How to start a school bus contracting company

Districts across the country contract out student transportation — whole fleets, or just the routes their own buses can't cover: special-needs runs, out-of-district placements, McKinney-Vento students, late runs. Small contractors with a handful of buses or vans win a lot of this work, because they can take the routes nobody else wants.

This is the checklist we'd follow to start one. The legal steps differ by state, so treat it as the order to work in — and check each step with your state's department of education and motor vehicle agency.

1. Pick your niche

• Full-size buses on regular routes — bigger contracts, bigger investment.
• Vans and small buses for special-needs, out-of-district and McKinney-Vento students — often easier to start, and in steady demand.
• Charters and field trips on the side, once the buses are paid for.

Talk to the transportation directors of the districts near you first: ask which routes they struggle to cover. That tells you which vehicles to buy.

2. Set up the business

1. 1Form the company (an LLC or corporation), get an EIN and open a business bank account.
2. 2Find out what your state requires of a pupil-transportation contractor — registration with the state or the district, vehicle inspections, and any operating authority.
3. 3Get insurance quotes early — auto liability (districts set high minimums), general liability, workers' compensation and, often, sexual abuse and molestation coverage. Insurance is usually the biggest surprise in the budget.

3. Buses or vans

Used buses and vans keep the start-up cost down, but every vehicle must pass your state's school vehicle inspection before it carries students. Budget for the inspection, lettering and lights your state requires, and a maintenance plan from the first day — a bus that fails a roadside inspection costs you the route.

4. Drivers and aides

• Drivers need a CDL with school bus and passenger endorsements for buses (van rules vary by state), a DOT medical card, a background check, drug and alcohol testing, and training.
• Aides for special-needs routes need background checks, clearances and training.
• Keep every date and document from day one — a district can ask for them before the first run.

5. Win your first contract

1. 1Get on the bid lists of nearby districts and watch for transportation RFPs.
2. 2Price each route per school day: driver and aide time, fuel, maintenance, insurance and your margin. The free route price calculator does the arithmetic.
3. 3Start small — a few routes you can run perfectly beat many you run late.
4. 4Ask for the PO number, the billing contact and the payment terms before the first invoice.

6. Run it from one place

From the first route you'll be juggling drivers' papers, inspections, maintenance, attendance and a monthly invoice per district. Spreadsheets work for a couple of vans; past that, things slip. FleetCommander was built for exactly this kind of company: buses, drivers, aides, routes and students, inspections on the driver's phone, maintenance, attendance, and monthly district invoices counted from each school's calendar — $10.99 per vehicle a month.

Setting up is mostly talking to Ava (Beta), the assistant in the app: say Add bus 205, a 2022 Ford Transit, plate ABC123 or Add a driver and she asks for anything missing, one question at a time, before you confirm. Ask her How do I create a route? or How do I invoice a district? and she walks you through it. Moving from spreadsheets? Import vehicles, drivers, schools and routes from a CSV file.