Legal Focus

With the recent surge in the cost of fuel, school bus contractors nationwide have been closely monitoring the price at the pump over the last few months. When negotiating or renewing a transportation contract, fuel is typically a topic of significant dialog between the parties. School transportation contracts will normally specify who pays for fuel, but transportation contractors should also consider adding a fuel clause to address future fuel cost volatility.

Spring sports are in high gear and summer is on the horizon. While this often means increased paychecks for drivers, this also means additional concerns for school bus contractors. The additional spring hours and summer jobs often lead to CDL drivers reaching hours of service limits more often than during other times of the year. This article will discuss hours of service limits for drivers and how contractors can make sure that their drivers remain compliant.Click Here to Read More

Despite continuing COVID limitations on access to the Nation’s Capitol, NSTA will once again be holding the annual bus-in in Washington DC April 6 through April 8, 2022. With the challenges of COVID, the critical driver shortage, and the aggressive push toward electric school bus fleets, there has never been a more critical need to educate law makers about the challenges and complexities of the school bus industry. Read further to learn how you can support advocacy efforts for the school bus i...

We are now in the heart of the 2021-2022 school year, and contractors are continuing to face the harsh reality of the nationwide driver shortage. Recently, FMCSA took action intended to enhance school bus driver recruiting and retention by waiving CDL skills testing requirements that tended to intimidate and discourage school bus driver candidates. On January 3, 2022, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Association (FMCSA) published a “Waiver of Certain Pre-Trip inspection Skills Test Requirements...

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, school districts nationwide have utilized some variation of both virtual and in-person instruction to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. While most school districts began the 2021-2022 school year in person, the Delta and Omicron COVID- 19 variants have forced some districts to once again consider temporarily closing school in favor of virtual instruction. School closure days have left many contractors wondering how they will be paid. To ensu...

At the start of the 2021-2022 school year, 25 states had issued some form of COVID vaccination mandate, while 12 other states issued COVID vaccination mandate bans. Then on November 4th, OSHA published its Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) mandating COVID vaccinations for large employers, which was followed by a court ordered stay of enforcement issued on November 12th. As federal, state, and local government agencies continue to issue vaccination laws and policies, it is critical that contract...

School transportation contractors across the country advocated vigorously for economic relief specifically tailored to their industry. To address these concerns, Congress included The Coronavirus Economic Relief for Transportation Services Act (CERTS) as a part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) of 2021, Subtitle B, Sec. 420, which was enacted into law on December 2021. CERTS makes available $2 billion in funds for grants to eligible school bus companies, motor coach companies, passeng...