Got called from NICE and it wasnt soooo NICE

[nuyorican 48]

I applied for bus operator with NICE and they called me a couple of days later. They are hiring but only part time and they start you at $15 an hour no benefits and only 25 hours a week. No guarantee to becoming full time. They would look at the part timers to full the position of retiring bus operators but your not guaranteed a full time position. They cant say how long you would be a part timer. Thankfully I'm working now "its a job" but was looking to make a career as a bus operator. Let me know what you guys think.

[BM5 via Woodhaven 5,156]

Breaking it down

$15 per hour for 25 hour week

 

5 DAYS a week

Bad5 hours per week

15 x 5=75

$75 per day

75 x 5=375

$375 a week.

 

Not bad for a part time job

 

However try to find another part time job, as your monthly income is $1500

Edited December 26, 2012 by Q23 Central Terminal

[Amtrak7 427]

NICE appears to be desperate to hire B/O's. Hiring part times only is a surprise...did they have them back when the MTA was running the system? Or is this a way to get around the TWU 252?

[Via Garibaldi 8 8,592]

I applied for bus operator with NICE and they called me a couple of days later. They are hiring but only part time and they start you at $15 an hour no benefits and only 25 hours a week. No guarantee to becoming full time. They would look at the part timers to full the position of retiring bus operators but your not guaranteed a full time position. They cant say how long you would be a part timer. Thankfully I'm working now "its a job" but was looking to make a career as a bus operator. Let me know what you guys think.

That's $1,500.00 a month before taxes.... If you're lucky you'll barely cover your rent, let alone food, utilities or anything else... I used to make more than half of that a month when I had another part time job and certainly didn't work 25 hours either... More like 8 - 10 hours tops between the few office hours I worked and the Spanish & Italian class I taught once a week, which was paid at about $25/hr. I was paid a flat amount for my office hours, so sometimes my hourly wage was higher if I worked fewer hours or none at all. I hope you have another source of income... Sure it's better than nothing, but I would not feel too secure with that since nothing is guaranteed and with most jobs, they're quick to cut part-timers before they cut anybody else. I love working part-time because it's always nice to bring in an extra $1,000 or so a month to put away or whatever, but the good thing about it is when it's not there you still have your normal salary to fall back on and you can be picky... I'm not sure if you have that option.

 

I'm also curious... Can you pick and choose your hours (which is what I do when I decide to work part-time) or do you have to go in based on whatever schedule they give you?

Edited December 26, 2012 by Via Garibaldi 8

[RailBus63 212]

NICE appears to be desperate to hire B/O's. Hiring part times only is a surprise...did they have them back when the MTA was running the system? Or is this a way to get around the TWU 252?

 

Lots of transit agencies these days hire part-time bus operators. I'm not sure if others offer no benefits when part-time. The ones that are unionized typically have the P/T operators join the union. I've known a few folks who have hired on this way and some have kept a second part-time job on the side until they can go full-time.

[Via Garibaldi 8 8,592]

Lots of transit agencies these days hire part-time bus operators. I'm not sure if others offer no benefits when part-time. The ones that are unionized typically have the P/T operators join the union. I've known a few folks who have hired on this way and some have kept a second part-time job on the side until they can go full-time.

Or another thing that some B/Os do is go to school in between... Not a bad idea either if he wants to further his education because then the part-time job isn't so bad.

[User 2,251]

This fits well into my plan for a summer part-time job when I turn 21.

[Turbo19 2,509]

Lots of transit agencies these days hire part-time bus operators. I'm not sure if others offer no benefits when part-time. The ones that are unionized typically have the P/T operators join the union. I've known a few folks who have hired on this way and some have kept a second part-time job on the side until they can go full-time.

 

It seems to vary by agency.

 

Or another thing that some B/Os do is go to school in between... Not a bad idea either if he wants to further his education because then the part-time job isn't so bad.

 

True. It's the best of both worlds. You can get further in school, while working in a field that interests you.

 

This fits well into my plan for a summer part-time job when I turn 21.

 

Yeah, I could see that. To be honest, what threw me back was that TWU (I believe it was) wanted to eliminate part time positions. Do they not see that many applicants for the part time positions are considerably younger? It would seem as they shun new guys all together.

