SPECIAL REPORT It’s Not Only About the Pay
A higher salary is always appreciated, but school district mechanics share the other factors that are keeping them happy, or not Written by Taylor Hannon |
taylor@stnonline.com
W
hen it comes to trans- portation operations, mechanics are often times the proverbial
glue that holds school bus operations together. Without a properly working vehicle, student safety is thrown into question. And with mechanics per- forming one of the most important jobs in a transportation department, most but not all shared that they feel their work is valued like it should be. A recent School Transportation News
reader survey sent to several hundred school bus mechanics in January found that 68 percent of 25 respon- dents feel their supervisor values their position. That percentage drops 5 per- cent when asked if their school district administration or bus company owners value the role they play. One Midwest mechanic, who wished
to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the questions, confided that despite his hourly pay of $27, he is being paid the same or less than some district janitorial staff. That fact doesn’t sit right with him. Overall, the survey indicated an average mechanic wage of $26 an hour. While he explained his direct super-
visor values his position and equitably shares the garage responsibilities, the mechanic feels that his school district would eliminate his position first in response to widescale budget cuts. This mechanic also noted, however, that he does receive overtime pay of time and a half as well as health insurance, a flexi-
16 School Transportation News • FEBRUARY 2021
$26
Average mechanic/ technician salary (Out of 55 mechanic responses to a recent STN survey.)
40% of mechanics say they need more mechanics in the bus garage. (out of 52 responses.)
75% of mechanics say their bus garage has NOT been upgraded within the past five years. (Out of 51 responses.)
Most Wanted Features to Improve the Bus Facility:
1) Increased space/ new facility
2) Air conditioning
3) Computers to run diagnostics
4) Improved organization/ cleaning
5) Inventory controls (Out of 50 responses.)
ble schedule and retirement. The district recently renovated its bus garage to increase work space, but he shared that the job has increasingly become more complicated over his 25 years. With the addition of electronics and needing to hook up a computer to school buses to diagnose issues, the mechanic explained he experiences a continuous learning curve. Meanwhile, the survey indicated an
average of three mechanics on staff per operation, which School Transporta- tion News Technical Editor Robert T. Pudlewski concluded is an example of a smaller district with around 75 school buses or less. However, according to the survey, 40 percent of mechanics said they don’t believe that number is enough. In reviewing the survey results,
Pudlewski commented that his main concern is the number of mechanics who indicated they don’t feel valued by their employer. (Editor’s note: Read Pudlewski’s column starting on page 18 for his suggestions on ways managers can correct that feeling.) Another mechanic on the West Coast
shared via the survey that despite being paid $38 an hour, he doesn’t feel valued by either his supervisor or school district. STN reached out to speak with him fur- ther on this topic, but he did not respond by the time the issue went to press. However, his survey answers indi-
cate that his department is lacking the appropriate number of mechanics on staff, as well as upgrades to the bus garage. He noted that in addition to
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