3 Signs You Need A Better System For Tracking School
published on March 29, 2013 by Sonia Mastros
Transportation Management Software, school bus routing software, school bus tracking software, student transportation software, Student School Bus Safety, route efficiency, school bus route planning software, school bus route optimization, school bus route scheduling software
In days past, back when school systems had better finances, gas prices were reasonable and parents had actual relationships with their children’s school bus drivers, there was little need for tracking school buses and other transportation.
But times have changed. Today a good routing software solution for tracking school transportation is a critical tool for Transportation Directors, Superintendents, Business Managers and others who deal with school transportation fleets and student safety.
What are 3 signs you need a solution for tracking school transportation?
1. You worry about student safety
One clear sign you need a system in place for tracking school transportation is that you are concerned about the safety of the students in your care. In this day and age, student safety is paramount. It’s on a parents mind, and it should be on the mind of anyone in control of a bussing system. Having a routing and tracking software can take the worry out of the process by helping you to verify that every student on your routes are accounted for.
Good GPS based tracking software solutions can also give you the ability to set security alerts that allow you to know whenever a bus driver deviates from their set routes, drives above the speed limit or stops at any place along the route that is not pre-approved. You’ll know where your vehicles, and your students, are at any given moment. That’s peace of mind for you and any worried parent.
2. You are not properly managing your drivers or your assets
Another good sign that you need a tool for tracking school transportation is that you are having a hard time managing your assets. If you don’t have an easy way to log activities along a given route, then a good software solution can offer you a tool for printing activity logs for each bus so that you can better manage the vehicle and the route.
Good software for tracking school transportation vehicles can also help make sure you are ensuring driver compliance. In fact, most tracking software provides live location updates so you will know where your drivers are at any given moment, allowing you to reduce hours if you see any vehicles deviating from their assigned routes. With this kind of real-time monitoring of your vehicle fleet you have the ability to follow where any driver has been for days and weeks and even longer.
3. You have overlapping routes that decrease your efficiency
When your bus routes are overlapping and your vehicles are not filling to capacity, then you are not being as efficient as you need to be. A good software solution for tracking school transportation vehicles can be combined with other types of routing software to help eliminate this problem.
A good tracking software system with GPS can work seamlessly with other types of fleet optimization and routing software to help you map out all of your routes and show you where the overlaps are. You will be able to track and reroute busses so that all routes are having the most impact and students are being picked up efficiently. You may also be able to eliminate routes entirely, which will save your district a lot of money.
In short, if you are not using software for tracking school transportation vehicles and routes, then you are probably losing time, money and efficiency. So look into the solutions that are available. You'll be glad you did.