During the spring 2024 term, the Community Shuttle ran seven days a week, for a total of 72 hours. As of an October 21st schedule change—the second in under a month—it now runs only two days a week, for a total of 16 hours—almost a five-fold decrease.
The reduction of hours has been driven entirely by a shortage of employees. Drivers are leaving, and the college is unable to find anyone to replace them. Elliot Norman, the Associate Director of Campus Safety and Transportation, was frank about the struggle he faces as he searches for staff: The college is limited in what it can offer drivers, and what it can offer just isn’t good enough.
First, there’s the issue of schedules. At peak capacity, the shuttle only operates somewhere between 50 and 70 hours a week. 40 of those hours are taken up by the one full-time driver, which leaves only part-time work for everyone else. Then, because of the term schedule, there are large portions of the year where drivers are barely needed at all. It’s also difficult to find people to work evenings and weekends. Sundays and Friday nights are especially unpopular. “We live in a very rural, low-population-density area,” Norman said. “We’re dealing with a limited pool.”
And, unlike most driving jobs, the position of shuttle driver doesn’t require a Commercial Driver’s License, the license which is required to drive a truck or bus. For drivers who do have a CDL, other employers are also able to offer more consistent work, Norman said. “If you have a CDL, there’s better job opportunities, frankly.”
All these restrictions and caveats mean that a driver has to fit a very specific profile—a profile which is reflected in those who currently work as drivers. Take Mike Gahan, who has driven the Paran Shuttle for two years now. He works about 25 hours a week, and with the rest of his time, he runs Homers Transport LLC, his tow truck and transport company. “When it’s quiet, this kinda helps pay the bills,” Gahan said. “So it works out good for me.”
Or Dave Warren, who is currently the only full-time shuttle driver. He retired a few years ago from the buildings materials business. “I felt there was too much time on my hands. I wanted to work. And this seemed good,” Warren said. “Where else am I going to get paid sitting on my ass talking with intelligent young people?”
Warren and Gahan both had the same read on the situation as Norman. According to Gahan, two of the drivers who left this summer went to work standard 40-hour-a-week jobs. “Nothing was offered to these folks in terms of part-time employment,” Warren said. “So they went elsewhere. As they should have.”
“I’m told that [Norman] has made offers to a bunch of folks,” Warren continued. “None of the offers were accepted. Which leads me to believe they’re not offering enough money.”
The college has employed students as shuttle drivers in the past, though they don’t anymore. Norman said that the college is currently considering starting to hire student divers again, but there are some significant obstacles to actually making it happen. Insurance is the biggest problem, but there are also concerns about protecting the rights of students. “‘If you want a shuttle, you have to be the driver’ would of course be coercive,” Norman said. And Warren, who remembers a time when there were student drivers, pointed out that students tend to be inconsistent employees. “Obviously, you’ve got to be a student first,” Warren said. “If you’ve got a paper you have to write, and you miss your shift—oh, well.”
Norman stressed that they are trying to be honest, realistic and communicative with students about the shuttle’s operating capacity. “It was better to communicate directly about the loss of drivers we had,” he said. “And have a schedule that actually reflects what we’re able to offer.”
As of October 22nd, the college is actively reviewing candidates for two part-time and one full-time driver positions. The schedule will be increased as soon as more staff are hired. “The immediate goal is to get it back to that baseline fuller coverage,” Norman said. “And then beyond that, at that point we’d be at a better place to address specific student needs.”
So insightful!