CDL help needed SoCal

[0Wanderlust0]

Hello! I am trying to find someone who can help me move a bus I recently purchased. I need someone to help me drive through the Los Angeles area. The drive would be from Fallbrook Ca to Camarillo Ca. Its short notice but I need someone on Friday Oct 29th. I'll pay by the mile. I'm looking to pay 1.50$ per mile, but am willing to work with offers. The bus is a 1999 bluebird flat nose. Pm me to discuss details.
Thanks!!

[Danjo]

You should also put a post in the “gigs” section of San Diego and LA Craigslist.

An offer to tail the bus in the event of breakdown and a ride back home would be good incentive.

[0Wanderlust0]

Great idea! I did forge to addthat the bus will be tailed.

[Crown_Guy]

You can drive it without a CDL as long as it's not for commercial use. Many guys have buses full of seats that technically need a CDL but are no longer in commercial service.

Get a one way trip permit, have it insured, carry a bill of sale with you, and follow it with a car if it breaks down. Remove/cover the school bus signs, remove/cover any dot or cal puc numbers and company/school district names on the side, cover the red crossing lights, and drive it home. It's done by me and many others all the time with no problems. That's not a long drive and as long as you have a trail car for support you should be fine.

Oh, and don't be tempted to stop at any weigh stations or scales along the way. There is at least one, the top of Conejo Grade, and maybe the 91 if you go that way, keep on driving right on by. You are NOT a commercial vehicle and don't have to stop ever, now or in the future when you finish a conversion. You're simply a very large car or best of all a private registered MH where they have no jurisdiction over you at all.

Truly the CHP have many other things on their minds, and they don't enforce many of those it seems lately, to be concerned with another, mostly invisible to them, school bus on the road. Drive responsibly and don't be a dope or attract attention, and you'll be fine. The ferry trip home is an easy thing to explain and if you've taken steps to remove the signage and crossing lights, plus made the attempt to be responsible there shouldn't be any trouble, if they even bother to stop you, which they almost never do.

Don't over think it or stress out over imagined problems, believe me there will be plenty of other real world issues, with mechanical and paperwork issues, to consume your time before you can safely and legally move it. You'll find that out in due time I'm pretty sure of that. Good luck and have fun, It's and adventure after all, don't you know.

[Danjo]

I’d be inclined to drive it myself. You’re a low priority. Cover insignia, remove stop sign,

Avoid the Border Patrol stop and weigh station by going south to 78 and then out to 5. You still have the border patrol on 5, but they aren’t going to stop you

[Danjo]

Originally Posted by Danjo

I’d be inclined to drive it myself. You’re a low priority. Cover insignia, remove stop sign,

Avoid the Border Patrol stop and weigh station by going south to 78 and then out to 5. You still have the border patrol on 5, but they aren’t going to stop you

IDK, don’t listen to me about which way to go. I’d still drive it if you have insurance and are comfortable driving it

[0Wanderlust0]

Originally Posted by Crown_Guy

You can drive it without a CDL as long as it's not for commercial use. Many guys have buses full of seats that technically need a CDL but are no longer in commercial service.

Get a one way trip permit, have it insured, carry a bill of sale with you, and follow it with a car if it breaks down. Remove/cover the school bus signs, remove/cover any dot or cal puc numbers and company/school district names on the side, cover the red crossing lights, and drive it home. It's done by me and many others all the time with no problems. That's not a long drive and as long as you have a trail car for support you should be fine.

Oh, and don't be tempted to stop at any weigh stations or scales along the way. There is at least one, the top of Conejo Grade, and maybe the 91 if you go that way, keep on driving right on by. You are NOT a commercial vehicle and don't have to stop ever, now or in the future when you finish a conversion. You're simply a very large car or best of all a private registered MH where they have no jurisdiction over you at all.

Truly the CHP have many other things on their minds, and they don't enforce many of those it seems lately, to be concerned with another, mostly invisible to them, school bus on the road. Drive responsibly and don't be a dope or attract attention, and you'll be fine. The ferry trip home is an easy thing to explain and if you've taken steps to remove the signage and crossing lights, plus made the attempt to be responsible there shouldn't be any trouble, if they even bother to stop you, which they almost never do.

