14 SCHOOL BUS FLEET MARCH 2020 WWW.SCHOOLBUSFLEET.COM

Bus-to-Technician Ratio on the RiseThe average ratio of school buses to technicians across all fleet sizes has steadily increased over the last three years, inching up by one extra bus per year. Meanwhile, technician pay sees a small boost.

M A I N T E N A N C E S U RV E Y

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By Nicole Schlosser, Executive Editor

BUS-TO-TECH RATIO (BY FLEET SIZE)

Sch

ool b

uses

per

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The ratio of school buses to full-time technicians rises with fleet size. The average ratio for all fleet sizes is 22 school buses per technician. In last year’s survey, it was 21, and in 2018 it was 20.

10

14

18

22

26

30

1-24 25-49 50-99 100-299 300+School buses in fleet

14.125 21.428 23.146 23.121 28.282

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%15MARCH 2020 SCHOOL BUS FLEET

TECH PAY RISES SLIGHTLY

$17.54

$17.90

$18.26

$18.62

$18.98

$19.34

$19.70

$17.96

$18.18

$19.70

$19.37

$19.90

Aver

age

hour

ly p

ay

The average starting wage for school bus technicians among this year’s respondents went up a bit, increasing about 53 cents per hour.

WHICH FUEL TYPES DO YOU MAINTAIN?

Diesel and gasoline remain the primary fuel types that respondents maintain in their fleets, though thepercentage of electric and CNG more than doubled over last year’s numbers, which were less than 1%.0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Diesel 98%

Gasoline 52%

Propane 13%

CNG 2%

Electric 2%

DO ANY OF YOUR TECHS DRIVE DUE TO DRIVER SHORTAGE?

Technicians sometimes get behind the wheel to mitigate driver shortage. At just over half (51%) of the operations surveyed,technicians have had to cover a route often or daily this school year due to a shortage of drivers.

Never

29.5%

Rarely

19.5%

Daily

18%

Often

33%

NUMBER OF FUEL TYPES YOU MAINTAIN?

For most of the shops surveyed (93%), one or two fuel types are used in the vehicles that they maintain.

1 42%

2 51%

3 6%

4 1%

5+ None

AVERAGE SCHOOL BUS RETIREMENT AGE

Large (Type C/D)

15.2 years

Small (Type A/B)

13.9 years

2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

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16 SCHOOL BUS FLEET MARCH 2020 WWW.SCHOOLBUSFLEET.COM

M A I N T E N A N C E S U RV E Y

9.0

9.1

9.2

9.3

9.4

AVERAGE FLEET AGE DIPS SOMEWHAT

Survey respondents estimated the average age of their school bus fleets. The overall average of respondents’ estimates is 9.1 years, which is down only a bit from the last two years.

Survey year 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Aver

age

age

(yea

rs)

9.3 9.1 9.4 9.3 9.1

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

HOW MANYBUS MAKES DO YOU MAINTAIN?

The majority of respondents have school buses from two or three different manufacturers in their fleets.

1 18%

2 36%

3 27%

4 11%

5+ 8%

ANY ASE CERTIFIED TECHS ON STAFF?Some are

29%All are

19%

None are

52%At nearly half (48%) of the shops surveyed, some or all of the school bus technicians have attained ASE certification. This number is on par with last year’s 51%.

AVERAGE FLEET COMPOSITIONSchool buses

70%

Other vehicles

30%On average, school buses make up a little more than two-thirds (70%) of the fleets maintained by survey respondents. Other vehicles include maintenance trucks, vans, and cars.

AVERAGE SCHOOL BUSES PER TECHNICIAN

22AVERAGE NUMBER OF BUSES PER BAY

17AVERAGE ANNUAL MILES PER BUS

21,163

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18 SCHOOL BUS FLEET MARCH 2020 WWW.SCHOOLBUSFLEET.COM

M A I N T E N A N C E S U RV E Y

NUMBER OF SCHOOL BUSES MAINTAINED

More than two-thirds (68%) of the operations surveyed maintain fewer than 50 school buses (including spares), and fewer than 5% maintain fleets of 300 or more buses. For this survey, we received 307 usable responses.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

% o

f re

spon

dent

s

45% 23% 15% 13% 4%

1 to 24 25 to 49 50 to 99 100 to 299 300 or moreSchoolbuses

USE MAINTENANCE SOFTWARE?

Just less than half (45%) of the shops surveyed use fleet maintenance software.

Yes

45%

No

55%

HAVE YOU SEEN A SPIKE IN PARTS PRICES?

Nearly two-thirds (63%) of operators surveyed said they have experienced an increase in prices of parts such as tires, brakes, batteries, and engine components. This number is down from last year’s 71% of survey respondents who saw a parts price jump.

Yes

63%

No

37%

Types % of respondents

SCHOOL BUS TYPES IN FLEETS

More than 80% of survey respondents work on Type C buses. A little more than half (51%) maintain Type A buses, and close to half (44%) have Type D buses in their fleets.

A 51%

B 23%

C 82%

D 44%