[User 2,251]

Yeah, I could see that. To be honest, what threw me back was that TWU (I believe it was) wanted to eliminate part time positions. Do they not see that many applicants for the part time positions are considerably younger? It would seem as they shun new guys all together.

 

That's a reason why I came up with the idea. I've met drivers who joined NICE at the beginning of the year and were around 21 years old, and took the job being B/Os. Remember, at the beginning of the year, Veolia was advertising everywhere that they were hiring and for new drivers to apply. Now, it seems the applications have slowed down greatly, and if i was of age, I would go get a CDL and apply this summer definitely. As a permanent job however, I'll stay away from NICE.

[Burrstone 664]

Brett, how old are you? When you want your CDL you could always get it from a place like Atlantic Express, depending on what your plan is, If if you're going to go to school I wouldn't do it bc you have to work for them for a year otherwise you have to pay them back for training. But if you (or anyone else) is planning a career out of driving a bus why not? You even get paid to train. I've told out of work friends this, but they bitch that it's only minimum wage to train. Who the f**k cares! You are getting paid to get your CDL! I trained for free to get mine from a districtand others pay a lot of money to take the training to get their CDL! All you have to do is work for a year? Kello, AKA guarenteed work in a shitty economy!!!

 

About it not being a lot of money, it's a foot in the door! It's not designed to support a family or buy a house. When I first started driving a school bus I had 3 part time jobs. I was a sub for the school district that trained me doing a lot of sports trips, worked pt in a restaurant I'd been with for years, and worked for a tour company working nights weekends and summers.

 

Speaking of going to school and driving a nice bus that sounds pretty intersting. But how does training work? If we go to school we can't train 8am-4pm weekdays!

 

I think maybe nice got a lot of requests for pt driving jobs and they are starting to look at them, not wanting to turn away good drivers.

 

If it's a split shift I want no part of this! I hated it when I was driving a school bus! It feels like going to work 10 times a week during a 5 day week. ...and how are you supposed to get another pt job when your da

starts at 6am and ends at 5,6,7 pm?

 

I will tell and other young people here who want to drive a bus what others told me when I anted to get into it. I always wanted to drive a bus, ever since I was a kid (and there is nothing wrong with and I'm not putting anyone down for it) but go to school and find something else to do. yes it is a cool job but it beats you, it is tiring, and bad for your body. It destroys your back and can give you very bad nerve problems from the bouncing and vibration of the bus.

 

This country does not take care of bus drivers,you can be a plumber or welder and make crazy amounts of money working through the union but they want to pay people who drive around children bare minimum and offer them no pension, while the person who mops the floor in the school gets a pension. It's not right and when the state gets their heads right and offers a decent salary and a pension to bus drivers maybe we wouldn't see bus drivers on the news getting DWI's.

[Via Garibaldi 8 8,592]

NICE appears to be desperate to hire B/O's. Hiring part times only is a surprise...did they have them back when the MTA was running the system? Or is this a way to get around the TWU 252?

 

Yeah hiring part-time means no benefits and keeps costs down so it's not at all surprising.

[Burrstone 664]

Yeah hiring part-time means no benefits and keeps costs down so it's not at all surprising.

 

 

Many businesses do this... ...and so did MTA LIB.

[Via Garibaldi 8 8,592]

Many businesses do this... ...and so did MTA LIB.

 

Either that or hire illegals... Imagine the outrage if that happened....

[Burrstone 664]

I thought the illegals they gathered to paint the buses at the Nassau Coliseum were already hired as drivers into the system, even had senority over every LIB driver who came over!? lmao

[Joel Up Front 792]

I thought the illegals they gathered to paint the buses at the Nassau Coliseum were already hired as drivers into the system, even had senority over every LIB driver who came over!? lmao

 

 

A rumor from a (now dead) former MSBA driver... I think Uniondale residents would have noticed it.

[Burrstone 664]

lol I was just kidding I didn't even buy it when the rumor first started, the sad part a lot of people did.

[N6 Limited 1,053]

A rumor from a (now dead) former MSBA driver... I think Uniondale residents would have noticed it.

Now dead? wow

[Burrstone 664]

Yea wow, I didn't catch that before. I thought he meant the rumor was dead not the driver.... I hope that's what it is.

