Since its August 2021 implementation at Harlandale ISD south of San Antonio, Texas, busHive is helping transportation staff more easily manage field trips.
Both Fleet Trainer Rosa Garcia and Administrative Assistant Leticia Olivarez, who until a recent department move was working heavily with the program, agreed that a major benefit of busHive is the ease of tracking and assigning drivers to trips.
Teachers and coaches can request trips directly through the busHive portal, which Garcia said has helped reduce human errors in recording information and transcribing the forms previously used.
Requests go through the proper supervisor channels for approval and are sent to the transportation department. This is also an area in which busHive improved the workflow, Olivarez explained. The transportation director used to have to approve the trip and assign the driver, a job that can now be done in busHive by a data clerk.
Garcia, who works on the regular home to school routes, maintains driver information which is used to assign drivers to field trips and athletic trips. The driver list is alphabetical and if the one in line declines the trip, it’s noted and the next driver is picked until one is assigned.
“That makes it easier,” Olivarez said in appreciation. “It keeps it all in order.”
Similarly, Garcia said that due to the frequency of drivers changing buses, the same aide is assigned to a bus for 10 days, where they can also help with directions since the buses are not equipped with tablets. These aide assignments are also tracked through busHive.
Regular route information is pulled into the system to help track miles and driver hours. Garcia says this helps track “who should be where” and aids in the creation of a master list of the day’s trips. There is a new printout every morning, as campuses will often have last-minute changes.
“It allows us to have the information all in one form,” Garcia said. She added that the form indicates details like which size of bus to use or if it needs to be equipped with a wheelchair lift.
Olivarez expressed appreciation for busHive’s customer service and report customization to the district’s specifications. Staff is able to run online reports at the end of every month for invoicing purposes or print out records as needed.
“Being online is easier – there’s not so much paperwork,” she added.
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