Driving leadership: Rethinking transportation management

In this episode, OSBA Senior Transportation Consultant Doug Palmer joins us to explore why selecting the most senior bus driver isn’t always the best move when hiring a transportation manager. Palmer shares insights on what school districts should look for in leadership roles within the transportation department and how strategic hiring can impact safety, efficiency and staff morale. Thanks to our sponsor, Pappas & Associates

For more resources, training and advocacy updates from the Ohio School Boards Association, visit ohioschoolboards.org.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

The following program is a presentation of the Ohio School Boards Association. Welcome to OSVA's Leading the Way podcast, where we bring the voices that shape public education across Ohio. A big thank you to our friends and Pathits and Associates who help make this podcast possible. Hey everyone, it's Scott Gurfin. Today we're talking about a role that doesn't always get the spotlight, but absolutely should, and that's the school transportation manager. Now, this isn't just someone who knows how to drive a bus or create a schedule. This person leads one of the most visible and important operations in any school district. OSBA senior transportation consultant Doug Palmer is here to talk about what really matters when hiring for this job from leadership and communication to legal knowledge and community trust. Doug, thanks for coming on the Leading the Way podcast.

SPEAKER_01 0:56

Oh, Scott, it's always a pleasure to be with you.

SPEAKER_00 0:58

Why is leadership more important than driving experience when it comes to the transportation manager role?

SPEAKER_01 1:05

Well, it's such a complex role. There are so many things that the manager has to do. It's not just getting behind the wheel and going out and picking up students. It's much, much more than that. And leading drivers is very hard when you've been one of their peers. And so there's there's competition, there's there's uh all that built up animosity, or well, why didn't I get picked? Or, you know, so when you ch when they when they just promote from within or promote a driver up, there's many things that they're missing, and they really need to investigate that.

SPEAKER_00 1:40

What are some of the traits that uh a district should be looking for when hiring the manager of the transportation team?

SPEAKER_01 1:48

One of the things that they should really find out in the interview process is how do they communicate? Are they are they good at communicating up to administration? Are they good at communicating to peers? Are they good to communicating to those that they are leading? Are they good at communicating to students? Are they good at communicating with parents? Those are that communication skills. That's 80% of the manager's job is communication.

SPEAKER_00 2:13

And that's an interesting point, because you can know all all the laws, but if you can't communicate with the public or the community that you're serving, there's going to be a big problem, right?

SPEAKER_01 2:23

Well, right, because in communication, you have to find out what the other person doesn't understand, and then you have to fill that gap. And that's a very different thing than just notifying people, well, this is the job, this is what we have to do, this is the rule, this is it, it it becomes controversial or conflicting, or you you have that confrontation all the time. And that's the fastest way not to get things done.

SPEAKER_00 2:46

So uh you did mention in terms of uh state and federal regulations, this this is steeped in the in regulation. Um is that non-negotiable that the manager must know this?

SPEAKER_01 2:59

Aaron Powell There's no one that can comes into a transportation manager role that has the foreknowledge of all of the rules and regulations. School buses are the most regulated transportation industry group, even more than airlines. And so if you think someone can't uh needs to know all of that, you're gonna have a hard time finding that person. But seeking training, seeking opportunities to advance your skills, knowing where to go to get those uh knowledge and those bases of rules and regulations, that's what's really important.

SPEAKER_00 3:35

So when you go to the interview process, can you talk about that a little bit and and what's it what's important when you go out and have you have your your list of candidates you want to interview?

SPEAKER_01 3:47

Hey, you know, one of the best things to do is what's your plan for 90 days? How are you going to what's your plan for this upcoming school year? What's your plan? What do you think our district needs? Most people have done some research when they're trying to do these jobs, when they're trying to fill these jobs, and so ask them what what's your plan? That's a really good way. And then what's your plan for handling the drivers? And what's your plan for hanging handling angry parents, right? Listen to their communication skills. If they don't have good communication skills, you're really starting out behind the eight ball.

SPEAKER_00 4:25

So uh you mentioned communicating with the parents and the communities. Do you include that group in the hiring process?

SPEAKER_01 4:34

It really depends on your district, what your district's expectations are, what your parents' expectations are. If you've never included them before, then know how they're going to talk to them. Uh principals or other people that do work with uh parents all the time should be in part of that group of of evaluating the the supervisors or the potential candidates' skills. You're not responsible to the person you're hiring, you're responsible to your district, the students, the parents, and the upper administration. So when when when you go into that interview, you should really be really check to see how well rounded that person is. What's the risk if you hire the wrong person? The risk I would I so the bus drivers and the staff know the safety rules and regulations. The risk is a smooth operation, creating rifts, creating angry parents, um creating dysfunctional activities, uh not activities, but behaviors on the school bus. If you can't communicate with the students, you're gonna the drivers will face more consequences. And it's it's a slow decline, and what happens is it it's hard for the next person if you're gonna or to have that person turn things around, people will reject it.

