Driving

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Driving

Home > Discussion Forum > Bus Conversions - School

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All Messages in Thread	Author	Date
Driving	Chris	12-10-00
What are the regulations for driving a school bus which has been licenced as an RV? Also, what specific skills would be best for learning to drive a long bus, outside of normal car driving?
Re: Driving	John the busboy	12-11-00
What are the regulations for driving a school bus which has been licenced as an RV? You should check with your local Highway patrol or someone like them. Also, what specific skills would be best for learning to drive a long bus, outside of normal car driving? You are a lot bigger than everyone else so you have to be very patient, very careful, and know what is going on around you at all times. You need lots of room for making turns. Making lane changes takes extra care. Making a lane change to the right requires even more care. And then there is finding the smooth part of the road. Around here that is an important skill. All of the above can only be acquired with a great deal of practice. So drive your bus often, but think about each route before to take off. And don't forget to check your mirrors before backing up. And...... John the busboy
Re: Driving	FAST FRED	12-13-00
AS an RV your normal license is fine. ONLY skill that needs to be well developed is to drive "deep" into a right turn and "square " the corner. This will keep your rear wheels from climbing the kurb, if you turn too tight. Go in an empty parking lot and turn right with a soft corner a few times to get the hang of it. Otherwise the only other learning curve is that the brakes are somtimes slower to stop the coach, than a car would. This is so the little darlings won't be tossed about . FAST FRED
Re: Driving	Sidney M. Coryell II	2-10-01
The DOT is changeing the requirements for RV`s over 26,001 lbs. Any one that drives a motor vehicle over 26,001 lbs are requiered to have a class B, if it has air brakes you have to have air brakes andoresment. I should know i move trucks all over the country and we do move buses and RV`s. So check with your DMV on what you have to have.
Re: Driving	N reitzel	1-3-01
:I have a 35' long plus tow car of 22' on the back. I learned by driving late at night in my nieghborhood. Practice carefully, and slowly in parking lots. Put down markers like cones and practice turning and backing without knocking the cones over. I can turn my bus around (without tow car) in a city street with parked cars now. The biggest part is to depend on your mirrors, both sides and the magnified bubble mirrors, learn the depth perception by practice. You soon will grasp the lenght factor and stop backing over things, notice all used buses have the rear corners damaged. Also, notice the weight and power of the equipment, it will knock a house over if you hit it. The trick to backing and turning is to note the rear whells (single axle only) are the main pivot point. The front wheels direct, but the bus tracks via the rear wheels. "Tracking" is the over-steer curve of where the wheel are as it turns. Notice the front wheel are in a different track than the rear. Also the rear wheels usualy cut over the curb on a turn. You soon learn how to steer out with the front wheels (cut your cornering after you are into the turn), and pivot your rear wheels along the curb face. Buses can be turned on a dime, they are one of the most manuverable large vehicles out there. With the front crossing mirrors a driver can nose the front in a turn within inches of an object. With a little practice, the bus ain't so big. Remember as withn any large vehicle that you go slow, look ahead to be prepared , don't take risks, and don't get yourself into a situation you should not be in. I have turned into a few parking lots, with limited hieght and ability to u turn in that I could havre avoided by looking and thinking first. Remember to that the vehicle weight is larger and takes more time for it to stop. Also if you have air brakes, it's a whole different world. To much brake and you will put everything through the windshield, to little and you don't stop. To help you determine the estimated pivot spots, temporarily connect a bright colored stick to the bus wall over the front and rear wheels (some buses are equiped with a guide marker). Keep watching the point as you practice, and adjust the stick to exactly the pivot point. then practice backing with the mirrors to turn on a dime around a cone. Good luck Nic Reitzel nreitzel@cdstech.com
Re: Driving	Mark O.	12-13-00
John and FF have distilled the essence of about 40 hours of training I require before I sign someone off to qualify for their CDL. The first thing I do when I train someone is to teach how to back up. This does two things, it teaches the student how to use the mirrors and to know where the reference points are. After learning how to back up, we then work on turns, right turns first. The most important thing to remember when driving large vehicles is that you are large. It takes longer to go and longer to stop. Following distances are extremely important if you don't want to have a new hood ornament. Good luck and happy trails. Mark O.