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rjulius@aesoponline.com
New Member
USA
2 Posts |
 Posted - 02/04/2002 : 04:49:47 AM
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| I am involved with school districts and hear them complain about how hard it is to find substitute bus drivers all the time. Do any of you know of computer software one could use to streamline and optimize the process? Are there any resources available that describe best practices for this problem area? |
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spanky
Active Member
USA
41 Posts |
Posted - 02/04/2002 : 07:12:52 AM
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This is major problem in our area as well. What i have discovered is School districts dont pay enough nor do they guarentee hours. This makes it very difficult for those of us wanting to take time off especially in the spring when we have coupiuos number of busses going on field trips.
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newbeetlebugblue2000
Advanced Member
USA
271 Posts |
Posted - 02/04/2002 : 08:57:47 AM
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What our district does if there is no sub-driver available, we have one driver who has his own route, and when needed, he runs Plan "X". Plan "X" is when he covers another driver's route while 4 other buses, if they are in the area of is regular route, pick up his students. He has told me numerous times he hates being the only Plan "X" driver in the district. But I suggest for your school to think about Plan "X".
Ryan Lane
NewBeetleBugBlue2000@yahoo.com
www.plain.lib.oh.us/PCPLPizzaPirates.htm |
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JK
Top Member
USA
7307 Posts |
Posted - 02/04/2002 : 09:50:56 AM
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quote:
I am involved with school districts and hear them complain about how hard it is to find substitute bus drivers all the time. Do any of you know of computer software one could use to streamline and optimize the process? Are there any resources available that describe best practices for this problem area?
A best practice would be the employer asking their bus drivers the greatest likes and dislikes about their bus driving job. Look very closely at potential maltreatment issues -- untrained or undertrained drivers with ineffective support from staff. "Are your drivers authorized to refuse transporting any child refusing to follow the bus driver's directions?"
There is an abundance of people in every school district that would love to drive school bus, provided their decency is not dishonored. So, a best practice might include finding out what is keeping potential drivers from considering driving school bus. (jk)
Edited by - jk on 02/04/2002 09:53:10 AM |
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Busrepair
Senior Member
121 Posts |
Posted - 02/06/2002 : 12:30:44 PM
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Do you have aides on the buses? What we have done is talked some of them onto getting their CDL'S. It helps when we need a short notice driver. The other thing is to look at having other staff members that can drive. Some of this will depend on if you are in a union organization or not. Mechanics, teachers they can all help out. The thing to remember is we can't teach them if we don't get them to school.
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John Farr
Top Member
USA
642 Posts |
Posted - 02/07/2002 : 2:42:20 PM
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Many districts will not follow our practices because of cost. Note that it can take several months to train a new driver. But this system works for us and we NEVER have a shortage of sub. drivers. Here is how we operate:
1. Subs are guaranteed at least 4 hours of work daily (but they always receive more). If there were no route to cover they "ride along" or check out a bus and go on standby status. We have 6 sub drivers (no benefits).
2. We have 8 "floater" drivers. They are essentially subs with benefits, and each bids their floater position. This job is not for everyone. For them, "variety is the spice of life." They are very experienced and can cover any route with ease. They are kinda like the US Marines for us.
So far, if you are counting, we have 14 drivers without specific route assignments - for 82 routes (17%).
3. Two driver instructors and four dispatchers and our fleet manager are all licensed to drive school bus. It has been years since some of these guys actually drove a school bus because they had to.
That adds up to 21 subs.
Mechanics are not required to be licensed to drive with students (one has a license. He recently came from another district)
Make it 22 (27%).
4. we have such a surplus of drivers that we are not filling open bus attendant positions. Instead, we use driver subs to help with bus attendant vacancies. When we do have some turnover, we now have trained drivers ready to go. We can always train a bus attendant in a few days.
5. We are proactive when it comes to training drivers. Whenever we see our sub pool getting low, we take steps to train more drivers. For example, last summer we conducted our own class, even though we had adequate sub staffing. As it turned out, most of our graduates had to go to other school districts, as we did not need very many additional drivers.
Finally, our starting pay is the best in our area at $14.68/hr, with an average seniority driver making around $20/hr. A driver has to hide from the dispatchers to make less than 7.5 to 8 hours/day. Turnover is extremely low. Out of about 100 drivers we have had NO turnover for about 9 months, now.
And it never snows here!
What a deal!
