I’m sorry!

Another snow day and as I got on the freeway all 6 inches of snow on my hood and roof was blowing off and blinding motorists.  I was only #10 of 220 buses unloading their snow on that particular stretch of freeway. That’s in addition to the already falling snow. 

The back roads and streets where I pick up kids pay me back though. Most haven’t been plowed and a few don’t even have car tracks yet.  That’s actually better,  going up hills is easier if the rear duals aren’t working on packed snow.  The trick is keeping up wheels speed without overheating the tires.  Once the tires get hot they quickly turn the snow into ice and then you sit there with spinning tires trying to melt through the ice so the bus will lurch forward another inch.  

With nearly bald tires I don’t have the lugs to grip the snow. They give the new buses to new drivers yet The radio is nonstop with drivers stuck and running more than 30 minutes late. I managed to get to the high school only 2 minutes behind my normal scheduled time.  Just a matter of picking the path that will afford you the best traction and keep moving. 

I moved the pick up spots to flat ground wherever I could where it wasn’t possible and I had a tight corner followed by steep uphill I just feather the brakes off and ease into the hill.  That way one axle isn’t spinning and overheating the tires. 

Move to SC.  We don't go to school if they are even talking about snow or ice. 

my local school has been closed for a week..... Sorry they make you deal with it. No auto chains? Seems like in a snow area that would be on all busses....

I'm kinda surprised they don't have the same laws about cleaning vehicles off up there. School bus or not, the cops would have a field day with a line of snow covered vehicles heading down the highway.

In reply to RevRico :

Any vehicle left outside will have snow on it.  It’s a lot smaller with a car because most roofs aren’t much more than 4x6. 

Whereas a school bus is 8x 40 FedEx and UPS are about 8x 30. Although most of that sort of vehicle is parked indoors. A Semi with a trailer would be longer though. 

In reply to java230 : I’ve never seen chains on school buses  

Every winter I regale my two sons about how, about a thousand years ago in northwestern New Jersey, I would wait in the cold at our school bus stop, the road blanketed in several inches of snow.  Inevitably, the bus would come clumping down the road, tire chains on the rear axle.  We never once failed to get to school.  It would need to snow a metric E36 M3 ton to get a "snow day."

So, yeah.  Tire chains.  Too high-tech?

In reply to java230 :

I hadn’t heard of auto chains. Cool idea!! Those are neat. Seem like a serious rock flingin’ waiting to happen though.  

Around here it doesn’t matter if it’s a Miata, school bus, or semi, the snow and ice are supposed to be removed before hitting the road. Even with the relatively mild winter there have been several news report showing shattered windshields and close calls for injuries due to ice and frozen snow coming off vehicles  

While ive seen state troopers with snow covered vehicles on the side of the road, they don’t do it enough. I still see people with just portholes cleared in the front and rear windows. 

Fire engines, ambulances, and many school buses have the auto chains for this kind of weather. 

Most of the school buses by me have automatic chains.  They’re pretty nice to just have when you need them instead of thumping along all day.

https://www.onspot.com/en-US/

Most yards have some homemade version of these for clearing the roofs too. 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=a3DGOyuBXIg

Yep auto chains are really cool. I see them on ambulances and whatnot often.

In reply to Wally :

Simple and effective! Seems like a good way to remove antennas and such though.

My favorite part about laws pertaining to cleaning your vehicle off is now doing donuts in a snowy parking lot is required before taking to the road. Officer, I was clearing the snow off my roof via trainscifficular force.