Buses World News

BUS DRIVERS SHORTAGE* USA: Assistants must have drivers' licenses

* North Carolina - Teaching assistants, others could be driving school buses under new policy

-- A shortage of bus drivers in the Alamance-Burlington School System could mean new school employees would be required to be licensed and ready to drive routes... A proposed policy before the Alamance-Burlington Board of Education would require new “classified” employees — cafeteria workers, custodians, teacher assistants and others, like graduation coaches — to get licensed and sign bus-driving agreements as a condition of employment... The district is short five full-time drivers, but the biggest worry is keeping a pool of substitute drivers to fill in on sick days, according to Assistant Superintendent Todd Thorpe. The school board raised bus-drivers’ wages to $11.60 per hour in the current budget to keep drivers in the district...
(Photo: Alamance-Burlington's school buses-- Alamance-Burlington, NC, USA - The Times-News, by Isaac Groves - Jan. 17, 2016

Labels: drivers' shortage

SCHOOL BUSES DRIVER SHORTAGE * USA: Alburquerque

* New Mexico - Driver shortage fuels APS bus problems

(Video from YouTube, by KRQE -Aug 20, 2014: Driver shortage fuels APS bus problems) Alburquerque,NM,USA -KRQE, by Kayla Ayres -August 20, 2014: -- There have been a lot of problems with buses at Albuquerque schools this year, and district officials say most of the problems are because of a driver shortage that caught them off-guard. Albuquerque Public Schools officials stress that a majority of the more than 40,000 kids that ride school buses daily get to and from school without issue every day. Some big issues have arisen early into the school year, including claims that kids had to cram onto packed buses. APS says a bus driver shortage is largely to blame. All 15 bus companies the district contracts with have come up short by 10 percent, meaning there are only about 360 bus drivers when there should be 400...

Labels: drivers' shortage

DRIVERS' SHORTAGE * USA - Have school buses – need drivers

’WE PAY WELL; WE OFFER BENEFITS’

Tacoma,WA,USA -The News Tribune, by JOHN GILLIE -July 1st, 2008: -- ... The bus, festooned with signs, is a portable recruiting outpost for First Student, the Cincinnati-based school bus company that holds the contract to provide transportation for the Seattle School District... Four days a week, two First Student school bus driver recruiters, Tolora Moss and Stacey Steele, answer questions, pass out fliers and job applications and sign up prospective drivers to fill the seemingly never-ending demand for school bus drivers... The two have found that marrying the company’s need for workers with the needs of Department of Social and Health Services patrons for new income works well for both parties: The school bus transportation company gets new workers, and single parents and the needy find jobs... (Photo by RUSS CARMACK/The News Tribune - Tolona Moss sets up recruiting signs at the side of the special needs bus that she drives for First Student, the Cincinnati-based school bus company. She parked Monday outside the Department of Social and Health Services office in Tacoma to take job applications)

Labels: drivers' shortage

DRIVERS' SHORTAGE * USA - School bus driver shortage pushing company administrators behind wheel

Waco,TX,USA -Waco Tribune Herald, by Wendy Gragg -April 11, 2008: -- Debra Baker spends most afternoons behind a desk, writing reports. But this week, a severe bus driver shortage has put her behind a steering wheel, driving a school bus every day... The bus service that ferries about 2,400 students to and from Waco schools every day is short 10 drivers. To keep the wheels on the buses going ’round, Student Transportation Specialist has put nearly all available staff members behind a wheel this week and has taken other measures, such as consolidating routes, said Baker, STS area director... She said if the shortage gets worse, her company can continue to consolidate routes, but she hopes that they will be able to get pay rates up next year and entice new drivers... STS in Waco is suffering from the same shortage that’s plaguing school districts and school bus services across the nation...

Labels: drivers' shortage

Driver Shortage * USA - Could delay school buses

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools has notified parents some school buses could be delayed when school starts next week while it tries to fill 90 driver vacancies and resolve “last minute issues with bus routes"

Davidson,NC,USA - The Davidson News, by David Boraks -26 Aug 2007: -- An announcement on the school system website says delays are most likely in the northern and southern ends of the county. They include some buses to and from Davidson Elementary, Cornelius Elementary and Bailey Middle schools... With so many vacancies, some drivers will be asked to make extra runs to cover unfilled routes. School officials asked parents to be patient... (Historic Photo: Bus 1072 ran on the streets of Charlotte until 1991.)

Labels: drivers' shortage

DRIVERS' SHORTAGE * USA - Fayetteville School District has buses, needs more drivers

The Fayetteville School District’s transportation department is still taking applications for bus drivers in the upcoming school year

Fayetteville,ARK,USA -The Northwest Arkansas Times, by BRETT BENNETT -August 11, 2007: -- ... “ We lost four drivers at the end of the year, and last week we had three drivers tell us that they weren’t coming back, ” transportation director Tommy Davenport said. “ We’ve got some prospects, but we’re always looking for drivers. It’s crunch time.”... Some of those positions have been filled, but the department is short on three drivers and two substitute positions, he said. School starts a week from Monday so department heads hope to fill the positions by then... (Photo by Razorback news: View of Fayetteville, Arkansas)

Labels: drivers' shortage