Schools, bus companies pulling out all stops to recruit drivers
Observer-Reporter
Dale Lyons of Schweinebraten Bus Co. discusses the shortage of bus drivers nationwide in 2018 from inside the offices at the bus garage on Locust Avenue in South Strabane Township.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Schweinebraten Bus Co. owner Billy Schweinebraten stands alongside bus drivers Marisa Rosneck and her husband, Tim, in front of the bus garage on Locust Avenue in South Strabane Township.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
A sign in front of Schweinebraten Bus Co.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
A bus bearing a sign seeking school bus drivers sits Tuesday along East Maiden Street in Washington.
Knowledge, as anyone who has chortled through “Animal House” can attest, is good. That sage movie advice is on the statue of Emil Faber, fictional founder of fictional Faber College.
Education is a foundation for functioning in life and is often emphasized as an avenue to gainful employment, starting at an early age. Learn a trade, go to college, get that master’s – debt be damned. Knowledge is, indeed, good.
In recent years, however, that avenue has been beset by roadblocks, ones that aren’t always evident. The simple process of getting students, from kindergarten through 12th grade, to school has become a perplexing challenge.
There is a severe shortage of school bus drivers.
“This is a national epidemic. Everywhere you go, there is a ‘Need Drivers’ sign,” said Dale Lyons, general manager of Schweinebraten Bus Co. The South Strabane Township-based firm serves schools exclusively and has contracts to transport Trinity, Chartiers-Houston and Bishop Canevin students.
“We’ve done just about everything to get people (to apply),” he added.
One of Schweinebraten’s local competitors – GG&C Bus Co. of Washington – has displayed one of those signs prominently in a prominent city location: on a school bus parked in the Advance Auto Parts lot along East Maiden Street.
Schweinebraten driver Tim Rosneck said he has seen those signs “from Erie to Morgantown” and in Ohio. And not only are operators needed to transport students to and from classes, “it seems there’s a sports activity for everything at all (grade) levels.”
“National epidemic” is not an overstatement, according to a half-dozen local school bus officials or drivers who were interviewed for this article, and a plethora of online stories related to this shortfall. Rosneck said Pennsylvania alone was 600 school bus operators short during the 2017-18 academic year.
That figure times 50 states equals 30,000, an unfair barometer for assessing the depth of this national conundrum. But it provides perspective.
“I’d say for the last five or six years, we’ve had an issue with getting drivers,” said Cheryl Slay, director of transportation for Burgettstown Area School District, which has its own bus fleet. This is her first year in the job, after driving for the district for 17.
There was no dearth of drivers at Burgettstown when she became one, Slay asserted. “Six people were in front of me for (a substitute driving position) when I applied. That’s how things have evolved and changed.”
Trudy Skinner has been in the industry for a quarter-century, including a combined 22 years with Laidlaw and First Student. She is now regional vice president for GG&C, which has contracts with Washington, Trinity, McGuffey and Avella Area.
Skinner said the deficit issue “is getting worse. With the economy being better, we struggle to get more drivers.”
The process of becoming a school bus driver does dissuade many people from applying. Skinner said a commercial driver’s license is required to operate a yellow bus with overhead lights, and that involves 20-plus hours of training. (School van drivers don’t need a CDL.)
Candidates also must have clean driving records and submit to physicals, background checks, fingerprinting and drug tests. The prospect of background checks and drug tests eliminates some at the start.
“It’s hard enough finding people willing to drive. Then the testing and clearances are so stringent,” said Aaron Scott, transportation director for Trinity schools. “But their children are precious, so I understand why parents want safety.”
It doesn’t come cheaply, though. Scott said Trinity, a large district area-wise, has about 80 bus runs a day and spent $3.6 million in transportation costs during the past school year.
Companies and school districts try to sweeten the pot by offering incentives to would-be drivers, including paying for most or all training, clearances and tests. Burgettstown Area, Slay said, pays for classes and training. Some entities offer signing bonuses in the $1,000 range.
The Burgettstown district had a classified ad in last Sunday’s Observer-Reporter, seeking one full-time driver, “position immediately available.”
School bus drivers usually don’t earn large amounts of money because they don’t work large amounts of time. A standard two-shift day may be four to five hours. They may, however, make extra money by transporting athletes to and from events, and giving students rides to field trips and other extracurricular activities.
“It’s almost impossible to provide for a family on what school bus drivers get,” said Rosneck, who retired from a job with DuPont and has been driving for Schweinebraten since 2016. His wife and co-worker, Marisa, has been with the company for five years. Both have Trinity routes.
Another difficulty facing bus companies and school districts is that after investing in training and hiring, some drivers leave for positions with gas and oil companies, which offer better pay and benefits packages.
“The gas wells are killing the school bus industry,” Slay said.
Companies and districts are striving to recruit drivers by attending job fairs, working with CareerLink, advertising or – as GC&C did – affixing a large sign on a school bus in the Washington County seat. Skinner said her company “hired a recruitment/retention person this year because we have to focus on that.”
Lyons said driving should appeal to a large range of people, including retirees, stay-at-home parents and those looking for a second job. Skinner said, “We want to target early retirees who are not looking for money to raise a family on, because it’s a part-time job.”
More women are driving today. Of the 32 drivers at Schweinebraten, 14 are women.
Marisa Rosneck is among them. She and her spouse said they enjoy driving buses, especially ones with Trinity kids on board.
“People say, ‘How do you deal with kids? And I tell them the kids in our district are never a problem,” Marisa said. “The school district treats me well, and this job gives me flexibility. It’s stress-free, as easy as you can make it.”
An influx of drivers, though, would make school transportation less of an issue – everywhere.