Here's How (And Why) to Register a Bus as an RV

The recent uptick in school buses converted to living quarters, known commonly as “skoolies,” isn’t anything new. People have been converting school, city, and over-the-road buses for decades; my eccentric uncle lived in a bus at least 30 years ago. 

Skoolies offer some advantages over traditional RVs. First, they offer a blank canvas to fulfill whatever vision the owner/builder has. Second, they are plentiful, with so many buses serving schools nationwide. This makes them readily available everywhere. 

The problem lies in the registration and title process. Buses are titled differently than an RV, and not every state is interested in swapping the title classification over. So let’s look at how buses are titled, how RVs are titled, and how you can get your converted school bus titled as an RV. 

What Is a Skooli?

The name Skooli (or Skoolie) is an obvious derivative of school, referring to a school bus. However, a Skooli does not necessarily need to be a school bus initially. 

Other popular applications are former shuttles, along with city buses. These units are easy to find on Craigslist or the Facebook Marketplace and are usually low-mileage and relatively cheap. 

The bonus is that, since the most popular secondhand use for buses and shuttles is Skooli conversions, you can easily find ones that have had the RV conversion process started or at least one that is already gutted. 

Skoolies are built in various sizes because owners and builders can choose from any bus size they want. Bus RV conversions are built in sizes ranging from passenger van conversions and school vans to full-length yellow buses.

Classes of School Buses

To understand the types of skoolies and their unique titling and registration needs, we’ll walk through the most common types:

Type A

These are the buses commonly called “short buses.” Built on a one-ton cab-and-chassis van, a Type A school bus is made to carry ten passengers but can carry up to thirty. 

Type A skoolies are a popular vehicle for smaller RV builders. Heavy one-ton and sometimes one-and-a-quarter ton rear end and dual rear wheels, these are built to haul a lot of weight. However, over 90% of modern school buses are diesel-powered, and you will have plenty of torque at your disposal with a short skooli. It will also be more capable of fitting into tight spaces, like cramped campgrounds and local restaurant parking lots.

Bear in mind that diesel engines used in vans are usually detuned to reduce heat in the cramped engine compartments, so the output will not be the same as a similar engine used in a truck but should be more than adequate for an RV conversion.

Type B

These are similar in design and function to a type A, again built on a cab-and-chassis. However, these are built on a larger truck chassis and designed for around thirty passengers. 

Type B buses are not all that common, don’t seem to make it into skooli circles often, and are a little harder to find. It doesn’t make much sense for an RV conversion because they will get about the same fuel mileage as a larger type C, but the square footage will be more in line with a type A. 

Type C

Type C buses are the sort of quintessential school bus. They are the most common on the road and the easiest and cheapest to find. They are made for up to 80 passengers and are an ideal foundation for a built-from-scratch RV. In addition, there will be plenty of power on-hand to haul your kitchen, shower, and living quarters from place to place.

The only real drawback is size - a converted type C school bus simply won’t fit into tight parking lots and small campgrounds, requiring you to do more planning ahead.

Type D

Type D buses are the flat-front buses you see from time to time, where the front wheels are behind the driver. These are often a pusher configuration, meaning the engine is in the back of the bus, but can also be front- or mid-mounted. This is a popular configuration for high-end RVs and tends to be quieter while driving since the engine is at the back.

Type D buses are also the largest buses, with seating around ninety. So again, these are some of the biggest options out there.

Other Skoolies

While the name suggests staying strictly with school buses, there is no hard and fast rule about this. There are many other starting points for a bus conversion:

• Metro-transit buses are common for retrofit and RV conversion, and they are easy to find and usually cheap.

• Church buses are often built on the same chassis as a regular school bus, but might offer different exterior colors than your typical yellow and white.

• Charter and coach buses are often used by colleges and other large organizations. They are built sturdy and usually have a quieter and more comfortable ride than a school bus. However, good ones are often prohibitively expensive, especially if you plan to ditch most of the interior right away.

• Shuttle buses are routinely used at airports and other commercial operations. The most common are one-ton and up van cab-and-chassis, although pickup truck cab-and-chassis are also common. The truck front-end shuttles are desirable because their engines often have not been detuned. 

How Is a Skoolie Different Than a Motorhome?

No matter which of these you decide to convert, you will have some paperwork hurdles to clear before you are on your way, most of which concern your skoolie’s new life as a motorhome or converted RV.

