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BUSBOSS105
Senior Member
USA
77 Posts |
 Posted - 07/31/2003 : 04:25:29 AM
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I had one of my drivers out sick and I drove his route for the day.
I found many inconsistencies with his schedule as he was making stops at undesignated corners and picking up children not scheduled to ride. This became a safety issue when one of these children ran out into the street expecting me to stop and causing me to swerve to avoid hitting him. I spoke to this driver when he returned and gave him one week to straighten out this run or face the consequenses. I followed his bus after the week deadline and no changes had been made. I told him I was removing him from this run he had driven for five years sent a disiplinary letter to his file and even though he had seniority over the other drivers he was transferred to an unpopular run with less overtime. This driver went to the affluent parents on this run and told them how unfair I had been and began a campaign of nasty calls,letters,e-mails and petitions to reinstate him immediately. This reached the Superintendent of Schools Office, who backed my decision, and caused great deals of commotion within the school administration.
What would you have done or how would you have handled the situation ?
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Edited by - BUSBOSS105 on 07/31/2003 04:28:53 AM
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Sherm
Top Member
USA
621 Posts |
Posted - 07/31/2003 : 06:12:31 AM
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I think you handled it correctly, based on four assumptions:
1. You had a written rule addressing this issue already in
place before the incident;
2. The driver was correctly trained regarding this rule;
3. You documented the problem and the steps you took to solve it;
4. You have, and you will in the future, give every other
driver the same treatment.
Parents simply do not understand how a seemingly harmless situation can turn into a safety concern. It should have been the driver that explained this to the parents; if he had been doing his job correctly he would still have his route. No matter what kind of heat you take, you likely saved a serious injury or a young life by addressing this head on. Fortunately you had support.
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BUSBOSS105
Senior Member
USA
77 Posts |
Posted - 07/31/2003 : 07:08:39 AM
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Thanks Sherm, all my drivers know that any changes to a route are to be addressed through my office and when discussed with parents and principals and found to be safe and workable can be put in place.
This driver seems to think that any decisions need only go through him, not knowing the consequenses and resonsibilities of all actions
have to answered to.
It seems that the parents on this route were more concerned with this driver being familiar with all these children and high fiving them with a greeting each trip rather than scanning the perimeter around the bus watching for any potential hazard. But we know who the first to complain would be if any child were injured because a driver was not in control. |
rikinle@comcast.net |
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80-RE4
Top Member
USA
5700 Posts |
Posted - 07/31/2003 : 1:47:17 PM
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I think you made the right decision. You gave him a fair amount of time to change his route back to the way it was supposed to be. If you hadn't given him a week to correct his route, that would have been unfair.
The thing I would have done, however, was to suspend him from that route for one month, then given him another (second) chance. Then once he was off the route for a month, he would possibly have learned his lesson-? If he did it again after being suspended from that route for a month, then I would have
taken him off.
Did he have an updated route list? What if the route list you had didn't match his and maybe he thought he was doing it correctly, or did you compare? I know that happened alot at my terminal. |
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mr.dave
Advanced Member
USA
414 Posts |
Posted - 07/31/2003 : 1:48:12 PM
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As a driver I have been asked to make special stops. I tell the customer I will work on it, but am prohibited from changing my route due to safty concerns. If the request is reasonable, I request a route change from scheduling. If the request is not reasonable, or is not safe, I inform the customer of the reason I can not grant their request. As I study the situation carefully scheduling has never refused my request for a change. If I did not have the backing of my supervisors, and managers this would not work.
salom dave |
Shiny side up, greasy side down |
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macondriver
Top Member
USA
533 Posts |
Posted - 07/31/2003 : 4:11:52 PM
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as a driver i have to say that if i was told to do something i would do it buttttt. also as a driver, i have made stopes that are not on my route and i have bypassed stops that have no riders which alters my route, some times when it is pouring rain i have let the kids out closer to their homes and my very last stop last year was a 5 year old girl that had to get off in a very bad area and no one ever met her at the stop so i did turn the cornor and go around the block to let her out so i could watch till she got in her door, i would let her out and pull over and while whe was salking to her home i would walk my bus and shut all windows and pick up paper and push my child safity botton, once she was in side i left, i knew if someone turned me in i would be called on the carpet for it, but it made me feel better knowing that child got home safe and my route was done. i know most drivers do not go strickly by the book but nothing that would endanger a child like your driver. and all my kids knew if someone else ever had to drive my route they had to get off at their normal stop....however i never miss work so that hasn't happened. but if i was told, warned, writen up, and followed and still did not follow orders then it's my bad and what ever happens is all on me.
