bus driver

diesel mechanic

shuttle driver

dispatcher

fueler

Academy Bus

It's a job where you dont have to worry about nobody on your back. You know what to do. Alot of things you learn as you go. Favoritism is everywhere cant do nothing about that. Pay sucks. You get paid per trip/ envelope. They offer charter work (before the virus). Which was plenty if you asked 1st. They offer a bonus which most people dont get. Or when you are due to getting it, it some how takes an additional 3 to 4 months to get it. You call around asking, all they do is put blame on the next person. The terminal manager is cool. He is understanding but has a lot on his plate as well. He would never be the reason why I would quit. Now the safety manager who acts more of a street supervisor/ fashion police. Policy is we have to wear a tie, and your uniform must be worn before getting your assignment. But what that has to do with safety. Worry about who drive cam gone off. Worry about who got into an accident. But no he critics you if your drive cam goes on you while you just prevented an accident but he worried about you scratching your head. We are not robots. 2 hands cant always be on the wheel if something needs adjusting. But he will be the main reason why anybody leaves. He wants to be in charge but falls short of that. But dont let him deter you because he messes with everyone. Now buses break down. It's normal things happen. Alot of it can be avoided if you pre trip correctly. But if your bus breaks down after 5/530pm you better hope you got enough money to get home. They will leave you stranded. Or hope you can catch the next academy bus back to the lot. Since the virus has happened we havent got no hazard pay. It would be nice if we can get that so we feel some type of appreciation from the company to say hey thanks for not just helping my company make money but thanks for risking your life to work for me. Just saying. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
The pay was pretty good. You can get tips and what not

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Super long hour 13-15 hours A day expect to be gone. And no, you do not get paid by the hour. You get paid by the trip if your bus break down, you will not get paid. also, if you’re not savvy with directions, you cannot use your phone GPS and sometimes you are sent far in places even been. There’s no seniority so you get whatever the dispatch decides to give you of course there’s favoritism. if you have a family like small children, I would advise you not to take this job. if you are in school or have stuff going on, I would advise you to not take this job. It’s a good starting job if you plan on taking a career and driving bus, let’s say for New Jersey Transit or coach or something, but this job can be very stressful at this particular place.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Coworkers for the most part are cool. They will help you out if you need help getting somewhere there’s also a radio in the bus which is cool to help you navigate, but you got some coworkers that are just disgruntled and feel a sense of what you call entitled. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Wake up between 4:30 AM to get there around 5:30 5:45 AM. Get my bus dispatch head to my starting point pick up passengers along the highway until I get to New York. Dead had back , which means take empty bus after I drop off back to starting point do the trip again. After about my second trip in Hoboken for 3 to 5 hours, then I would do my last trip with traffic believe me time is being eaten up. I get back. It’s 9 PM or whatever, and do it all over again.

Overall, this was not a good job. Some of the people there seemed happy with the job, but it definitely takes a certain kind of person to be able to work it. Shifts are split, and it seems like a lot of people who work there have long drives, meaning almost no time spent at home. Weekends off are nice, but in order to really make the job worthwhile, it is recommended you do charter work in addition to your weekday commuter route. I’ve also heard stories of management taking the good charter opportunities. It is a “per route” pay for commuter route, which means the pay is not hourly. That is nice if you finish early, but if you hit traffic or bad weather and finish late, you don’t get compensated for extra time. If you only work commuter routes, you may end up working 45+ hours a week without time and a half for overtime because of short staffing and an exception to overtime for “interstate commerce”. It takes forever to accumulate any vacation time. There is no union, so it is hard to negotiate better terms of employment. The people in the company are okay. I never really got to know anyone except for my trainer. It was also difficult to contact management directly.

Academy Bus Don't value or respect their drivers especially   the new driver are treated bad with old bus and disrespect. and low pay rate job runs dispatch is lazy and non caring..and is oder to misdirect and misled you. so that you the don't have to speak to you  one on one. to sup never come out to say hello or see how you are doing they have excuses... but they will tell to email them or leave a voice message and either you will get a late response or no response at all Academy. will not get intouch with you  if u decide to leave right the owe me my sign on bonus and I never heard from academy  their turn over rate is high because they are a company who don't mind to repeat the new hire process to control the narrative the GA Terminal need to Overhaul and real professional management and learn how to keep and value driver their driver. this job is not a good one because a month after training you'll see all the lies they told u about $200-$300 a day most of the times you'll see $100 to $168 a day if u full time some time you might get work like you are part time if get 5 or 6 days they will be low paying assignments like $97 or $168 a day and bout time they tax that your check will make quit real fast. you have to be desperate  to stay working there or ignorate to ignore your self worth. Not a  Good Compny

Liars that work there, shop managers where real cool only thing i didnt like was that they tell you one thing then act like they never said it. Other people who work there lie to get you fired if they dont like you. I advise anyone who works there to record everything, conversations and how the bus looks when your finished cleaning them. Im a very hard worker and spent my own money on shop equipment to better clean the buses. Someone was kicking my back in and was lying to the big boss (the shop managers boss) who doesnt even work at this terminal. Cost me my job but its ok, i just wont ever work there again unless certain people wasnt working there anymore, wont say any names but he/she would know exactly who im talking about if they read this. 


