School Bus Fleet, October 2015
50 SCHOOL BUS FLEET OCTOBER 2015Joey or Will in the bus of an unsuspecting driver who is supposed to find it and return it to me for a reward This may sound corny but it works Its all about promoting awareness preventing complacency and adding some additional incentive to the routine of walking to the back of the bus Consequences second chances 6Ive come to the conclusion that a school bus driver and or bus attendant must be terminated as soon as possible if a sleeping child is left alone on a bus As transportation managers our most important responsibility is making sure all children get delivered to and from school safe and on time In our line of work one of the worst things we can hear is We have a lost child If that does happen the first thing I do is have the bus searched Since 2001 the only incident Ive had of a sleeping student left on a school bus was by a seasoned 25 year driver Ironically this driver also acted as a mid day dispatcher who did radio reminders to check for sleeping children I have spent many waking hours thinking about how to prevent this type of incident from happening again Managers must provide leadership in this area by establishing clear procedures for drivers to follow enforcing consequences for not following those procedures and providing reminders and incentives for drivers to check their buses for sleepers Here are 10 recommendations for managers to consider Post trip procedures 1School bus drivers must have a predetermined checking spot agreed on with management to make sure that no children are left behind This place should be reflected on the return home route sheet It should be the nearest safe place to pull over to check the bus 2Do not let drivers come back to base for their initial check It is much better to find a sleeper as close to home as possible 3In the morning all post trip bus checks should be done at school This is a good place to find backpacks lunches projects etc 4Although the initial child checks should be done before returning to base its certainly OK to double check at base Place dummies on board 5To make sure drivers are checking their buses consider placing a dummy on board I use homemade sleeper dummies Joey is made from old clothes from my nephew Joe and Will is made of clothes we picked up at Goodwill Its pretty easy to make these sleeper dummies Heres how Sew socks to the end of pant legs and a shirt to the pant waistband Fabricate a head from an old shirt and sew on a cap Fill the clothes with a filling Now you have a great sleeper I place To make sure no child is left behind school bus operations should have clear procedures for drivers to follow enforce consequences and provide frequent reminders and recognition BY MIKE GUZALDO 10 Tips to Bolster Bus Checks for Sleepers Drivers who find this dummy named Will on their bus return it to the manager for a reward istock image mbbirdy
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