Embedded Files
As a kid, all I ever dreamed about was driving a school bus. Call it wild, call it crazy… but I guess I'm both, so the job suited me. Throughout elementary, I would sit behind my bus driver (Becky) with a frisbee and pretend to drive the bus, open and close the door, pull the parking brake... (all necessary bus sounds/noises included). Becky was a part of our family for years. She transported my dad, all of my uncles, and now me, so needless to say, we were NEVER in trouble on the bus because Becky had no problems at all pulling up into the driveway to have the issue corrected.
When I entered middle school, although I now left the frisbee at home, I still rode the bus morning and afternoon sitting in the front seat and talking with the driver. Once I had my own car and was able to drive myself, I would still wait at the end of the driveway to say “hi” to my bus drivers as my younger siblings boarded the bus.
When I graduated high school, I still had the dream of being a bus driver while also having the thought of becoming a teacher. By the following year I had officially received my CDL and began driving a school bus. One day I was asked to substitute for a mid-day route and while waiting in the bus loop I see Becky who immediately yells out “HEY!! YOU MADE IT!!” We laughed and joked around for a while until the teachers began to bring the kids out, at which point, to my surprise, my 2nd grade teacher walked out of the building, recognized me, and then began telling all the other teachers about how I would always bring a yellow bus to class on reading day and have "church service" at the water fountain during recess. It was one of my proudest moment as an adult, because two of the people I looked up to as a kid remembered me, my dream, and were there to congratulate me. Throughout the years, I have never stopped loving yellow, but instead have only grown to love it more.
Over the years, I have worked for a family-owned safety supply delivery company, an oilfield company as their Accounting/HR and Safety Rep, three different school districts, and have now started my own safety business for CDL theory training. Co-workers, customer interfacing, and trial and error have assisted me in furthering my knowledge of commercial driver safety and the need for safe commercial drivers across the nation.
Each day, truckers cross the Nation delivering supplies and merchandise navigating winding roads, treacherous terrain and unforgiving traffic while school bus drivers continue to make a difference in kids’ lives as they are the first to greet them with a smile, and the last from the district to say “Have a good night!” Most bus drivers never forget the students they transport; additionally, many kids never forget their bus driver. Each career, challenging in it's own way, has more often than not become a thankless job completed each day.
CB Academy, LLC aims to provide a knowledge packed training program that strives to produce grade A drivers behind the wheel. Truckers, cement haulers, flat-bed drivers, city bus drivers, school bus drivers... each one a necessity to our economy; each one a career those around us are unknowingly thankful and grateful for.
I have no doubt in my mind that if I saw Becky she’d be yelling out “HEY!! YOU MADE IT!!” Truckers and bus drivers... we do what we do for today's families, tomorrow success, and tomorrow's leaders.
And no matter what the book says... "the most important safety feature is... YOU!"
Joshua S. Arnold; Owner
Page updated
Report abuse