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as the director of transportation and school safety for Tempe School District #3 in Arizona. He is currently president and CEO of Gauge Precision Consulting, LLC. According to Novak, the school bus industry has tried “lots
of creative things” to solve the continuing problems of driver shortages and hours, which he said aren’t as bad as they were about 10 years ago. However, “it is now getting a bit worse with an improving economy and lower unemployment.” At least that’s what he wrote exactly two years ago. All indications
are that the situation has worsened. Unfortunately for school districts, the latest monthly U.S. unemployment rate has shrunk once again, down to 3.7 percent for the month of September, with indications it is likely to shrink further. Tat’s the lowest rate since 1969, during the very strong economy of the Vietnam War.
ACCOUNTING COUNTS In order to pay employees everything they are owed, digital radios and even cell phones play a role in tracking staff hours and managing budgets. For example, for the past five years, Tyler Technologies has offered its eTimekeeper solution, a browser- based application that allows employees or supervisors to access their times and attendance from mobile devices, plus track them remotely. Education Logistics, Inc. (EDULOG) developed eDPS (Electronic
Driver Payroll System), a mobile app that uses cell phones to report and record bus driver work schedules in real time. Such apps can provide more accurate labor records and attendance verification, plus reduce payroll costs and prevent human errors. Tese apps provide a more efficient and accurate method of tracking hours worked—without having to use a sometimes- objectionable physical time clock (the old-style punch clock). Supervisors can then access various management functions from the app dashboard, for personnel management, configuration and data reporting.
20 PERCENT OF DRIVERS MUST BE REPLACED ANNUALLY We discovered examples of how districts are meeting the overall goal of increasing total take-home pay for drivers, and as a result, are retaining current staffing levels to abate shortages. Some districts have increased take-home pay while addressing shortages, by consolidating routes or eliminating them completely. Other districts have changed school bus pick-up and drop-off boundaries, while other stop-gap options were used elsewhere. Benoit Bourgault, general manager for Student Transportation
Services of Waterloo Region 420 in Ontario, Canada, told STN that the cooperative added an app with log-on and log-off capabilities to eliminate driver frustration, by ensuring they get paid for all the hours they work. “With this app, we are adding the turn- by-turn feature to help on new routes or changes. [Tis] will be [implemented] soon,” he explained. But there are limits to one-size-fits-all solutions, Bourgault added,
as new technologies or programs to cap driver overtime oppor- tunities don’t really apply to Waterloo’s particular situation. “We contract out, so it is different for us,” he said. “We moved the bell times a few years ago, and now we have difficulties getting drivers
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A/C COMPRESSOR CLUTCH FAILURE
Most clutches fail due to low voltage. Inadequate voltage will result in overheating, causing the clutch hub to slip against the pulley face. A minimum of 11.5 volts is necessary to engage the clutch for proper refrigerant flow. An improper air gap can cause a clutch to engage or disengage improperly. Always check the hub/ armature to rotor/pulley Air Gap.
OTHER CLUTCH RELATED FAILURES
• Misaligned Belt • Wrong Clutch • Failed Field Coil • Defective Lead Wire
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