The Petermann Promise®
Petermann Bus provides safe and efficient transportation solutions to meet your district’s individual needs. With more than 100 years of experience, Petermann/National Express School is able to provide your district, community and students with the following benefits:
There are many reasons to partner with an external provider for your student transportation needs. With more than 100 years of experience, Petermann/National Express School is able to provide your district, community, parents and students with the following benefits:
- An unmatched suite of safety technology products and services
- Safe and highly trained drivers
- Exceptional local customer service
- Operational efficiency, reporting and recommendations
- Financial efficiencies and cost savings
- Eco-friendly practices
Learn more about why our customers choose to outsource their student transportation program with Petermann:
Safety
Safety
At Petermann, We Value Safety
Safety is one of our core company values, and nothing is more important than the safety of our passengers.
There is no safer way to transport students to school than on a school bus.* Our goal is to provide the safest transportation possible for students who ride our buses. We don’t take that responsibility lightly. *Source: Safety Stats
Driving Out Harm
Driving Out Harm is our principal safety program. It aims to educate all employees on how important it is to drive out all risks of harm to our customers, employees and others affected by our business. We are all leaders in safety at Petermann Bus and have personal responsibility for safety in the workforce and safety on the roads. Through our 12 Global Standards, we identify all national and local requirements, appropriate levels of management and supervision, and expect all levels of personnel to manage our health and safety policies. We feel confident that our program is a significant distinction from all other school bus providers and is an ideal fit for your district’s expectations.
- Competence and Fitness of Bus Drivers
- Competence and Fitness of Maintenance Staff
- Competence and Fitness of Other Staff Personnel
- Drug and Alcohol Screening
- Safety of Vehicles
- Safety of Premises
- Risk Assessment
- Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
- Accident and Incident Investigation
- Incident Response and Management
- Safety Audit and Management Checks
- Safety Validation of Change
Daily & Preventive Maintenance
We are industry leaders when it comes to maintaining our buses to ensure passenger safety. Our safety begins with safe vehicles. Our 13-touchpoint pre and post-trip inspection is industry leading. We monitor both vehicle maintenance and perform diligent child checks using state-of-the-art Zonar® technology.
Our school district partners benefit from our nationally recognized preventive maintenance program. Our industry-leading preventive maintenance schedule goes above and beyond government requirements. Every school day, our drivers do a multi-point inspection before and after each route to check for maintenance issues that need immediate attention. In addition, all buses are subject to comprehensive preventive maintenance inspections at least three times a year, which exceeds government requirements. All inspections include examining everything from cosmetic issues to checking tires, brakes, engine performance and suspension.
Vehicles are maintained in accordance with manufacturer recommendations and requirements. Our preventive maintenance program meets and exceeds state and federal inspection requirements. In addition, we follow our company’s own preventive maintenance program, which includes:
- No bus leaves the lot to pick up students without the driver having first completed a multi-point, pre-trip inspection that documents any safety or maintenance issue—no matter how small—and clears the bus for travel. Critical issues are reported to our service center where a team of highly trained mechanics is dispatched to make repairs.
- Many of our buses are equipped with technology that constantly monitors the vehicle’s operating condition, sending real-time data back to our dispatchers, who ensure that no critical issues put the safe operating condition of the bus at risk.
- Our drivers have the freedom to escalate any maintenance issue to a critical level—providing a check-and-balance to ensure that no bus is on the road with an issue that could lead to a breakdown and inconvenience student passengers.
Each of our buses is scheduled for regular preventive maintenance inspection according to hours of operation, miles traveled, or days operated, depending on the type of operation and service being provided.
Financial Efficiencies
Financial Efficiencies
Experience Cost Savings
According to the National School Transportation Association (NSTA), outsourcing is the most efficient and cost-effective solution while maintaining the highest levels of safety and reliable service. Additionally, it provides a district an average savings of 10 to 30 percent in transportation costs, which can be reinvested into other areas, such as additional educational programs, school supplies and more.
Many of our customers choose to outsource when education funding has been cut and their current transportation program is too expensive to run independently. Or your district may just want to save on costs to reallocate the funds toward other student education expenses. We know that your number one priority is educating your students. Ours is safely transporting them. We have the resources already in place to manage your transportation program. Contact us today to learn more about our services and to see if Petermann would be a good fit for your transportation needs.
Access Economies of Scale
Petermann Bus/National Express School has more than 100 years of experience in the student transportation industry. This expertise has led us to develop an exceptional transportation program for your students, the parents, and the members of your community. With hundreds of customers across North America, Petermann has a wealth of knowledge and an array of resources we are ready to share with your district. We are on the cutting edge of new technology and industry trends, and will promote information sharing through a close partnership with our customers.
