Safety

The Driver Shortage Playbook

Driver shortages are still a major challenge for student transportation fleets, but the real issue has shifted. It’s no longer just about filling seats quickly. It’s about finding safe, reliable drivers who meet performance expectations and want to stay. The Driver Shortage Playbook covers why traditional recruitment tactics are falling short and how school fleets are adapting with smarter hiring, stronger retention strategies and a greater focus on driver quality.

Graphic for an opinion article on illegal school bus passing. A school bus with its stop arm extended is stopped as children cross the street, while a black SUV drives past. Headline reads, “America’s School Bus Blind Spot.” School Bus Fleet branding appears in the corner.

Articles

America Has a School Bus Passing Problem — and Distraction Is Making It Worse

Products

Pro-Vision Launches AI-Powered 360° Camera System

News

N.Y. & N.J. Coalitions Call for Modernized Transportation for Vulnerable Students

Statistics•January 1, 2011

Contractor Survey 2011

This survey is sent to executives and managers at school bus contractor companies. The survey includes information on driver wage and manager salary, driver shortage, bus purchasing and alternative fuels, among other topics.

Statistics•January 1, 2011

Equipment Survey 2011

This survey is sent to directors and managers at school district transportation departments and school bus contractor companies. The survey covers equipment that's included on respondents' buses, such as GPS, lap-shoulder belts, cameras and student tracking systems.

Statistics•January 1, 2011

Loading/Unloading Fatality Statistics 2011

Provides information on the number of students killed in school bus loading and unloading accidents in the U.S. The findings come from the National School Bus Loading and Unloading Survey, which the Kansas State Department of Education’s School Bus Safety Education Unit compiles each year.

Statistics•January 1, 2011

North American School Bus Sales 2011

Provides the total number of buses sold in the U.S. and Canada for the year. Also provides a breakdown of bus sales by type (Type A/B, Type C and Type D) in the U.S. and Canada.

News•by Staff•December 30, 2010

Driver sentenced for DUI in special-needs bus crash

A bus driver who injected heroin while operating a special-needs bus for a Pennsylvania school district in 2009 and subsequently crashed will serve up to 23 months in jail.

News•by Staff•December 30, 2010

Review: Expert guidance on safety restraints

The School Bus Safety Handbook is deemed “the definitive authority” on installing car seats, safety vests and wheelchairs on school buses in this review by pupil transportation consultant Ted Finlayson-Schueler.

News•by Staff•December 28, 2010

Oregon association’s workshop to focus on bullying

The Oregon Pupil Transportation Association’s 2011 Winter Workshop, to be held Feb. 26, will feature presentations on such topics as the role school bus drivers can play in stopping violence, and how to respond to bullying on the spot. It will also include a mock bullying/hostage event.

News•by Staff•December 28, 2010

School bus sales drop for fourth year in a row

In the 2010 sales year, 31,194 school buses were sold in the U.S. and Canada, down about 13 percent from the 2009 total and 34 percent from the 2006 total.

News•by Staff•December 28, 2010

Pennsylvania DOT changes diabetic regulations for bus drivers

Among the revisions is the requirement that in order to receive a diabetic waiver, a school bus driver’s healthcare provider must verify that the driver has had no severe hypoglycemic reactions or symptomatic hyperglycemia, and that the driver has been free from an insulin reaction that has resulted in a loss of consciousness, attention or awareness, or has required assistance from another person.

News•by Staff•December 28, 2010

New York to switch to electronic fingerprinting for bus drivers

The new system, which will be put into place starting in February, will reduce the time it takes to run a background check on newly hired school bus drivers from three months to a few days. Electronic fingerprinting will also improve the accuracy of background checks.

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