The buses that safely transport students of the Francis
Howell School District (FHSD) every day will display a special new
sticker starting in August, after earning the “Total Fleet Excellence”
distinction for 2016.
The stickers indicate excellence in
the overall maintenance and reliability of the District’s bus fleet.
The distinction is determined by the Missouri State Highway Patrol based
on the results of the annual school bus inspection, a program conducted
by the Patrol’s Motor Vehicle Inspection Division.
FHSD
is proud that its 172 school buses received an approval rate of 95.9%,
which is six percent higher than the statewide average.
The
District’s inspection results this year are better than the statewide
average in all categories, with a defective rate of only 2.9% versus an
8% state average, and an out of service rate of 1.2% versus a state
average of 2%.
Mike Sloan, FHSD Director of Purchased
Services, said it’s an honor to receive this award, especially after
increased efforts to improve the maintenance process.
“We
value the safety of our kids very much, so we introduced additional
inspections and made sure that a second set of eyes was checking every
vehicle,” Sloan said.
First Student Branch Manager
Stephen Jones said that FHSD has received the award before, but not in
recent years. In order to return to the highest possible standards, FHSD
collaborated with First Student to improve the process. Bus technicians
are now assigned a specific set of buses to ensure the highest level of
maintenance.
“Mike Sloan asked me to review our
preventative maintenance inspection reports with the shop manager to
make sure all of our buses are going through this safety bus audit. This
ensures our buses are ready to pick up our most precious cargo, the
students of FHSD,” Jones said.
“My shop manager and his
technician have done an outstanding job getting it done through the
guidance of First Student maintenance programs,” Jones said. “It really
does work when you have the right tools and support from upper
management within our company.”
Total Fleet Excellence awards were presented at the MAPT Conference and Trade Show in Columbia in July.
We
congratulate all staff members and contractors associated with the
successful and outstanding maintenance of the Francis Howell bus fleet.
The District’s student transportation provider First
Student Inc, a division of First Group America, has been working closely
with FHSD to safely transport students since 1999.