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Bus Techs Prepare Frozen School Buses For Student Pick-Up

BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4)- No school for the President's Day holiday on Monday combined with several inches of snow and freezing temperatures on Tuesday morning made for some tough work for school bus technicians.

Some schools in the Denver metro area were on a delayed start Tuesday because of the Winter driving conditions.

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School bus technicians with the Boulder Valley School District started their day before dawn, shoveling drifts of snow that had piled up around the buses. They also heated up the engines after the three-day weekend of being idle.

A handful of technicians prepped 130 buses before the drivers arrived. Then they stuck around for repairs in case any of the buses needed extra attention.

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Driving in snowy conditions can be dangerous fore even the most experienced driver, but Boulder Valley wants to assure parents their children are safe.

"We start early in the year in October changing our fuel mixture to a winter blend. We also changed our oil from a 15-30 to a 10-30 to make it easier to start. Then preparation every morning to make sure things are the way they should be and are ready to go," said Boulder Valley School District bus technician Les Hornbaker.

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"The drivers have been trained to drive in these conditions and they're going to take it slowly. We want to make sure people bundle up their kids and if they do have young drivers they consider alternate transportation," said Boulder Valley School District spokesman Randy Barber.

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When it comes to snowy days, parents can help bus drivers by having their children ready to hop on the bus as soon as it pulls up. That would help the drivers stay on schedule so that children aren't waiting a long time for the bus to arrive.

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