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80-RE4
Top Member
USA
5700 Posts |
 Posted - 09/01/2004 : 8:12:48 PM
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Today, i was at the point that I just wanted to quit. I wanted to hang up the keys and never come back. I couldn't though. I have some wierd obsession with the school bus industry that is keeping me here.
Today was a bad day, none the less. It started off well and deep in the back of my head, I knew it was going too good.
I chose a bus route that I thought I would like. It was pleasant, challenging, and I knew the area. Challenging meaning that it was (Safe/challenging) Just long I guess you could say.
I chose the route. A few days after, I learn all routes have added stops and turns and twists and this and that -that were not previously on the route sheets. But we already chose them. I understand that this is normal and I am not fussing over that.
I was just fussing over a idiotic UNSAFE thing I had to do, which was back up a bus in a day care center that BUSES MY SIZE have never done till the computer system made them go up there. It took me 12 minutes to back the bus up. TWELVE MINUTES for ONE STOP for ONE CHILD. I was nervous, discusted and i could go on.
I had to listen to the parents Say "Where were you" and so forth. I don't know if what I did was right, but have you ever been nervous about backing up, then it changes your mood? I don't know if I should have done this, but at each stop, I told the parents that this bus has to turn in to "XXX DAY CARE" and most of them could not believe it (alot of them know how small of a parking lot). I told them to call the transportation dept. and complain. ( I think that was a bad move on my part, but as you see, I can talk till I'm blue in the face, but nothing will change unless the parents complain)-
I am upset at myself because I am a safe busdriver. I am trying to determin if i am a "Good busdriver" Because many bus drivers can and do turn around in their with no help. Maybe I just suck at backing up and didn't want to chance it .
Do you think I did the right thing in telling the parents to Please call and complain. I told them exactly where the bus goes. They do have a right to know where their child's bus goes into don't they? I felt like I was betraying the transportation dept. (the person who runs it is very nice) but at the same time, I felt like I was being betrayed and being put in a dangerous situation.
And a K. child got off at the wrong stop. It is my fault. I should have checked all of those name badges but it was so hectic I was trying to do the best I could by making sure everyone's mom got their child. The boy ended up back with his mom safely, that's all that mattered. If anything ever happened to that kid I could not live with myself, but thankfully he was okay. We are not told to check name badges as they get off-or maybe that's just common sense, but what about the cars, the traffic (not in keeping them, but watching them) What about watching the kids where they get off, where they go, ETC. It seems as if parents don't understand the dangers of the school bus. I told them Please keep your kids away from the bus or I won't leave the stop, some say Thank-you for being so concerned, some look at you like you have ten heads.
This is my fourth year, I've never had such a bad start-off in my career, and I almost said Good Bye, but I am attached to it.
I was so nerve-shooken by the end of the day, I gave up that route and took on another one. I feel like a quitter but I think I'm doing what's right and safe, and as I told my co-worker, that route is someone else's headache now. Someone else who feels more confident in backing up in a small area can do that. Maybe they can just wip the bus around, maybe I don't know how to properly back a bus up, but I did not feel safe.
