FIRST TAKE
Driving Conversations Next Month at the STN EXPO
WRITTEN BY RYAN GRAY |
RYAN@STNONLINE.COM W
hile in Columbus, Ohio last fall for the NAPT Summit and NASDPTS Annual Conference, a student transporter approached me with
questions about the new final rule from the FMCSA on Entry-Level Driver Training. Te anxiety in her voice was palpable, as she asked what the regulations will mean to her operations. While the compliance date is not until February 2020, readers nationwide are clamoring to know what will change for their local and state driver training and certification programs, so they can begin preparations immediately. Tis month, we expanded on the topic of the ever-
increasing responsibilities of school bus drivers that were presented in last month’s issue. In this month’s issue, we discuss the effects of this new FMCSA rule—not only on new CDL applicants, but also on existing drivers—and how transportation departments provide oversight. Te goal of the new regulation is to establish a minimum national standard for school bus driver training, but there is also an additional requirement that entry- level driver applicants complete the prescribed training program that is taught by an FMCSA-approved entity. Many school districts already employ a similar tactic,
but further complicating the issue are FMCSA audits called for by the new rule. As is often the case when dealing with the federal government, the new rule lacks specifics on exactly what districts must do to ensure their training programs are in compliance. Tis is by design. As NASDPTS President-Elect
Michael LaRocco of the Indiana Department of Education explained to writer Art Gissendaner, FMCSA purposely provided a broad outline of the issues school districts must cover with their new drivers, so as not to create a burden. Jeff Cassell of School Bus Safety Co. noted that most school districts already meet the minimum requirements. But the unknown continues to cause plenty of anxiety for student transporters, especially in light of the ongoing driver shortage and the lengthy timetable some school districts must deal with when certifying new applicants. NAPT is attempting to remove some of the stress, in partnership with School Bus Safety Co., as it develops
12 School Transportation News • JUNE 2018
a new resource to help school districts make sense of the new rule and ensure they are in compliance. Te discussion around the entry-level driver training rule will certainly dominate many of the conversations at next month’s STN EXPO in Reno, Nevada. A breakout session will further dive into the topic, when a panel examines the realities versus expectations of driver oversight and how to best meld the two. Driver training, the driver shortage, and tips
on recruitment and retention already make for an especially electric STN EXPO, which is celebrating its 25th year. I’ve been around for 15 of them, and I can’t recall an event that promises to buzz with so much excitement, or unease. In addition to addressing driver training questions, the STN EXPO brings attendees two new half-day seminar options to choose from on July 14. Te options plan to provide career advancement tips for those who are eyeing management roles in either school bus maintenance or operations. Fuel choices also abound. A majority of the industry’s school bus manufacturers are expected to have their all- electric school buses on display, whether those vehicles are already on the road, rolling out to customers soon, or remain in the concept phase. Te Advanced Clean Transportation EXPO last month in Long Beach, Calif., of which STN was a media sponsor, provided merely a glimpse of what’s to come in Reno. Certainly electric- powered school buses aren’t for every school district— yet, anyway—but they are the latest and grandest example of how far the industry has come over the past quarter of a century. Amid all of the networking, learning, sharing of ideas and conducting of business in Reno, attendees will literally have their cake and eat it too, when it comes to turning today’s issues into tomorrow’s opportunities.
Ryan Gray, Editor-in-Chief
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