bus driver

diesel mechanic

diesel technician

bus monitor

senior diesel mechanic

Illinois Central School Bus

I wish I knew just what I was getting into when I signed. They have you commit to 6 months because they know within the first month, you'll want to go running. They don't have the proper training (their trainers were never properly trained either). If you have a pulse, you have a job there. They are so short handed, they will not fire you. Not good when you're driving a bus full of KIDS around. There was an incident where one of their drivers asked a young girl on his bus to send him pictures of her in her bathing suit. Right there, you would think he would be fired on the spot and he would be facing criminal charges. NOPE. They simply moved him to another area and swept it under the rug. If your children's schools use Illinois Central School Bus, BEWARE. Terrifying, undertrained drivers. My personal car has been hit on more than one occasion by other drivers. I have pictures of a person trying to back their car into the spot in front of my car. They hit my car, pulled forward a little, parked, and walked away like nothing happened. This hapened to MANY other people. They have a different pay scale for every little "job" you do. They don't pay $15/hr as advertised here. They pay $12.50/hour. What if you do a charter? Less pay. What if you're monitoring a route? Less pay. What if you're taking buses to the safety lane in between routes? Less pay. What if you're doing other busy work such as getting end of month mileage? Less pay. And guess what-you get screwed out of any overtime because you'll never get up to 40 hours on all those different scales. Do yourself a favor and go to ANY other company other than this one. First Student, Durham. Anything is better than this circus.

I have had many disappointments working here. However it is a job. If you are looking for the perfect job this isn't it. BTW is there such a thing as a perfect job? If you really are in dire need for a job, this is one of the easiest to get into IF you have clean background and driving record.

I clock in and clock out. My time between routes I nap in the car, read a book or go home. Hanging out at base puts you in the gossip circles, which I don't do. I talk to people enough to get what I need to do my job.

Being a bus driver is special. It will take you 60 hours of training minimum.  20 hours book training, 20 hours  video and 20 hours on the road with a trainer. If you assist a driver with wheel chairs, it is called a monitor. Training for monitor is 8-10 hours. I went straight to being a driver. Some start as monitors and go on to train to be drivers.

Currently I work 40 hours a week. I have had some issues with kids, just remember,  with video cameras on the bus you can writeup the kids so the base and schools can take action. They actually do.

I am currently looking for another job while I am working. Not because I hate the job, for the very reason of wanting a little more pay and benefits. If I was offered full time probably would take it. Driving a 40' bus in all trypes of conditions is fun!

It's a very demanding job. No PTO, No Sick time, No vacation days. They don't offer any benefits paid by them. If you think your right about something being done incorrectly you might as well forget about that. Staff is never wrong! It's only 20 hours a week and not much extra can be made. You get unemployment during the summer at 60 percent of what you made during the year. It's a hard place to work. Your very free to move around and socialize with others co-workers but you have to be very careful about who your talking to and what you're talking about, don't share anything personal with anyone that you don't want the whole place to know. You have to be able to process a lot of things very quickly.  While your driving you have 60 plus kids behind you making a lot of noise and moving around. You have to be able to read a route sheet while driving. It takes about 2 months to actually become licensed. During your training you are only paid $14 an hour. You have to be able to communicate your needs and the problems your having on the bus. They might listen and help you quickly or they might not. 

They train you for your CDL B and you get paid for it. 

Probably the easiest stressful profession a person can be in.

Alot of the passengers do not come with home training. They're typically only good in the morning and I use the word "good" lightly.

Work life balance is amazing. Weekends,midday, holidays, and some randoms days are off.

The school administrators are useless. You're going to find yourself writing students up alot and nothing will get done at all. They don't even communicate with you.

When you put pay into account it doesn't feel like a job or career. Feels like volunteer work.

Pretty good feeling releasing rowdy students off the bus in a safe manner.

Alot of the women that work here are nosey, gossipy, and will tell on you.

Dispatch is pretty understanding. 

Being in Gary, it should be mandatory that every driver has a bus monitor but that isn't the case.

When you put all the risk that goes along with this profession into account, it's simply not worth it. If you can do this every year, I have tons of respect for you.



