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After an extended break, the SCHOOL BUS FLEET blog is officially back in action. Each week, my fellow editors and I will post on all things related to pupil transportation — from breaking news to human interest stories to industry chatter — adding occasional doses of opinion and humor. We hope you'll . . .
Read More →In August 1994, I saw a classified ad in the local newspaper. It read something like: "Managing editor needed for bus mag. Good working environment." Seeing that I was unemployed and likely to stay that way unless I developed some curiosity about editing jobs with bus mags, I called about the listing and a few days later was hired as senior editor at SCHOOL BUS FLEET Magazine.School buses? Why would anyone publish a magazine about buses? What have I gotten myself into? I asked myself. . .
Read More →My older son, who's in the third grade, recently told me that one of his classmates threw him down on the grass during recess. I said, "One of the bigger kids, right?" He said, "No, actually he's smaller than me." He leveled his hand to his own chin. "About this tall." "And he threw you down?" I replied. Well, you get the drift. I don't know if I'd classify his classmate as a bully, more likely he's just a rambunctious friend, but it concerns me when kids are tossing each . . .
Read More →Both of my sons, ages 6 and 8, are back in school. Neither ride the bus. We live outside the neighborhood school zone and thus don't qualify for school bus service. That means, of course, that my wife must drive them to and from school each day, a distance of about 3 miles.I know this is not the safest way to get them to and from school, but we don't have much choice. I sometimes wonder what it would be like if they did ride the bus. Would I go out and size up the driver? Would I complain...
Read More →A while back I posted a note titled "Are You My Friend or My Boss?" and received many thoughtful comments about the critical importance of a manager developing a good relationship with his or her staff. This is not an easy task, I know. It requires give and take from both parties for the larger good of the organization.The reason I bring this up again is that I received an e-mail from a frustrated transportation supervisor who is trying to build a healthier workplace, but has had no success...
Read More →I just received good news from a friend in the industry who is very close to moving from a job as a school bus driver for a school district to a management trainee for a contractor. She has her sights set on becoming a transportation director one day, and I believe she's going to do it.Not every bus driver, however, aspires to become a manager. Some are quite happy where they're at, and there's certainly nothing wrong with that. But I wonder if we're doing enough as an industry to develop...
Read More →I'm late by a day with my weekly blog update, but you'll have to cut me some slack because I was on a badly needed vacation. I took the family to Catalina Island, about 20 miles off the coast of Southern California. I think it's important to take off from work every now and then. We've gotten to a point where we're consumed by our jobs, especially with the advent of cell phones and e-mail. As we rode the ferry boat from Long Beach to Catalina, I watched as one fellow passenger spent most of...
Read More →Like many of you, I’m trying to improve my knowledge, skills and performance by taking night classes. Each Wednesday evening, I settle in for a 3 ½-hour class in a meeting room at a local hotel. The subject matter is interesting. The instructor is excellent. But no matter how distracted I am by the proceedings, my chair starts to feel hard by about the third hour.
Read More →I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the bridge collapse in Minneapolis. It's now considered the worst disaster in Minnesota history, and the horrifying images certainly will endure in my memory for years to come. As you might expect, a lot of attention was placed on the school bus that was on the bridge during the collapse. I don't know if it qualifies as a miracle that none of the passengers was killed, but it's pretty close. The vehicle, which was carrying 62 people, is estimated to...
Read More →I traveled recently to attend an industry conference. My flight was delayed for four hours, which didn't put me in a particularly good mood when I arrived at the destination airport. Things got worse, however, when I tried to get a cab ride to my hotel. There were two taxis waiting at the cab line. By this time it was almost midnight, and there were no other customers in sight. I thought they'd be glad to see some business headed their way.
Read More →Everyone wants to be loved. It's a survival instinct. The more people who love you, and the fewer who hate you, the better the chance that you'll live a long life uninterrupted by attacks on your character and person.But leaders, such as transportation directors and other managers, aren't in their positions to be loved. They're in their positions to get a job done as efficiently and safely as possible. If they happen to be liked, or loved, by their employees, that's a bonus, but it's not...
Read More →I read an interesting article in the Houston Chronicle about the difficulty the local transit agency has had in recruiting Hispanic employees. The agency's efforts to bring more Hispanics into its ranks included advertising in the newspaper and on the radio, as well as Spanish-language TV. It also attended job fairs and held its own job fairs. To no avail. In trying to fill 250 spots for bus drivers, it hired 10 Hispanics.
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