First Student Bus Driver/School Bus Driver reviews

3.5

72% would recommend to a friend

(502 total reviews)

John Kenning

68% approve of CEO

70% positive business outlook

Bus Driver/School Bus Driver employees have rated First Student with 3.5 out of 5 stars, based on 502 company reviews on Glassdoor. This indicates that most Bus Driver/School Bus Driver professionals have a good working experience there. First Student is rated in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) by Bus Driver/School Bus Driver professionals compared to other employers within the Transportation & Logistics industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

502 reviews
4.0
Jan 14, 2024

Good Part Time Job

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The hourly wage is higher than most part time jobs in the area.

Cons

There are no benefits (insurance, paid time off).

1.0
Jan 7, 2024

My Thoughts

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

There are some fantastic people who work there.

Cons

Management is disrespectful, and does not support the people.

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.

Viewing 106 - 108 of 502 Reviews

Glassdoor has 5,110 First Student reviews submitted anonymously by First Student employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if First Student is right for you.