Time's Up: Urgency in Addressing School Bus Drivers with Expired Credential

As a school district transportation coordinator, it's vital to ensure your buses are always fit for duty. Typically this involves focusing on repair and maintenance issues. However, it can be easy to overlook one other crucial matter: credentials.

Your drivers must always have proper licensing to drive, and their buses need to keep their tags and insurance up-to-date. Falling behind on even one of these could create major legal problems, as well as significantly disrupting bus operations. Nor is this unheard of. Just last year, the Atlanta Public Schools district had a disruption due to expired tags.

If you allow these issues to go unresolved, you could be facing:

Driver penalties. If a driver is caught driving without a valid Commercial Driver's License (CDL) and appropriate endorsements, they could be subject to fines, loss of driving privleges, or even imprisonment. Also - depending on the state - drivers with expired licenses may also be forced to re-do portions of their training, or at least take new driving tests. This could potentially take them out of service for weeks.

Insurance issues. While a bus is unlikely to ever be pulled over for expired insurance alone, this could make a bad situation worse. In addition, should the bus actually be involved in an accident, it would be a liability nightmare. The school district itself could end up responsible for damages or even punitive monetary punishments. With budgets already tight, that could break a school district.

Expired tags/plates. This is a complicated issue since, depending on situation and local laws, the driver, the district, or the third-party provider (if involved) might be deemed responsible. Either way, a school bus with expired tags would be a magnet for the police and encourage disruptions, if not worse.

Lawsuits. Beyond direct legal penalties, there would also be the possibilty of lawsuits from the families of children on the bus. A driver with an expired license, or a bus that has not passed inspection, can be argued as a danger to child safety. This opens up even more possibilities for the district to be damaged by easily-preventable certification issues.

Smart Data Systems Protect Your District

The best way to maintain your bureaucratic responsibilities is with a smart database system capable of tracking drivers, buses, and expiration dates. It should be able to send you alerts well ahead of time, at least a month in advance, when a key expiration date is approaching. This gives you plenty of time to take care of the issue, or remind the driver to renew their license, as appropriate.

BusBoss can help you streamline your bus operations, and stay on top of bureaucratic issues. We have extensive experience implementing better software systems that can cut costs across the board, while minimizing the chances of legal issues. Contact us to learn more!

In the meantime, how does your district keep up with licenses and other school bus credentials? Please share your tips in the comments!