Our drivers are equipped with two-way radios for communication with the transportation shop crew and one another. Each bus is outfitted with video cameras to aid in disciplinary situations. Cameras are also used to enforce Alabama´s school bus passing law. Bus routes are planned, to the extent possible, to avoid students having to cross a road, but it is of utmost importance that all drivers be aware of sharing roadways with school buses. Awareness is extremely important when school buses are picking up and dropping off students. Passing a school bus with its stop sign out and red lights flashing is an offense that can cost you $300 and 1-2 days in court. When you see a bus with flashing amber lights, make preparations to stop. Remain stopped until the bus driver turns off the flashing lights and pulls the bus stop sign in. All traffic must stop when a bus is stopped, regardless of the direction of travel, unless there is a grass median or concrete barrier between your lane of traffic and the lane the bus is traveling in.

Our department recently began using a food-grade spray to disinfect all our buses during monthly inspections. The treatment is used more frequently during cold and flu season or when sickness is causing significant absenteeism in a school.

Each June, our department sends our most skilled bus drivers to compete in the Alabama School Bus Safety Road-E-O in Montevallo. There, drivers showcase their bus driving skills by finding deficiencies in a parked bus and then navigating a complicated obstacle course which they must complete without coming to stop. Morgan County is known throughout the state for regularly having drivers place in the top three, and for having won the Road-E-O seven times!

Each summer, our Transportation director attends the Alabama School Transportation Association´s annual conference.  ASTA is a primary source of training in school bus safety and maintenance for local school transportation programs. Some of our mechanics and technicians attend as well, to  participate in educational sessions and roundtable discussions on best practices.  

A second source of professional development for our director is the annual Southeastern States Pupil Transportation Conference.  At SESPTC, local school program directors increase their knowledge on such varied topics as leadership, drug and alcohol testing, transportation technology and products, national issues, human trafficking, active shooter situations, special education issues, traffic incident management, education law, safety and security, employee recruitment and retention, and much more.