As a child, Charel Allred dreamed of becoming a school bus driver. He’s been living the dream now for 15 years, driving for Jordan School District. He’s honed his bus navigation skills, putting safety first to become an expert driver.  

Allred took second place at the 2026 State of Utah School Bus Safety Skills Competition/School Bus Road-e-o, held in May, and will represent JSD and Utah at the School Bus Driver International Safety Competition in Austin, Texas.

The state event featured 30 school bus drivers who were evaluated on abilities like curb parking, student loading and weaving through traffic cones. They also had to pass two written tests.  

“We had to do a little obstacle course and maneuver the bus through it and not hit any of the flag poles they had with an inch on either side of the bus,” Allred said. “You have to be super precise and you have to do it in a time limit.”

A lot of the skills were based on everyday bus situations, with a few surprises thrown in to keep drivers on their toes. The parallel parking test meant maneuvering a 35-foot bus into a tight spot. 

“You had to get extremely close, but you couldn’t hit any of the barriers they had,” he said. “Otherwise, you lose all your points. For whatever reason, that was one that I struggled with.”

JSD Transportation Coordinator Marcus Swainston is a former school bus driver. He said Allred has always been committed to excellence and safety, going above and beyond to protect students and train new drivers coming into the program. 

“He’s just overall a great employee,” Swainston said. “He’s one of those employees I would love to be able to clone.”

Ten years ago, Swainston competed in the bus safety competition, finishing in third place for the state. He understands how difficult the course can be. He applauded Allred for the work he put into preparing for the event.

“[Allred] did a lot of practicing,” he said. “Districts hold their own competition to select the drivers to send to the state. So he placed in our district rodeo and then he kept practicing after that was over to prepare himself for the state rodeo, and it really showed.”

Sponsored by the Utah Association of Pupil Transportation and hosted by Canyons School District, the State of Utah School Bus Safety Skills Competition was won by Canyons School District Bus Driver, Terry Brown. 

As he heads to Texas, Allred is one of 100 drivers preparing to be tested in right turns, railroad crossings, diminishing clearance, straight driving, offset alleys, curb lines and more. He’ll also have to conquer the pre-trip review to determine what’s wrong with the bus. 

This wasn’t his first time competing at the state level, but he’s got some pre-competition jitters as he prepares for the Texas competition. 

“I’m definitely nervous,” he said about the event. “Going in, I was like, ‘this time I’m just gonna have fun with it and take it easy.’ I did better than I did when I was super nervous, but now I’m starting to feel a little nervous going to nationals.”