No bus drivin forum. So here goes.

The gentleman who I know who upgraded his CDL did so because he drives those big multi million dollar buses for famous music acts and sometimes they have to pull small trailers. He's actually the head safety man right now for a major metropolitan transit authority.

 

Those.

I talked with two major artists drivers fueling twice in my life. I was starstruck like a teen and barely remember.

Here is what I was told by the drivers.

The money is good but where the star wants to go you go. And keep mouth shut.

That's about it.

Ive been run over too many times racing the Atlantic city casino buses along that part of 95 delaware tolls and philly south. They get to be a bully back in them days. Fast too. 50K on a 400 CAT makes them frisky...

 

I said to a truck driving school instructor I said "I don't get it, trucks have to (well used to) had to go 55 miles an hour cars were 60 school buses 55, but charter buses could hit the hammer lane and blow through at 75 miles an hour and nobody bats an eye.

I know a lot of the charter bus companies are not really governed and those buses are meant to roll. I think most of them use Detroit Diesel 60 series. That's what Cleveland South Eastern Trails used back in the day.

 

Im going out on a limb here. I know some of you will give me a hard time, but consider the late 80's and pre-1995 computer limitations a wild west so to speak. If you had the horses and top end you stayed in the monfort lane. (Hammer lane, 100+) some of the trucks Ive run did. Not to mention a delighted dispatch ready to stack 5 boxes for the hours that day to Philly drop yard by the hilton and back.

The buses were faster believe it or not. Having three of them nosing past me at 85+ is unnerving to me. Smiles all around but not the nice kind.

 

I've always wondered how the Greyhound driver thing works? Do you usually drive 10 hours straight then get relived by another driver and go to a hotel? Or do you drive maybe 300 miles to a station then another 200 miles in a different direction?

 

Former wannabe longhaul trucker here, been driving buses 10 years(never got hang of backing trailers.)
Pretty much every day I think about how much less stressful it would be to not have to haul my "precious" cargo.

Passengers can really be a pain in the as- sometimes. From the kids that want to run in the bus whose parents don't correct them to the screamers, never a dull moment. Thank God I went out on early s/s and now deal with them just over the weekend.

Maintenance and the lack thereof is a big problem as well. For example, having worked at two companies, one of which is one of the largest in the country, I can state as a fact, that for example, ABS lights are totally ignored and do not get fixed. I thought of this after reading the news release here about truckers getting nailed in the big recent brake inspection campaign. I understand that in September there will be another round, maybe buses will get nailed then.

Better have a lot of patience if you want to drive buses. Better have a thick skin also. Be prepared to get lots of complaints. No matter how much you try to serve them, it is never enough for some. Especially if you work hauling from the more exclusive hotels.

As far as tips go, biggest one I ever got was $400. Sometimes you get lucky. Tell you this though, if you hear "you are the best driver...," you ain't getting a tip.

Most jobs do require logs, but if you do city transit or less than 100 miles in distance, you don't have to.

Another thing to watch out for is the companies trying to get out of paying overtime. If one of their vehicles goes across statelines, they use that as the excuse not to pay any o/t to any driver, using the trucking federal rules. This I know for a fact as I never got a penny for years from the large bus concern I was with for 7 years. 99% of my time there was spent doing local shuttle and charter work as well as tours in the local socal area.

 

Every once in a while, Arizona DOT will show up at Grand Canyon, and pull complete inspections on every bus that comes there. I love it!

 

I have a question: why do you bus drivers do 75-80 with 55+ people on board? I seldom see a bus driver that actually is 'safe'
And the excuse of 'we have to get to point a,b,c' is invalid!!