Parents of Rocky View Schools (RVS) students who take the bus may have noticed longer delays and inconsistent bus drivers this month as RVS bus contractors First Canada Student and Southland Transportation are both experiencing an above average driver shortage.
“Generally, we start the year with two to three runs short just because people are on holiday or have family commitments,” said First Student Canada Senior Contracts Manager for Alberta South Susan Fowler. “This year, we started with 10 runs open. We were a good 15 per cent short.”
When asked if there is a driver shortage this year Southland Transportation General Manager Southern Alberta Chris Castellarin responded, “absolutely.”
“We haven’t seen it this difficult to hire for these roles since the boom in 2004/2005,” he said. “We’re about 50 drivers short right now. We’ve got all managers, including myself, covering routes right now.”
The contractors provide service for divisions across Alberta and the driver shortages they expressed do not only impact RVS but also surrounding divisions.
RVS Director of Transportation Audrey Bloxham said the RVS routes are about seven drivers short but added every year in September, they begin the year with a driver shortage.
“We did get some complaints (from parents) because routes don’t have the same driver each time and it (causes delays),” Bloxham said. “I can’t say we’ve had more complaints than usual.”
However, both contractors said they have received complaints from parents.
“We’ve had an awful lot of upset parents and kids,” Castellarin said, adding they have probably had hundreds of complaints across the province so far this year.
Both contractors and RVS said they are hopeful the shortage will end soon and buses will be back to their normal schedules.
“Our driver shortage here in Alberta will be short lived,” Fowler said. “October will look a lot better once we have our trainees behind the wheel of the bus. We see a light at the end of the tunnel.”
“I’m not overly concerned (about the shortage) because I see they are training drivers,” Bloxham said. “There is an end in sight.”
Part of the delay in getting new drivers behind the wheel is the long training course drivers have to complete.
“We have typically on average 15 to 30 people in our training and that takes anywhere from a week-and-a-half to two weeks,” Castellarin said. “There is a lot of pressure to get the drivers on the road but we are certainly not going to shortchange any of the training.”
Though neither contractor was willing to say why the driver shortage is bigger this year, Castellarin said they have lost drivers to the oilsands and to Saskatchewan. He added he thinks it could be because full-time jobs are available there where bus driving is a part-time opportunity.
Fowler said a more serious issue for her is not the driver shortage but “the influx of new students and routes are overloaded.”
“We’re having a hard time keeping up with the numbers rolling into RVS,” she said. This year RVS saw about 1,400 more students enroll in RVS schools. Castellarin said Southland Transportation recruiters are “working around the clock” to fill more driver positions.
Special qualifications are not require to be a bus driver. According to the Southland Transportation website, drivers work a minimum of four to six hours a day.
“If you want to make a positive impact on 50-plus kids a day, this is the perfect job for you,” he said.
“They really do look up to their driver.”
Fore more information, visit southland.ca or firststudentinc.ca
