MCCSC bus driver finds joy driving students

Carie Bender stepped into the building at 4:40 p.m., just after her route ended, still wearing her neon yellow and orange reflective vest.

“These things are so hot, it’s like wearing a fur coat,” she said.

Bender is a school bus driver and a former semi-truck driver who said she has gone through all 48 continental states and three provinces of Canada. She returned to
Bloomington because she said she wanted to be closer to home.

She’s been a school bus driver for the Monroe County Community School Corporation for the past two years and just became a driving trainer this summer.

“There are times when I miss driving around the U.S., and driving a bus can be a challenge, but it’s pretty entertaining,” she said.

Bender is required to wear the vest, because safety is the number-one concern for school bus drivers, and said drivers are required to check their vehicles thoroughly.

“Every day I do a walk around, checking the lights and tires and then the
interior to make sure the emergency exit alarm sounds,” she said. “It takes about ten minutes, and you have to do it before every route, even on the same bus.”

Bender runs one of 98 routes covered by MCCSC transportation.

Director of Transportation Gib Niswander said MCCSC sends buses out to transport about 9,000 students to school, traveling about 6,000 miles around the area every day.

“We get everything but the Richland Bean-Blossom district,” Niswander said. “It’s a pretty large county.”

Bender’s bus, number 6, can hold 84 passengers, and she often drives close to that number.

“I’m never at max, but I often have two kids per seat, and that can get pretty tight with adult-sized kids,” she said. “But the bus is built to hold three people per seat.”

Bender’s route starts at 6:45 a.m., and she picks up her first middle and high school kids at 6:55 a.m.

 After dropping them off, she acts as a shuttle for kids from Bloomington High School North going to New Tech High School. Finally, she picks up her elementary kids and drops them off, and is done by 8:30 a.m. Then, she does it all again in the afternoon.

Bender said part of what attracted her to the job was the schedule.

“The hours are great,” she said. “Most businesses are open 9 to 5, so most people can’t get stuff done during the day. But I get to do what I need to do.”

However, these hours aren’t for everyone. In fact, MCCSC is currently facing a shortage of bus drivers.

“We usually have a turnover of around 12 to 15 drivers a year, but this year many also retired,” Niswander said. “We started the school year with 18 less than we wanted.”

Niswander said to get all the students to school, they have bus drivers take multiple routes.

Niswander said being a bus driver can be a tough job. It’s often only part-time, and drivers quit because they can’t support themselves. Bender, however, supports herself in other ways.

“I’m also a small business owner,” she said. “I run a coffee roasting business called Memories Roasting, and can work on it in the middle of the day.”

Niswander said the bus system has struggled in the past few years. The recent recession saw more drivers leave, and the rising cost of gas doesn’t help a system that spends $900,000 annually on fuel.

“We’ve tried to maximize bus capacity, add routes and minimize miles,”
Niswander said. “We did attend the IU part-time jobs fair, but we don’t get a lot of students since you have to be 21. It’s more of a retirement position. Still, it could put people through college.”

Recently, MCCSC has started to fill the holes in their driving staff. Just this September, they hired eight new drivers. Bender took the opportunity to train another driver for the first time.

“The first step is getting drivers their permit,” she said. “My experience helped here. I brought some material from truck-driving school to help people get started.”

Once they have a permit, potential drivers need an Indiana Department of Transportation physical. After that, they start a video series on safety and instruction.

Finally, they move to hands-on experience.

“We’re out on the street just like driver’s ed. for teenagers,” Bender said. “We might not be 15, but it can still be scary.”

Each new driver must eventually pass a pre-trip inspection test, where Bender said they name all the parts of their bus. On Friday, Sept. 6, MCCSC had three new drivers pass the test, including Bender’s student.

“My first trainee passed the test on their first try,” Bender said.

Driving a bus can be a difficult task, and Niswander said not everyone is up for it.

“You have to worry about the bus, and about cyclists and cars near you who cut in front,” Bender said. “They don’t realize you can’t stop as fast. But driving one does make you more aware of your surroundings.”

Sometimes, the biggest safety concerns for a driver are the students in the bus.

“Kids, especially middle and high school kids, will get up and walk around, not realizing how dangerous it is,” Bender said. “I can suspend them from the bus, but usually I find that talking to them is better. Or I just make them sit at the front of the bus, and the problem is solved. No older kid likes to sit in the first three rows.”

In the end, Bender said it is the kids that make driving her bus so much fun.

“The high school kids keep to themselves, but the things they say can be pretty entertaining,” she said. “And for the elementary kids, you’re their hero. I have a great group of kids.”