School Bus Drivers/ Route Assistants. The hours shall be set by the Director of Transportation following, and subject to, the bidding provisions of Section 6.5 of this Article. Once set, the hours can only be changed by the Director of Transportation or designee after consultation with the affected school bus driver/route assistant and all other school bus drivers of similar buses from that geographic area so that the most efficient and suitable change in the route may be made. In the event a route is permanently shortened, a school bus driver/route assistant will be paid their regular route hours for up to five (5) working days after the route is permanently shortened. In order to qualify for the pay, the school bus driver/route assistant shall inform the appropriate shift Route Manager of their availability. If the Route Manager has no work available, the school bus driver/route assistant may choose to clock out upon return to base and receive clock time. A school bus driver/route assistant whose am and/or pm route is eliminated, will be assigned to stand-by hours with punch in/punch out times according to need until work becomes available. These school bus drivers/route assistants are last out after regularly scheduled stand-by drivers and stand-by assistants. In the event a route is temporarily shortened no school bus driver/route assistant shall suffer a loss of hours due to students that are temporarily absent. The school bus driver/route assistant shall inform the appropriate Route Manager of their availability. If the Route Manager has no work available, the school bus driver/route assistant may choose to clock out upon return to base and receive clock time.