portation officials still swear by traditional phone calls and visits when collaborating with other departments. Tey believe that talking on the phone and face-to-face opens up the lines of communication and builds solidarity whether dealing with a minor conflict or major emergency. Both communication and teamwork


W


came into play during the traumatic Boston Marathon bombing in April as school bus drivers joined rescue workers and law en- forcement to restore order and help the lost. Eight route drivers with AA Transportation stepped up to provide service and move people away from the finish line, where the bombs went off. AA Transportation President Ron


Ernenwein recalled that cell phone service was sporadic that day, so two-way radios helped to facilitate communication between his drivers, emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and local police. “Law enforcement started giving them


directions, and they very willingly went along and started to help people, giving them rides to their cars, train stations ... Tey went right into the mayhem and tried to help out any way they could,” said Ernenwein, adding that the bus drivers had no way of knowing whether there might be more explosions. Julie D’Ambra, AA’s human resources


director, noted that the drivers didn’t realize at the time what an important role they played in the rescue and evacuation efforts because they were too busy communicating with EMTs and local hospitals. “Te ham operators got on the radio and


started directing our buses. We have GPS systems on all buses, so operators could see where the buses were and then divert them around the roadblocks. Drivers were maneu- vering back alleys and other places where buses shouldn’t have been,” she continued. “Te drivers just stuck together, made a con- voy and got where they were supposed to be. Constant communication expedited the process and kept people safe.”


STAYING IN TOUCH Gail Bergstrom, general manager of


Durham School Services’ bus facility in Racine, Wisc., described her working relationship with Transportation Manager Patrick Starken of Racine USD as “very, very in tune.” She said her daily visits to


hile email and social media have a place in workplace communi- cation, school trans-


his office keep the lines of communication open and foster teamwork. She said she also believes in personal touches like birthday lunches for various transportation employ- ees, perhaps because she started out as a bus driver herself in 1975. Bergstrom has been with Durham for 13 years and has worked with Starken for six. “Patrick is very interested in collaborat- ing and keeping in touch with one another and working things out,” she expressed. “We both really benefit from it because whatever happens, if we’re all in touch — the schools, Patrick and other departments here — we can all work together to nip the problem in the bud.” Starken pointed to the positive results of


collaborating closely with Durham, includ- ing $2 million in annual cost savings from realigned school start times, streamlined communication for special-education routes and camaraderie with school bus drivers. “It’s important for the drivers to see me


as part of their team,” he said. “Every safety meeting I get the opportunity to speak. Sometimes it may not be about a whole lot, but I have a chance to be in front of the driv- ers to answer questions or address issues.” Recently, the Racine School Board


recognized Durham’s school bus service for both excellence and safety, an honor Starken considered well deserved. “It’s just been a real blessing that the


school board acknowledged Durham,” he stated. “We’re very pleased with the service we get and the communication we have with their entire team.” Another recent success can be seen in how his special-education coordinator worked with Durham’s route coordinator for special needs to solve an ongoing problem. Previ-


Racine Unified School District recognized Durham School Services employees for exemplary service at a recent school board meeting; from left, Dennis Wiser, school board president, Racine USD; Robert Foxley, Durham general manager; Craig Sabol, Durham Safety Manager; (front) Gail Bergstrom, Durham operations manager; (back) Patrick Starken, Racine transportation supervisor; Dr. Ann Laing, Racine superintendent; Malina Perez, Durham bus driver; and Thomas Young, Durham bus driver. Perez and Young are both wearing safety jackets for three years of safe driving.


ously, there would be changes to small bus routes several times each week, which proved frustrating to parents and employees alike. “One of the things we tried doing was implementing a 48-hour turnaround on every transportation issue we had. So now we update our routes every Monday and Tursday,” Starken continued. “Families are happy because the routes aren’t changing every day. Drivers are happy because they know to look on their clipboard those two days for any possible changes. We’ve been a lot more successful with any changes we implemented.” Bergstrom noted that Durham works


with Racine’s safety department for staff training and the company’s safety director, Craig Sable, manages driver evaluation, training and retraining. Meanwhile, the student liaison works on handling parent problems and keeping the students in line. Tis team effort helps keep disciplinary issues to a minimum, she said.


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