Six school districts in North America have been named Top Transportation Teams in a first-time award from Transfinder, a provider of transportation management systems and services.

The winning teams came from four U.S. states: Indiana, Michigan, New York, and Texas. They were divided into categories of departments with more than 100 employees and departments with 100 or fewer employees.

Winners in the larger-team category included:

• Franklin Township Community School Corporation (Indiana).

• Klein Independent School District (Texas).

• Garland Independent School District (Texas).

Winners in the smaller-team category included:

• Marshall Public Schools (Michigan).

• Pembroke Central School District (New York).

• South Lewis Central School District (New York).

Winning teams were selected based on anonymous survey responses, with those districts scoring the highest in employee satisfaction receiving the Top Transportation Teams designation. Teams were comprised of transportation supervisors, routers, dispatchers, drivers, and others considered core to the transportation department.

Transfinder created the award in response to inspiring leadership demonstrated by schools dealing with challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Antonio Civitella, president and CEO of Transfinder, said he is amazed by the work done by transportation leaders.

“Transportation departments deal with safety issues, such as illegal passing,” he said. “They are dealing with a nationwide driver shortage. They are facing more demands from their communities. They are coping with tighter budgets as well. And yet we see these leaders smile, do their jobs, and remain passionate about the safe transportation of schoolchildren. I just felt these heroes needed more recognition.”