While Knox County has been struggling with a
shortage of school bus drivers, Loudon County also
has been scrambling to cover school bus routes
following the recent departure of several longtime
local contractors.
Schools director Jason Vance confirmed three local
bus contractors retired from the business, forcing
the school system to look out of county for new
contractors.
“It was initially our preference to hire contractors
from within the county. However, it was challenging
to fill that task,” Vance said. Vance said it’s
getting harder to find bus drivers. He said he’s
seen a number of ads for drivers in other counties.
“Ultimately, I think it comes down to people being
nervous about liability,” he said.
A Dec. 2 school bus crash in Knox County killed two
children and a teacher’s aide and Knox Schools have
put several measures in place aiming to improve
safety.
The Loudon bus drivers/contactors that retired
included Vonnie Myers, Scott Franks, and Delmar
Davis, Vance said.
Franks ran six routes for the county. In February
one of his buses, driven by Larry Harbin, was
involved in an accident with an SUV in which the
driver of the SUV was killed. Both Franks and Harbin
have been named in a lawsuit filed by the family of
Cynthia Montooth, driver of the SUV.
Contractor Mark Costner was able to pick up one of
Franks’ routes and Tim Davis picked up one route as
well. This left four of Franks’ routes open. The
county tried to get its other contractors to pick up
these routes but did not have any offers, Vance
said.
“Therefore, we worked out a deal with a Knoxville
contractor, Bill Mead, to pick up the three routes
from Vonnie Myers and the four routes from Scott
Franks,” he said.
This left four routes still open in Greenback.
Again, there were no in-county takers for these
routes. The county was able to sign up Brad Long and
Vann Darnell of Huffman Buses, a Blount County
contractor, to pick up these four routes.
School board member Bobby Johnson Jr. said drivers
in Loudon didn’t want to take rural routes such as
those in Greenback, so it was necessary to offer
package deals with some of the better routes in
Lenoir City.
Johnson said finding contractors is more difficult,
in part, because operating expenses are increasing,
including workman’s compensation, which used to be
paid by the county but which is now the contractors’
responsibility.
Also, the county has been offering one-year
contracts when most contractors would like longer
contracts up to four years, he said. “They want to
be able to plan for their needs like new equipment
and maintenance, farther in advance.”
In recent months the school board has discussed
creating its own bus service but declined because of
the cost of equipment and responsibility for
training, maintenance and scheduling.
Contractor Vonnie Myers said he retired after 28
years with Loudon County because at age 76, he felt
he was getting too old. “I’ve always enjoyed the
business and the children,” he said. The job of a
driver requires taking on a lot of liability for low
pay, he said. “Drivers read in the papers about
liability. It’s hard to find someone who wants to
take on that liability for such low pay,” he said.
Average salary per hour works out to about $17.50,
he said.
“It’s a good job for a housewife with school-age
children, but it’s not the kind of job that you can
support a family on,” he said.
Operating the bus business comes with its own
responsibilities, including hiring and training
drivers and dealing with Department of
Transportation rules, he said. It can take 8 to 12
weeks to get a driver licensed and approved, he
said. A new bus costs between $80,000 and $100,000.