school transport manager Archives

15 Duties and Responsibilities of School Transport Manager

Posted on November 28, 2018 by TSB Super Admin

The school transport manager primarily oversees the fleet of buses that transport the students to and from the school.

The manager plays a crucial role in the overall planning and management of the bus routes, scheduling, vehicle maintenance and acquisition and much more.

This position requires the candidate to have the capability to organize, possess leadership skills, and maintain good relationships with others.

In total, the transport manager along with assistants have to ensure safe, effective, responsive and efficient transport service to the staff and the students.

We shall, in this article, discuss the duties and responsibilities to be taken on by the transport manager of a school bus fleet.

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Duties and Responsibilities of the Transport Manager

1. The transport manager is responsible for the transportation of school and sees that the day-to-day operations are going on without any problems.

For this, the transport manager has to monitor the operations and assure efficient performance in compliance with the regulations and according to the policies, guideline and procedures that are laid down.

2. The transport manager is expected to resolve all the challenges arises in the transport department.

They are supposed to handle different aspects of bus maintenance issues and emergencies if any.

3. In addition to performing road checks during inclement weather, the transport manager holds the complete responsibility of overseeing the timely maintenance checks of all the buses.

The manager is also responsible for maintaining complete records of all the maintenance that have taken place on every bus.

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The manager facilitates staff meetings in this connection and also provides direction to the bus maintenance staff.

The transport manager is in charge of inspecting the buses frequently to ensure that all the buses are in tip-top condition and safe enough to transport the students to and from the school.

4. The transport manager is in charge of setting the routes for the buses, dispatch of the buses, working out their schedule, and managing the driver.

They are also incharge of managing other members of the transport department such as staff representatives from the school, manage fuel consumption of the buses, and also development of the bus timetable.

All these are done keeping in mind the child safety that is being transported on the bus.

5. The transport manager shall coordinate with the specific district representative for the transportation of student with special needs.

He is also responsible to prepare and submit all the related reports in a timely manner.

6. The transport manager is responsible for the purchase of any equipment for the school bus fleet in compliance with all the existing policies and procedures.

7. The transport manager is responsible for the conduct and behaviour of the bus drivers and attendants.

In this connection, he is responsible for the recruitment of the said personnel.

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So, He must be very careful while appointing candidates for the positions of driver and bus attendants.

He should only appoint them after screening their applications thoroughly and checking their credentials and backgrounds.

The transport manager is in charge of training programs and safety programs for the bus staff.

He conducts the bus driver performance evaluations in a timely manner.

He trains the staff on how to communicate effectively so that they can voice their concerns and opinions appropriately.

He is in charge of developing and maintaining the training manual with all the records complete.

He must also ensure that they are promoted to higher positions at the right times and that they are compensated according to their position.

He is in charge of tackling any unrest that may arise in the department.

8. The transport manager maintains a positive relationship with parents, students and the staff members of the school.

He coordinates and strives to resolve all the concerns that crop up.

The responsibilities of the transport manager include keeping the parents informed of any route change, schedule change or timing change of the bus trip.

He should also keep them informed in case there is a new person that has assumed the role of the driver or bus attendant.

9. The role of a transport manager becomes a prominent one in times of a crisis such as an accident or emergency (such as a breakdown).

In such a case his action should be immediate so that there is no harm (or only a minimal loss) and every child reaches their home safe and sound.

The transport manager is expected to have the contact details of all the vehicles repair services of the area as well as those of doctors, nursing homes and hospitals.

10. The transport manager is in charge of coordinating with all the transport staff and the government authorities to keep the bus feet in a ready state for the annual state inspection of the vehicle fleet.

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11. The Transport manager shall plan and execute the purchase of spare buses as additions to the existing fleet.

This help in handling the situation when the necessity of school bus arises.

12. The transport manager shall assist the school authorities in the development of operating procedures.

These include policies, upgrading the existing systems and their implementation and staffing changes at the departmental level.

13. The transport manager is expected to maintain safety standards in compliance with regulations for insurance requirements.

A preventative safety program has to be developed by the manager.

All insurance reports have to be completed and submitted to the authorities by the transport manager.

14. The transport manager is responsible to conduct mock evacuation and emergency drills in a timely manner.

15. It is the responsibility of the transport manager to submit a variety of reports in a timely fashion to the school authorities and government departments in compliance with policies and procedures.

All expenditures must be properly recorded allocated and accounted for.

Complaints and concerns should be recorded and all the related follow-up correspondence should be copied, saved and stored appropriately.

Conclusion

The transport manager is expected to be a person with a positive attitude with a professional approach in tackling the various issues of the transportation department.

Ultimately, the service to the children should be of paramount importance.

How to Manage School Transport Effectively

Posted on November 14, 2018 by TSB Super Admin

A majority of schools have large fleets of buses that ferry children to and from schools every day. These buses ensure safety for the children. Safety is a major point of concern not only for the parents but for the school authorities as well.

In addition to the quality of education that a school provides, the transportation facilities provided by the school for the safety of their students is a major factor that parents look for when choosing a school for their ward(s).

Given below are few important points which can be practised by the school authorities to manage the school transportation in an effective manner.

1: Manage Routes

It would do best for the school transport department to assign time-saving bus routes in an optimized manner so that it means cost saving in terms of less fuel expenditure.

This activity has to be carefully planned out in such a manner that multiple vehicles of the fleet do not share the same route, do not overlap, or cause any kind of confusion whatsoever. Such a happening would lead to a waste of resources.

2: Bus Station Allocation

This is yet another challenging aspect of managing the school bus fleet. The school transport department has to create bus stops from where the students can be picked up or dropped off. However, a lot of care has to be taken while deciding the location of these bus stops.

They should be at a convenient spot so that students can reach the bus stop without any difficulty. Secondly, the stops should be in locations that are safe enough for the students to wait till their respective bus comes.

The bus stop location cannot be fixed at spots with heavy traffic as it turns out to be inconvenient and unsafe for both parents and children.

3: Accurate bus timings

Managing the timings of the buses in the fleet is a very important aspect. The bus routes are primarily decided based on the availability of the vehicles in the fleet.

When the routes are allocated, then check the timings of the buses which also includes some buffer time kept aside for any unforeseen delays such as breakdowns, traffic blocks, etc. The buses of the fleet are allocated timing in such a way that only the time required for the travel along the route is allowed for them.

4: Appropriate Fee Structures

Running a fleet of buses is a major cost incurred for the school. The fee structure should be decided on the basis of the running times of the bus and the routes that are traversed.

Other variables to be factored in include the salary of the bus staff, maintenance costs, fuel costs and a facility fee. The fee amounts would be different for different routes that the bus takes and depends on the distance of the bus stops from the school.

5: Allocate Appropriate Routes for Staffs and Students

Firstly, it should be borne in the mind that the student-teacher ratio should be maintained appropriately in each of the buses. The authorities should assign at least two or three teachers per bus.

One of the teachers should necessarily be present in the bus till the end of the route or until the last child in the bus gets off. This ensures the safety of the children travelling in the bus.

6: School Bus Attendance

The attendance roll call for students travelling by each bus should be done every time bus leaves the school and before the bus reaches the school after the trip completes.

This ensures that the authorities are keeping track of the students. It ensures safety and no slipups whatsoever. Any untoward happening on the bus can be spotted immediately by the authorities.

7: Student Safety

It is most important that the authorities take complete responsibility to ensure safety for those travelling in the bus.
•    Appointing the right driver and bus attendant whose records are clean
•    Maintaining the bus and all its accessories at regular intervals, ensuring that all parts are working
•    It is important to track that the driver’s behaviour on the bus

8: Fleet Tracking

Tracking school buses and occupants is one of the important things that a school should perform to manage school transportation effectively.

This helps the school authorities to take sudden action if any mishaps or any emergencies come during the trip. This in turn helps to tackle the issue without much stress.

Integrating the school transport management software with GPS allows you to get various reports including the wear and tear of the vehicle parts, speed reports, etc.

All these reports help to improve the efficiency of the bus fleet by organizing optimized routes that help to cut costs as well as ensure a safe trip for the students.

9: Video Surveillance

Video surveillance of the bus every time is essential. It helps school authorities to ensure that everything goes all right with the staff, driver, attendant and students at all times. Any bad behaviour on the part of the driver/staff/students can be stopped in the beginning itself.

10: Fleet Maintenance Software

Use of fleet maintenance software helps to track the vehicle downtimes, parts required, inventory status, expenditure, maintenance schedules, usage of fuel and replacement criteria. Tracking these helps to increase the efficiency and manage the school bus fleet more effectively.

Conclusion

Technology is revolutionizing every aspect of school bus fleet management and it is important that every school’s authorities gather sufficient information to make the most of this and ensure a safe trip to students along with managing it efficiently at the same time.

How to Choose the Right Software for Your School Transport Company

Posted on November 2, 2018 by TSB Super Admin

The safest way to transport students of your school would be to have a complete overview of your entire school transportation system at any point in time.

Budget cuts are happening everywhere, with the result that the transport department is forced to squeeze out the most from every dollar spent.

One of the most efficient ways to cut down fuel costs, staffing and to improve vehicle utilization is by optimization of routes.

However, this can be frustrating, time-consuming and inefficient if done manually. Using software packages for school transport is the best way to get this done neatly and efficiently.

How School Transport Software Package is Useful

From creating the school bus routes, scheduling the drivers, and managing unforeseen incidents, the software package for school bus transport must be in tune with the requirements of the school. Any school transportation management software would address the following objectives:

1: Features that make every-day time-consuming tasks easier

• Allowing easy preparation of trips with auto optimized routes

• It should be able to manage the presence of students in each stage of the bus trip

• A few clicks should be enough to plan the rounds for a specific bus contract for a period of a range of dates

2: The activity would be visible immediately in real time

• The schedule would be accessible and readable in real time

• Changing the route of one driver to another would be a matter of just a couple of clicks

3: The software package would be in line with the objectives of the business

• The package should have tools that can help to manage both the drivers as well as the bus attendants

• It should help to plan the maintenance and renewal of the bus fleet

• It should give the difference between the monthly projected turnover of the bus and the actuals easily

But while choosing the right software for your school transport company, you must consider certain things as now the market place have flooded with many school bus transportation software kits with various packages. Here we are showcasing certain key things you must take care of.

1: Compatibility with other software

The routing and transportation management software will operate optimally when it is compatible with the other existing programs in your system.

If the integration is good, there is a good possibility that you can derive a variety of reports from the package that will sure make your transport system management easy and efficient.

2: Features of the bus transport system software

The important features that your software package for transport management should possess are the distances to be plied, the route layouts and their complexities, the number of users, etc., among others.

Advanced packages have features that include a layout map of the areas to be covered, maps that can be edited to add new routes and stops, and travel restrictions. Some other features are:

• Assignment of bus stops to students (these are defined by the users)

• Accommodation of right-sided pick-up points

• Generation of bus passes

• Option for scheduling pick-up and drop-off points (alternate locations)

• Calendar facility

• Student-bus tour history for purpose of report generation

• Options to customize necessary things

3: Training and Support

Any transport management software package would work best only if you know how to use it effectively. For this, you selected package provider has to provide the required training so that it fits the requirements of your institution.

The software provider should provide training during the time the package is laid out and also beyond this period so that all issue can be sorted out and it can be made to function the way in which it should.

4: Type of software vendor

Rather than choosing a vendor that provides a generalized transportation management package, it is wiser to go for a single vendor that provides a customized end-to-end solution for your specific needs.

Though the former option may cost you less, you may end up making it more expensive if you want amends to be made for the package to suit your system. An end-to-end customized solution will function seamlessly.

5: Calendar-based routing and scheduling

A calendar-based bus schedule helps to organize a trip and allows for the creation of trips quickly, optimally and efficiently. You can edit the schedules with ease. You can even plan for what-if scenarios with efficiently structured advanced software packages.

6: GPS Tracking

Software packages with GPS tracking facility allow you to both track and monitor every bus of your school fleet. Additional information of student in a particular route can be facilitated in integrating RFID options and providing the students with tracking cards. This is precious information as far as the school authorities and parents are concerned.

7: Bus Driver Management

Efficient software programs will help to schedule trips based on drivers’ experience, seniority and expertise. Al trips can further be made to connect to payroll so that month-end salary pay-outs become easier. All these can help to improve retention rates of drivers over the longer term.

8: Management of Changes in Students’ Schedules

See if the software package allows for editing a student’s route to a new one. It should allow setting a student’s status as ‘on vacation’ if they want to stop the school bus transportation for a specific period of time.

9: Matching of Plan vs. Actual

Analysis of GPS data helps the drivers to follow routes that have already been designated. Drivers find it easier to follow the maps of planned routes rather than generic maps displayed by Google.

10: Students with Special Needs

Transportation for students with special needs stands improved by following optimized routes with minimum time on board and proves helpful for generating student data for student reimbursements.

11: Availability of the features on mobile phones

It is greatly convenient for the school authorities as well as parents to receive any notification/alert related to the transportation on mobile phones in real time.