SPEAKER_00 5:57

So I wanted to ask you with the opportunity here, uh, the driver shortage. I mean, is the driver shortage kind of led to this issue of that districts aren't uh able to find good transportation managers or no?

SPEAKER_01 6:12

It's kind of an age-old process that well somebody knows the district will put them in that pro position and will teach them how to be a manager. In today's field, uh where managing is so much more important with shortages of staff, shortages of of mechanics, shortages of secretaries, shortages of there are no sub bus drivers. And then so when drivers get sick, if the driver is the manager for three or four hours a day, they're not getting their work done, and it just creates this backlog of not getting things moving forward.

SPEAKER_00 6:49

I I want to switch gears to something here just to talk about summer in the school bus garage. But any final thoughts on for districts in terms of the hiring process for a transportation manager before we get to that.

SPEAKER_01 7:01

Start early, take your time, do a thorough check, uh, really find out how well-rounded that person is, because if they're not someone that's easily uh accepts training and new knowledge, then that may be somebody that you put down the list.

SPEAKER_00 7:18

So we talk about summer in the in the bus garage. Uh I know I've talked with you many times about this subject. It's it's no it's not a it's not a break time, is it?

SPEAKER_01 7:27

No, it's not. And especially if districts wait until the summer to roll up students and get things ready for the next school year, trying to plan the routes that are going to be coming up for the next year. That's a time-consuming task, especially when people move in, change addresses. Uh, there are many districts that however many students they start with will change addresses. They'll have two to three times that number of changes during the school year, so it's a lot to keep up with.

SPEAKER_00 7:56

So if you were to go through uh a checklist, what are some of the things that should be on that checklist that you're doing in July leading up to uh school opening in August for most districts?

SPEAKER_01 8:10

You should have drivers, whether they're senior drivers or good mentor drivers, read through routes. Do they make sense? Uh do plan dry runs. Plan dry runs early. Don't wait till August. If your school starts the uh August 15th and you're waiting till August to start the dry runs, you don't have much time to get things straightened out. Right.

SPEAKER_00 8:30

So, Doug, when it when it comes to compliance issues in terms of new laws, uh is is summer, is July a good time to work with drivers on that or no?

SPEAKER_01 8:40

Well, there's a lot of compliance issues with drivers. They have to have new fit physicals every year. Those need to be entered. If there's a a problem with the physical, they need to get that straightened out before school starts. There's driver in services that need to be planned. There's student student training that needs to be planned. So there's a lot of compliance issues. There's also always new rules and regulations, especially in budget years, that you have to get uh ready for.

SPEAKER_00 9:06

So, in terms of uh some of these compliance issues, uh I I always hear you talk about the T1 and T2 reports. Are these things that drivers and and districts are going to have to be concerned about in the summer, or no? Is this more of a different time of year?

SPEAKER_01 9:20

So the T1 is for the drivers. That's when they do the counts, that's when they do the uh keep track of their mileage for every route. That's part of the funding. And then the T2 is for the management. That's for the supervisor and the treasurers to work together on, or the operations or the business manager. That's where you keep track and list the cost of your service. If you miss one of those, you miss your funding for transportation. So you can't miss those.

SPEAKER_00 9:47

Can't miss those. Well, Doug, uh there's a lot to uh a lot to go over. I know uh July is such a busy time for transportation departments. Uh just finally, uh where where do we stand with school transportation right now? Is it getting any better in terms of uh staffing, the shortage? I mean, w where is where are we right now heading into another school year? Dr.

SPEAKER_01 10:10

Heading into another school year, there are there are every district, well, I would say maybe seven to eight percent of the districts feel like they are set. But one illness, seven to eight percent of our school districts feel like they're set. They feel like they have enough subs. But you know, one illness, one long-term illness can can wipe out a district's flexibility. Uh and and they're scraping the bottom with with most districts have uh mechanics driving, their transportation managers drive. That can only go on so long because those those other positions, those positions need to have their work done too.

SPEAKER_00 10:47

And and and finally, uh districts are there any new strategies to help recruit drivers, or is it still, you know, we hear about the come drive a bus, uh, some of those things, the advertising, um, is that still apply? I mean, are they is there anything new out there that districts can be looking at?

SPEAKER_01 11:06

So one of the things that has happened recently is this come drive a bus around our parking lot, see what it's like. Districts are resp are having good luck with people responding. I'm not sure that the candidates that are coming are are qualify. Yeah, but even some of the transit companies now are doing that because they're also short drivers. So it's uh it's just a situation where it's a special skill.

SPEAKER_00 11:32

Doug, uh, thanks for coming on the podcast. I always appreciate your uh insight and knowledge. And also thank you to our sponsor, Papas and Associates. They're shaping policy with integrity.