COLUMBUS, Ohio — Staffing shortages for school buses are a problem nationwide. Westerville City Schools ran into issues on Tuesday with several drivers calling off.
But could these problems get worse when new requirements will soon go into effect for getting a proper license to drive one of those buses?
Starting Feb. 7, getting a CDL will take an extra layer. The Federal Motor Carriers Association will require drivers to take a course with a registered instructor and require the driver to perform certain skills before they can take their CDL test.
“The schools were very nervous that this was going to cause them an extra layer of training,” said Doug Palmer, transportation consultant, Ohio School Boards Association.
Luckily for Ohio school districts, the current training for bus drivers already covers the new requirements.
“What’s going to impact the schools is how that gets reported to the federal level; it's going to be an administrative submission of how they acquired the training,” said Palmer.
But this is different for other states. The Ohio School Boards Association says training a bus driver in Ohio costs about $5,000, compared to about $2,500-$3,500 in other states.
“We have some of the lowest insurance rates, we have some of the lowest loss rates for like accidents,” said Palmer.
These new requirements will also apply to new truck drivers. The Ohio Trucking Association says this is creating a standard across the board, which they say is beneficial, but can be costly.
“CDL schools and the programs usually run between six and eight weeks and then they cost anywhere from $6,000-$9,000,” Tom Balzer, Ohio Trucking Association, President and CEO.
Currently, the American Trucking Association says it's down by about 80,000 drivers across the country.
“I do not believe the training itself will exacerbate the shortage but it will also lengthen the time and the challenges that it takes to be able to get a CDL to work through that process,” said Balzer.
These new requirements will not apply to current CDL holders unless they are adding certain enhancements to their license.