Vehicle Routing and Transportation Management Software

If you've recently purchased new school bus routing software – which is an excellent idea, by the way – it may be hard for you to get a handle on all the new features of the software package. While the basic interface is simple enough for anyone to learn within minutes, there are still plenty of ways that power users can get more out of the system.

Let's be honest, these are tough times to be involved in school management. Pressures are mounting on all sides, with very few release valves available. School budgets are constantly being cut, so you have to make do with less each year, or so it seems. Yet, at the same time, the parents seem to demand more and more, especially when it comes to the safety of their children. This is totally reasonable, of course, but it still creates a fundamental problem:

Are you having a hard time managing and optimizing your school's transportation systems?

Even beyond providing an education, arguably the single most important thing for a school to do is ensure the safety of the students in its care. Every day, over a hundred million parents trust their children to your care for most of the day, and it's absolutely vital that you do everything possible to ensure their children remain safe.

We've come a long way with transportation systems in the last few decades. Virtually anyone reading this likely remembers the days before GPS systems and computer-based mapping. After all, the standard GPS systems only officially went online in 1994! (It seems like longer, doesn't it?)

In days past, back when school systems had better finances, gas prices were reasonable and parents had actual relationships with their children’s school bus drivers, there was little need for tracking school buses and other transportation.

Have you ever wished you could keep better tabs on your drivers while they're on the road?

The Job is quite demanding, and for the right reason. For a transportation manager,  the passengers are the most prized assets in the country, and the loss, injury or undesired treatment of any of them is not acceptable. In transporting students safely and efficiently, a lot of work has to be put in to anticipate every turn and incident in protecting their interests.

The responsibility that comes from running a school bus system is enormous. Every day, hundreds or thousands of parents trust you with the single most precious thing in their lives, believing that you'll get their children to and from school without incident. And, on the whole, this is what happens.

Running a good transport software solution for your school district’s transportation needs shouldn’t break the bank. And it shouldn’t take a degree in computer science to operate, either.  There are a lot of affordable transport and routing software options out there, but they won’t be much help to you if you don’t understand how to properly use them.  The main thing to know is that the more details you input into the software, the more effective it will be. But let’s look at the steps in more detail: