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Wanted: School bus drivers

Photo by Jody Isaackson Lakeview Elementary students Emma Timmerman and Dru Timmerman ride Gail Gregoire’s bus to school in the mornings. Gregoire drives the town route for Palmer Bus Service in Cottonwood.

COTTONWOOD — While several bus companies throughout Minnesota and South Dakota are struggling to find drivers in time for the upcoming new school year, Palmer Bus at Cottonwood and Southwest Coaches in Marshall report full staffing.

However, the local companies who provide student transportation in the Marshall area say that their employment status changes throughout the year, sometimes leaving them short on drivers. They sometimes find it difficult to recruit new drivers.

Palmer Bus Service Site Manager Corie Allford said she recruited one driver last school year and this year she did not get any new recruits. Palmer Bus posts advertising in area newspapers and billboards and hangs banners from school buses near the schools in the towns it serves.

Allford was also concerned when her drivers showed a shift in their personal schedules and were indicating a need for substitute drivers throughout the upcoming year.

“All of my bus drivers have returned this year. I am in need of a couple sub drivers and trip drivers,” Allford said. “I did not lose any bus drivers this year, but some of my drivers have different schedules which makes them not available for all routes. With Palmer Bus, we are fortunate enough to be flexible but it makes it hard to cover all routes.”

Allford said that when she recruits drivers, she is looking for someone who is dependable and flexible, can pass a Department of Transportation (DOT) physical and a drug screen, and who loves working with children.

Co-owner of Southwest Coaches Marshall, Jim Hey, agreed that the person had to do all these and more. He and his brother, Tom Hey, own the bus service together.

“I look for someone with a positive attitude, good-natured,” Hey said. “If they have that, and have good communication with people, especially children, we can teach them to drive. We can walk them through the process.”

The need for quality drivers is ongoing because things change throughout the year and from year-to-year, he said.

Hey said that with 60 drivers including subs, he has all the drivers he needs to start the new school year, but Southwest Coaches also experiences fluctuation throughout the school year.

“Last year we were short throughout the year,” Hey said. “We struggled throughout the year. Three of our drivers were college students and left in May, when college was out, but they came back this fall, ready to drive.”

“The shortage (here) keeps growing due to the number of students we keep getting and not having enough drivers to cover all the routes,” Allford said.

“Typically if we lose drivers, they either move out of town, graduate college or find a full-time job,” Hey said.

Southwest Tours hadn’t advertised at all this year and yet three licensed drivers came to them from other companies, Hey said. One also brought his son along, he said. However, they had advertised the last couple of years and only found a couple of substitute drivers.

“Most people don’t realize that anybody can drive a bus,” Hey said. “We have college students, retired people, men and women driving.”

Palmer Bus Service has been serving the Cottonwood community by transporting students since 2006.

“We safely transport around 500 students each school day in Lakeview,” Allford said.

The Lakeview School District consists of one K-12 school located in Cottonwood.

“Southwest Coaches Inc. has been proudly providing school bus transportation for the Marshall and surrounding areas for over 45 years,” Hey said.

“We consider your children our most precious cargo,” Hey said. “Their safety is our number one concern and always will be.”

Minneota Bus Service and Spec Tran Inc. of Hanley Falls did not return phone calls.

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