Contractor Profiles
Cook-Illinois Corp. Total fleet: 2,200 Buses School District Customers/Contracts: 200+ Number of Bus Drivers: 2,350 Students Transported: 200,000+ Per Day
John Benish, pictured, is chief operating officer and
president-elect of the National School Transportation Association. He has come a long way since once sweep- ing school buses as a teenager for his father, the late John Benish, Sr. The company is the largest school bus contractor in the Chicago area.
On the Driver Shortage: “We do a survey of our top 200 customers and the driver
shortage does affect service. The key to driving a bus, in this industry especially, is having the same driver, on the same route, with the same children on the same bus, every single day. Consistency, consistency, consistency is a secret sauce of this business. And that has been tough [to attain]. Last year, we instituted what we call the “STAY” interview,
where every manager sits down with everybody in the office, all the drivers and attendants for five or 10 minutes and discusses how the past school year was. It’s about making sure they are fulfilled, [to preview] what we are offering for next year and to get a read on whether or not they are coming back. The “STAY” interview gives us a pretty good idea on who is going to be working and
it is helping a little bit. We are also requiring each of our offices to have everybody back during the summer for a cook-out, garage sale, car washes and book club. … We are trying to give them another reason to come into the office besides just coming to drive or work.”
On Going Green: “We are up to around 350 propane buses and we ordered
two Lion electric buses that should be here in July. We will have those side by side with diesel, biodiesel and propane, and we are also buying gasoline buses. We have the infrastructure with the [electric] chargers ready to go, so the electric buses will be running starting the fall on routes. We are really looking forward to it.”
First Student Total Fleet: 45,000 Buses School District Customers/Contracts: 1,400 Number of Drivers: 45,000 Students Transported: 5 Million Per Day
First-Student is the largest school bus contractor in
North America, with more than 100 years in business serving schools. Responses are provided by Claire Miller, senior vice president of strategy, business development, marketing and communications.
On Technology Implementation: “Today’s student transportation features advanced technologies, including student tracking apps, GPS and child search systems that were not available even just a few years ago. These tools are designed to improve safety, run a higher quality and more reliable fleet, improve communication with parents and districts, and reduce costs. In addition, as technology advances outside of the school bus, both parents and administrators expect those same technological advancements on the bus. Wi-Fi, onboard cameras with real-time viewing, and school bus tracking with parent notification, are increasingly requested. There is also an expanding desire for stop arm cameras and student ridership tracking. These technol-
50 School Transportation News • JUNE 2019
ogy solutions will become more prevalent in the student transportation industry, which will allow for an even safer student bus journey.”
On the Driver Shortage: “Driver staffing continues to be a concern for
a lot of districts, and we’re looking at every angle to find innovative ways to recruit and retain the
best employees. For example, we developed hiring events, where candidates test-drive a school bus on a closed lot. The goal is to show that these large vehicles are not that difficult to drive. These hiring events have resulted in not only an uptick in applications, but have allowed our communities to see us in a new way. An element of the solution that is often overlooked is employee retention. Each driver we retain is one less that we need to recruit. So, we’ve equipped our managers with new tools designed to engage and retain their drivers. First Student is dedicated to continually driving a strong culture. This has been proven to motivate our drivers to stay with our compa- ny. They are part of our family. One tool is our employee mobile app. Now, with a push of a button, managers can share local news, update about weather delays and clos- ings, and keep their entire team informed about upcoming meetings and events. Our drivers are in the know, while managers save time. We believe this is a first of its kind in the industry. It’s one way we are harnessing technology to help solve our recruiting and retention challenges.”
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