A short video of my night job

I took my flip video camera to work a few nights ago and played around.

This is my first video if this type, so please overlook the presentation. I am now a school bus driver during the day and a truck driver in the evenings. I thought that I would get out of a truck for good, but I ended up back in one.

Here,s the link: http://www.youtube.com/user/kc8vje#p/a/u/0/296GgvmwSMU

Comments would be appreciated.

 

Thanks for the insight. At the time, I never thought of that. I figured no one would want to see my ugly mug on the screen anyhoo.

The shakiness was a product of the truck and the fact that I had a cheapo camera. but, Later on, I will have a better quality one.

As for the trucking scene.... you never know... Maybe one day I'll go full time again. But as for the moment, the retirement and benefits that the county offer far outweigh that of any trucking company I have worked for. Plus, I can move up in the school system with my electronics and computer training.... You never know.. Fat boy could be an IT nerd one day.

The night job is part time (read: come and go as I please) no quotas, no pushy dispatchers, make my own hours, etc, etc.... Just come in, steal a truck, do a pretrip, and leave.

I have (Lord forgive me) thought of buying a truck and heading back out on the road again pulling frameless end dump, but I am just not ready.

Again, Thanks for the helpful comments.

 

It's quite simple actually.

I work one hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon driving school bus. Then I work 4 to 6 hours driving truck in the evening. Sometimes I work as much as 10 hours total (mostly near the weekend).


The contract I signed with the school board stipulates that I can have a second driving job, but I cannot work more than 8 hours at the second job daily due to HOS. I do have to run 2 logs though. This is just because both places have specialized logs for each job.

I have to be careful not to exceed the 11 and 14 rule. I have never made it to 70 as of yet. I am just too lazy. The best thing is that the 14 hour rule does not apply to official vehicles. So my clock starts at 6:30 and stops at 7:30 and starts again at 3:00 then ends at 4:00. So sayeth the transportation director and a DOT cop I flagged down last Friday.

This comes at a price though. There are a ton of additional rules piled on you as a bus driver that the normal truck driver doesn't have to follow.

 

Well... REDD is right somewhat. We do use logs, just not the traditional logs like the interstate carriers use.

They have a pretrip section, a section for your hours, a section for student count, etc..

The other logs are similar, except that there are places for weight per load, pickup/dest. location, ticket/invoice numbers, etc..

No having to draw lines...

 

What I have been told is that all "official" (read: government owned and licensed vehicles) are not regulated directly by the FMCSA. The buses, in fact, are governed under the US Department of Education (ultimately) and then by the individual states. The department of education then make rules regarding hours, safety, bus specs, maintenance, etc, etc..

Most of the rules regarding HOS do not apply since we travel a short route (mine is about 40 city blocks approx) (on a tough day it takes me an hour to do it in the AM, and the same in the PM)

We rarely travel out of the county, much less the state. If, by some reason, we travel out of state. It is considered interstate commerce and the appropriate forms are to be filled out that have the starting and ending mileage, manifest (student count, roll call, items stowed on board, etc), fuel info, and hours in transit. If there is an overnight stay, I get a hotel and all meals paid until I get back.

The night job is in another state. Since I live on the border of the other state. I use my personal vehicle to drive the 10 miles to get the truck. Then I travel in state only. I work about 3-4 nights a week and anywhere between 4 to 8 hours a night. This is logged on what we call a "pre shift sheet" It has local haul info, weights, pretrip, fuel, and route/mileage info. This same cookie cutter sheet has been in use for years by nearly every trucking company in the area. I have been told that it is common practice to use them both as in state and interstate log sheets for the drivers.

Not too sure if I can be more specific.. But I can try. If I do not know directly, I will ask someone above me and try to relay it.