Most school bus yards have a clipboard by the door. Drivers write their name and the time when they come in, again when they leave, and the office collects the sheets at the end of the week for payroll. It works, until a sheet goes missing, the times are all rounded to the quarter hour, or two drivers remember Tuesday differently.
Here's what a school bus driver sign-in sheet should record, the common problems, and a simpler way.
What to record
| Column | Why |
|---|---|
| Date | One sheet a day keeps it simple |
| Driver | Printed name, not just initials |
| Bus | The fleet number they took |
| Route or run | Morning, midday, afternoon, field trip |
| Time in | When they arrived, before the pre-trip |
| Time out | When they finished, after the post-trip |
| Signature | The driver's own, for each line |
| Office check | The supervisor's initials when they've checked it |
Tip: Write the real time, not the scheduled time. A sheet where everyone signs in at exactly 6:30 tells you nothing.
Why paper sheets go wrong
- Lost or wet sheets, and with them a week of times.
- Signing in for a friend, or filling in the morning in the afternoon.
- Rounding: everyone at 6:30, everyone out at 9:00.
- Re-typing for payroll, with mistakes every time.
- No one checking until there's an argument about pay.
A better routine
- Let drivers clock in on their phone when they arrive, or when they send the pre-trip.
- See who's in before the first route leaves, and call anyone who isn't.
- Fix the mistakes the same day: a forgotten clock-out, a wrong time.
- Run the report at the end of the pay period, instead of collecting sheets.
Good to know: How long to keep time records, and what counts as paid time, depend on federal and state wage law and your contracts. Check your state's rules.
Doing it in FleetCommander
With driver attendance on, drivers tap Clock in and Clock out on My Day, and sending a pre-trip clocks them in if they haven't already. The office sees who's On duty, Late or Not in yet on Drivers › Attendance, and can clock a driver in or out for them. On a driver's Attendance tab, the office fixes a shift's times or uses Add a shift for one the driver forgot; every change is in the audit log.
Under Reports, Driver shifts lists every Clock in and Clock out in the dates you choose, with the Hours, and In by and Out by say whether the driver, the office or a pre-trip clocked them. Driver hours & pay adds up each driver's hours and pay for payroll. Both print or export as CSV, Excel or PDF. See the Driver attendance guide. Want paper for now? Print our free bus driver timesheet.
Drivers can tell Ava (Beta), the assistant in the app, Clock me in. The office asks her Who hasn't clocked in yet?. More on her page.
Related reading
Questions people ask
- What should a school bus driver sign-in sheet include?
- The date, the driver's name, the bus, the route or run, the real time in and time out, the driver's signature and the supervisor's check.
- Do school bus drivers sign in before the pre-trip?
- Usually yes. The pre-trip is paid work, so the time in should be when they arrive, before the inspection.
- How long should sign-in sheets be kept?
- It depends on federal and state wage law. Payroll records are often kept for at least two to three years; check your state.
- Can drivers sign in on their phone?
- Yes. A time clock on the driver's phone, tied to the pre-trip, records the real time and saves re-typing sheets for payroll.