When your job is to drive a big yellow school bus, people notice.
"The bus drivers are well aware of the appearance of having the bus at places that may not look like part of their job...It’s a big vehicle with the company name on the side and the phone number on the back," said Alan Zuk, director of transportation for Berne-Knox-Westerlo, a small rural district in the Helderbergs.
"Bus drivers have to eat," said Christine Sagendorf, transportation supervisor at the large suburban Guilderland School District. She occasionally fields complaints from people who have, for example, seen a Guilderland school bus parked at Dunkin’ Donuts and explains "When you work an eight-hour day, you’re entitled to a lunch break."
Guilderland has 88 permanent drivers. Many of them drive "three tiers," said Sagendorf, describing their eight-hour day that begins by transporting high-school students, then elementary-school students, then middle-school students to their respective schools — seven in all — before reversing the procedure, taking first the elementary, then the high-school, then the middle-school students home.

While drivers are not supposed to use their buses for personal errands, they are, in between runs, allowed to stop to eat or go to the bathroom, Sagendorf said.

Drivers are encouraged to bring their lunches with them and eat between runs in school parking lots or faculty rooms, said Sagendorf, but that is not always possible.
Asked if there are penalties for running personal errands in a school bus, Sagendorf said, "If we catch them doing that, we would follow our usual disciplinary procedure." This involves first a verbal reprimand, then a written one, and finally "other consequences" such as suspension, Sagendorf said.

Such violations, she said, don’t occur often.
She also said that Guilderland drivers can park their buses at home during the day if the location is appropriate. She gave an example of a driver who lived near the school and said it would actually save the district money for that driver to park at home between runs rather than driving all the way back to the bus garage in Guilderland Center. "To return and go back would not be cost efficient," said Sagendorf.

No buses are allowed home overnight, she said.
School-related errands are run by a courier hired for that purpose by the district, said Sagendorf. Very occasionally, however, when the courier is absent, a bus driver might be asked to run an errand, like delivering a packet to a school-board member, said Sagendorf. In that "rare" case, a blue mini-van that doesn’t look like a school bus is used, she said.
Asked if the district’s insurance covers all uses of school buses, Sagendorf said, "If the bus is doing actual route time, and that includes layover time — which can mean stopping at Dunkin’ Donuts for lunch, they’re still on the clock, they’re still working for the school district, so insurance covers the bus."
Sagendorf concluded of concerns over buses’ whereabouts, "I know it’s controversial at this point with the expense of fuel and wear and tear on vehicles. We keep our drivers within their routes and within their tiers so there’s no added expense."

BKW
Zuk said, while Berne-Knox-Westerlo has no written policy forbidding personal use of buses, the directive is clear: "We simply try not to do it," he said.
"Occasionally, the drivers will ask if they can stop for a personal errand on the way back from a run," said Zuk. This is when the bus is empty, he said, and the drivers check with Zuk to get the okay before they stop.

He makes the decision on a case-by-case basis, he said. Stopping at a pharmacy may be permissible, said Zuk, but stopping at a liquor store never would be, he said.

Obviously, Zuk said, stops for food or bathroom use are allowed.

All the buses return to the bus garage every night, said Zuk.

The rural district covers 125 square miles and has 47 drivers.
"We have a single-tiered system," said Zuk. "Kindergartners through 12th-graders go to a single site at the same time." So drivers have one morning run and one afternoon run with their own time — many work other jobs, including farming — in between.

BKW buses also go to 30 different sites every school day as the district is required to transport students to vocational, parochial, and special-needs programs, said Zuk.

Some drivers are encouraged to spend time at a mall, for instance, because it saves the district miles. Zuk gave this example: On a daily basis, a bus travels to a technical institute in Albany, leaving at 10:50 a.m. and returning at 2:50 p.m. If the driver can spend time at a mall near the institute, rather than returning all the way back to Berne and then driving to Albany again, the district saves, said Zuk.

BKW bus drivers sometimes do school-related errands, said Zuk. He gave the example of a driver being asked to pick up a small replacement part because it is from a place along that driver’s route.
"It saves a trip," said Zuk, adding, "Many times, when a driver is on official business like that it looks like he’s doing personal business."

If the bus is being used with permission, it is covered by the district’s insurance, Zuk said.

The long-time transportation director said there haven’t been many problems with misuse of buses at BKW.
"We’ve had conversations as a group," said Zuk. "The bus drivers are well aware they need to use caution and discretion when they park their bus anyplace."