I keep my first two runs the same but just a different last one, so I was happy my manager let me do that. The catch: I still have a turn-around where I have to back up, but this one is safer. My manager is trying so hard to make things work, but how do you make people happy with so many things wrong. |
Edited by - 80-RE4 on 09/01/2004 8:16:16 PM
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dc_international
New Member
USA
5 Posts |
Posted - 09/01/2004 : 8:16:25 PM
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| Sorry to hear about your bad day. I knew I would get good insight and tips by registering here..this will be my first year as a driver...but all in all, we have a good staff and lots of support from our supervisors and lead drivers. I think/hope that my year will be good. Again, sorry to hear about your day. I can identify with your "backing" concerns. I've gotten pretty good at it..but only in "training". I'm sure in real world situations, it can get very hectic. Hopefully I'll never have to deal with routes like that. Good luck, tomorrow will be better. |
'99 International. HCPS Bus #938-Richmond, Virginia |
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80-RE4
Top Member
USA
5700 Posts |
Posted - 09/01/2004 : 8:31:46 PM
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Thanks Dc...We all have bad days and this forum is a great place to vent/share ideas/and get some good tips! Not all days are bad days, but this past week hasn't been my cup of tea. I want to be happy at my job, so i gave that part of my route up. Why be miserable! Maybe this "run" will work out better. |
Edited by - 80-RE4 on 09/01/2004 8:32:46 PM |
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CountGirl
Top Member
USA
823 Posts |
Posted - 09/01/2004 : 8:48:36 PM
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(((96 hugs for you 96)))
Anyway...about the T-Around...by telling the parents what you did you have crafted a good situation. Yes, it may sound bad, but if parent complaints are the only thing that will make the transportation department listen, go for it. I've never seen XXX Day Care's parking lot, obviously, but keep in mind you are driving a 2000 Amtran RE with difficult visibility out the tail because you cannot see all the way down as with a FE or a Conventional bus. [Please do not take offense, 2000 AmTran RE or 96.] If a child or object were to be in the way you would not see them. I have followed a neighboring town's AmTran RE around in my Durango and felt as if I was invisible. The parking lot sounds as if it is a difficult, unnessacary(sp) and UNSAFE t-a. I say unnessacary(sp) because until the computer system said you had to go up to the daycare, you never did. That means you have a valid reason for your complaint and frustration....state the unsafe reasons (aka the size and type of your yellow friend) and everything else; state that while you understand that a smaller bus may be able to make that t-a yours cannot. Take measurements, take statements from parents and citizens. If applicable try to get the daycare to write in with a statement. Get all the support you can get....I know you gave it up, but I encourage you to fight it.
I encourage you to fight it for this reason:
You may save a child's life.
Countgirl |
Give me a yellow object. Yes. Right now. I need my yellow chocolate, for goodness sake! |
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CountGirl
Top Member
USA
823 Posts |
Posted - 09/01/2004 : 9:06:34 PM
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[Please think upon last post before reading this one]
I understand your problem completely, AmTran. I said that in my last post I know but I just feel like stating it again to show my support of ya Around here in my district we run BB FE's and Thomas FE's, right? [We also run a few oddballs but it would be too lengthy.] On the night in question, I was riding on a 13 or 14 y/o BB T/C2000. This was 84 pass, so it's pretty big. I live on a rural road with a nice little u-style t-a that you CAN get a bus down..."BIG THOMAS", in fact. [Big Thomas is a BB FE 84 pass, but bigger in size than the TC2000.] When I told the driver where I lived and that it was a deadend road, she told me that we could not go down it because of the size of the bus and the size of the t-a. I told her that she could. She explained to me that she could not get down some of the town streets with her large bus and could not make most t-a's with her large bus either. At that point, she is my only ride home and I am an eighth grader at seven o'clock at night with no way to call Mom. That's when I told her, "But JJ and CT can do it in BIG THOMAS!" Which is of course, at that point, the biggest bus the busbarns have. Needless to say, I got home that night, the bus made it around the turn around, and JJ got news the next day: The only way Count got home that night was because she mentioned safe driver's best friend's name and the name of the biggest bus the bus barns have.
Countgirl |
Give me a yellow object. Yes. Right now. I need my yellow chocolate, for goodness sake! |
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mlkdrives41
Top Member
USA
2055 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2004 : 09:13:10 AM
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| Honey we all have bad days, weeks, months...Some days you excell some days you just survive. |
Nothing great has ever been accomplished without enthusiasm! |
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80-RE4
Top Member
USA
5700 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2004 : 2:56:32 PM
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Thanks CountGirl and Mlkdrives and Dc for you advice, i appreciate it, it helps alot.
Well, yesterday was a bad day, today was a better one....I like my new route. The Kids are so good. The other kids were good too but too loud, these kids are the opposite. I can't blame the other kids, they have to wait at one stop for ten minutes. The other route was mostly highway so it was hard to stop and pull over.
Countgirl, thanks. It's now someone else's headache, not mine. I know that sounds like a bad attitude, but If I hit a car while trying to back up, the blame will fall all on me.. So why should I take the risk.
My Amtran runs so nice now! I just have to clean it a bit.
