SPECIAL REPORT
Ready for Anything
Fleet prep for the new school year means accounting for the effect of weather cycles on school bus components and ensuring proper staff
communication Written by ERIC WOOLSON
M
other Nature may not always share her intentions in a timely manner, but fleet managers who are experienced with a range of inclement conditions, say effective communication is the key to weathering the storm.
Eldridge Black, Jr., the former director of pupil transportation for the Pittsburgh
Public Schools, has traded in his years of experience with northeastern winters in February, for the uncertainty of hurricane season. He was recently appointed as the Beaufort County (South Carolina) School District’s new director of trans- portation. While Black hasn’t experienced his first on-the-job hurricane yet, he’s in the
dual mode of gathering information and making the right connections. “The biggest thing for me is to get out and make those new relationships prior to hurricane season,” he said. One important component involves recognizing and respecting other team members’ knowledge and ideas, he explained. Black is especially attuned to very-ex- perienced staff-members who have been there and done that over the years. “We’ve got some really good managers—people who have lived here all of
their lives,” reported Black. He now oversees about 180 drivers and staff who transport 12,000 students on 190 buses over more than 11,000 miles each day. “Although I’m new, they’ve worked here a while, and that infrastructure is really sound. … Not all of the answers come from the top down. It’s a teamwork thing and you have to trust your people.” Two factors add to Black’s need for a broad network of relationships. The
Beaufort district has an agreement with local military facilities to provide buses for evacuations when hurricanes hit. Additionally, the district is rolling out even more technology to keep parents informed on students’ whereabouts. “So, for me, there’s a learning curve. But the stress level is not as high, because [the district has] a strong management team, and within transportation [opera- tions], it’s very strong,” Black commented.
NASA imagery (top of page) shows the breadth of a major 2011 winter storm, which
indicates that no matter their locations, student transporters must prepare for all sorts of bad
weather. And summer is a perfect time to do just that.
Tornadoes & Floods Frequent the Midwest At the Ponca City (Okla.) Public School District, snow and ice during the winter
are never far from Transportation Director Randy Empting’s mind. Flooding and tornadoes take center stage each spring. And sometimes, the seasons overlap. “Here, you have to know the weather,” he said, underscoring an important reality in many states. The department’s leadership and school bus drivers monitor the weather throughout the day, beginning even before Empting arrives to work at 5 a.m.,
16 School Transportation News • AUGUST 2019
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