this post was submitted on 13 Oct 2026
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Ok, I had to reply because this runs parallel to my own retirement plans. What's the easiest path to a CDL? What's the cost and length of time instruction to actual licensure? Any caveats or roadblocks (pun not intended, but I'm not editing it out).
I know I can look this up on different school websites, but I wanted to get a first hand accounting of the process. My currently ill-defined goal is to be a bus driver for the local transit company (rural). Some F550 with a bus body, and some actual buses.
Do you have a Class B or C? Passenger endorsement, I'm guessing, too. Would it be wise to get a class B just in case I needed to pivot to driving something else, like a commercial dump truck for construction?
Sorry, lots of questions, I know.
Some school districts will train you for the CDL, and some even pay you while you're training (mine didn't at the time). My training didn't take very long because I already owned a used school bus and knew how to drive it, at least. You have to take four standardized tests (general CDL, airbrakes, passenger endorsement and school bus endorsement), have a driving exam, and take a 14-hour special school bus class (this is all in PA, at least). The standardized tests aren't super-difficult, but you do have to actually know the shit, you can't guess your way through it and hope to get a passing grade. I just crammed the free online tests over and over until I was getting 100% on them. I think it was maybe a month and a half between when I started my training and my first day on the job, but that was with not doing a whole lot each day. My district was (and still is) a weird combination of desperate need for drivers with a frustratingly slow pace of actually training people.
I have a class C. I wouldn't bother with a class B unless I actually needed it.