To bid or not to bid or how to bid is the issue: The goal of management – Reduce costs by cutting fuel expenses, reducing medical related premiums, cut man-hours and miles not funded by the state and do it without losing drivers. With the ever changing demography of our communities, bus route changes are inevitable. Driver goals – Many drivers want as many hours as allowed. They may want a particular area or schools. They may want a particular type bus. They may want a particular type route, etc. How and where is it possible to find common ground? I recently read a quote from forty-four years ago about the seniority system. I shall paraphrase it. “All school bus drivers are subject to the high cock-a-lorum of seniority, whether they like it or not. The system was established to banish favoritism and to provide some basis for assignment of route, location and pay. Its

great fault, as in any seniority system, is the absolutely necessary premise that all men are equal in ability. The dullard and the genius must both live with the ostrich philosophy that one man drives a school bus as skillfully as another. No one, of course, maintains this to be the truth. But the seniority system must ever persist if only because it is a protection of the weak, who are everywhere in the greatest number”. Ernest K. Gann. And like it or not that’s the flavor of cheese we have. The good news is, there seems to be an endless supply, as long as people keep having children. And so my fellow drivers I shall not suggest what to do but how to do it. Don’t shoot from the hip. Take careful aim at your needs and express them. If everyone participates, most often the best common ground will be found and we can move on as a united group in the better direction.

Bob and Weave: I’m not talking about Don Weaver or Bob Bennett. I’m talking about looking over your shoulder and looking around your mirrors. Too many drivers are putting to much trust in their mirrors. Without practicing on the skills course with cones, what you see in the reflections may not be where you think it is. Looking over your shoulder or stopping, getting out for a better look is the only way to prevent scratching the paint. We are not in competition with the airlines to be on time. Safety is our paramount goal followed by service. School buses are subject to a variety of obstructions to being on time. So start on time with a good attitude and que sera sera. And take care.

E-mail: underbuzz@utahschoolbus.org

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