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Bus Boy 39
Top Member
USA
1315 Posts |
 Posted - 07/21/2005 : 06:26:11 AM
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| Hello all, I'm starting at a new district and all drivers get to bid on runs. This will happen at the begining of August, and I want to know what does bidding on run consist of? I would like to go there with a little background. |
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mlkdrives41
Top Member
USA
2055 Posts |
Posted - 07/21/2005 : 06:50:25 AM
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It may be different where you are but this is what our bidding consists of. The coordinator gets all the runs organized with approximate hours set. Then all the runs are posted on the board for a week in August and believe me the drivers all study them very carefully. Some look for runs with an aide (or in my case WITHOUT an aide), some want more hours, others less. Some hope for no mid day run or wheelchairs, etc. Last year I looked for the run with the hours that ended earliest because I do sports trips and sometimes I can take my kids home in the afternoon and then do the trip and not lose time. On a certain day we all come in and the drivers are called into the boss' office by seniority where they make their choice, as it goes down the line the runs that are taken are crossed off. When it gets down to the people with the least seniority they get whatever nobody else wants. Then the aides are called in and the process is repeated. When a driver wants a particular aide, they get together beforehand and pick out what they want. Very often people stick with what they had the year before. Hope this helps. In previous years I didn't do too many trips during the day because I had a BOCES run where I was working most of the day and I didn't get anything extra for the trip but now if the trip interests me, I will sign up for it. It helps to have gone from 22nd in seniority to 9th. You do get a little more of what you want.
Hope this helps. |
Nothing great has ever been accomplished without enthusiasm! |
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CountGirl
Top Member
USA
823 Posts |
Posted - 07/21/2005 : 09:43:09 AM
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We bid similar to what mlk was talking about, for what I've been told. You get the routes posted, where they go etc, you study, and when bidding comes up, you write your top three choices on an index card along with your name and seniority rank and give them to the bidding supervisor. [Can be boss or any other group of people appointed by the boss] Then in two to three days they organize the cards by seniority and apply the desired runs. If someone has taken your first choice already, they go with second, if someone has taken the second, they go with your third.
I don't know how SN bidding works, it's got to be integrated into this because some drivers go from regular to SN and some go from SN to regular, but I believe with the SN drivers you have a higher chance of getting your old run back. Most drivers, especially SN, choose their old runs, and if they don't and a child or children's condition warrants it, they will frequently have an "Introducing" period to get both new driver accustom to the run and children accustom to the new driver, because that is important with some medical conditions.
Hope this helps.
Count
P.S. - If you run a kindy, and you have frequent mid-day commitments such as training or trips, they will frequently choose ONE driver to ride along with you for awhile and then some remembering periods after that on your kindy run, and then when you have these other commitments, the ONE driver will take your bus to the school, in your parking spot, and stand beside it, and have a farmilar face for the kindies to find. It's an easier transition if they have one sub for all the times, it doesn't uproot their day as much and keeps them on the correct bus to go home. |
Give me a yellow object. Yes. Right now. I need my yellow chocolate, for goodness sake! |
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Thomas Ford 85-16
Top Member
USA
4177 Posts |
Posted - 07/21/2005 : 11:28:16 AM
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| Our bidding is done in order by seniority. It's done throughout a few days as convenient however, not all in one day. In our district, the bus is assigned to a route and a route only. The buses do not move with the driver, so the bus that comes with the route is an important consideration. It's important that almost any variable is made known to the drivers who are choosing... The actual route that you follow (and from this you can conclude whether its mostly dirt or paved or what have you), the route number, the bus number (each bus in a Michigan district must have a unique fleet ID number, so it's easy to know exactly which bus you'll be getting), the mileage, the hours, and I've heard even the write up slips from the previous year (in order to give you an idea of the behavior on the bus). Just make any and all information available to the drivers (without anyone's privacy being invaded) and you should have an extremely fair, no surprises, bidding process. |
Mike's Bus Yard - http://buses.zwebpages.com - Since 1999
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IC
Top Member
USA
3413 Posts |
Posted - 07/21/2005 : 12:00:49 PM
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It's really simple here. First, drivers can keep their same runs year after year (no annual bidding)if they want to. When a driver quits, gets fired, or dies....their runs become "open" runs and are advertised. Drivers fill out a form to apply for them and they are then given to the driver highest on the seniority list. End of story.
This system really makes it hard to keep a straight face when you hear a (more senior) driver had a debilitating stroke, or whatever. Cold as it sounds....to advance around here, something bad has to happen to the drivers ahead of you. I don't know a fairer way to do it, but it really creates a cutthroat atmosphere! |
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VAdriver
Senior Member
USA
135 Posts |
Posted - 07/21/2005 : 2:32:43 PM
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| We also retain our routes from year to year unless we choose to bid on an open run. The runs are usually posted for one week, and can be viewed on our county website. We are opening five new schools this year, so there will be a LOT of new runs this year. Our county also changed the start times of several schools, so that the start times of all schools will be the same. That resulted in a lot of changes in the western part of the county, since many drivers had done two elementary runs each morning and afternoon. Because of the changes, many drivers ended up with an elementary run before their middle/high school runs. |
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Ricky
Advanced Member
USA
352 Posts |
Posted - 07/21/2005 : 3:12:33 PM
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| We keep the same runs each year, with minor changes that are necessitated by population shift, eliminated routes, etc. A driver can request a new route, and if available it is up to the discretion of the supervisor whether or not to grant the request. Most drivers keep the same route year after year and the bus, in most cases, follows the driver. |
(AmTran11) |
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dmoney127
Advanced Member
USA
253 Posts |
Posted - 07/21/2005 : 6:37:55 PM
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| Ours is basically the same as the first few. The only exception is that you do have some choice on your bus-there are some from each series on 3 lists, based on mileage. |
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Bus Boy 39
Top Member
USA
1315 Posts |
Posted - 08/17/2005 : 08:20:55 AM
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Well, we're having a bid meeting on Monday, August 22 at the garage. Then there is a manditory meeting on Tuesday, August 23 in the high school cafeteria. Both meetings are at 9 am, wow, they like to do things early! I'm guessing that we will bid on Monday and on Tuesday we'll be able to find out what runs we got. Hopefully we're allowed to take the buses out for the rest of the week and get use to the bus and run.
On a side note, they supply us with a whole route book, with every route we have. We are able to pick them up on Friday the 19th. I think it would be wise for me to pick one up and study the routes, this should help me in choosing a route. |
I'll show you my air brakes if you show me yours. |
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IC
Top Member
USA
3413 Posts |
Posted - 08/17/2005 : 10:49:40 AM
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Early?
Sheesh, my letter for our in-service meeting on the 25th says:
"ALL DRIVERS NEED TO SIGN IN BETWEEN 7:30-7:45 a.m."
Good luck, BB, hope you get some GREAT runs! |
Edited by - IC on 08/17/2005 10:50:55 AM |
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Bidding on runs
