School bus work is the most heavily specified thing most operators do, and the requirements are not always where you would expect to find them.

TS150 signs and lights

Queensland school buses require the warning sign and flashing lights fitment specified in Transport Standard TS150. What matters is that the fitment is certified, not just present.

If you are buying a bus that is supposed to arrive school-ready, ask for the certification document rather than a photograph of the lights. They are different things, and only one of them satisfies an auditor.

Seating

Seat design matters more on a school run than anywhere else, because a proportion of your passengers will be standing and moving while the vehicle is in motion.

A robust handle on the seat backrest is worth specifying. Operators who have run both consistently prefer it. Moulded plastic wears better than upholstery under school use and cleans faster.

Cameras

Camera systems are increasingly expected rather than optional. A rear view is the minimum; a full 360-degree bird’s eye view is considerably more useful, because a high proportion of low-speed incidents happen reversing in a school car park with children present.

The contract is the real specification

Whatever the general rules say, your contract with the department will specify things that go beyond them: vehicle age limits, accessibility fitment, livery, sometimes seating capacity ranges.

Read it before you specify the bus, not after. Changing a specification before an order goes to the factory costs nothing. Changing it after the vehicle lands costs a great deal.

And keep the paperwork somewhere you can find it

Compliance certificates, registration, insurance, driver accreditations and camera calibration records. The audit will ask for all of them, usually at short notice, and usually for the vehicle you least expected.