Lisa Kelly, a school bus driver for Grain Valley Schools in Missouri, poses with some of her students on the last day of school in May.
trip or more. In some cases, drivers have two overnight stays, but that commitment does provide sufficient rest. “We are fortunate to be taken care of well,” Kelley said. Annette Brown, a driver at WaNee Community Schools in Nappanee, Indiana with 30 years of experi- ence, noted that the very nature of the job can be tiring not only physically but also emotionally. “Driving a school bus while being aware of every vehi-
cle you cross paths with, the 72 riders behind your back, and remembering every stop you need to make for them can be a lot,” she said. “If you’re also worrying about what happened in your students’ lives at school or at home if they had a tough day, that can add to the fatigue.”
Facing the Challenge Transportation leaders encounter a number of bar-
riers in limiting fatigue-related problems. But there are solutions. “Driver shortages definitely make it worse,” Faust said.
He noted that with staff shortages, the same drivers step up to cover extra routes, field trips, or athletic runs. “They want to help and we rely on that, but over time it stretches people thin,” he continued. “It’s not just about
one long day—it’s the consistency of longer days that leads to fatigue.” Jones noted that when routes don’t have permanent
drivers, the extra work falls on the ones who show up. “That leads to doubling routes, constant adjustments and very little downtime,” he said. “Sometimes we’re coming in 30-plus minutes earlier than we normally do to help cover routes.” He added that such schedules can also become
problematic if drivers report for work the next day still exhausted from the previous day. As a stop-gap mea- sure, some drivers try to take small naps between their runs, at the risk of being late for the next one. For administrators, placing a focus on wellness and
overall fitness can be effective. This might range from keeping informal tabs on drivers’ performance to relying on required testing and in some cases, taking corrective measures. “For me, safety always has to come first,” Faust noted.
“If a driver isn’t fit for duty because they’re too fatigued, they shouldn’t be driving that day no matter how short- staffed we are.” At the same time, he said, it’s important to look at the
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