I am currently a city bus driver in Fresno, CA. Would a trucking co. consider 9 years of Class B driving at least a little bit of experience?

No, it needs to be recent OTR in a 18 to count.

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My childhood dream of becoming a truck driver turned into a nightmare!

No, but I would highly recommend you take a look at "tour" driving for the music industry.

With your experience, you can knock down 3 times what a truck driver makes in a year. If you get with the right company.

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Team Players.....
It's hard for me to play professional team sports. On a minor league salary.

Most good-paying truck driver positions require at least 1-year driving experience in a semi truck. Your bus driving experience will be factored-in by the first trucking company that hires you, after you've secured your class-A CDL. Your first year, you're likely to have to do OTR (over the road), driving at least 2 states, and up to 48-states & Canada. You'd have to put your personal life on hold for the first year as an OTR driver. The OTR trucking companies will pay you a meager earning thats about, or slightly above minimum-wage earnings (when you factor overtime pay laws, which mandates you're entitled to time and a half pay over 8 hours). You won't start making good $$ till you secure a driving job that pays by the hour. When you're on the clock, you get time and a half pay over 8 hrs, while OTR pays remains the same, regardless if you put in 10 hours, or 16 hours in a day.

A lot of these OTR drivers will boast making over $1000 a week. You should follow up by asking how many hours they had put in to earn this $1000+ weekly earning. Local hourly-paid drivers make just as much, but only average 60 to 65 hours a week. OTR drivers put in 90+ hours to earn the same pay. So there's no comparison. As a local hourly driver, you come home every night, have the weekends off, and be there for your family. As an OTR driver, you work long hours, meet the dregs of society (called shippers and receivers), and begin to question the wisdom of ever getting into this light of work, as your relationship with your wife and family suffers because they hardly see you anymore.

I have thought about driving private tour buses, but have had no idea how. Would you know who to contact, danc?

I only know of one place here locally that does it. But I can't remember the name. They require 5 years experience, to drive. My OTR experience, is worth squat.

You might research it on the web and come up with something. A check of the Nashville area may turn up something too.

Another avenue for you. The race curcuits. Cars, trucks, motorcycles. Many of them use buses as well, with a private driver.

Jobs for you, are limited by your ability and willingness to search for them. And they are some nice paying jobs.

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Team Players.....
It's hard for me to play professional team sports. On a minor league salary.

EXCELLENT idea Danc ! !

Could you imagine driving bus for a touring star ?!

My imagination is running overboard now LOL

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RADMAN56

As danc says, start looking on the internet. You might start by looking for tour companies as if you were trying to decide to TAKE a tour. But I must caution you that a lot of these private tour companys are fly by nights.

Be sure that any company you may decide to go to work for is reputable. And just because it has been around for a while does NOT necessarily qualify for that.

I would be willing to bet there is a Grey Line Tour company out of Fresno. I don't know for sure, and I am not recommending them, it's just the first one that comes to mind.

There are quite a large number of tour companies in SoCal. Some you would want to look at very closely. I have personal knowledge of one that NOBODY should look at working for. They do mostly ski charters in the winter, their busses are not well maintained and on and on and on. . .

I can imagine that driving a city bus in Fresno can get to be a little, uh well, interesting at times.

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