are encouraged to turn the bus off upon reaching the school. Districts are also encouraged to use signage to alert parents, administrators and vendors that engines should be turned off when a vehicle is waiting or parked. School districts should identify an indoor waiting area for individuals to discourage waiting for students in an idling vehicle. In Delaware, there is no idling limit when the temperature is below -10 degrees, but idling is allowed for up to 15 minutes when the temperature is between -10 and 32 degrees. Otherwise, idling is limited to five minutes. Colorado also enforces a five-min- ute idle limit within a 60-minute period for all diesel-powered commercial vehicles with a GVWR of more than 14,000 pounds. Several local jurisdictions have idle limits ranging from 30 seconds to 15 minutes for any diesel vehicle. Special needs bus drivers in Connecticut can keep their students even more com-
fortable. A three-minute idling time “can be surpassed to operate heating, cooling, or auxiliary equipment when the outdoor temperature is less than 20 degrees to maintain a safe temperature for students with special needs,” per state regulations. For school bus drivers in many states, including Minnesota, diesel buses must be a sufficient distance from school air-intake systems. Buses must be shut down upon reaching school and cannot be started again until it’s time to depart. “We try to limit the time the buses are at school in the afternoon,” said Scott Dahlin, transportation services supervisor for St. Cloud School District #742. “When the bell rings at the elementary school, they all come out at once and get on the bus. For our middle school and high school, we release in waves. Students are either in the first wave or the second wave. Te first wave of buses goes in and leaves, and then the second wave pulls in. Before getting in
“Common sense applies. If it’s 20 below, we let our drivers idle their buses. Te State Department of Education states that there are exceptions to the idling rule.”
—Comment taken from this month’s reader survey
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