Pros Are
if you stay for a certain amount of time they will pay for you to get your class b cdl, thats the only pro


Cons Are
-Low pay, NJ Transit pays almost $16 per hour for bus cleaners
-Working in the rain and cold
-They make you get certified to move the buses in the lot and if you feel uncomfortable doing so they will fire you

It's just a job, don't expect to make working for Academy Bus a career. No upwards movement because there's managers 70+ years old who refuse to retire so there is nowhere to advance to. Raises are less than stellar, you are lucky to get 25cents a year. Underpaid overworked is what life is like at Academy Bus. Zero job security, when COVID-19 hit I was dumped at the first sign of low ridership, no notice no nothing just hey by the way today is your last day and no you can't finish the day out so don't bother clocking in. If you're a driver it's 16 hour days everyday. They may promise up to 70k a year but they forget to mention that's if you work 6-7 days a week every week for life. You may only be driving for 6-8 hours in the day but you will be laying over for hours in some horrible garage parking lot. You will just barely get even 8 hours off duty just to stay legal for the next day, so good luck having any kind of life getting home and having to be back at work in less than 8 hours. Paid by the trip not hourly, steer clear of Academy if you have a CDL

For anyone who just got their CDL, and are fresh out of diving school, this is a nice start, so by all means, go get your feet wet.

If you’re an experienced CDL Driver (Tractor Trailers, Trucks, Buses) like myself for almost a decade, this job is simply a waste and don’t give it a second thought

Why? 

it’s non-union. No pension. No seniority. No protection, no matter how long you’ve been there. A certain dispatcher can think they’ll get over on you, but if you’re smart enough, you won’t fall for it. 

They won’t pay you for training until AFTER you pass said training after almost a month. Yes, no income at all for a whole month. You’ll be wasting time. 

you get treated like lower class, and get paid like it as well. It’s not hourly, but by the “trip” rather, so when you average it all out, it’s at least 13-16 an hour. No overtime. When you ask in the beginning how much the pay scale is, they don’t say a word. Like as if it’s unholy.

 If you have experience, keep on moving forward.  You’ll be glad you read this review. The high turnover rate and low morale is enough for you to steer clear.

Hey Tedesco's, do the right thing and pay your workers the right and fair wages, and everyone will be happy.

I Learned All I Needed to Know Very Quickly! 

I accepted a part-time position with one clear condition: I was only available to work weekdays. This was communicated upfront and was the basis upon which I accepted the job.

That agreement was ignored almost immediately.

I was scheduled for weekends anyway and then pressured to explain why I couldn’t accommodate expectations that directly contradicted the original arrangement.

The issue was never weekend work. The issue was integrity.

Organizations reveal their culture quickly. Dysfunctional leadership disregards boundaries and then attempts to make employees feel responsible for protecting them.

My advice: run away as fast as your legs can move. If you are ok with unrealistic expectations, unwarranted pressure, consistent gaslighting and manipulation…this is the place for you!

This company is too big for it’s own britches. They have taken on more work than they can adequately staff and they make that the drivers problem. Training is an absolute joke everyone is passed regardless of what the trainer recommended because they are so desperate for people. The equipment is dilapidated and in my opinion barely legal to operate. Management is an expert in telling people what they want to hear instead of actually fixing problems. For example my paycheck was wrong or missing every week for 2 months. No efforts are made to correct this. Just a sorry and we’ll fix it and pay you next week. Well guess what the bills don’t wait. You’ll be scheduled for 3 different jobs before they settle on one for you. Everything is always on fire and no one take the time put it out. It’s extinguish one by starting another.  For a company that is “exploding” in orlando they need to figure themselves out before they implode. 
 

working at academy is a relaxed atmosphere where most employees are cordial to each other and management is attentive and reactive to employees concerns hardest part of job is dealing with traffic and traffic gridlock on a daily base the buses are generally well maintained and cleaned generally a typical day begins by entering the facility and signing in going to the dispatch window to get work assignment going out to your assigned bus doing a pre trip inspection before leaving the lot.the most enjoyable part is interacting with fellow employees and dispatch where  every one tries to keep a jovial but professional atmosphere what i have learned from working here is that if you come to work regularly and on time you won't have any problems with management and when you are consistant you generally make for a better relationship with your employers and passengers.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Bus driver 93 salaries reported	$252 per day
Diesel mechanic 77 salaries reported	$33.39 per hour
Shuttle driver 10 salaries reported	$23.80 per hour
Dispatcher 16 salaries reported	$22.16 per hour
Fueler 8 salaries reported	$17.25 per hour

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