Should Bus Drivers Be Rewarded for Safe Driving Based On GPS Data?

Beyond simply overseeing your buses en route, GPS tracking can be a great tool for overseeing your bus drivers and their driving habits! Because you get a minute-by-minute overview of a bus, this means you can quickly see if drivers are driving safely. Are they staying within the listed speed limits? Are they fully stopping for stop signs and railroad tracks?

You can even pull more granular driving data from your bus's computer and GPS system, such as monitoring how hard they accelerate and brake.

These all give you a great opportunity to offer constant feedback to your drivers on their behavior, correcting problems and reinforcing good driving habits. However, this does bring up one big question:

The Carrot or The Stick?

Should drivers be punished for bad behavior, or rewarded for good behavior? In our view, right now the answer is absolutely "rewarded."

Simply put, you can't risk angering your bus drivers and encouraging them to leave. The bus driver shortage is still hurting the vast majority of districts in North America, and if you lose a driver, there's no telling when you might find a replacement. Unless a driver's behavior is so bad that you feel they simply can't be allowed to drive, you should be doing everything possible to keep them onboard while encouraging better driving.

This means looking into reward systems that will make drivers want to drive more safely, or in ways that reduce on-road costs.

As a few ideas:

1 - Money

Of course, everyone likes to see a bonus on their paycheck - if your district can afford it. A special gift for the safest or most cost-saving driver in the district every month/year could be a big incentive.

2 - Better parking

Prime parking spots are always in demand, and make for an extremely cheap reward that most drivers will still appreciate.

3 - Parties

Pizza parties are cliché, but a dinner party as a special bonus for your top-performing drivers will still show them that their efforts are appreciated.

4 - Route / time choices

Let your best drivers get first pick of routes or drive times, so they can potentially improve their work/life balance a bit.

5 - Public recognition

This can be a twofer: show off your best drivers at a public appearance, while also informing the public about important issues such as safe driving around buses.

BusBoss wants to help you manage your buses more safely and effectively, through good policies and smart use of technology. Contact us to learn more about the many benefits of school bus GPS tracking.

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Sonia Mastros

PRESIDENT

 Sonia has been involved with BusBoss since the late 1990’s, and has personally overseen many projects for various customers ranging from large urban and suburban districts to smaller rural school districts from all over the country.