Edited by - john farr on 02/07/2002 2:44:02 PM |
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JK
Top Member
USA
7307 Posts |
Posted - 02/07/2002 : 4:43:01 PM
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John Far's efforts, partly explained in his post, are one of the predominate reasons the industry has very little space from me. Oceanside has demonstrated that quality people are available and remain, regardless of the so-called school bus driver shortage.
To be kind here the school bus driver shortage is nothing more than a hoax. There is no bus driver shortage, only a shortage of employers willing to treat their bus drivers with the decency and honor that KEEPS EM' COMMING BACK!
Note the pay at Oceanside is not the highest in California or across this country -- it is adequate, but the planning, including the treatment of their bus drivers keeps more bus drivers available then Farr can use.
Any transportation management or school administration unwilling to learn from the Oceanside model, has no business complaining about their bus driver shortage. There has virtually always been an abundance of willing drivers NATIONWIDE, but too many operations are looking for scapegoats and slaves rather than bus drivers to drive their buses. Stop blaming the so-called bus driver shortage on a lack of applicants; start correcting the attitude of some employers in this industry; properly train and support the bus drivers they already have, and watch the so-called bus driver shortage evaporate. Or, hope the economy gets so bad that the only job in town is driving a school bus -- but even then expect the turnover to remain high. (jk)
The #1 reason school bus drivers quit
http://forums.delphiforums.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=2safeschools&msg=565.62
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John Farr
Top Member
USA
642 Posts |
Posted - 02/08/2002 : 1:05:05 PM
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Thanks, JK, but I can't take the credit. Our administration and Board are the ones that set the pace. I couldn't do it without them - especially my boss, Joe Graybeal.
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bus lady
New Member
4 Posts |
Posted - 03/01/2002 : 11:28:46 AM
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Our district has the same problem finding subs for some of the routes. There are two routes that are over 2 hours for a new person to drive, they get paid so little to do them I don't blame the subs for refusing to drive them, I would to. The district advertises in the school paper for subs which i find is a joke. I think they might get a better respones if they advertise in a bigger paper, that reaches more people.But who are we to tell magagement what to do???
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JK
Top Member
USA
7307 Posts |
Posted - 03/01/2002 : 12:47:18 PM
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quote:
Our district has the same problem finding subs for some of the routes. There are two routes that are over 2 hours for a new person to drive, they get paid so little to do them I don't blame the subs for refusing to drive them, I would to. The district advertises in the school paper for subs which i find is a joke. I think they might get a better respones if they advertise in a bigger paper, that reaches more people.But who are we to tell magagement what to do???
Have those subs take two pay raises and call you in the morning. (jk)
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Wolf4dk
Senior Member
USA
74 Posts |
Posted - 04/02/2002 : 9:19:18 PM
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I am sub driver myself. And I actualy like it. I show up everyday, Just in case. And I get 2 hours min pay for showup time. But if I end up doing a route I get that routes pay. Each route has a specified route time. If I don't do any routes I end up working on busses that are there or I am the tow truck driver when it becomes needed. (I hate days like that)
But I am always working and I like doing what I do. I can't stand having a regular route. :D
We don't use any computer program. We use a standard note pad that has each open route listed. Each day is on a seprate sheet. Kinda like this....
AM
92 ______&_______&_______
122 _______&_______&_______
PM
92 ______&_______&_______
43 ______&_______&_______
For each space it denotes a school. First line is high school, Second underscore is Middle school and the last is the elementry.
Depending on who does the route the name would go into the slot.
92 BOB&----->&----->
Sometimes we split route between drivers. One would take the high school. One would take the Middle school and so on.. Our dispatcher can tell you where each route goes and what one's could double up if needed. We have one dispatcher and it's simpler that way. No confusion between dispatchers as to what is going on. We have over 112 routes and 3 districts.
And we also keep the names of the dirvers that take the day off, drivers that don't do pre trips, and other info on the same sheet. Phone msg's for students that are not riding for whatever reason and radio msg's that are recorded on a different sheet. We have been doing this for almost 30 years. Before that I am not sure. (company has been around since the early 20's) It's all very simple and easy to look back in case someone has a question or complaint about something.
We figured it would be easyer for us to use this then some computer program where our dispatchers don't know jack about computers. It would just confuse them more then anything else.
Edited by - Wolf4dk on 04/02/2002 9:24:14 PM |
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tess
Senior Member
USA
85 Posts |
Posted - 04/14/2002 : 09:02:07 AM
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What's a substitute driver? When we're missing a driver for one reason or another we have code reds. (Split up the small inner route) It makes for a lot of frustration for students, parents and the drivers.
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Finding substitute bus drivers at the last minute