You would think a skoolie is the same as a motorhome, right? I mean, they serve the same purpose and do the same thing, right? 

Sort of. A skoolie is the same in function as a motorhome (more or less), but it is not the same in the legal framework of titling and registering the vehicle. 

Consider the mechanics of skoolies versus motorhomes.

Motorhomes are manufactured light. Everything about a motorhome (or an RV trailer, for that matter) is made to minimize weight. The material used is as light and minimal as possible to save total gross weight on the vehicle. Beyond the legal gross weight limits, there is also the matter of performance. Motorhomes are built to cruise at highway speeds and are an overall cumbersome vehicle. School buses are designed to haul heavy loads at low speeds.

School buses

The running gear, springs, axles, wheels, and tires on a school bus are made for hauling heavy loads slowly. As a result, a type C bus has a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) range of around 20,000 pounds to over 30,000 pounds. To get this kind of weight rating, buses are built with monster spring packs, ranging in the 20,000lbs for rear packs and at least 10,000lb load-rated springs for the front. In other words, they have a firm and bumpy ride when driven and unloaded but can haul a lot of weight.

Buses usually use 16 gauge steel sheet metal for construction, making for a durable shell. Motorhomes are usually constructed of fiberglass or similar materials. As a result, buses are heavier, but they are made to last.

Other factors to consider:

• Buses are made for carrying many passengers, not for living in. So to make a skooli, you have to gut it first. Sometimes you get lucky and find a skooli that already has the seats removed; otherwise, you have to figure out something to do with all those bench seats. 

• A skooli is built to whatever specifications you want it to be. So whatever you want to put in it, you can. Many builders use natural wood and nicer materials, which are great, but they do add a lot of weight, so bear this in mind. 

• Any water containment, made up of fresh, gray, and black water, must be designed and installed by the builder. Many skooli owners go the composting toilet route to avoid adding a black water tank and use outdoor showers to save interior space.

Motorhomes

In contrast to a converted school bus, RVs and motorhomes are built from the ground up to cover continents in comfort. They are designed with sustained highway speeds in mind and are built much like a house inside.

However, under the skin, many RVs are built with their designed weight in mind - just as strong as they need to be. That’s another reason why RVs rarely undergo major renovations unless something like water damage necessitates it. In other words, unless you put in a ton of work, you’re stuck with the layout and major features your RV already has.

There are three standard classes of motorhomes: A, B, and C. Class A are fully integrated designs, while B is semi-integrated, and C are ‘alcove,’ which is most similar to the type A school bus built on a cab and chassis. 

Class A and C motorhomes routinely add slides to expand the square footage, a feature that skoolies cannot match unless you are proficient enough to build a slide on your own. 

The major benefit of a motorhome is it’s a turnkey RV. You buy it, register and title it, and off you go. 

To make a skooli work, you must be invested in the process. For example, it can take hundreds of hours to turn a school bus into a skooli. Plus, you have to do the paperwork on it. 

Can You Register a Bus as an RV?

Let’s combine everything we’ve learned about converted school buses and RVs to tackle this major hurdle.

The short answer is yes; you can register a bus as an RV. It isn’t all that difficult, but it is an investment of time and effort to get it right. As with all titles and registrations, each state varies.

The major hurdle with titling a bus as an RV is that most buses carry commercial registrations, while private motorhomes and RVs carry regular passenger vehicle registrations.

Once a bus is converted into a private RV, its commercial vehicle title and registration must be converted to an RV title and registration. If this is not completed, the driver must have a CDL and follow commercial vehicle operating laws.

What Are the Benefits of Registering a Skooki as an RV?

The main benefit of registering a skooli as an RV over leaving it commercial isn’t so much a benefit as a requirement. Commercial vehicles are titled and registered accordingly and follow their own rules and requirements, the least of which include commercial driver licensing. 

Since an RV is not a commercial vehicle, it does not fall under the same umbrella of commercial licensure. So again, check your state’s license requirements to ensure you are not violating any GVWR limitations. 

If your bus retains its commercial vehicle status:

• The driver must have a commercial driver’s license, or CDL, and commercial vehicle insurance.

• The vehicle may have to meet other DOT requirements like wearing a commercial license plate, stopping at weigh stations, and driving a set number of hours per day.

This is why the most popular answer is pursuing an RV registration and title for a converted school bus. RVs can be driven on a regular driver’s license and are not subject to those other legal limitations.

