The Driver Shortage Isn't Going Away Here's How to Manage Around It

The school bus driver shortage is a permanent challenge for school districts across the country. Recent data shows that employment for drivers is still nearly 10 percent lower than it was a few years ago. Many districts report that they are missing 20 percent of the staff they need to run every route perfectly. This shortage forces many administrators to make hard choices. You might feel like cutting services or canceling routes is the only way to survive. However there is a better way to handle this crisis by using smart technology.

Optimize Your Routes Instead of Cutting Them

When you have fewer drivers you must make every mile count. Many districts still use old routes that have stayed the same for years. These routes often include stops with no students or paths that are no longer efficient. You can use routing software to look at your entire district and find a better way.

Routing engines can automatically group students together and find the fastest paths. This reduces the number of buses you need on the road at the same time. You can also model different school start times. Staggering your bell times allows one driver to finish a route for an elementary school and then immediately start a route for a high school. This "tiering" strategy can save you from needing dozens of extra drivers. You can read more about how digital routing solutions fix the shortage in our recent white paper.

Support Your Drivers with Better Tools

Driving a school bus is a stressful job and a lack of support leads to high turnover. You can improve retention by making the job easier and more predictable. Modern software helps drivers feel more confident and safe on the road.

Digital pre-trip inspections and tablet-based navigation take the guesswork out of the daily routine. When a driver knows exactly where to go and has a safe vehicle they are more likely to stay with your district. You can also use data to reward your best drivers. Showing them that you value their safety record builds a stronger team.

Improve Communication with Parents

A shortage of drivers often leads to delays and missed stops. This creates a flood of phone calls from worried parents. These calls take your staff away from more important tasks like finding substitute drivers.

You can solve this by giving parents real-time visibility. Using a parent app like PARENTpatrol allows families to see exactly where the bus is on their phone. When parents have this information they do not need to call the office. This reduces the pressure on your transportation department. You can learn more about this in our student GPS tracking guide.

Layer Your Transportation Options

Not every student needs a full-sized yellow bus. Some districts are now using smaller vans or parent carpool programs for special routes. This lets you save your CDL drivers for the high-capacity routes that need them most. Coordinating these different modes of transport is much easier when you have a central software system to manage the data.

Statistics from the Economic Policy Institute show that pay and job quality are the biggest factors in the shortage. While software cannot change your budget it can maximize every dollar you spend. It allows you to provide a high level of service even when your team is small.

Summary of Management Strategies

Managing a driver shortage requires a shift from manual planning to automated optimization. You can handle a 20 percent staff gap by focusing on these three areas.

• Use routing software to consolidate paths and stagger bell times.
• Give drivers the technology they need to feel safe and successful.
• Provide real-time updates to parents to reduce office workload.
  
  

The shortage is a difficult reality but it does not have to stop your students from getting to school safely.

Are you ready to see how software can help your district navigate the driver shortage? Contact BusBoss today to learn more about our routing and tracking solutions.

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.