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A look at effective strategies that some school bus contractors are employing, such as developing new marketing approaches, empowering local managers and establishing a distinct, consistent brand across the company.
Read More →I’ve often asked myself why you should have to educate the public on school bus safety laws. I’ve always believed it’s something that people should learn in driver’s education class.
Read More →We have heard both sides of the coin: Working as a school bus driver first and making your way up the ranks gives you invaluable experience and perspective as a director or manager of transportation. Others have said that working in management in other fields gives you a lot to bring to the table in an administrative position at a pupil transportation operation. Which of these situations applies to you?
Read More →It’s not just what the plant staff members do; it’s how they do it. There seems to be a great sense of pride and fulfillment in their work. Indeed, they’re building one of the safest vehicles on the road — a vehicle that millions of schoolchildren rely on to get ...
Read More →With the 2013-14 school year started for many people, I am reminded of my own days in school. When I was a kid, we started after Labor Day. In doing research on why the school year starts so early, I came across information on both the benefits and drawbacks of a pre-Labor Day start date.
Read More →The horrific beating of a 13-year-old school bus passenger by three 15-year-olds has sparked heated media coverage recently. It seems that most of the ire has been aimed at the bus driver, with many observers suggesting that he should have done more to help the victim. The uproar raises a few nagging questions in my mind. ...
Read More →In the August 2013 issue of SBF, I wrote a feature titled “Tips and Tools to Select Safe Stops,” where pupil transportation officials from operations around the country shared with me various components to ensuring that their bus stop locations are safe for students. Here, I’ll share with you some of their tips and insight that didn’t make it into the feature.
Read More →There’s no good way around it: We have to turn left sometimes, often without the “protection” of a solid green arrow. For school bus drivers, training to “perfect the art” of knowing the bus and how to steer it will allow them to focus on watching out for objects in the intersection. ...
Read More →A big step was recently made on the road to recovery at Alabama's Dale County Schools following the death of bus driver Charles Poland: a new driver has been assigned to his former route. The Dothan Eagle reports that Melinda Campbell has connected with Poland's passengers by talking about him. This got me thinking about how pupil transportation operations cope with tragedy.
Read More →By and large, people who work in pupil transportation do what they do because they care about kids. Likewise, I'm convinced that most folks who work in pupil transportation also care about people in general. That came to mind when I heard about what pupil transporters in Little Egg Harbor, N.J., are doing. ...
Read More →My jaunt took place at BusWest, a Thomas Built Buses dealership in Carson, Calif., and I drove a Saf-T-Liner C2 unit. Driving a school bus was a goal that we at SBF set so that I could get a better sense of what school bus drivers face on a daily basis in terms of maneuvering such a large vehicle on the road.
Read More →I recently read a story from the Ridgefield Park Patriot about a New Jersey high school that has specific transportation requirements in order for students to attend their prom. The board of education requires students to take a school-vetted coach bus service that is paid for by the board if they want to attend prom. This is the first I’ve heard of such a policy, and I’m curious to know if it’s commonplace.
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