Tiffany Miller wants to supplement her family’s income while being able to spend time at home with her young daughters.

John Malik, who suffers from knee pain, is looking for a job that won’t require him to stand for an extended time.

Both think the right place for them is behind the wheel of a school bus. So they took part in a “Drive the Bus” driver recruitment event Wednesday afternoon in Greensburg.

The four-hour session, conducted by DMJ Transportation, allowed prospective drivers to take a guided trial run at the controls of one of the company’s school buses, maneuvering it in the Greensburg Salem High School parking lot.

“It was fun,” said Miller, who lives in Bullskin Township, Fayette County. “I’ve just got to get used to how big (the bus) is, and the gas and brakes are a little bit touchy.”

Driving a school bus will require a far different set of skills than she used on her previous job selling advertising. She’ll need to pass tests and pay a fee to upgrade her Pennsylvania driver’s license to a commercial driver’s license (CDL).

DMJ will provide her additional training at no cost, provided she commits to work for the company at one of the three area school districts it serves: Greensburg Salem, Greater Latrobe and Mt. Pleasant Area.

“I lost my job when covid hit, so this kind of fits in at the right time,” said Miller, who wants to add to the money her husband earns as a boilermaker. “I like the time I have at home with the girls,” who are 8 months and 3 years old.

Miller said she’s well prepared to handle a busload of kids.

“I have lots of nieces and nephews, plus my two, and I’m pretty easygoing,” she said.

While many schools across the nation have experienced bus driver shortages during the covid-19 pandemic, DMJ was able to fully staff all daily routes and extra transportation needs for its clients in 2021-22, as confirmed by the three district superintendents.

“We were adequately staffed throughout the year and even helped out some neighboring districts to ensure their students were provided the opportunity to participate in field trips and sporting events,” DMJ CEO Jaimie Barron said.

She said Wednesday’s recruitment event was meant to help DMJ continue that level of service during the 2022-23 school year. She noted the average age of the company’s drivers is 62, and many are looking to retire. So she’s hoping to add as many as 30 new drivers to maintain the roughly 250 needed to staff daily routes at the three districts.

“Even if we get 10, we’d be happy,” she said, “but 30 would put us in a good position. People are going out for retirement, and you never know what’s going to hit over the summer with health concerns. It’s a little bit tougher with covid. We like to be prepared for the worst.”

Now is the time for prospective school bus drivers to apply, said Mark Kraynick, DMJ’s safety coordinator. At the very least, if all goes well, he said, it would take about a month for a new driver to complete all testing and training and be ready to head out on a route.

The preparations include 14 hours of classroom training, passing a background check, a test for physical ability and four informational motor vehicle tests.

Pennsylvania requires a minimum of six hours of behind-the-wheel training, Kraynick said, adding, “We tend to double or triple that to get them to be able to pass their CDL test. You have a minimum two-week waiting period to schedule the test.”

While bus drivers must meet certain physical requirements, Barron said DMJ works on a case-by-case basis with its drivers, a number of whom have physical limitations.

Malik, who lives in Hempfield, drove trucks for two companies when he was in his 20s but has been off work from his most recent job for about a decade because of problems with his knees.

“With the pain, I couldn’t stand long, and I’ve been off work since,” he said. “I’ve never collected unemployment or anything like that. I’m just getting tired of sitting around.

“I can walk and stand, but I can’t do it for a half hour. I was looking to get my CDL and a driving job because there’s not much more I can do.”

He said he thought of driving a school bus because he has friends who did so.

While driving a school bus is a part-time job, it can be the right fit for many seeking employment.

Barron pointed out drivers are eligible for unemployment benefits during the months when they are not working. and she said the schedule can be ideal for grandparents who watch grandchildren in the summer.

“For stay-at-home parents, it can be an alternative to day care, as drivers are permitted to bring their children, 2 years and older, on the bus,” she said.

Visit dmjtransportation.net for more information about DMJ and area bus driving jobs.

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