‘CPS won’t answer your phone calls’: Demand for school bus drivers grows as many have yet to receive promised bonuses

CHICAGO (CBS) — The demand for school bus drivers is red hot. To get men and women behind the wheel, districts and bus companies are offering big bonuses.

But, Only on 2, we’re learning for some drivers those bonuses feel like bogus promises. CBS 2’s Chris Tye reports from district headquarters where he looked into the thousands of dollars stuck inside the CPS system.

At the beginning of the school year, many drivers behind the wheel for CPS quit over vaccination requirements. To keep existing ones happy and from calling in sick — promises of cash emerged.

But for many, they were just that — promises. Not real money.

“A lot of drivers left, so they need drivers in the worst way.”

On his daily commute to work, it’s not hard for school bus driver Robert Casey to see he’s in the driver’s seat.

A surge in bus driver demand triggering signs showing: top pay, paid training, and big bonuses. His employer, Illinois Central School Buses pays a signing bonus.

If you have a CPS route, you can earn a $1,000 bonus each quarter if you miss fewer than four days. Robert qualified twice.

“So far it’s $2,000,” he said. “I have seen zero.”

He’s asked his bosses when he’ll get it.

“Next week, next week, next week, next week, then all of a sudden, stop asking. We don’t know, stop asking.”

“CPS won’t answer your phone calls, they won’t answer,” Roberts said. 

So CBS 2 went looking for those answers for him. The district says they’ve paid, but in a statement from CPS they said:

“IL Central is…the only vendor whose drivers are behind on receiving payments. The vendor did not pay all of their employees….and caused the District’s Transportation Office to audit their payroll. will not make further payments until this company has resolved this issue with their drivers and distributed the first quarter payments to drivers.”

IL Central disputes this saying:

“CPS takes a long time to process payments. They’re currently five months behind in paying us our January route payments.”

They provided CBS 2 an email with the district last Monday asking:

“Do you know when we will get the money to pay out to the drivers for Quarter 2 incentive?”

The reply came back Friday:

“This payment will not process out until Wednesday.”

“You’re dangling this carrot in front of me then when I get close you snatch it away,” Roberts says laughing.

A carrot he earned on January 27, one he still can’t take a bite of now more than three months later.

The company says a little over 100 drivers are earning this bonus each quarter. It’s unclear how many are left in the lurch. The net effect of this for Robert? He’s likely leaving the company or the industry next school year.