Greyhound Drivers........

we are both pros yes thats true, i treat any bus as i would another truck out here with me,
however, iv got a huge problem with bus drivers, aside from Fed-Ex drivers a lot of bus drivers are prob the next worst thing out here, they speed all over the place, never obey the posted 55/65 as they zoom by me doing 59 in ohio..(now 65) when they are supposed to do the same speed limit,

never see a bus pulled over,
see trucks pulled over for speeding, often
i have never seen a bus getting an inspection,
always see trucks around back with the creeper near by.
( tho iv only been out here a year and half )
busses dont have to stop at every scale
trucks do, w/o pre-pas
even scales with no pre-pass, bus zooms on by.
always see busses in the far left lane when clearly posted " all trucks and busses 2/3 right lanes only "
see trucks in that far left lane, soon followed by the flashing lights behind him.
people never complain about the bus being in that left lane
read all the pages about the mad 4-wheelers pized at us truckers

but yes, at the end of the day we are both pros, moving america and our people.

 

Years ago I saw a Greyhound driver get cut off by an 18 wheeler who was trying to get from the left lane to the right lane,'cause he didn't see the scale 'till it was too late. the greyhound wound up going into the scale on two wheels,the trucker missed the scale.The quick action of that bus driver saved some lives that day.
They are professionals,out there everyday putting up with the same idiots we truckers put up with.

 

soon2betrucking Buses do not have to stop at the scales so thus we zoom on by. All the Greyhound buses are governed at 69-71mph and most highways out west have speed limits of 70mph - 75mph. That might be the reason why you never see one pulled over. I myself do not drive in the left lane unless it's the carpool/bus lane.
lv gn Naw that wasn't me but I fear it might be everday I drive one out of the station. LOL

thanatos Getting hired was pretty easy for me. I think all the info needed is on www.greyhound.com in the driving career section on the bottom of the page. Got to be atleast 22yrs old, no DUI's etc. I think they want you to have some CDL experience but not 100 percent sure. Starting pay is $17.70 and top is $22 or $23. Pretty much have a clean record and a little experience and be in a city that is hiring drivers. Most people on the bus are cool and just want to get to their destinations but of course you are going to have 2 or 3 crackheads, crying babies or mental unstable folks out of 55.

 

Well, I'm not a driver at all, but my OTR trucker hubby did once start the training for greyhound driving. He left because he was used to having his truck to himself, and did not want to share his workspace with 60 or so assorted strangers!
That must be the toughest part? I mean, having to be polite to them all, and put up with their BS, when you just want to turn up the radio and ignore them?!

OTR trucking may have its problems, but at least tins of pet food don't vomit on you or roll joints in the back of your truck!

 

I give Busses the same treatment as other Pro. Drivers. and Hope for the same back. I drove a couple of those buses for relocation a couple of years back. Fun to drive without the cargo, LOL

 

I definitely consider bus drivers "truckers", and give them the same respect as any other throttle jockey out on the road. Matter of fact, I consider hot-shot pickup truck drivers to be "truckers" as well. They pull long rigs, they stop at all the same scales, log books, etc and have to answer to DOT just as any 18 wheeler does.

 

I know some former truckers who are now bus drivers, we all do the same job, driving for a living

 

I started with Greyhound in May, 1980. I stayed with them until the end of 1986. At the time I started we had a strong union with an entrenched seniority system in place. Drivers bid "runs" and after the runs were all bid everyone else worked the "extra" board. On the board you were given two hours call based on a first in first out system. Different locals of the Amalgamated Transit Union controlled their own sections of road. I drove out of Indpls and we controlled all the routes out and back from our city except Cinn. Generally we would drive out to St. Louis or Chicago or Detroit etc, and return. Most terminals had built in dorms, or sent us to a hotel. The dorm had attendants who would wake you up when you got called etc. Pretty nice. If you wanted to do long distance charters you could, but otherwise you were home within 36 hours. It was hard to predict when you'd get called and I remember getting home in the morning after driving all night, mowing the grass etc, then going to bed at 9pm only to be called at 10pm. That jug of coffee came in handy on those nights.

I started at .31 per mile in 1980 and was up around 40 something when I left. I loved that job and thought I would retire from it. If you remember the 80's were a bad recession and Reagan came down hard on labor. There was a strike, which was bad, and then we hit a slump in ridership. greyhound took the lowest guy on the board and forced him or her out of town where they had to get a place to live but couldn't get any work. Drivers just kept quitting after a week or so. Finally, they made it to me and I just turned in my punch.

They never recovered and you shouldn't judge the present company based on the past one. Before you decide to go drive for them, take a ride and see who you'll be hauling. The airlines are the new Greyhound.

As it was, it worked out well for me. I went back to school and spent the next 20+ years teaching.

I will say, Greyhound had a really good driver training program.

 

I like Greyhound drivers because they for the most part act very professional. However I have no love whatsoever for those tourist bus drivers running between Vegas and Southern Calif.

 

theres a song out called "I just wanna pass a greyhound bus before I die" and Found this out to be the truth, as I,ve NEVER seen a bus pulled over, and I,ve seen em runnin 90mph right past a smokey sittin there takin pics, I don't get it as that cargo is more precious than ANY truck carries, and that bus can do just as much damage as a trk can if something were to happen, however I still give the bus and any other vehicle on the road my courtisies, It's called being a pro, nope we don't make the rules, and don't like alot of them, but a pro will play by the rules