A Typical Day at work will be from 7 am till 5 pm, but be there by 6:30am
I've learn to build work relationships with the people i worked for as my job position, When I worked for the kids, I've had to learn everything about them and the parents also, then coming back to the company was to work great with your coworker.
Management- I will give Zero rating, only because they were rude to there customers and to there employees and that's why they fail to keep the company going and there employee's too.
My coworkers were great, your with them all day long so you would have a nice person to work with.
The hardest part of the job would be no breaks really, its an on going type a day the hardest would be in the afternoon will you would be stuck in traffic being late if there was bad communication but always manage to be on time.
The Most enjoyable part would be working with the kids, and learning there every day struggles with there disability, and to have a good bond and to know that they trust you and you would have fun with them and it was just great.

The biggest problem I had at Illinois Central School Bus was getting whatever School Bus I was driving fixed by one of the Mechanics. Most of the time the Mechanics had some kind of excuse why they couldn't what was wrong with the Bus. 

Second, at Illinois Central School Bus, the bus-company preaches at the Safety Meetings that the School Bus Driver is the Captain of the School Bus. But from my experience I can tell you that it is completely faulse. The bus-monitor is the real captain of the bus, at least that's how the bus-company makes the bus-monitors feel no matter what the bus-monitor does wrong. 

When you work their as a bus-driver and have a bus-monitor you will be telling the kids to behave and correct them and tell them to sit-down and the bus-monitor will not get in trouble or will not be forced to do their job.

And if their is an accident regardless if the accident was your fault or not, you will be blamed for the kids getting hurt no matter what happened.

My tenure at NACSB was a mixed experience. While I did gain valuable skills and had opportunities to work on diverse projects, several organizational issues stood out during my time there. Communication between departments was often inconsistent, which not only led to project delays but also left employees unclear about priorities. Additionally, management sometimes fell short in providing clear guidance and constructive feedback, making it challenging to understand expectations or see a clear path for career advancement.

In summary, while NACSB offers few opportunities for growth, prospective employees should be prepared to navigate a less structured communication environment and seek clarity on their own. With improvements in leadership communication and transparency, the company could significantly enhance the overall employee experience.

I know some of their locations let you bring your kids but not Illinois Central in Caseyville. You won't make enough to pay a babysitter. There are no benefits. This company only cares about keeping the district happy which is District 189, so you'll be forced to drive around misbehaving children all because they don't want to complain to the client which is the district. So it's okay for the drivers to drive around distracted.  They do little to help the drivers with the misbehaving children except to tell you to write them up and continue driving with children standing up on the bus. So that tells you how much they care about the children and the driver. You can not support a family working this job. You definitely will not be able to hire a babysitter if you worked here.

I arrive at work at 6:15am pretrip the bus and leave the lot at 6:30am return to the garage at 8:10am.  I return back to work at 10am to work in the office as a dispatcher.  I answer phones and take care of all trips and the billings, schedule drivers for trips.  I work till 1pm to cover the contract manager for lunch I return back at 2:30pm to afternoon route and return to the garage around 4:40pm. We are a family here and we are here for each other.  Our contract manager is a very hard worker. She really cares for all of us.  She is a pleasure to work with.  I love both my jobs but its so rewarding, its amazing watching my bus kids grow up each year.  The hardest part of my job is hearing stories of kids not having enough food at home and being sad.  I want each one of kids to be happy and enjoy life, no matter what the age.

This company is good,But would be great if the employer focused more on the employees rather then saving money.Alot of under the table activity going on,unfairness,and the management doesn't go by the handbook.Alot of employees are misinformed about the rules,and are put under "the eye" when we speak our mind about whats going on.We are told often that we are the company...but we are treated as if we all are remedial,low life people who cant understand simple work related topics!We are human beings and we deserve to be treated with respect! Not throwed food(cheap employee luncheons)(no bonus) once a month in hopes we don't complain.Or cheated out of hours because the manager wants a raise. This year I have seen more coworkers come and go quicker than  i've seen a fast food drive thru service operate on lunch break!

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Bus driver 193 salaries reported	$24.28 per hour
Diesel mechanic 1 salary reported	$27.00 per hour
Diesel technician 16 salaries reported	$30.31 per hour
Bus monitor 32 salaries reported	$11.61 per hour
Senior diesel mechanic 35 salaries reported	$25.66 per hour

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