The software package can be designed to send tracking and monitoring signals to servers which disseminates the information to mobile phones.

Facilities that users look out for in School Bus Transportation Management Software

• Easily input data regarding the pick-up and drop-off stations for the students

• Maintain details of all the buses (vehicle number, insurance, fuel details, etc.)

• Maintain details of all students such as contact details, pick-up and drop-off point, etc.

• SMS facility for parents if any change in scheduled routes or timings

• All data related to bus maintenance and insurance payments maintained

• Define bus charges and timings for students for pick-up and drop-off points

• Easy generation of reports

Conclusion

A software package which helps to manage all the sub-processes that are involved in student transportation through the school buses includes passenger tracking, route optimization, ease driver-parent-school communication, generate comprehensive reports, and facilitate real-time management of different parts of the transportation service. This will help to improve the savings and money control and will ensure student safety.

How to Install Car Seats In School Bus?

Posted on October 31, 2018 by TSB Super Admin

Drivers depend on car seats to keep babies safe. However, according to some experts, only 15% of the car seats are correctly installed guaranteeing the safety and protection of the child.

Before you start installing a car seat in the school bus, know the type of car seats you have. Is it a rear-facing car seat or a front-facing one? Next, take a look at its design to understand if it has to be fixed to the school bus’ seat belt, or the anchor belts attached to the car seat, or to both.

Let us look deeply onto it.

Installing a Rear-Facing Car Seats in School Bus

Step 1: The carrier and the base are two different parts and must be separated. You need to install the base as this is what will remain in the car.

Go through the manufacturer’s instructions to understand how the carrier can be removed from the base. Generally, this is done with the help of a lever or button placed at the base.

Step 2: Check for the belts attached to the base. Some car seats have a belt with two hooks that can latch onto the designated spots near the seat belt area of your vehicle. If these are the kind of belts in your car seat, snap the hooks onto the metal bars of your school bus’ seat.

Make sure the base is resting right against the seat. Tighten the anchor belt in case of a gap.
Check the instructional manual to ensure that this is the way the base has to be fixed.
Some car seats have another belt that needs to go through the car seat to secure the base and provide additional security.

ALTERNATIVELY,

If the car seat which you are going to install does not have an anchor belt with hooks, it will have a buckle to securely put through the school bus’ belt opening. The seatbelt must go through straight without any twists or turns.

Check the manual thoroughly to understand where the belt has to be attached in case of doubt.
Every school bus and every car seat is different and, therefore, the manufacturer’s manual must be referred to.
A car seat that is not properly latched can be dangerous since the child is at the risk of getting injured.

Step 3: Fix the infant carrier onto the base. The direction of the carrier must be such that the child is facing the rear side. When the base and carrier are correctly fitted, you must hear a click sound. You can practice placing and separating the carrier a couple of times to know how it’s done.

Step 4: Check the angle of the base. Rear-facing car seats can be adjusted to different angles. Young infants need a more reclined position as it helps them to breathe properly.

Car seat carriers have level indicators to help you understand which is right for your child. Read the level and check if this is right as per your child’s weight/age/height.
Alter the base angle if you feel your child is not comfortable.
Always change the angle as your child grows.

Installation a Front Facing Car Seats in School Bus

Step 1: Take the seat belt through the car seat. Front facing car seats have openings at the back or bottom through which a seat belt needs to pass.

This seat belt must be buckled into the school bus’ seat on the other side. Once the belt has passed through and you’ve buckled it, push it down and pull to ensure that it has locked well. Check that the belt is straight and there are no twists or bundling.

Step 2: Some car seat designs include an attached tether. This can be taken over the top of the vehicle’s seat to latch on the anchor behind the seat. If your car seat and vehicle’s seat both support this locking, attach the tether to the anchor and tighten.

ALTERNATIVELY,

If the tether is not attached, you need to use latches to secure the car seat. Check the bottom of the car seat for two buckles with hooks.

These should latch onto the designated spots of the school bus seat where the back and bottom join. Tighten the belt in a manner that the back of the car seat is snug against the back of the vehicle’s seat and the base is snug to the base.

