TOLEDO, Ohio — More school buses are hitting the road, but the challenge to recruit school bus drivers is still ongoing in many districts.
Right now some students in Bowling Green still cannot ride the bus due to a lack of bus drivers. Similar problems happened in Bedford in the 2021-2022 school year.
As school officials continue to work to attract drivers, we're taking a look at the training that goes into this job. In order to drive a school bus, you must have a CDL, also knowns as a commercial driving license. Getting this certification means drivers know how to check commercial-grade vehicles before hitting the road as well as maneuver its larger frame around other objects and cars.
"We're out on the roads doing hands on driving, as far as being able to maneuver the vehicle, make safe left and right turns, get on and off the expressway, safe lane changes, great traffic checks, following distance and thins like that," Mike Moscinski, Trainco President said. Trainco is in Perrsyburg and trains hundreds of CDL drivers every year.
These steps get much trickier when you put kids into the mix. School bus drivers typically have to go through additional training on top of getting their CDL.
Typically school districts and the state board of education have different requirements which teaches them how to keep kids on and around the bus safe. Those who teach these courses say there is a lot that goes into simply driving the bus itself.
"[You have to make sure] students are behaving on the bus, making sure they know how to exit the vehicle in case of an emergency and things of that nature. In order to earn that credential you have to test in a yellow school bus on a CDL test. But if you don't bring a yellow school bus you would not earn that extra endorsement," Moscinski said.
The lack of qualified drivers for school district is also found in the trucking industry as well.
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