By Mary Gerard, Content Marketing Manager
A common problem is plaguing school bus fleets across the country as students return to school – a driver shortage.
Fleets are scrambling to find ways to quickly fill school bus driver vacancies, but the clock is ticking.
A school district in North Carolina is 20 drivers short of its minimum staffing goal, and still hundreds of drivers short of being fully staffed.
The Dubuque Community School District in Iowa still needs five more drivers to fulfill its more than 60 routes.
What does this mean? It can lead to late buses, canceled routes, and carpooling efforts.
And worse, it could leave kids without transportation to school – and lead to absences for young students. According to HopSkipDrive, about 67% of schools believe there is a direct link between reliable transportation and a student’s attendance.
This means school bus fleets may need to get creative to fill driver vacancies – and quickly.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, school bus drivers make on average between $40,000 and $45,000 per year. To attract people to the position, school districts may need to increase the starting pay.
It’s already happening in some areas. For example, in Wake County in North Carolina, school bus driver pay has increased by more than $2 an hour, in addition to a hiring bonus. Offering higher hourly wages could be an incentive for some looking for work to apply to become a bus driver.
Like in Wake County, other areas around the U.S. are also offering hiring bonuses for new school bus drivers. In Colorado, District 38 is offering a $1,000 sign-on bonus. Advertising these bonuses in job ads and on large banners outside of local schools and around school bus fleet operations can draw the attention of potential drivers and encourage them to apply.
As more Americans look to achieve a work-life balance, promoting a job schedule that mirrors their child’s school calendar can be attractive to parents who are looking for a new job opportunity. School bus fleets can advertise working set, weekday hours, with school holidays and vacations off to make the schedule enticing to prospective drivers.
To get a large number of applicants at once – and even perform on-the-spot interviews – school bus fleets can hold job fairs to recruit new school bus drivers. These events can be a fun way to draw a larger crowd, and hiring managers can be on the scene to do screenings and interviews. Fleets can advertise for these events through social media, local ads, hanging banners at local schools, and encouraging their current drivers to spread the word.
Personal referrals from your current school bus drivers can be one of the best ways to attract new drivers. You can set up a referral program where you give your current drivers a bonus for any referral they provide who is then hired. Offering a bonus to both the new hire and the current driver is a good way to make it beneficial for both parties. Plus, by having your drivers refer candidates, you know they are recommending people they want to work with, and who will fit the company culture. This can help you get better quality hires.
To temporarily fill vacancies as the school year begins, school bus fleets may need to bring in other staff members with commercial driver’s licenses and training to drive a school bus. Technicians, and other transportation department – or even school – staff who have a CDL may need to be tapped to drive a route until permanent drivers can be hired.
This can also be a way to fill the void while new hires go through the licensing and training process.
Do you need help attracting drivers to your school bus fleet, or making your operation more efficient? Contact our RTA Consultants!
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