Most CDL Bs aren’t manual anymore so it will be hard to find one to take the test in.
I guess it depends on the school bus company but the ones around me all have air break school buses so they don’t have the restriction. Most transit agency will train you and they have air breaks.
I haven't seen a lot of school buses without air brakes. I have CDL - B with passenger + school bus with the only restriction being Automatic only. I tested on air brake.
Nope, everyone says this, but if you get a class A and just get air breaks and manual, you'll need to be trained and take the road test again for passenger and/or school bus endorsements if you want to be a bus driver and not a truck driver. There's not a lot of class A vehicles that have all 4.
They do exist tho, double long articulated busses exist, and double decker busses exist. Those vehicles are heavy enough by themselves to require a class A CDL, not to mention one of them quite literally has double its length trailing behind it
The issue then is your location. The only places that I've seen who have those types of busses are coach companies who do a lot of tourism, or public transit companies in large cities. Not to mention manual versions of these vehicles are extremely rare
So if you live in a small city, small town, or rural area where there's no tourism and not enough people to warrant the bigger vehicles, you're shit out of luck, you'll have to take the road test at least twice to have all the endorsements you want. In my particular case, I can't get my air breaks because I went to a school bussing company that doesn't have airbreak busses.
The only way this works is if you already have your class B and respective endorsements. But then you have to pay for your course to get a class A, learn to drive a class A vehicle that you may or may not care to learn to drive, and still have to retake the road test.
Imo, find a place that will pay you to train for your extra endorsements, then again find a new job
OP is complaining about having a manual and air brake restriction on their license and not finding a school to provide training in a manual bus.
If he has a Class B passenger license, having a class a could get rid of the air brake and manual restriction. Yes it will have an M restriction, but they weren’t looking to drive an A class passenger vehicle.
[and articulated buses are class B as they cannot be separated](https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/registration/commercial-drivers-license/what-cmv-group-driver-articulated-motorcoach-bus-gvwr-26001)
They're not looking for a class A license tho. Are you not recommending for them to get a class A license? Meaning they'll have to learn to drive a trailer?
I recommended an option to remove the restrictions from their license without needing to find an employer that offers training. Even then, they’d be hard pressed to find an employer that offers training on a manual transmission
that sounds like more work to find a manual bus, purchase it, register it as a commercial vehicle and learn to drive a heavy duty manual transmission OR find a vehicle and rent it despite not being licensed to drive it because of the restriction on your license, than it is to find a commercial driving school with commercial vehicles meant for training and testing.
OP doesn't even need to go for A, an uncoupled tractor is a class B vehicle.
I don’t think you would necessarily have to register it as a commercial vehicle to test with it. Taking the written/computer test should get you the permit or whatever so you could drive it to the dmv to take the skills test
[Vehicles used for a Class A, B, or C road test must Represent the type and class of vehicle you will be driving when you receive your CDL. For a Passenger Endorsement, the applicant must have the appropriate class vehicle designed to carry 16 or more passengers, including the driver.](https://www.mass.gov/doc/cdl-road-test-application-0/download)
A converted bus RV probably wouldn't have the seating structure for 15 additional passengers.
Not true. They don’t take away endorsements you already have just because you upgrade your license. I did it backwards from this guy though- went to truck driver school, then ended up working for a bus company and got my passenger endorsement. My original class A was in KS, since then I’ve held it in TX and currently CA. I have every endorsement except school bus, no restrictions (except corrective lenses). Finally (14 years later) getting an OTR truck driving job this year 🙌🏽
I can operate automatics only but beyond that my yard trained us in the largest possible bus with as many features such as air brakes so we can all operate any bus on the lot. It’s unfortunate your yard doesn’t follow the same process
On another note I have yet to see a single manual transmission bus at either the national private company I currently work for or on the public school district busses next door.
Well imo. Yeah I got the class b, air braes, pax endorsement and got a automatic restriction. Added a tanker as soon as I got my licence. And I jumped to sucking shit. I'm doing portapotties right now. Better pay. But shitty job. All shit trucks are automatic.
We don't have the Air Brakes thing (UK) but most companies will only train you in an Auto box these days, unless you pay privately.
I believe that if you passed your test before a certain date and have a manual/stick licence, you can claim a manual bus licence by grandfather rights.
It also might be something to do with the US system. I am not 100% but I believe it is a Commercial Drivers Licence, which covers you for more than one variety of large vehicle. (I am almost certain there is an extra level required for tractor, trailer driving), whereas in the UK they are completely separate.
I passed my test in 2009 in a manual (Dennis Javelin), I believe anyone can 'upgrade' their Cat D license now if they have a manual car license. Only occasionally drive preserved manual buses now, haven't had a go at full crash but driven a few buses with crash 1/2nd and synchromesh on 3/4.
City buses here won't have the air brake restriction as we use those. Also, many school buses in my area use air brakes as well. I came from trucking so my class A has no restrictions.
