What is the applicability of the FMCSRs to motor carriers owning and operating school buses that contract with a municipality to provide pupil transportation services?

Guidance: For the purposes of the FMCSRs, parts 390-399, ‘‘school bus operation’’ means the use of a school bus to transport school children and/or school personnel from home to school and from school to home. A ‘‘school bus’’ is a passenger motor vehicle designed to carry more than 10 passengers in addition to the driver, and used primarily for school bus operations (see § 390.5T). School bus operations and transportation performed by government entities are specifically exempted from the FMCSRs under § 390.3T(f)(1) and (2), respectively.

However, anyone operating school buses under contract with a school is a for-hire motor carrier. When a non-government, for-hire motor carrier transports children to school-related functions other than ‘‘school bus operation’’ such as sporting events, class trips, etc., and operates across State lines, its operation must be conducted in accordance with the FMCSRs. This applies to motor carriers that operate CMVs as defined under part 390 which includes vehicles which have a GVWR of 10,001 pounds or more or are designed or used to carry passengers for compensation, except 6-passenger taxicabs not operating on fixed routes.

In certain instances, carriers providing school bus transportation are not subject to the Bus Regulatory Reform Act of 1982 and the minimum financial responsibility requirements (part 387) issued under this Act. Transportation of school children and teachers that is organized, sponsored, and paid for by the school district is not subject to part 387. Therefore, school bus contractors must comply with the FMCSRs for interstate trips such as sporting events and class trips but are not required by Federal regulations to carry a specific level of insurance coverage.

For those operations provided by school bus contractors that are subject to the FMCSRs, the motor carriers must keep driver and vehicle records as required by the regulations. This would include driver qualifications records (part 391), driver records of duty status (part 395), accident report retention (part 390), and inspection, repair, and maintenance records (part 396) for the drivers and vehicles that are used on the trips that are subject to the FMCSRs. These records are not required under the FMCSRs for the other vehicles in the motor carrier’s fleet that are not subject to the regulations.