School Bus Fleet, January 2018

S MOR OF S MOR VISIONCONVEX WIDERFIELD OF VISIONDVXC S S BUS FLEETSADMINISTRATOR OF THE YEARJOHN FRANKLINThomasBuiltBuses com Copyright Daimler Trucks North America LLC All rights reserved Thomas Built Buses Inc is a subsidiary of Daimler Trucks North America LLC a Daimler company Congratulations to John Franklin Executive Director of Transportation for Atlanta Public Schools for being named School Bus Fleets Administrator of the Year In just three years Franklin completely transformed the school systems transportation department by ramping up efficiency reliability and morale in one of the nations most congested metropolitan areas Because of Franklins visionary leadership 27000 students now travel to and from school in a fleet thats more streamlined and safe than ever TO 26 SCHOOL BUS FLEET JANUARY 2018 WWW SCHOOLBUSFLEET COM COLUMBUS CONFERENCES NAPT conference attendees got a glimpse at some of the numbers behind the driver shortage across the U S and hashed out some solutions for hiring quality candidates The results of NAPTs 2017 driver shortage survey shared with attendees by John Hazelette a school transportation consultant who also served on the NAPT board sparked spirited discussion about recruitment challenges and successes Among the findings were the top factors causing driver shortage benefits rate of pay obtaining a commercial drivers license CDL and the hours available to work Audience members noted that wait times for taking the CDL exam present a hurdle with one saying his candidates sometimes have to wait about six months More than half of survey respondents said that driver shortage is their top concern Some audience members said they think that the pool of potential drivers is becoming more varied whereas it used to be mostly stay at home moms and some retirees who had more flexible schedules Even with many respondents reporting that they have increased benefits to a full package retirement dental and vision care from what they offered last year and the trend in retention is improving according to survey results the perception of respondents is that driver shortage is getting worse One of the more positive survey results shared The hiring process is significantly shorter than it was last year decreasing from an average of 28 days to 21 days among unionized organizations Hazelette said Regarding recruitment some attendees said they are now opting for Facebook instead of newspaper ads and have seen some success Placing an ad on iHeartRadio was another suggestion that yielded positive results Other recruitment methods that attendees said worked for them developing a relationship with a local reporter who now also covers the district transportation departments positive developments holding a transportation open house for prospective applicants letting people who are interested drive the bus to ease fears of driving a large vehicle and placing monitors on nearly Driver Shortage Stats Recruitment Solutions Shared By Nicole Schlosser Lori Miller of Developing Professionals discussed best practices for selecting job candidates and the most effective uses for different types of interviews