on different school websites, but I wanted to get a first hand accounting of the process. My currently ill-defined goal is to be a bus driver for the local transit company (rural). Some F550 with a bus body, and some actual buses.
Do you have a Class B or C? Passenger endorsement, I’m guessing, too. Would it be wise to get a class B just in case I needed to pivot to driving something else, like a commercial dump truck for construction?
Sorry, lots of questions, I know.
Some school districts will train you for the CDL, and some even pay you while you’re training (mine didn’t at the time). My training didn’t take very long because I already owned a used school bus and knew how to drive it, at least. You have to take four standardized tests (general CDL, airbrakes, passenger endorsement and school bus endorsement), have a driving exam, and take a 14-hour special school bus class (this is all in PA, at least). The standardized tests aren’t super-difficult, but you do have to actually know the shit, you can’t guess your way through it and hope to get a passing grade. I just crammed the free online tests over and over until I was getting 100% on them. I think it was maybe a month and a half between when I started my training and my first day on the job, but that was with not doing a whole lot each day. My district was (and still is) a weird combination of desperate need for drivers with a frustratingly slow pace of actually training people.
I have a class C. I wouldn’t bother with a class B unless I actually needed it.