Our Driving Force Story

Our fleet by the numbers

With a fleet of 163 buses, the school district’s drivers, mechanics, monitors and other support personnel ensure that twice each day more than 5,200 students, more than half of the total student enrollment, are delivered safely to and from school.  Drivers travel more than 6,200 miles daily across more than 113 different routes. Drivers also travel an additional 52,000 miles annually for more than 1,300 fieldtrips and athletic events, bringing the total annual miles traveled to more than 1.5 million miles.

Our Commitment to Safety

Buses today are equipped with more safety features than any other vehicles on the road, and before they are used to transport children for the first time, each must meet numerous state and federal safety requirements. The school system’s bus mechanics ensure buses remain road-ready. Every 20 days, they service each bus and perform general inspections. 

Our Commitment to Student Safety

Our drivers begin each new school year with student safety training. A tradition started more than 40 years ago by a former transportation director, Cathy Dixon, the annual Sparky School Bus Safety Training Program ensures that all students (11,000+) know how to properly get on and off a school bus, how to evacuate the bus in the event of a fire or accident, how to sit and use quiet voices on the bus, danger zones around a bus, and bus stop rules. Drivers also practice safe evacuations with students two times each year.

Our Commitment to Ongoing Training

All drivers receive rigorous, specialized training on a variety of topics before they take the wheel behind a big yellow bus. First and second-year drivers go through mandatory training on student management, student privacy, first aid, railroad crossings, bus loading/unloading, fire extinguisher use, backdoor locking/unlocking, bus mechanics, preparing a bus for inspection, driving range, and preparing a bus for end-of-year return.  

All Bulloch’s drivers are required to test their driving skills on a standard bus range to keep skills sharp and help handle real-world, driving situations. They also must attend a three-hour state safety training session annually.

Our Commitment to Excellence

Bulloch County’s drivers have a winning legacy when it comes to testing their skills against the state’s best bus drivers. Since 2002, they’ve finished as champion or runner-up five times in the Georgia Association of Pupil Transportation School Bus Road-e-o.  Jimmy Futch was a two-time champion in 2007 and 2008, Linda Cartee and Joyce Newton were runners-up respectively in 2002 and 1989, and Gil Riggs was state champion in 2011.  Riggs placed second in 2009, fourth in 2010, and fifth in 2012. He has also been a qualifier for the Annual School Bus Driver International Safety Competition.

Each year the Transportation Department also honors its drivers, monitors, and mechanics for their years of service and recognizes those who have excelled in their roles. The annual Transportation Gala is a time for district and school administrators to express their appreciation for these employees support our students.