Safety Guidelines

Proper installation of the car seat in school bus is not enough to ensure the safety of the child while traveling. There are a few other factors that you must keep in mind to ensure that the child remains uninjured on the school bus journey. Here’s what you must check:

Choose the right spot to fix the car seat. Child car seats should not be installed in the first few or last rows of the school bus. This is because these seats are unsafe and experience more jerks than the middle rows.
The seat must fit well according to the dimensions of your vehicle’s seat. At any point in time, the base of the car seat must not move more than 1 inch.
Pull and push your car seat in different directions after installation to check this movement and in case the car seat is moving a lot, do not place the child in it. Tighten the belts to first fix the car seat correctly.
Use the shoulder straps and lap harness to buckle the child into the seat. The child must not be left loosely in the seat. The chest clip must also be buckled properly.
Tighten all the belts to make sure that your child is safe and comfortable as well. Please ensure that none of the straps are twisted or bundled.

Keep the instructions manual handy to be sure that you have done everything correctly. Student safety in the car seat is in your hands and you must double check everything.

Is My School Bus Tracking App Safe to Use

Posted on February 22, 2018 by TSB Super Admin

Parents are always worried about whether their child has boarded the bus from their pick up point and got down at the drop point. They are concerned if the driver or attendant in the school bus is well behaved and is taking good care of your child.

These concerns are real and parents look forward to a system which can help track the movements of their children. If there was an effective system which can undertake this task it would be easier for parents, drivers, attendants and school management.

One of the questions that is raised by everyone is that if the school bus tracking app is safe to use. The sensitive data of the students need to be protected from all piracy.

School bus tracking enables parents to monitor the child or school bus location while they are on the go. Let us look at how safe school bus tracking applications are.

Parent’s concern

Why is the bus late, have my child boarded the bus, where is the school bus right now, will the bus drop my child before I finish my work. These are some of the worries that parents have when they send their child to school or while they come back after school.

After realizing the concerns of parents an app was developed to solve the basic problems that parents and school management faces. It gives a peace of mind to parents who worry about their child’s safety. Parents worry about when the bus will reach to pick up their child and when it will drop off their child.

Another concern is that they don’t have any contact with the bus driver or the attendant. In case there is a delay in pick or drop the parents want to be notified regarding this. If there is a change in the point from where the child is picked up or dropped that needs to be reallocated that is to be communicated with the driver or the attendant.

Driver app

Using the driver app, drivers can have all the details regarding the students that he needs to know. They can mark the attendance of the children so that they know which student is attending school and who is not.

This helps them to plan the best routes so that it saves money and time.

They can collaborate with transportation managers and take the route that is best suited. They can also monitor students from the inside and ensure the student’s safety.

Drivers can view live cam feed so as to monitor activities without leaving the driver console. This also makes sure that your child is not bullied while they are in the bus.

Drivers have an instant access for student details which helps them to take the best routes to reach the pick up or drop points.

Drivers receive notifications regarding change in pick up points and even birthdays of students which helps them to build a rapport with the students.

Parent App

Parents can check on their pupil as the application marks the attendance four times a day when a student gets on or off the bus in the morning and in the evening. Thus parents get to know the attendance of the child without contacting the school management.

Parents get real time notifications of the activities of their child which gives them a peace of mind. Thus they get to know the location of the bus.

This can help them know when the bus if arriving to pick up or drop their child. The parent app can be used to assign a new pick up point without having to call up the driver or school management.

The app can be used to manage more than one child who comes from the same house.

Bus Attendant App

Bus attendant can make use of this app to perform their duties clutter free. They can figure out the next location which the school bus needs to make a stop.

The trip history can be mapped which helps to record the journey taken. When a student boards or gets off the school bus a notification is sent to the attendant. It even notifies the attendant if a child misses a school bus.

Attendants can schedule and direct driver throughout the trip as when a trip is confirmed, it automatically moves to the trip history.

Just like in the driver app attendants also get notification about the student birthdays. Students will be happy to be wished on their birthdays.

Transport Manager App

Sometimes the whole trip is conducted and managed by a transport manager. A school might have a fleet of vehicles that needs to be managed from a control centre.

They can also help with planning the best routes and efficiently manage the fleet. If in case a vehicle is not being tracked the transport manager will get an immediate notification regarding this.

They can send group messages which help to communicate a message to all drivers and attendants. Each bus can be tracked by the transport manager and this real time location can help to choose the best available routes.

Conclusion

School bus tracking apps not only is safe to use but it also ensure the safety of our kids. There are various facets of school bus tracking application that ensures co-ordination with parents, bus drivers, bus attendants and transportation managers.

It is definitely a value addition for schools and parents looking for the safe transit of their children to and from school.