By Bruce Karnick

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With all that has gone on related to the pandemic the last two years, many groups of workers have been recognized for their hard work, dedication and putting themselves on the frontlines. Teachers, nurses, and emergency services workers just to name a few. One other group of front-line workers is school bus drivers.

School bus drivers have been an essential part of the community for decades. Without these amazing people, it would be parents’ responsibility to bring thousands of kids to school each day just in Hastings. Imagine the chaos of the drop-off line if every student were brought to school individually in cars instead of buses.

The Hastings Bus Company runs 23 regular education routes, 25 special education routes and utilizes 20 bus aides each and every school day in both the morning and afternoons. 23 buses that can hold almost 80 kids per bus. Even if those buses held an average of 50 kids, that is 1,150 regular education kids transported by school bus twice daily.

“It gets in your blood,” Hastings Terminal Manager Terry Johnson said. “Being around these kids, seeing them every day, it gets in your blood. I was at a wedding a couple weeks ago and ran into two kids I used to drive 30 years ago. You know what? They still remembered me and I remembered them. That is the kind of impact a bus driver has on these students and the impact the students have on us.”

Is the job of a bus driver rewarding? It sure is, it’s also challenging. There are days that kids have troubles, there are days that drivers have troubles. That is when the driver needs to step back and think, is this the kids having an issue or me and then assess the situation and react. Driving the bus is not difficult, but it takes work to be proficient.

The staff at Hastings Bus Company has a lot of experienced drivers. Regular education drivers average 8.2 years of experience, special education 6.4 years and bus aides 7.2 years. They also have a terminal out on Highway 61 at the intersection of highway 95. The Big River Terminal handles 55 special ed routes for South Washington County twice daily, plus 30 midday routes. Of the drivers at Big River, there are 38 that have their CDL. 15 of those drivers have over 10 years of experience, the rest average 2.5 years. There are also 20 van drivers that average 4.5 years of experience. The bus aides at Big River average four years of experience.

Despite all the folks that have been around for an extended period of time, both terminals still need new drivers. With the labor market struggling all over to find qualified workers and recent changes to training requirements by the State of Minnesota, finding the right people has become more difficult.

That is where Johnson hopes the upcoming Bus Driver Appreciation Day helps bring attention to the rewards that drivers get. Hastings Bus Company has always worked hard to show their appreciation for their employees. Prior to the pandemic, they would host a large summer appreciation celebration where they gave away the company awards for employee recognition along with door prizes and often times a cross country trip. The celebration included a catered meal for everyone in attendance and a recap of the year’s financials with an update to the employee profit sharing and other fun events.

Parents and parent groups have also expressed their support for the drivers by bringing in treats or breakfast for the drivers at various times throughout the year. One group even fundraised to buy everyone a cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes to say thank you.

As a company this year, they are joining in on the statewide Bus Driver Appreciation Day as declared by Governor Tim Walz on Feb. 23. Mayor Mary Fasbender will also participate in the event delivering her own proclamation. There is also a secret gift being planned from owner Pat Regan for each employee.

With all that the community has gone through, it is easy to overlook those that have been there, on the frontlines, taking care of things that are just assumed will be taken care of. Bus Drivers are in that group with the teachers, mail carriers, Police/ Fire/EMS, garbage truck drivers and so many more workers, make sure you take a moment to thank them for their hard work, it means a lot more than you know.