SPECIAL REPORT
On the Lookout
Mechanic shortages, especially for electric school buses, raise concerns and opportunities
Written by Kari Lydersen
D
ouglas Francis thoroughly enjoyed his almost 40 years working on school buses. “I didn’t care about getting dirty. I loved to fix issues, to find problems,” said Francis, who retired last year
as associate transportation director and head mechanic at Gaylord Community Schools in northern Michigan. Still a member of the Michigan Association for Pupil
Transportation board of directors, he said that almost all of the mechanics attending this summer’s conference were around his age. With waves of mechanic retire- ments looming, not enough new recruits are waiting to fill the slots. Districts across the country are struggling with a shortage of mechanics, as the rollout of electric school buses opens new opportunities and challenges. “It’s definitely a different ball game,” said Francis. “These are some pretty good jobs where you don’t get filthy, you don’t get all oiled up. And then there are the people who love rolling in grease.” There is a shortage of vehicle mechanics across dif-
ferent sectors of the industry, putting school districts in a tight race for workers. Tony Lavezzo, fleet manager of Tahoe Truckee Unified School District in California, said his district is fully staffed because it offers competitive wages and benefits with other sectors. “You have to make the positions you’re hiring for
competitive in not only the school bus industry but in the maintenance industry as a whole,” said Lavezzo, who helped organize the California Association of School Transportation Officials Mechanics & Maintenance Supervisor Workshop held at his district last month. “When you’re looking for mechanics, you need to make [sure] your position is competitive with either govern- ment fleets or private fleets in your area. You have to look outside at different garbage companies, trucking companies. It’s more than just being competitive with the school district down the street.” Lavezzo added that having trained electric school bus mechanics is especially crucial as electric buses age just
18 School Transportation News • AUGUST 2023
File photo of a mechanic inspecting the undercarriage of an electric school bus. Many of the same maintenance and service issues of internal combustion buses will continue to be seen with electric vehicles.
like internal combustion vehicles, minus the obvious. “When EV buses were first coming out, the big push was they are maintenance-free, you’re not going to have to do all this work,” he said. “But there’s always something. You have to make sure there are mechanics trained to take care of the smaller issues so you [can] limit the downtime.” In California, free training courses for electric school bus technicians are available at multiple community col- leges and on site at districts, thanks to a program funded by the California Energy Commission and developed out of Cerritos College near Los Angeles. “The original priority was for rural areas and disadvan- taged communities,” commented Jannet Malig, director of the Advanced Transportation Technology & Renewable (ATTR) Center at Cerritos College. These same remote areas are less likely to have much training available, especially for electric vehicle. So, she spearheaded the development of a five-unit module that
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