[User 2,251]

Brett, how old are you? When you want your CDL you could always get it from a place like Atlantic Express, depending on what your plan is, If if you're going to go to school I wouldn't do it bc you have to work for them for a year otherwise you have to pay them back for training. But if you (or anyone else) is planning a career out of driving a bus why not? You even get paid to train. I've told out of work friends this, but they bitch that it's only minimum wage to train. Who the f**k cares! You are getting paid to get your CDL! I trained for free to get mine from a districtand others pay a lot of money to take the training to get their CDL! All you have to do is work for a year? Kello, AKA guarenteed work in a shitty economy!!!

 

About it not being a lot of money, it's a foot in the door! It's not designed to support a family or buy a house. When I first started driving a school bus I had 3 part time jobs. I was a sub for the school district that trained me doing a lot of sports trips, worked pt in a restaurant I'd been with for years, and worked for a tour company working nights weekends and summers.

 

Speaking of going to school and driving a nice bus that sounds pretty intersting. But how does training work? If we go to school we can't train 8am-4pm weekdays!

 

I think maybe nice got a lot of requests for pt driving jobs and they are starting to look at them, not wanting to turn away good drivers.

 

If it's a split shift I want no part of this! I hated it when I was driving a school bus! It feels like going to work 10 times a week during a 5 day week. ...and how are you supposed to get another pt job when your da

starts at 6am and ends at 5,6,7 pm?

 

I will tell and other young people here who want to drive a bus what others told me when I anted to get into it. I always wanted to drive a bus, ever since I was a kid (and there is nothing wrong with and I'm not putting anyone down for it) but go to school and find something else to do. yes it is a cool job but it beats you, it is tiring, and bad for your body. It destroys your back and can give you very bad nerve problems from the bouncing and vibration of the bus.

 

This country does not take care of bus drivers,you can be a plumber or welder and make crazy amounts of money working through the union but they want to pay people who drive around children bare minimum and offer them no pension, while the person who mops the floor in the school gets a pension. It's not right and when the state gets their heads right and offers a decent salary and a pension to bus drivers maybe we wouldn't see bus drivers on the news getting DWI's.

 

Thats the thing, I'm 17 now and I don't want a career in transit because of pay issues and some other things. I plan to go into something completely different, but sometime in my lifetime, I wanna try out for a B/O for a summer and see how it works out. NICE will probably still be desperate for drivers in a few years and I don't know how long it really takes to get a CDL with New York State, but I wanna try it even though its low paid. Yeah, I know I could work with a school bus or camp for the summer, but for some reason, I like NICE's Orions and if they're still running when I turn 21, I wanna take the job.

I thought the illegals they gathered to paint the buses at the Nassau Coliseum were already hired as drivers into the system, even had senority over every LIB driver who came over!? lmao

 

lol I was just kidding I didn't even buy it when the rumor first started, the sad part a lot of people did.

 

Now dead? wow

 

Yea wow, I didn't catch that before. I thought he meant the rumor was dead not the driver.... I hope that's what it is.

 

Joe Saitta died? What? When? Oh crap, you're right:

http://www.subchat.com/read.asp?Id=1176249

 

The rumor:

http://www.subchat.com/buschat/read.asp?Id=252516

[RailBus63 212]

Thats the thing, I'm 17 now and I don't want a career in transit because of pay issues and some other things. I plan to go into something completely different, but sometime in my lifetime, I wanna try out for a B/O for a summer and see how it works out. NICE will probably still be desperate for drivers in a few years and I don't know how long it really takes to get a CDL with New York State, but I wanna try it even though its low paid. Yeah, I know I could work with a school bus or camp for the summer, but for some reason, I like NICE's Orions and if they're still running when I turn 21, I wanna take the job.

 

 

Have you considered going to a college that has a campus bus service and hires student operators? UMass in Amherst MA, University of Maryland, Kent State in Ohio and numerous others do this. You may not get to drive Orions but these and others do operate transit buses and they offer work schedules that are based around your class schedules.

[User 2,251]

Have you considered going to a college that has a campus bus service and hires student operators? UMass in Amherst MA, University of Maryland, Kent State in Ohio and numerous others do this. You may not get to drive Orions but these and others do operate transit buses and they offer work schedules that are based around your class schedules.

