5 Skills To Look For In A Transportation Supervisor

The Job is quite demanding, and for the right reason. For a transportation manager,  the passengers are the most prized assets in the country, and the loss, injury or undesired treatment of any of them is not acceptable. In transporting students safely and efficiently, a lot of work has to be put in to anticipate every turn and incident in protecting their interests.

1. Goal Oriented

In Transportation, the transportation supervisor is responsible for the itinerary of the buses, the Students' Schedules, and the Bus Drivers. The primary objective is to put all the assets together and make sure all the students are where they are supposed to be efficiently and safely. A goal oriented person will see this as the larger picture and allow the buzz and the challenge of the job to fade into the backdrop. There are other minor goals that might be required, and they are in the order of priority depending on the situation, like handling  disputes and listening to complaints from school administrators and parents. This, however, should not deter them from the primary  objective.

2. Detail Oriented

As you would already have experienced, in a grand plan, it's the details that usually bring it down. Noticing behavioral patterns with some buses that arrive late often, the constant alarm over the same RFID tag, the periodic service of some vehicles more than others among other minute details that they may notice. As a parent or Transportation Manager, you would want your supervisor to keep a keen eye on the data and report should there be a trending pattern that might indicate risk.

3. Works Well with People

The Transportation Supervisor you hired should be able to work well with others in almost any circumstance. In a place where the supervisor will be directing more than 100 people, cordiality, the ability to listen and keeping an open mind about different personalities will go a long way in establishing a leading role in making sure the transportation system runs without hitches. Working well with people should also be exemplified in how he/she tries to establish a rapport with the school bus driver and support staff to reach the goals of the position.

4. Understands Geo-tagging Technologies

Since the transport coordinators business will be to know where each GPS fitted bus is at any time of the day, it will be important to understand how the system works in the background. Geo-tagging technologies allow real time geographic data to be displayed over a geographic map that is run on the computer. The supervisor should also know the political boundaries of the district and be fairly familiar with the area. The candidate should also demonstrate a reasonable familiarity with fleet management technologies which employ similar resources for managing operations

5. Able to Cope with Pressure

While all may seem smooth and orchestrated, the truth is there is always someone behind the order, looking at all the factors and resources every minute to make sure things do not go wrong. The transportation supervisor should realize that in order to avoid consequences that might bring undue pressure, he/she should be willing to go the extra mile and predict the pressure themselves, either in improving the system or keeping vigil to avoid situations that might not be so pleasant.

A transportation Supervisor is an important role, and the candidates need to have more than financial incentives which drive them towards meeting their requirements, they must be sensitive to the reason why all the processes are done with such detailed attention.

That being said, he or she should be self motivated and strong, able to understand your sentiments as a parent or school administrator in the urgency of delivering service with the utmost care and concern.