Vehicle Inspection and Post-Trip Inspection
What this domain tests
Vehicle Inspection and Post-Trip Inspection tests the items you check before a route, the school-bus-specific equipment you must verify, and the walk-through that ends every run.
Core rules
- Pre-trip: fluid levels, belts, hoses, steering, and exhaust in the engine compartment.
- Lights: headlights, taillights, brake lights, turn signals, and four-way flashers. Verify the eight-light warning system, stop arm, and crossing gate.
- Tires and wheels: tread depth, pressure, cuts, lug nuts, and rust streaks that signal a loose wheel.
- Emergency exits must open and close; the extinguisher must be charged and mounted; the first aid kit and reflectors must be aboard.
- Adjust the mirrors and check that seats are secure. Test the parking brake and the service brake at low speed.
- Post-trip: after every route and at the end of the day, walk the bus front to back, look on and under every seat for sleeping students and left items, close windows, secure the bus, and report defects in writing.
Worked example
At the end of the last run the driver walks the aisle and finds a kindergartner asleep under a seat. The mirror showed an empty bus; only the walk-through caught the child.
Traps that cost marks
- Skipping the post-trip walk because the run ended late.
- Trusting the mirror instead of checking each seat.
- Writing up a defect and driving anyway.
- Failing to test that the emergency exits actually open.