School bus driver call-outs can be an everyday occurrence, and while a few are unavoidable, extensive call-outs can create disruption in school transportation schedules. This can cause delays for students or even cancellation of transportation services. That is why minimizing driver call-outs is so important – it helps to ensure that students get to school on time and safely. This article will provide ideas for minimizing driver call-outs, helping make school transportation more reliable and efficient. We hope the information here helps you to create a better system to get students to school safely and on time.
1. Proper bus sanitation to minimize illnesses.
Keeping school buses clean and sanitized is essential in minimizing driver call-outs due to sickness. Unsanitary bus conditions can lead to the spread of germs and viruses, leading to an increase in illnesses among drivers and students alike. Implementing regular cleaning procedures within your transportation system can help prevent the spread of illness and keep drivers healthy throughout the school year.
2. Provide driver wellness activities.
In addition to proper sanitation, providing driver wellness activities can help in minimizing driver call-outs due to sickness or other health issues. These could include things like allowing drivers access to healthy snacks, opportunities for stretching and exercise, and even mental health check-ins with a job counselor, as some districts allow. Taking steps to ensure the wellbeing of your drivers can help minimize call-outs and make for a healthier, better-functioning transportation system.
3. Establish consistent complaint procedures.
Setting up a clear process for handling complaints from both students and drivers is key in minimizing driver call-outs due to dissatisfaction or perceived mistreatment. Establishing a reliable complaint procedure helps ensure that any issues or concerns are addressed in a timely and effective manner. This can go a long way towards minimizing driver call-outs due to dissatisfaction, creating a more efficient and pleasant riding experience for students.
4. Consider wearing masks during flu/COVID season.
Encouraging mask-wearing during the colder months is an important part of minimizing driver call-outs due to illnesses like the flu and COVID-19. This will depend on the regulations in your area, but setting up a policy for drivers to wear masks when temperatures drop can help prevent the spread of infectious diseases, minimizing driver illness and ensuring a reliable transportation system.
5. Encourage drivers to take time off when sick.
Ultimately, one of the best ways to reduce driver call-outs is to encourage drivers to take time off when they are sick. While this may sound counter-intuitive, it helps to prevent the spread of illnesses to other drivers and minimizes additional call-outs due to sickness. Encouraging your drivers to not come into work if they are sick with communicable diseases can make a big difference in minimizing driver call-outs long-term.
6. Allow drivers to request off with software.
Finally, one of the most important steps you can take in minimizing driver call-outs is to set up an easy system for drivers to request time off. This allows drivers to let transportation departments know ahead of time if they will not be able to make a certain shift. EZDistrict has an easy system for drivers to make these requests, and also offers features such as an easy-to-use time clock for drivers, GPS tracking of buses, and more. Even if a driver uses this software for a last-minute call-out, EZDistrict provides tools to quickly find substitute drivers or break up the routes and add the stops to established routes. By giving drivers an easy system to request time off, you can minimize call-outs due to unplanned absences and ensure your transportation system runs smoothly.
By taking the right steps to minimize driver call-outs, you can help ensure that your school transportation system runs smoothly and efficiently. Whether it is through proper sanitation, providing driver wellness activities, establishing consistent complaint procedures, encouraging mask-wearing during flu season, or implementing an easy system for drivers to request time off such as EZDistrict, these measures can help you to create a better system to get students to school safely and on time. At the end of the day, a healthy, reliable transportation system is key in helping both students and drivers alike to get to where they need to go. Reach out to any of our sales team to hear more about how EZDistrict can help your transportation department!