Don't over think it or stress out over imagined problems, believe me there will be plenty of other real world issues, with mechanical and paperwork issues, to consume your time before you can safely and legally move it. You'll find that out in due time I'm pretty sure of that. Good luck and have fun, It's and adventure after all, don't you know.

Thanks for the information! That helps put me a little more at ease. I have a tendency to overthink absolutely everything in life. I never knew about the one way permit, I'll have to go get one tomorrow.

[Rwnielsen]

Just go for it. Get insurance and a moving/trip permit. Have a contingency plan if something breaks (cash works) and do it during off peak hours.

[A_Bus_Called_Quest]

Joining the "just go for it" group.

We picked up our bus in Fontana CA, removed the stop sign, hung a home made "JUST PURCHASED, IN TRANSIT" sign in the back window and drove her 5hrs back to Vegas.
Passed 2 state troopers and the NV / CA border with no problems at all.

You won't drive fast enough to get pulled over ;)

Be careful removing the stop sign, ive read horror stories of the bus not starting after removing the stop sign.
I wonder if you could get away with wrapping/taping a black garbage bag over the stop sign so it isn't visible, then you can worry about removal when you get it parked at home...

[David from Ontario]

I covered the swing-out stop sign with a black garbage bag, securing it with duct tape. I used duct tape to cover all the school bus markings and the high flashers. I taped to some windows signs saying "no passengers." A friend and I drove this 35 foot school bus 1,000 miles from Georgia to Ontario, Canada with no hassles.

[LargeMargeInBaja]

Well, you sound like you want to 'go the extra mile', safely operate within all the lawful stipulations.
That is probably best.
.
.
I part-timed with a lunatic bus-dealer in Sacramento.
We moved busses all over kingdom-com.
We caravaned in massive trains of a hundred-plus busses.
Crossed multiple state lines.
Three abreast.
Talk of the town, a sight to behold.
.
Nobody had a commercial operator license.
Fact is, some of our contract drivers lived under bridges... if they possessed any gov-issue docs at all, they were probably decades expired.
.
Wave to the nice ossifer!

[Danjo]

You’re going to run the gauntlet any which way you go. You mention driving it on a Friday. No mater which way you go it’s going to suck. Maybe a better thing to do is pick up the bus on Friday afternoon, get a room nearby and do that drive early Saturday morning.

[LargeMargeInBaja]

Oops.
I posted to the wrong thread.
Moderator, please delete.

[Jay Brand]

I'm on the "just go for it" group also.
I flew into Milwaukee 2 weeks ago and drove a bus 9 hours with a bill of sale, insurance and a sign in the window that said "just bought and in transit home".
Had several troopers behind me on the way, went through Chicago and St. Louis with no issues at all.

[o1marc]

I would not cover or remove any School Bus designations on the bus for the trip home. I'd rather look like a school bus , that everyone ignores, than a private bus with all kinds of signs showing it is private.
I've driven auction buses from Beaverton, Ore. and Seattle to north Georgia, no issues, even when speaking to LEO.

[Danjo]

About driving LA Friday rush hour. I’ve done it with a 34 foot motor home pulling a pickup. That was my first big drive in that thing. It wasn’t too bad. People were nice. The good thing is eleveryone is slow. Having someone tailing you to block traffic for lane changes is nice to have

[maddmaxx]

For what it's worth...

It has been said.... There is NOTHING as "invisible" to LEO's as a school bus on the road, nor as blatantly "visible" as a parked school bus in a residential area.

I drove mine with no issue from pick-up in TN, back to SoCal by way of a 2 week, 11 state, over 5,000 mi extended journey.

[0Wanderlust0]

I found that out. I was "invisible" on the highway, but now I'm definitely turning some heads.... Turn on my street and the bus is the first thing you see!

[Danjo]

Congratulations. How was the drive through LA?

[0Wanderlust0]

Originally Posted by Danjo

Congratulations. How was the drive through LA?

Thank you! It actually wasn't as bad as I had anticipated. Traffic was slow moving, but plenty of people let me merge over when required.