To continue our ongoing discussion of seat and lap-shoulder belts, we have found that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is seeking school districts that are interested in equipping school buses with lap-shoulder seat belts, to participate in a five-year study on how the occupant restraints affect on-board student behavior.

NHTSA issued an RFP (request for proposal) to select a contractor to determine the indirect effects of the three-point seat belts.  Several transportation officials have said that their use of lap-shoulder belts has improved student behavior and limited driver distraction.

This past November at the National Association for State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services annual conference in Columbus, Ohio, NHTSA Highway Safety Specialist Jeremy Gunderson told attendees that the agency seeks to use projects such as this study to correct misinformation regarding the seat belt issue, since it receives several questions each month on the topic.

The first step in NHTSA’s project is to identify existing research on how lap-shoulder belts can improve student behavior on the bus, notably by keeping them seated face forward.   “This will ensure (that) a baseline measure of possible indirect effects is captured,” NHTSA writes in the RPF. “This project would also require that the selected jurisdiction plan to implement an education component for bus drivers, students, parents, teachers and other school officials, to emphasize the importance of using seat belts on school buses.”

The winning contractor will be required to identify and analyze existing research on the evaluated indirect effects of lap-shoulder belts, as well as collect and analyze data from school districts selected to participate in the study.

A full report is due to NHTSA for review within 46 months of awarding the contract, with a final report due to be completed and published by 60 months.

Any effort to keep our children safe is worth the time and research.

When taking your school bus to a reputable repair shop, they will perform inspections of each item in a preventive maintenance (PM) checklist.  This is more than just looking at components. They will pay attention to the little things, the little problems, making repairs to the smallest of defects.

In doing so, the larger potential problems will be repaired and never develop into real problems. Some technicians focus on the problem at hand, fixing items that have failed, but they fail to repair the cause of the failure. This causes repeat problems.  Each problem has a cause. Finding and repairing the cause prevents future problems from occurring.

A PM checklist should be organized in a systematic method that is meant to be followed in order from top to bottom. In doing so, an organized routine will be developed and remembered, and the technician will get better and faster at it as time goes by.

The school bus drivers will appreciate a job well done even if it takes a little longer. They will appreciate not having to drive an old spare bus repeatedly.

Doing it right the first time increases reliability and — most importantly — safety.

If you’ve been following our blogs, we have talked about the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB’s) calling for lap-shoulder belts on school buses. Recently the NTSB decided to direct that recommendation, not to the feds, but to the states.

In past crash investigations and reports, NTSB has pointed to the benefits of lap-shoulder belts for student passengers, particularly in side impacts and rollovers. The agency has even produced a video in which it shows that properly buckled passengers will stay inside the seating compartment in any type of crash.

In the May meeting, the NTSB reiterated its assertion that lap-shoulder belts provide the best protection for school bus passengers. In crash analysis, investigators found that the swerving of the bus threw passengers out of their seating compartments before the impact, and “compartmentalization was rendered ineffective,” according to the agency.  They also listed the lack of lap-shoulder belts on the bus as “contributing to the severity of crashes.”

Several lawmakers launched an effort in Congress to require seat belts on school buses nationwide. However, the bill doesn’t specify that the mandate be for lap-shoulder belts — only that the Department of Transportation “consider” the benefits and NTSB findings on lap-shoulder belts.

As state legislatures convene for their next sessions, look for lap-shoulder belts to be back on the agenda.  For now, it remains up to the states to make the call on seat belts for school buses.

Even with all the technology in the world today, there are still millions of people who don’t have either a computer or a cellphone, including far too many students. Google argues that this lack of connectivity has the greatest impact on students from low-income families living in rural areas. To its credit, the company conceived an innovative way to do something about it.

The idea behind Google’s “Rolling Study Halls” program is turning commute time into learning time.  Google has been financing pilot programs over the last couple years in North and South Carolina. Participating school districts receive mobile Wi-Fi routers, data plans, and Chromebook laptops for students to use going to and from school on their school buses.

In addition, each bus gets an “onboard educator,” a special proctor to help students with both school assignments and any technology issues.  Google sets up the onboard system to block access to social media sites limiting students’ Wi-Fi use to educational sites.

Preliminary results from the pilot projects look very promising. School bus drivers like it because, with students occupied doing class assignments during their rides, there is less need for driver attention to maintaining order and discipline on the bus. Students in the program are showing improvements in reading and math proficiency as well as knowledge of the digital world that many of them lacked beforehand.

Google is therefore expanding this project to 16 more rural school districts in 12 states: Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

The recent fatal school bus crash in New Jersey and new recommendations by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have led to an effort in Congress to require seat belts on school buses across the country.

An announcement was made regarding a new bipartisan bill that would require the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to begin the rulemaking process on new federal requirements for seat belts on school buses.

The legislation is dubbed the Secure Every Child Under the Right Equipment Standards (SECURES) Act.  The proposal does not specify that the DOT rulemaking would have to be for lap-shoulder belts. Rather, it would direct the DOT to consider the added safety benefits of lap/shoulder seat belts while making a decision and it would require the DOT to include NTSB’s recommendations. The bill summary cites NTSB’s new special investigation report on school bus safety, which recommends that states mandate lap-shoulder belts for all new large school buses.

The launch of the SECURES Act legislation follows the May 17 school bus crash in Mount Olive, New Jersey, that killed a student and a teacher. The bus in that crash was reportedly equipped with lap-only belts, as required by New Jersey law.

There are only a few states that have a law in effect requiring lap-shoulder belts on school buses, but some are contingent on funding.  Now instead of each state’s legislators drafting a new law, Congress is taking steps to make this a nationwide law!

More than 16,000 school buses in New York City will soon have a traction recovery device on board under a newly approved contract with Trac-Grabber LLC.

