School Bus Fleet, March 2017

26 SCHOOL BUS FLEET MARCH 2017 WWW SCHOOLBUSFLEET COM A school bus driver who assists in the shop can help improve communication boost productivity and increase safety all while saving money for the transportation department By Larry Hannon Jr Benefits of Utilizing a Driver as a Mechanics Helper MECHANICS HELPERS When structuring the workforce in a transportation department there are numerous factors to consider Without a doubt safety for students and employees should be priority No 1 and should never be sacrificed Beyond that efficiency should be prominent on the list of priorities On a superficial level lowering the cost while getting more work done appears to be a simple math and numbers game However there are other factors such as morale and direction of focus that factor into the equation With these things in mind well examine six reasons why using a school bus driver as a mechanics helper can be beneficial to a transportation department These benefits cover such areas as communication economics productivity and safety Improving communication When a school bus driver has an issue with a bus it should be written up That is simple in concept but drivers and mechanics may not always understand the particular concerns of the other or exactly what they might be looking for For example a driver may feel or smell something in a bus after two hours of driving something a mechanic will not experience in a brief road test On the other side a mechanic may be dealing with issues that are more complicated and work intensive than a driver realizes When a driver also works in the shop there is potential for this communication to be enhanced Perhaps more than anyone else the driver who also serves as a mechanics helper experiences both sides of the garage wall and can keep mechanics and drivers abreast of vehicle particulars and what other team members are doing Additionally other drivers might feel more comfortable talking to a fellow driver than a regular maintenance staff member This can provide more opportunity for questions feedback and learning Saving money Here we shift our focus more to the math and numbers aspect of what creates efficiency Is it possible to spend less money and complete the same amount of work or even more work By utilizing a mechanics helper the answer is yes To illustrate this concept well consider two transportation departments One has five mechanics and no helper while the other has four mechanics plus one helper Obviously the labor expenses of the first department are greater paying five mechanics wages plus five correlating sets of benefits The second department can pay its fifth worker the mechanics helper a lower rate and as a part time worker that helper can save significant money in benefits At the same time the driver who serves as a mechanics helper is given an opportunity to work more hours and supplement his or her income An added bonus of using a driver is that no additional hire needs to be made thus saving money in licensing clearances and other administrative costs 1 2 6