“Staffing will most likely continue to be a challenge in our industry due to many factors including the part time split shift work and salary,” she concluded. “Even with a high hourly rate, the annual salary is not livable in most cases due to the part time seasonal schedule. In our case, the increased pay did help fill the seats this past year in our growing district. We historically do not have much turnover, so retention is good, but we have struggled to hire drivers as fast as our district was growing. The pay increase was our recruitment solution this past year. I hope we can continue to keep pace with our growth in the coming years so we can serve our community.”


Northeast Region For Delaware Valley (DeVal) Regional High School,


Transportation Supervisor Jeff Reiss said a starting salary of $30 an hour is on the low end for New Jersey. Reiss explained that even entering the pandemic, there was a driver shortage. But after 18 months, many people did not return to the industry. “Re-opening in the fall of 2021, districts and contractors found themselves with a major shortage, and a major increase in the salary structure was necessary to replenish the workforce quickly,” he said, adding that drivers with over 10 years of experience


receive $34 an hour and DeVal is currently fully staffed. Reiss noted the district also offers a generous package


of paid sick and state retirement. However, a differen- tiator between other jobs is the availability of medical benefits, which his district will start offering this fall. DeVal does have some contracted routes that range


anywhere from 25 to 35 hours a week. As for retaining and hiring drivers, Reiss said it’s about treating people with respect. “The attitude of many, including the contractor for


whom I previously worked, is that drivers are the single largest controllable expense, and they are treated as such,” Reiss shared, adding that he started his career as a classroom teacher, which gave him an understanding of the impact that transportation has on a student’s func- tion throughout the day. “In addition, my only frame of reference of the indus-


try for many years was through the eyes of the driver, who I knew could make or break the experience of the students they transported,” he continued. “With that said, when I got my first full time role in the industry, my drivers were treated as I always did from the school side, [as] professionals with the most information about the roads they traveled, the buses they drove and the


Continued on pg. 44


40 School Transportation News • JULY 2024


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