 

Well, I am looking to stay in the state and will most likely be in an upstate SUNY. I'll be in the city for the summers but during the school year, I wanna focus on schoolwork and thats it. Summers will be the time when I work for a CDL and get a b/o job. I figure by the time I get my CDL, NICE will still be desperate for drivers and training there is a joke its so short, so I apply and then next thing you know, I'm on the street.

[Burrstone 664]

Summers will be tough, lots of school bus drivers out of working looking to make money. You can't drive intrastate (cross state lines for those that don't know) until you are 21, otherwise I'd reccomend drive away because that is the busy time in the industry, a busy time delivering school buses as well,

 

You can look at party and limo companies they are big on weddings in the summer, they are not transot buses but pretty cool buses to drive, and a lot more comfortable like sitting in a ford SUV. I did this work one summer, you'll work every weekend and have to shuttle around drunk people. Sometimes they are amusing sometimes they are a**holes, but you will get good tips usually the guys are trying to impress the girls they are with so they tip good. I'd say you easily make $100-$200 a night in tips doing jobs like this.

 

Airserv runs the shuttle buses ar LGA and JFK for the port authority, they run orions you should ask them if they would hire college students coming home for the summer for extra help. They only pay $11/hr though...

 

Finally, in the summer, you should look at getting paid internships in the field you want to get into when you graduate and gain something for your resume. Although I've been told being a bus driver looks great on a resume fir any job, you're a responsible person, able to keep a strict schedule, work indepently, follow DOT regulations, etc etc.

 

NICE will still be desperate for drivers and training there is a joke its so short, so I apply and then next thing you know, I'm on the street.

 

Whether they're still desperate or not you should talk to them and tell them this is for a summer only. They may not want a temporary employee, or even if they're desperate they may be open to a temp employee... Who knows.

[User 2,251]

Summers will be tough, lots of school bus drivers out of working looking to make money. You can't drive intrastate (cross state lines for those that don't know) until you are 21, otherwise I'd reccomend drive away because that is the busy time in the industry, a busy time delivering school buses as well,

 

You can look at party and limo companies they are big on weddings in the summer, they are not transot buses but pretty cool buses to drive, and a lot more comfortable like sitting in a ford SUV. I did this work one summer, you'll work every weekend and have to shuttle around drunk people. Sometimes they are amusing sometimes they are a**holes, but you will get good tips usually the guys are trying to impress the girls they are with so they tip good. I'd say you easily make $100-$200 a night in tips doing jobs like this.

 

Airserv runs the shuttle buses ar LGA and JFK for the port authority, they run orions you should ask them if they would hire college students coming home for the summer for extra help. They only pay $11/hr though...

 

Finally, in the summer, you should look at getting paid internships in the field you want to get into when you graduate and gain something for your resume. Although I've been told being a bus driver looks great on a resume fir any job, you're a responsible person, able to keep a strict schedule, work indepently, follow DOT regulations, etc etc.

 

 

 

Whether they're still desperate or not you should talk to them and tell them this is for a summer only. They may not want a temporary employee, or even if they're desperate they may be open to a temp employee... Who knows.

 

I'm not in this for the money, I want an enjoyable job for the summer. Going around the airport all day isn't enjoyable. Driving a limo is not enjoyable to me either. I'm fine with $15 an hour, no benefits, 25 hours a week because I'll still be living at home every summer until I graduate. There's just something about driving a 40 foot transit bus that interests me.

[Turbo19 2,509]

I'm not in this for the money, I want an enjoyable job for the summer. Going around the airport all day isn't enjoyable. Driving a limo is not enjoyable to me either. I'm fine with $15 an hour, no benefits, 25 hours a week because I'll still be living at home every summer until I graduate. There's just something about driving a 40 foot transit bus that interests me.

 

Good decision. Seize the opportunity while you have the chance. And if for whatever reason your long term career plans don't work out, you have something better than minimum wage to fall back on.

 

I know you'll go far dude, keep it up.

[User 2,251]

Good decision. Seize the opportunity while you have the chance. And if for whatever reason your long term career plans don't work out, you have something better than minimum wage to fall back on.

 

I know you'll go far dude, keep it up.

 

Thanks. I hope college works out and I'm able to get a good job. Who knows when the job market will really pick up? I could always go and get a b/o career if it doesn't work out, but I really don't wanna go down that road. I'm sure some people here would agree, given some of the things we've seen.