Across the US, there has been a crippling shortage of bus drivers, and that number is still dwindling.

Potential employees are turning away from available bus driver positions or quitting those jobs; however, this issue is not solely because of Covid.

Mr. Jerry Ford, Del Val’s head of transportation, said, “It has always been difficult to attract good people to this industry. It became much more difficult after July 2017 when the Federal government changed the license testing, making it very difficult to obtain a commercial driver’s license (CDL).”

Del Val’s decline in drivers is bordering on a crisis. The situation has affected the students by increasing the time spent on the bus at the high school level, causing elementary school students to be late as the drivers make multiple runs each morning and afternoon.

If a bus driver calls out, an entire bus route may not have a driver, at least until other bus drivers can cover the run after driving their own routes. Elementary sports teams have had to cancel games or even resort to hiring coach buses in order to make up for the driver shortage.

In an attempt to make sure all students get to school on time, the district is paying new driver applicants for their training and other necessities to help them earn their licenses.

To maximize student safety, the government has added to the protocol guidelines to ensure that applicants have a “clean driving record, pass the DOT physical at least every other year and four written tests administered by the MVC (CDL general knowledge, passenger endorsement, school bus endorsement and air brake tests), and criminal history clearance.” These requirements make obtaining a CDL a more difficult process.

“It takes three months or more to get licensed,” Mr. Ford said.

If any reader is interested in, or knows someone who may want to apply for, a bus driver position, you can apply here.

Applicants should be “at least 21 years old, [have a] clean driving record, and pass the DOT fitness test every other year,” Mr. Ford said.