The Perks of Working in School Bus Services: Flexibility
Flexibility—it’s as much a business buzzword as it is a virtue. In today’s chaotic times, it does benefit to be a little more flexible, a little more forgiving, so no wonder companies everywhere are leaning into this phrase and what it entails. Indeed, it’s quite common to see employers list it as a requirement for new hires, then continue to stress such flexibility-related words as “pivot” and “reassess” in day-to-day operations.
As much as the working world seems to demand flexibility from its employees, though, don’t shortchange yourself. You deserve similar flexibility from your employer, especially if you work in school bus services. As a school bus contractor that prides itself on granting its employees flexibility in multiple ways, we’d know. You deserve the following in terms of flexibility from your student transportation services employer:
Flexible Hours
Have your requests for time off been granted, extenuating circumstances aside? Can you pick, within reason, when and how you drive? Your group transportation services employer should strive to provide you with flexibility in the most literal sense.
Financial Flexibility
You deserve to make enough money to cover your expenses. Does your group transportation services employer pay you enough so that you can support yourself, but also to attend to unexpected bills and the like?
While there is such a thing as “industry standard” pay, your employer might also make financial flexibility happen through paid training as you learn how to become a bus driver or a sign-on bonus.
Social Flexibility
Are you allowed to socialize and banter with your fellow drivers before heading out for your routes? Do you feel comfortable chatting with coworkers when it’s appropriate and doesn’t hinder the job at hand?
Flexibility from your employer means creating an environment in which spontaneous and organic relationships can be formed—an environment with isolated areas in which the strict definition of professionalism becomes flexible. Rigidity and harsh no-socialization policies lends themselves to a sullen work environment. Nobody deserves that!
As you can see, we at American Student Transportation Services firmly believe that those who work in school bus services deserve quite a bit when it comes to flexibility: flexible hours, flexible finances, and a flexible environment in which, so long as the work gets done, socialization is permitted.
Why do we believe this? Why have we put so much thought and written so much on our student transportation services blog about what the employees of school bus contractors deserve?
Working in School Bus Services Is Demanding
To answer the question posed above: School bus drivers deserve a lot in terms of flexibility because the job is demanding—in a good way, of course!
Few student transportation services workers would argue, especially when hired by a supportive school bus contractor, that the job isn’t worth it. Getting to make a difference in the lives of kids on a daily basis is often its own reward. However, there is quite a bit of effort required to work in student transportation services. It isn’t just driving the same route day in and day out!
A school bus driver’s job includes:
Practicing conflict resolution. Kids argue. They act without thinking. They have poor impulse control. It’s up to the adults around them to show them proper and polite ways to navigate their world, and given that bus rides are a five-day-a-week occurrence, this responsibility often falls to the bus driver.
Deftly navigating roadside hazards. Driving conditions aren’t always ideal—but you live in Minnesota, so you don’t need us to tell you that! School bus drivers are responsible for navigating the sometimes fickle Minnesota roads perfectly and on a daily basis. There is simply no room for accidents. Not that there would be in a commuter car, of course, but bus drivers are in charge of quite precious cargo.
Prioritizing punctuality. School bus services workers must do both of the above while keeping an eye on the clock and getting to their destinations on time. Their cargo may be precious, the roads finicky, and the children sometimes chaotic, but transportation must go down without a hitch day in and day out. Can you say multitasking skills?
So, in short, if you work in school bus services, you should be proud. You’ve no doubt mastered resolving scuffles, wrangling the icy roads, and working under the pressure of a deadline. All that takes determination, skill, and practice—and these are things that not everyone is willing to put in, things that demand flexibility to continually practice. You deserve an environment that gives as much as it asks from you.
Work for a School Bus Contractor Who Grants You the Flexibility You Deserve
Realized your current employer is short-changing you? Make the switch to American Student Transportation Services today!
Our Blaine terminal prides itself on respecting its employees and doing all we can to grant them the phenomenal workplace culture they work so hard to belong to. Give us a call now at 651-621-8900 to inquire about employment opportunities.