State inspectors are familiar with the challenges that school bus fleet mechanics face in their jobs: aging vehicles, drivers skipping pre-trips or post-trips, and tight school budgets, just to name a few. However, one mechanic gave new inspectors a more complete picture of what they deal with on a daily basis.
Douglas Francis, the associate transportation director and head mechanic of Gaylord (Mich.) Community Schools, sat in on interviews for several new school bus inspectors for the Michigan State Police Motor Carrier Division, and decided to write an “open letter” to familiarize them with what a school bus operation looks like. Francis, who is also a chairperson for the Michigan Association for Pupil Transportation (MAPT) Pupil Transportation Fleet Committee, thought it might further strengthen pupil transportation's relationship with state police as they work together to keep school buses safe.
In the letter, Francis outlines the myriad responsibilities and ever-fluctuating and unpredictable nature of a school bus mechanic’s job, and notes that being flexible is a daily necessity. He also expresses appreciation for the police and the state’s safety inspections, and asks inspectors to “please take time to get to know us and understand the demands of our day.”
Phillip Haldaman, a school administrator for the Charlevoix-Emmet (Mich.) Intermediate School District and the president-elect of MAPT, brought the letter to School Bus Fleet’s attention. “It was a hit with the inspectors,” he told SBF in an email message.
Francis' letter is published in full below.
"January 31, 2017
To Whom It May Concern,
The day may start as early as 4:00 am. The mechanics start arriving at 5:30 a.m. As drivers trickle in, they prepare their bus for the a.m. routes. We all wonder how our day will play out. The roads may be snow-covered and slippery. It may be extremely cold or extremely hot. We have come to the conclusion that kids and parents are a barometer for the weather conditions. Then, things happen.
Our office phone starts to ring. Drivers call in sick as the flu is going around again. We scramble to fill driver positions because our driver sub pool is very small or non-existent. Some of our buses will not start. We scramble to get our equipment on the road and be safe. Parents call the office with demands we cannot meet. We deal with unresolved issues with students and drivers from last night’s route. An administrator may call our department with concerns and/or needs we, by law, cannot meet. Sometimes they are not understanding of our role.
We insist our drivers do pre-trip as well as post-trip safety inspections. The mechanics perform safety inspections and find evidence of some drivers not fulfilling their job duties. Some of our school buses are old and tired. Upper management gives us flak for requesting new ones. Some staff is undertrained and/or does not have the skill set required for today’s transportation environment. School financing is always an issue. Our labor force has dramatically changed over the past 10 years.
