@Alex ****
I see. Well the bus takes about as long as a bus normally takes, it usually comes to the same thing. That said, it could be a bit faster to just get a ride to the border than waiting for the bus to depart.
If you don't use the cross border bus, is there a shuttle bus to take people across the bridge like at Nong Khai? I only ever saw the Mukdahan-Savannakhet bus crossing the bridge so I assumed anyone without their own car would have to wait for the bus to come, though that could mean an hours wait.