The bus company contracting with the Lawrence school district is struggling to fill vacancies for drivers.
Bob Osborn shifted into high gear Monday the recruitment of new bus drivers for Lawrence schools.
He covered the side of a Laidlaw Transit bus parked along 23rd Street with a banner proclaiming the theme: Now Hiring!
"If you don't have drivers, it's hard to get kids to school," said Osborn, Lawrence branch manager for Laidlaw. "We're exhausting our efforts."
The company is offering -- until 5 p.m. Friday -- $250 signing bonuses. If these part-time employees stay behind the wheel until the end of classes Dec. 17, they'll get another $250 bonus.
Osborn said the low unemployment rate contributed to the company's difficulty in filling vacancies. The unemployment rate in Douglas County was 3.9 percent in July. That was a significant drop from the 4.9 percent rate in July 1998.
On Monday, he said the goal was to snag about one dozen new employees.
Osborn said most of the company's employees handled routes that take them on the road in a bus from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays. There are extra routes at mid-day as well as other gigs -- out-of-town school sports events, trips to a zoo or Royals games as well as sorority outings.
Applicants are required to complete a training program at Laidlaw prior to assignment to a bus route, Osborn said.
"This is rigorous training," Osborn said. "It's about 20 hours in the classroom and more than 15 hours behind the wheel."
He said many drivers are older folks not ready for full-time retirement.
"They don't want to sit at home. They're too young to retire."
-- Tim Carpenter's phone message number is 832-7155. His e-mail address is tcarpenter@ljworld.com.
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