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Driving my way to the top, in a big yellow bus...and proud of it. |
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Peter
Top Member
USA
1057 Posts |
Posted - 07/31/2003 : 8:39:00 PM
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There is absolutely no excuse for making sweetheart stops. This practice will lead to student deaths. Just as Busboss found, students will come running into the street and get hit by the unsuspecting sub driver. Making unauthorized changes to the route also makes navigation more difficult for substitute drivers and generally promotes laziness in kids. Every kid thinks that he should be picked up and dropped at his front door but this should not be. Kids released at unauthorized stops are also a huge liability for the driver, bus company and school district.
Whenever I drive a route and find that the driver has wrongfully made changes to the route, I leave that driver a note requesting that they run the route correctly or request changes of the transportation department. Should I drive that route again in the future and find that the problem still exists, I report it and make a big stink. I don't need a busload of irate lazy children screaming and crying because I don't know that their regular driver lets them off at their house instead of 100 feet ahead at the assigned location. Kids try to argue with me but I won't let them off at an unauthorized stop because by doing so I'm setting myself up for a whole world of trouble. |
Spicer is nicer. |
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macondriver
Top Member
USA
533 Posts |
Posted - 09/20/2003 : 5:47:40 PM
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i would never allow any child to come running out to my bus, maybe others would , well i know others do. if the kids are evern close to the road and not back far enough i will stop hald way down the block and motion for them to get back many will just run to where i stopped and i "always" make them go back to their cornor stand where they should be safely standing and then pick them up, i also give endless speaches on the dangers of standing to close to the street because the bus might slide in bad weather so they need to be in the habit of staying back till the bus comes to a "full stop".
on top of that i will not any student to stand up till th bus comes to a ful stop and i tell them the first time if it happens again we will all go around hte block 3 times and pratice staying in our seats till the bus comes to a full stop.
but if i am going right by their house andit is pouring down rain i will let them off at their house, never once aftr doing that have i arrived the next morning to find them standing in side waiting to run to the bus, they have always been at their proper stop. it is all on how you talk to them, i say i will do this just this time, if you have another driver do not expect them to do this.
lighten up... |
Driving my way to the top, in a big yellow bus...and proud of it. |
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DURHAMIZED
Senior Member
55 Posts |
Posted - 09/21/2003 : 12:04:54 PM
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Are you school district owned or contracted?? Either way do you have written policies & procedures? More specifically on INSUBORDINATION? This person sounds like a loose cannon, when things dont go his way, he involves everyone else. If your superintendent is backing you on this issue, then you do not have any need to explain to anyone else the actions taken. Make sure you DOCUMENT everything, because it sounds like you will need it down the road. Most contracted transportation policies do not allow any driver to speak with parents regarding employment issues let alone bad mouth management or the company to "customers".
I wouldn't worry a whole lot about what this employee has done in the past, near as much as I would, what he is capable of doing the next time things don't go his way.
Good Luck! |
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Carpenter
Advanced Member
238 Posts |
Posted - 09/21/2003 : 3:05:21 PM
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I agree with your decision. In our district, if we want to add a stop, we go to the route coordinator and explain the situation. If the stop is reasonable, the stop is added... If it's not, it's not added and you won't be stopping there. Sometimes, it's necessary if a new kid moves in and needs a closer stop.
Doing it behind the back of the administration is just not smart. |
UNLAWFUL TO PASS WHEN RED LIGHTS FLASH |
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PHW
Top Member
USA
1345 Posts |
Posted - 09/22/2003 : 07:14:13 AM
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| I used BUSBOSS105 example in our safety meeting. When you paint a graphic mental picture to the drivers it has a greater impact. This is a all to common problem in school busing. |
PHW
Child Check For Life
Chock Wheels For Life
Proud American For Life |
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What Would You Do ?
