School Bus Fleet, October 2017

Sponsored by San Antonio Provides Digital Books for School Bus Passengers By Thomas McMahon SAN ANTONIO Students can tap into a digital library while riding the school bus in a new pilot program at San Antonio Independent School District ISD The Rolling Readers program kicked of on Aug 21 and is slated to run through May Its a collaboration between San Antonio ISD and BiblioTech which is Bexar Countys all digital public library For the program seven school buses are equipped with Wi Fi routers and other equipment enabling passengers to download books BiblioTechs cloudLibrary app provides access to some 40000 e books and audio books If needed students can check out digital devices from BiblioTechs three physical locations Also school bus drivers in the Rolling Readers program can play audio books throughout the bus using Kindle Fire reading devices which has reportedly been a popular feature among students and drivers alike One of the bus drivers has already started playing the audio books on the bus and one of her students boarded the bus this morning and remembered exactly what chapter they left of at yesterday Nathan Graf senior executive director of transportation and vehicle maintenance for San Antonio ISD told SBF Another driver reported that the students have been very quiet on the bus as they listen to the books The school bus drivers serve as reading captains encouraging students to participate in the program and giving out monthly reading prizes The drivers can even dress up and decorate their bus to tie in with monthly reading themes which will include such topics as sports superheroes science fiction pets and music A key tenet of BiblioTechs mission is to promote reading as recreation Rolling Readers is an ideal way for BiblioTech to live its mission BiblioTech Administrator Laura Cole said in a press release The bus ride is the first experience of the school day we want kids to have a positive fun experience so that when they arrive they are in a good state of mind ready to learn The seven buses equipped for the Rolling Readers program will rotate covering each of San Antonio ISDs schools at some point during the 2017 18 school year according to the district Watch a video about the Rolling Readers program at schoolbusfleet com Oct17c San Antonio ISD ranked No 95 in this years Top 100 runs 180 route buses and transports 7970 students daily During the first month of inspections by the vendor the dire condition of the fleet was clear Around 90 of buses were redtagged with maintenance issues The new tech crew began making critical repairs to get the buses ready for the beginning of the 2016 17 school year That was the beginning of the fleet turnaround in Atlanta Franklin said One of the key improvement areas has been in the fleets diesel particulate filter DPF program The department purchased a DPF baker and blower and has been cyclically changing out filters as part of preventive maintenance service The DPF program improvement led to a 61 decrease in Atlanta Public Schools number of school buses towed bringing down the costly tow invoices The department has also saved some 70000 in fuel with improved battery and charging system diagnostics And with the newer techs higher skills sets they are able to conduct some of the engine rebuilding work that was previously outsourced Atlanta Public Schools also recruited a new fleet manager see October 2016 issue pg 37 and a new fleet foreman Both have diverse backgrounds in heavy diesel applications such as trucking automotive and ground support Franklin said that he looked for a fleet manager who was versed in vehicles that had new technology diesels but never experienced sustained speeds to force manual regeneration of DPFs He found that in Oliver Baird a former fleet manager for Tug Technologies and Coca Cola In addition to their technical expertise the new maintenance crew has exhibited strong teamwork One of the best outcomes of this reorganization has been the esprit de corps and professionalism exhibited by this group Franklin said They collaborate and coordinate on problem solving mechanical issues and they have great leaders Productive shops are more than just a conglomerate of technicians it is about leadership organization and having the right people committed to Atlanta Public Schools first core value of putting students and schools first The fleet department has also sponsored student intern programs Two students from Atlanta Public Schools alternative education academy have begun internships in the shop Also a French exchange student who was studying diesel technology in Toulouse France came to work in the department for three weeks Atlanta Public Schools ranked No 63 on the Top 100 runs 295 route buses and transports 27000 students daily In the Rolling Readers program seven San Antonio ISD buses are equipped with Wi Fi routers and other equipment enabling students to download books from an all digital library 35 OCTOBER 2017 SCHOOL BUS FLEET