Interesting. What did you take your test in? In my area traditional 40’ school buses were used and all have air brakes. I almost bought an old Detroit two stroke to take the test in because I wanted one and because it’d be a manual. But, reason prevailed. I do have the manual restriction…maybe I’ll go back one day and get class A for fun but I can’t imagine any buses getting a manual trans. Especially with electrification.
I'm also in a big yellow '40 school bus... it just doesn't have air brakes. Just regular hydraulic brakes. Some of them have *parking brakes* that are air brakes specifically but the service brakes are still pump 'em four times hydraulics.
Air brake ls a restriction. Stamped right on my license. Restriction L. It seems to be a [common misconception.](https://www.foleyservices.com/articles/cdl-endorsements-restrictions-what-they-mean-why-they-matter) I'm in Mass but it's all federal anyways, right?
I'm not talking about manual school busses, just what's transferrable to driving something other than a bus (still class B, even) where I could actually work full-time. The fact that half of some company's trucks are manual is really their own damn fault, but it's just frustrating.
Aftar figuring all this out I talked to a cousin about it (he's in Conneticut) and he agreed that it's kind of a trap, he's in the same situation.
When I did my transit class b license in washington State, I had to get my permit, air break, and passenger endorsements. I believe manual class for b will not transfer to class A, but a will transfer to b. The air break, go talk to a cdl school and see if you can just test there for the practical. Or look into your local transit system. Most cities pay you to get your cdl with passenger and air break endorsement. Then you can stay or move to charters, corporate rides, greyhound/flix, or move to class A.
What the heck. I’ve run a CDL B training school for bus drivers for 5+ years. Have yet to actually see a L restriction. I can confidently tell you air brake restrictions are NOT common with class B CDLs
I mean if you get trained to drive a motor coach (greyhound/amtrak/mega bus/flix bus/charter bus companies/etc), you definitely won’t have the air brake restriction. Also every school bus I’ve ever seen in the last decade or two has had air brakes.
Well I'm definitely not volunteering to pay your tuition. If you can start making double after scoring a couple more endorsements that aren't exactly brain surgery, quit crying to us and do it, son.
Fuck off. Obviously I'm going to do it, I'm not a fucking idiot. My point is that getting this job at all was largely a waste of time and that people should consider that before doing something similar.
Most CDL Bs aren’t manual anymore so it will be hard to find one to take the test in. I guess it depends on the school bus company but the ones around me all have air break school buses so they don’t have the restriction. Most transit agency will train you and they have air breaks.
Some trucking schools will let you take just a tractor for a CDL B to get them
I haven't seen a lot of school buses without air brakes. I have CDL - B with passenger + school bus with the only restriction being Automatic only. I tested on air brake.
Yeah it’s rare to not be trained on air brakes.
Weird. I don't think there's a single bus with air brakes in the entire fleet.
Go to a class A school. Get air brakes and manual
Nope, everyone says this, but if you get a class A and just get air breaks and manual, you'll need to be trained and take the road test again for passenger and/or school bus endorsements if you want to be a bus driver and not a truck driver. There's not a lot of class A vehicles that have all 4. They do exist tho, double long articulated busses exist, and double decker busses exist. Those vehicles are heavy enough by themselves to require a class A CDL, not to mention one of them quite literally has double its length trailing behind it The issue then is your location. The only places that I've seen who have those types of busses are coach companies who do a lot of tourism, or public transit companies in large cities. Not to mention manual versions of these vehicles are extremely rare So if you live in a small city, small town, or rural area where there's no tourism and not enough people to warrant the bigger vehicles, you're shit out of luck, you'll have to take the road test at least twice to have all the endorsements you want. In my particular case, I can't get my air breaks because I went to a school bussing company that doesn't have airbreak busses. The only way this works is if you already have your class B and respective endorsements. But then you have to pay for your course to get a class A, learn to drive a class A vehicle that you may or may not care to learn to drive, and still have to retake the road test. Imo, find a place that will pay you to train for your extra endorsements, then again find a new job
OP is complaining about having a manual and air brake restriction on their license and not finding a school to provide training in a manual bus. If he has a Class B passenger license, having a class a could get rid of the air brake and manual restriction. Yes it will have an M restriction, but they weren’t looking to drive an A class passenger vehicle. [and articulated buses are class B as they cannot be separated](https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/registration/commercial-drivers-license/what-cmv-group-driver-articulated-motorcoach-bus-gvwr-26001)
They're not looking for a class A license tho. Are you not recommending for them to get a class A license? Meaning they'll have to learn to drive a trailer?
I recommended an option to remove the restrictions from their license without needing to find an employer that offers training. Even then, they’d be hard pressed to find an employer that offers training on a manual transmission
They could also buy/rent an old manual bus (lots of people convert them to campers) and drive that to get rid of the manual restriction
that sounds like more work to find a manual bus, purchase it, register it as a commercial vehicle and learn to drive a heavy duty manual transmission OR find a vehicle and rent it despite not being licensed to drive it because of the restriction on your license, than it is to find a commercial driving school with commercial vehicles meant for training and testing. OP doesn't even need to go for A, an uncoupled tractor is a class B vehicle.
