In the early morning hours, before kids have gotten out of bed for school, Jada Melendez is out in a parking lot, preparing for the day ahead.

You're looking at your tires, you're looking at the lights, to stop your wipers, your horn, making sure all your nuts and your bolts and stuff is all there.

She ignites the engine on her 87 passenger bluebird, checks her mirrors, and departs the depots the depot at exactly 728.

Take deep breaths, calm down. You definitely got to relax when you're driving that bus.

And then, you know, just go for it.

Like driving a big car.

Melendez is a school bus driver in Burlington County, New Jersey.

She's one of around 200,000 workers around the country who are tasked with safely and efficiently transporting

K-12 students to school.

Driving a school bus is not a job for the week.

You have to deal with screaming kids, helicopter parents, outdated navigation systems, and

split schedules that take up the whole day, often for an hourly rate that is hard

to pay the bills with. In recent years, many school bus drivers have quit, and school districts

are facing driver shortages that require creative problem solving.

They're trying to figure out how am I going to get 2,000 kids to school when I'm down

19% of my drivers.

They're looking at a map, trying to game plan.

What routes can I merge?

What stops can I consolidate?

For the Freakonomics Radio Network, this is the economics of everyday things.

I'm Zachary Crackett.

Today, school buses.

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