RE: Pfizer USA24 Aug 2021 09:14
Although much better than last year not all schools in the US have returned to in class teaching.
See- https://cai.burbio.com/school-opening-tracker/
Other than an increase in positive cases due to Delta some schools have delayed opening this autumn because a shortage of bus drivers!
The issue is widespread for example-
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — In the past week, Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent Anthony Hamlet has gotten an earful from parents angry at the delay in the start of school 18 months into the pandemic. But amid calls for his resignation, Hamlet asked for unity behind his reopening plan.
“This is our collective moment of truth for all sides to come together, for all sides to ensure we get this right,” he said.
Pittsburgh Public School administrators answered questions from frustrated parents during a “Community Talk Back” virtual community event.
The problem, Hamlet said, is a shortage of bus drivers. Last week, school administrators pushed back the start of the year to Sept. 8, citing a number of issues including the pandemic and the seat gap for transportation.
The shortage is due to lack of available training for the past year (due to covid), a typically older work force who are reluctant to drive busses full of infected youngsters and loss of staff to Amazon etc.
National Express isn’t the only contractor actively looking for more school bus drivers(303 driver jobs advertised). School Transportation News previously reported that school bus contractor Rohrer Bus, a local school transportation company in Perry County, Pennsylvania, held a school bus test-driving event to highlight the industry’s unsung heroes and entice more applicants. School bus contractor First Student held a similar event at South Sioux City High Schools in Nebraska because it is short 1,300 drivers.
A consequence is that the companies are having to pay drivers more and offer bonus payments on recruitment and retention which will eat into the profits.
The driver shortage is double edged for NEX, along with the extra costs they may also be liable to penalties for poor service, but it is also proving to present opportunities where others struggle.
With regards one district covered by a recent new contract (Akron), from Fox News- “Fortunately, through our partnership with Petermann Transportation, we have been able to hire enough drivers to cover our scheduled routes''
It seems that the larger contractors (such as Nex) are going to be in a better position to recruit and train drivers than some inhouse school bus services which should mean that they pick up additional contracts as highlighted by the one recently awarded in Akron.
Their other main territories are looking better now with covid cases falling in Spain and more recently Morocco. Whilst stuck in a traffic jam on the M4 at the w/e I was passed by two Nex coaches both of which looked to be full. It is going to be interesting to see how this all plays out in their results in October.
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