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).
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Below are a few important points which can be practiced by the school authorities to manage the school transportation in an effective manner.
- 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
- CARRIER CONTRACT MANAGEMENT
The carrier contracts management feature of the school transport management system allows school authorities to track all their terms and carrier agreements in real-time. This allows authorities to access the carriers based on their specific requirements or parameters. Even the system can suggest the best carriers based on the specified parameters.
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- APPROPRIATE FEE STRUCTURE
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.
- APPROPRIATE ROUTES FOR STAFF AND STUDENT
Firstly, it should be borne in 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. READ ALSO HOW TO SELECT THE RIGHT TEACHERS IN RECRUITMENT
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
- 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 behavior on the part of the driver/staff/students can be stopped in the beginning itself.
- 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.