School Bus Fleet

October 2013

A management & maintenance magazine for school transportation fleets

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on a bus, he or she may not know all of the students. To that end, "they have to quickly build rapport with students and understand the route," Shedor says. "You also want to have someone who's patient because there may be some students who want to test the driver." Shedor believes it's also important for a sub driver to have a strong understanding of and familiarity with the area that the operation serves because he or she may be called upon to drive a route without having previously driven it. At First Student's terminal in Edwardsville, Ill., Manager John Mollett says only the top-performing drivers on staff are considered for substitute positions. Specifcally, he looks for drivers who understand the operation's goals and mission, and drivers Heating Your Fleet Just Got Easier with the NEW SmarTemp Control fx The SmarTemp Control fx from Webasto is a programmable timer that works with Webasto Scholastic heaters. Be sure the buses in your fleet are warmed up and ready to go when drivers arrive by using the auto mode. New design for easy programming Up to four different timer settings per day LCD screen displays mode and heating duration Timer settings are saved indefinitely until changed Week-at-a-glance screen view for 7 days of timer settings Hour meter displays the number of hours the heater has run Performance tested & validated down to -40° F Adjustable low voltage disconnect Visit us at NAPT Booth #247 www.webasto.com 16 SCHOOL BUS FLEET • www.schoolbusfleet.com/freeinfo/20114 OCTOBER 2013 who are fexible, willing to work any hours, and who are knowledgeable of the school district's routes and what is expected of them. Certain requirements must be met Not only is it benefcial for drivers to have certain characteristics to help them handle the responsibilities associated with a substitute position, at LaTania Davis is one of Houston-based Spring Independent School District's auxiliary (aka substitute) drivers. Under transportation department policy, employees must be a fulltime bus driver for at least one year before they can apply for a substitute position. some districts, they must meet certain criteria before they can apply for or be considered for the position. At both Spring ISD and CypressFairbanks ISD (also in Houston), bus drivers must be employed by the district for at least one year before they are eligible to become a substitute driver. (At Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, front-line or full-time subs are classifed as charter drivers.) Cypress-Fairbanks ISD Director of Transportation Bill Powell says the candidates must also have acceptable attendance. Weisinger says Spring ISD's auxiliary drivers have to be a full-time driver for at least one year so that they can gain knowledge of the district and how it's run. It also enables Weisinger to get to know the employee. "[In the past], I've had sub drivers

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