Each State is Different

Some states are more lenient than others regarding how vehicles are titled. For instance, we know that Vermont has no requirement for titles on vehicles over the age of fifteen years. 

More to the point, Vermont makes it easy to transfer the commercial title and registration for a bus and make it an RV. 

First, it is essential to understand that Vermont is one of the most simple and user-friendly states for car registration. Anyone can register their car in Vermont, and the Vermont DMV is okay with this. This is not a loophole; the DMV is open and forthright about this. If you find this hard to believe, check it out! 

What Defines a Motor Home? 

Every state has its requirements for what constitutes a motor home. Some states are more restrictive, so we recommend Vermont for RV registrations. 

According to Vermont state law, a motor home is defined as:

(11) "Motor home" means a new or used pleasure car designed to provide temporary living quarters, built as an integral part of, or permanently attached to, a self-propelled motor vehicle chassis or van. The vehicle must contain at least four of the following facilities: cooking, refrigeration or ice box, self-contained toilet, heating and/or air conditioning, a portable water supply system including a sink and faucet, separate 110-125 volt electrical power supply, and/or an LP gas supply.

Also, the owner must paint the bus a color different from the standard, universal school bus yellow, and the 8-way lighting system has to be removed. 

Most states have similar requirements, but again, Vermont separates itself for reasons outside of the motor home requirements listed above. Vermont remains an attractive state to register an RV in. With a six percent sales tax rate, it isn’t the lowest in the nation but is still lower than many states.

Depending on where you purchase your school bus for conversion, you may receive nothing more than a bill of sale. The reasoning is that government vehicles do not require plates in every state, and the local governments own school buses in many jurisdictions, so in many cases, you now need to find a method that doesn’t require titles to register a vehicle. Sounds wild, right? Well, it isn’t that farfetched after all.

What Are the Out-Of-State Registration Options?

To process your registration for a skoolie, we don’t need a title from the seller at all. 

We only need a bill of sale and the VIN to get the ball rolling. 

Vermont has consistently proven to be a reliable state to title and register vehicles with hard-to-trace titles. If your bus is sixteen years old or older, you will not even receive a title; instead, you will get a transferable registration and tag that are road legal and transferable to other states if you should want to re-tag elsewhere.

Here at Dirt Legal, we offer a Vehicle Registration Service that takes the guesswork out of registering your converted school bus as an RV. Backed by our 100% Money-Back Guarantee, our team of experts will convert your skoolie’s commercial registration into a regular RV registration. You have seats to pull, floors to install, and walls to paint: let us deal with the DMV so you don’t have to.

What About a Used Skooli?

This is a good question and a valid one. While used buses may be cheap, skoolies that are finished out are not. It is not unusual for a well-finished skooli to go for anywhere from $20,000 to well into the six figures. 

Buying a finished-out skooli is a lot easier, although they can be expensive. Also, since the vehicle is complete and has been used, the registration will reflect an RV, not a commercial vehicle. If this is the case, you will have no trouble registering and titling it in any state. 

This leads us to another service we offer that may be useful. If you’re planning to lead a nomadic lifestyle, you have the freedom to choose which state to establish your home base in. This is a perfect opportunity to choose Montana, a state with no sales tax, to register your newly converted RV tax-free for the initial registration.

If you need more motivation to check out our Montana LLC Registration Program, check this out: if your skooli is over eleven years old (which is extremely common in skoolies), you can permanently register it in Montana. That’s right, think about never registering your skooli ever again. That’s a nice feeling to think about.

You’re Almost There

Skoolies are not a new idea. People have been converting buses for years, which remains a viable, durable option for RVing. Be confident that you are not alone - from wiring to plumbing to titles and registrations, someone out there has done it all before, and the skoolie community is more than willing to help you learn.

Skoolies are one of the most popular options for full-timing, mainly because of the fully customizable nature of a skooli and because their composition is much more durable than an RV. RVs, whether a trailer or a motorhome, are not built to last. They are built with the least expensive and easiest-to-work materials available. Their goal is to save weight and cost in construction, not to be a durable asset for long-term travel. 
Whether you are buying a surplus bus for conversion and need a new title and registration or buying a used skooli that has been converted, we have a registration solution to meet your needs. Consider our Vehicle Registration Service and Montana LLC Registration Program to get your skoolie on the road without a single trip to the DMV. You don’t even need to leave your home. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions before getting started.