A school bus driver has just finished the afternoon route. According to the required post-trip inspection procedure, what should the driver specifically check for, in addition to general mechanical problems?

AAMVA CDL Manual Section 10.2.6, Post-trip Inspection, p. 10-6; 49 CFR Part 380, Appendix D, Unit D1.9 (Pre- and Post-Trip Inspections, citing 49 CFR §§ 392.7 and 396.11)

Children have died after being left asleep or hidden on parked school buses. The post-trip walk-through is the last line of defense against that outcome, and it also surfaces equipment problems, like a stop arm that failed during the route, before the bus is needed again. Treating this step as routine rather than optional is what both the manual and the federal reporting requirement are built around.