My location was great, fantastic manager, but not enough hours - School Bus Driver First Student Employee Review

3.0
Jan 2, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The manager at my depot was one of the best managers I've ever worked for. They're very safety-oriented, the Safety Manager gives morning announcements reminding us about safety. Any issues with speeding, idling, hard braking, or fast accelerating, they bring up and see how we can correct it. The training was alright, they do train you to drive, and cover most of the cost with getting your Class B CDL with Passenger/School Bus and Airbrake endorsements, as well as have a mobile DOT approved examiner for your DOT Physical.

Cons

Not enough hours. You're guaranteed 5 hours per day. It's a split shift system, so you go into work in the morning, complete your morning runs, then come back in the afternoon for your second run. Anything over 5 hours is additional on top, paid at your hourly rate. But with $27.32 per hour, you only get about $130 per day, ultimately making your hourly rate around $17 if you don't have more work. Kids nowadays are incredibly disrespectful. It's very hard to have the troublemakers removed from your bus, partially due to the No Child Left Behind act. Keeping your bus clean can be pretty difficult. Call offs can be annoying, due to having to cover an unfamiliar route. Their dispatcher and manager team is decent at handling it, but typically what will happen is your route may get pushed to someone else, and you have to cover another route. They do pay you an immediate 1 hour rate plus anything extra after the one hour, but if they trash your bus, cleaning it is considered Non Revenue work, meaning you get paid around $11 per hour for that.

Explore other reviews about First Student

5.0
Jan 1, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good people, Hardworking, supportive towards medical care

Cons

no cons felt in my tenure

4.0
Jun 14, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Largest employer in the industry. Positive structural changes Investment in infrastructure

Cons

Frequently behind the wheel of a bus which limits value at position Very long hours due to need to complete work while spending significant portion of the day filling in on open routes

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