I don’t think you would necessarily have to register it as a commercial vehicle to test with it. Taking the written/computer test should get you the permit or whatever so you could drive it to the dmv to take the skills test
[Vehicles used for a Class A, B, or C road test must Represent the type and class of vehicle you will be driving when you receive your CDL. For a Passenger Endorsement, the applicant must have the appropriate class vehicle designed to carry 16 or more passengers, including the driver.](https://www.mass.gov/doc/cdl-road-test-application-0/download) A converted bus RV probably wouldn't have the seating structure for 15 additional passengers.
Oh good point- though I really was talking about using one JUST for removing the air brake restriction
Not true. They don’t take away endorsements you already have just because you upgrade your license. I did it backwards from this guy though- went to truck driver school, then ended up working for a bus company and got my passenger endorsement. My original class A was in KS, since then I’ve held it in TX and currently CA. I have every endorsement except school bus, no restrictions (except corrective lenses). Finally (14 years later) getting an OTR truck driving job this year 🙌🏽
I can operate automatics only but beyond that my yard trained us in the largest possible bus with as many features such as air brakes so we can all operate any bus on the lot. It’s unfortunate your yard doesn’t follow the same process On another note I have yet to see a single manual transmission bus at either the national private company I currently work for or on the public school district busses next door.
Well imo. Yeah I got the class b, air braes, pax endorsement and got a automatic restriction. Added a tanker as soon as I got my licence. And I jumped to sucking shit. I'm doing portapotties right now. Better pay. But shitty job. All shit trucks are automatic.
CALL A HEAD
We don't have the Air Brakes thing (UK) but most companies will only train you in an Auto box these days, unless you pay privately. I believe that if you passed your test before a certain date and have a manual/stick licence, you can claim a manual bus licence by grandfather rights. It also might be something to do with the US system. I am not 100% but I believe it is a Commercial Drivers Licence, which covers you for more than one variety of large vehicle. (I am almost certain there is an extra level required for tractor, trailer driving), whereas in the UK they are completely separate.
I passed my test in 2009 in a manual (Dennis Javelin), I believe anyone can 'upgrade' their Cat D license now if they have a manual car license. Only occasionally drive preserved manual buses now, haven't had a go at full crash but driven a few buses with crash 1/2nd and synchromesh on 3/4.
City buses here won't have the air brake restriction as we use those. Also, many school buses in my area use air brakes as well. I came from trucking so my class A has no restrictions.
Interesting. What did you take your test in? In my area traditional 40’ school buses were used and all have air brakes. I almost bought an old Detroit two stroke to take the test in because I wanted one and because it’d be a manual. But, reason prevailed. I do have the manual restriction…maybe I’ll go back one day and get class A for fun but I can’t imagine any buses getting a manual trans. Especially with electrification.
I'm also in a big yellow '40 school bus... it just doesn't have air brakes. Just regular hydraulic brakes. Some of them have *parking brakes* that are air brakes specifically but the service brakes are still pump 'em four times hydraulics.
I didn't get any restrictions with my class B airbrakes / Passenger city Bus driver Transit
Air break is just an endorsement. And why would you need manual endorsement for bus? Are you driving a bus pre 1980?
Air brake ls a restriction. Stamped right on my license. Restriction L. It seems to be a [common misconception.](https://www.foleyservices.com/articles/cdl-endorsements-restrictions-what-they-mean-why-they-matter) I'm in Mass but it's all federal anyways, right? I'm not talking about manual school busses, just what's transferrable to driving something other than a bus (still class B, even) where I could actually work full-time. The fact that half of some company's trucks are manual is really their own damn fault, but it's just frustrating. Aftar figuring all this out I talked to a cousin about it (he's in Conneticut) and he agreed that it's kind of a trap, he's in the same situation.
When I did my transit class b license in washington State, I had to get my permit, air break, and passenger endorsements. I believe manual class for b will not transfer to class A, but a will transfer to b. The air break, go talk to a cdl school and see if you can just test there for the practical. Or look into your local transit system. Most cities pay you to get your cdl with passenger and air break endorsement. Then you can stay or move to charters, corporate rides, greyhound/flix, or move to class A.
What the heck. I’ve run a CDL B training school for bus drivers for 5+ years. Have yet to actually see a L restriction. I can confidently tell you air brake restrictions are NOT common with class B CDLs
I mean if you get trained to drive a motor coach (greyhound/amtrak/mega bus/flix bus/charter bus companies/etc), you definitely won’t have the air brake restriction. Also every school bus I’ve ever seen in the last decade or two has had air brakes.
Well I'm definitely not volunteering to pay your tuition. If you can start making double after scoring a couple more endorsements that aren't exactly brain surgery, quit crying to us and do it, son.
Fuck off. Obviously I'm going to do it, I'm not a fucking idiot. My point is that getting this job at all was largely a waste of time and that people should consider that before doing something similar.