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Edited by - 80-RE4 on 09/02/2004 2:57:55 PM |
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gwfastsr
Advanced Member
USA
275 Posts |
Posted - 09/04/2004 : 12:48:43 AM
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| 96 Amtran RE I am glad you solved your problem and decided to hang in there. Last Thursday ( 9-2-04) while taking my wife to work I came on to a situtation where a school bus driver was trying to turn around and traffic just wouldn't let her. It's a 4 lane highway with a turn lane in the middle. It goes through several small towns. And in the morning and afternoon very busy. I pulled up to the drivers window and asked if everything was alright. She said yes, but she had to go back to the school which was only a couple of miles back. People going to work in the morning can be so rude and uncaring. Around here they stay that way all day. Sorry I just had to say that. So I pulled my car up at a slant to block traffic. That gave her at least only one way of traffic to watch and she made her turn around. She waved her hand and blew me a kiss. People really do not realize how much effort and ability it takes to drive a school bus and keep those children safe. But they do expect it. Bad days are bound to happen but hang in there. Those good days always outway the bad ones. |
KEEP YOUR WHEELS ON THE ROAD AND YOUR PASSENGERS SAFE. AND MAY THE GOOD LORD BE WITH ALL OF YOU. |
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80-RE4
Top Member
USA
5700 Posts |
Posted - 09/04/2004 : 03:21:21 AM
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Gwfaster...that was nice of you to help her out! Well, i did it again today and got stuck backing up. My new route has a back -up turnaround also, but I went in it the wrong way.
I backed up the wrong way, into the wrong street, and was too nervous to back up because these children were around and kept riding their bikes around the bus. I called in for assistance ,and another bus helped me. I think I did the right thing by asking for help -even though everyone who heard me probably thinks :Whats with this bus driver doesn't he know how to drive / back up a bus:
My motto is -when i doubt ask for help, why risk hitting anything. I hope I did the correct thing!
I did go on someone's lawn, I hope they aren't too mad.
Question: Does going on someone's lawn constitute an accident?
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IC
Top Member
USA
3413 Posts |
Posted - 09/04/2004 : 08:09:40 AM
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I feel your pain, Amtran! My middle school run has FOUR turnarounds and my elementary run has two. ARRRGGGH. Our sheets just say turn around, but they don't say where......and there are large cul-de-sacs at most of them. Unfortuneatly, the last I heard, we are not supposed to turn around in cul-de-sacs (it ticks off the homeowners). But, I'm going to do it until the boss tells me not to.
I'm new, so I can plausibly deny that I knew about that rule.
And since I no longer drive a RE, it should be easier, since there is a lot more glass in the back of a conventional bus. We are supposed to post a kid in the back as a lookout when backing, but I'm not sure I trust most of my young yahoos. They might think it would be cool to see me crunch sumthin. LOL |
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CountGirl
Top Member
USA
823 Posts |
Posted - 09/04/2004 : 08:21:55 AM
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AmTran...
Never feel embarrassed about asking for help. Ask for help and assistance if you need it, no matter what. Opinions are not something to be concerned about - I'm certain your T/D appreciates your concern and the parents too. It's when you don't ask for help and need it problems arise.
BTW, IC....about the yo-hoos? Find ONE you can trust, and ONE backup in case your ONE appointed is gone. Maybe have a letter-writing contest on a certain topic (like why I want to be IC's trusted child  ) and you pick the best letters and have some sort of an agreement with the kids. In all fairness if you have a large route and many applications switch monthly or something. After a good session with the trusted kids (the month they work) a small gift like a bag of candy might work to pay them off.
Of course, you must check with your T/D about all the straightness of that...
Count |
Give me a yellow object. Yes. Right now. I need my yellow chocolate, for goodness sake! |
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80-RE4
Top Member
USA
5700 Posts |
Posted - 09/04/2004 : 08:51:44 AM
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Thanks everyone for the advice.........IC..that sounds like a good idea about having the students help. The thing is.......Where I back up- I am with the Kindergarten kids. I know they would love to help me out, but being Kindergartners, no way
I think I know every route in town now. I've been like a nut today, trying to reasearch what bus can take that off my route and how that route can be re-arranged. I think I found a small bus that goes in that "area" somewhat. I think a half bus should "back up" over there, instead of a full 40 footer, it makes sense.
I'm going to suggest it to my T/D, maybe it will work, let's hope-
I feel like Inspector Gadget -or a private investigator trying to figure out how the route can work better..I hope Im not over-stepping my boundaries -I am going to write down what i think will work better....and I'll pass it in. The most they can say is No, right? Hopefully they'll say yes! That my anxiety level will be a little lower.
No matter if it be a front engine or rear engine I have this fear / anxiety about reversing a bus. Unlesss of course it was a half bus, those are easier.
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I felt like quitting today