Trac-Grabber is described as a rescue and recovery device that can be strapped to the wheels of a vehicle, in this case school buses, to help the driver get “unstuck” from snow, mud, or sand.  The devices have straps that go through the holes in the tire rim after the hubcaps have been removed. The wheels spin to the point that they engage, lift, and move the vehicle to safer ground. They are installed on the “drive wheels” that receive power from the engine and the transmission.

For the New York City Department of Education contract, the Florida-based company will provide three models of its traction grips and a one-time training for each contracted school bus operator.

The devices would be good for any area that gets its fair share of rain and snow!

School bus fleet maintenance managers face challenges in trying to control costs that continue to rise.

Costs are increasing very quickly for tires, emission systems, labor, and many other parts. The maintenance manager can no longer find ways to reduce actual cost or maintain the margin of the total budget relative to transportation operating costs.

Fleet maintenance managers must justify reality with a new generation of mangers who perceive value by measuring charts, graphs, predictions, and cost benchmarking – all in a way to reduce costs or fix the perceived problem on a short-term, cost-cutting basis, without any consideration for performance benchmarking.

The following scenario happens more and more frequently – A new transportation manager is told that his/her responsibility includes the maintenance department, yet maintenance is not his/her forte – So, the new manager’s style and approach is to measure cost – make charts and graphs. His boss is happy because now they both can look at the same reports and both conclude that the costs are too high. They are not meeting the budget so they plan to drive cost out without seeing in real life where the money is being spent, such as the performance upkeep for an aging fleet of school buses with only a sprinkling of new 2018 units within it.

What truly works though, are the basic simplified methods: A prescribed fleet replacement plan supported by a good maintenance policy, with a defined process and efficient practices. Then an administration add-on of non-burdening “micro-measurement” through charts and graphs is only required to understand the effectiveness of the maintenance process – not control it.

While you must measure, you must also understand each other’s thought process and work jointly – Board, Administration and Transportation. All must work towards the common goal of being the safest and most cost-effective school bus maintenance provider.

Ralph Hendrix, who developed and formalized the South Carolina Department of Education’s statewide school bus transportation operations recently passed away at the age of 97.  Hendrix was just three weeks shy of celebrating his 98th birthday.

He joined the department after serving with the U.S. Navy in World War II from 1943-1945.  He was named assistant director of transportation in 1953, two years after receiving his master’s degree from the University of South Carolina.

Hendrix was promoted to director of transportation in 1957 and is credited with transforming the small and disorganized system run by local school districts into a statewide network of school buses owned, operated and maintained by the department of education.

Donald Tudor, who became state transportation director in 1991 when Hendrix retired, called him a “gentleman” and “a wonderful leader and friend to many in the school transportation industry across the country.”

“He was the person that took a badly disorganized 1950s school transportation program and converted it to an efficient operation second to none,” Tudor told STN. “Under his guidance, the South Carolina school transportation program became a program that was proud to equally serve every student with the highest level of service.”

Hendrix oversaw 6,400 school buses, 44 maintenance and 5,700 school bus drivers when he retired. South Carolina Department of Education continues to be the only state agency nationwide to manage all aspects of student transportation.

The U.S. and many other places around the world have regrettably witnessed an apparent increase in school violence. That violence often comes in the form of an active shooter.

Nearly 11 years ago, Gray Ram Tactical LLC conducted a research study to determine the profile of an active killer inside of the educational institution — including the morning school bus ride, through the school day, and until the end of extracurricular activities in the evening.

Research showed that since the time of the Columbine shootings, many active killers committing an attack inside of a school have traveled to the school building via numerous different means. Some walked to school carrying their weapons, some drove themselves to the school with their weapons, and some were given rides by friends or family to the school with their weapons.

More contemporarily, killers have been transported to school via the school bus. Students bent on violence have carried their weapons (knives, bombs, guns) onto the school bus and have ridden to school, being delivered directly to their unsuspecting victims.

It is imperative that the school bus driver of today be aware of the many warning signs and indicators of violence that are present in these types of situations. Previous indicators might include a student that has brought a weapon to school in the past or has made recent threats. Immediate indicators might include such things as inappropriate clothing, distinct behavioral changes, or a security tap.

A security tap is an action that a person will take subconsciously to reassure himself that the item he is attempting to hide is still concealed. It is a telltale sign that a person is hiding something. The person will touch the item routinely and at certain times, such as when bending over, standing up, or turning quickly.

Being able to identify signs of concealed weapons is a life and death skill.  Regrettably, active killers don’t have bright colors or flashing lights drawing attention to themselves. Fortunately, though, they do display observable signals. Pupil transportation professionals must be prepared to identify those crucial signals.

Last week we talked about how South Carolina has handled fires that have occurred on school buses.  Given the number of school bus fires, it’s very important that bus drivers take every precaution to keep them to a minimum — a task that requires constant vigilance, updating school bus safety procedures, maintaining equipment, and training.

But students can also play a part in helping to save lives and prevent injuries.  School bus evacuation drills can make a world of difference in preparing students to safely escape a burning bus. According to statistics, a fully loaded school bus can be evacuated in under a minute if the students have practiced evacuation drills.

During the drills, students should learn:
• When to evacuate a bus.
• The types of evacuations (front, rear door, roof, and side window).
• The importance of evacuating in a calm and orderly fashion.
• How to operate emergency equipment and open the emergency exits.
• Where to go and what to do once the bus has been evacuated.

In addition, older students should be designated to help the young ones in an emergency evacuation. Finally, the students should perform actual test evacuations.

The speed of the evacuation and the safety of the children involved are directly related to how well they have been trained.  Performing the drills on a regular basis and educating the students as to how to do it correctly is so very important.