DRIVING FOR DOLLARS

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Requirements

Formal requirements are a good driving record, good health, and the ability and willingness to obtain the required licenses. Drivers of big buses must obtain a Class "A" trucker's license plus the new federal truckers' license. It takes some study if you've never operated a large truck before. You'll have to take a road test for the state license. Usually the bus line operator will provide training and help you get a license. In some states, feeder van operators can drive on a regular class "C" automobile license. In others, they need a special limited-passenger license that requires a written test but no road test or federal license. Informal, but essential requirements include a lot of patience and the ability to discipline unruly kids.

Route Contractor

Some school districts operate their own bus lines. Others subcontract to independent contractors who own and maintain the vehicles and hire drivers. A major bus company is a major enterprise, requiring hundreds of thousands of dollars in investment capital for buses, plus a maintenance shop, mechanics, and an office staff. But, you may want to investigate small-route subcontracts—say, running one or two vans to carry kids to a regional vocational school or a lift-equipped van to serve special-needs students. Federally-mandated "chapter" special-ed laws also require that an occasional student be driven to urban centers for specialized or individually tailored schooling. Often parents assume the chore, but the school district may hire a driver and provide a vehicle. Pay is low, but you may be able to use your own vehicle if it is reliable enough. In this case, you will receive a mileage allowance and can file a "Schedule C" tax form to take a legitimate tax deduction, reducing taxable income by vehicle-operating and maintenance expenses equal to the mileage fee.

Contracts for established, permanent routes are usually put out for public bid. Obtain the past several years' bid list from your school superintendent, run out the number, and see if you can underbid the competition. It's hard to pay yourself a living wage simply serving as manager of a little firm that operates only a few vans or a small bus or two. If you serve as both administrator and driver, you can usually do nicely. (A husband-wife team I know—she maintains the vehicles and he keeps the books—has subcontracted a two-van route for years; with it they've bought a small farm, put two kids through college.)

You will not be a carefree employee and you will have all the headaches of running a small business. You'll need enough working capital ($5,000 or more) to convince the school committee that you can satisfy the contract. The bid you tender should provide you a fair return on money invested, adequate pay for the administrative time you spend, as well as coverage for all your operating costs: gas, wages, repairs, debt service, legal and accounting fees, taxes and insurance, and an amortization fund to buy replacement vehicles every three years or so. Don't plan to refurbish used vehicles and run them for the second 100,000 miles. Buses run up miles fast, country roads are rough on suspensions and tires, and student safety comes first. Even if the vehicle has been maintained impeccably, school districts look askance at any school bus much over five years old and/or that is approaching 100,000 miles on the odometer. Plus, repair costs become exorbitant when you begin replacing transmissions and front end parts. In snow country and mountain dirt roads where four-wheel drive is a necessity, a sudden rash of repairs on an aging bus fleet can bankrupt you.

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