Our national buying power has allowed us to purchase industry-leading technology and safety tools that we can provide to our customers, which would generally be cost-prohibitive to a single school district. These tools include Lytx DriveCam® video recording devices, Fogmaker fire suppression systems, BusTracker®, a mobile app for parents and guardians to track their student(s)’ bus(es), and BusReport™, a cloud-based feedback tool where anyone in the community can provide feedback regarding our drivers. These are just some of the benefits you will experience by outsourcing with Durham.
Program Management Partnership
We know that managing a transportation program consumes many resources, which is why we provide the services that we do. A transportation department manages customer service issues, vehicle maintenance and inspections, accidents and insurance, routing, hiring, training and retention of staff, cost management, and the list goes on. Let us partner with you to develop a successful transportation program that allows you to oversee the day-to-day operations, giving you the space you need to to make improvements. You’ll gain access to our data analytics dashboard and be able to make recommendations to your organization in order to drive change at your district. Your stakeholders deserve only the best.
Technology
Technology
Our Suite of Safety Technology Products & Services
With more than 100 years of experience transporting students across the United States, we have learned what it takes to operate an exceptional student transportation program. Our national buying power has allowed us to purchase industry-leading technology and safety tools that we can provide to our customers, which would generally be cost-prohibitive to a single school district. These are just some of the benefits you will experience by outsourcing with Petermann.
Our company is committed to staying current with changing technologies in the student transportation industry. The technology solutions we offer our customers are intended to provide increased safety and greater operational efficiencies. We can provide the following options based on individual contract specifications:
- Cameras – Onboard video and audio recording
- Lytx DriveCam® – Video recording and risk management tools
- Bus and stop-arm cameras
- Two-way radios
- Bus WiFi
- GPS
- Zonar® electronic vehicle inspection tool
- Bus Tracker® mobile app
- Student tracking
- COMPASS – Proprietary operations scheduling platform
- Driver DashBoard
- Oracle Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) reporting tool
- DOMO analytics dashboard
- Computerized routing software
- Applicant Tracking System (A.T.S.) for recruitment
The Petermann Promise®:
Receive access to our suite of safety technology products and services that is unmatched in the student transportation industry today, including Zonar®, Petermann Bus Tracker®, Lytx DriveCam®, Fogmaker North America, and BusReport™– all included in your student transportation program with Petermann.
- We use a 13-touchpoint Zonar® inspection tool for each pre and post-trip inspection to monitor both vehicle maintenance and to perform diligent child checks
- Petermann Bus Tracker®, our custom mobile app, allows parents to view their students’ current bus location and information about the route in near real-time, including the scheduled and estimated arrival times to the stop. Our goal is to provide parents with a greater sense of comfort and visibility with their students’ transportation.
- Lytx DriveCam® is now offered to our customers as a complimentary safety data collection tool. We are the only provider in the industry to equip each of our buses with DriveCam® technology. DriveCam® is a windshield-mounted camera that records both the driver and the road in the event of a hard brake, sudden swerve or rapid change in speed. This greater visibility into driving behavior is reviewed by our safety team and additional training is provided to our drivers as needed.
- Through an exclusive contract, Fogmaker North America fire detection and suppression technology will be available on all Durham buses by the end of 2019. Fogmaker uses a high-pressure water mist system which rapidly reduces heat and suppresses a vehicle fire in seconds.
- BusReport™ is our proprietary cloud-based reporting tool where we receive both compliments and complaints from the customers, parents and communities in which we operate. Feedback is recorded in real-time and a timely response is provided. The feedback we receive is directly related to our performance-improvement plan for driver training and vehicle maintenance.
Serving Our Customers
Serving Our Customers
Unwavering Customer Service from Dedicated Employees
Petermann proudly employs more than 1,400 dedicated individuals across Ohio and Pennsylvania. Our drivers receive extensive driving and safety training before getting behind the wheel, including student management and specialized training to care for students with special needs. Additionally, refresher training is provided throughout each school year to ensure our drivers are always exceeding industry standards. We are committed to our mission of getting students to school safely, on time and ready to learn each and every school day.
Petermann is dedicated to providing quality customer service; our solutions are customized to your district’s needs. With ever-changing variables, we will work with you to create a strategic plan to meet your district’s goals and objectives. Petermann is not only your reliable transportation partner, but also your champion, working with you every step of the way with our:
- Suite of safety technology products and services
- On-site customer service at a local level
- Monthly reporting
- Feedback management system – BusReport™
- Annual client survey
Operations Excellence
Operations Excellence
Industry Leadership
With more than 100 years of experience, Petermann/National Express School is more than equipped to provide your district with the safest and highest quality of transportation service. We have continued to evolve over the years on a path of continuous improvement, providing you with:
- Data driven decisions
- Customized and automated routing schedules
- Consistent maintenance programs
- Industry leading technology – DriveCam, BusReport, Petermann Bus Tracker App and more
Our Experience
Our Experience
Whether you call it outsourcing or contracting or privatization, there are many benefits that come from partnering with Petermann for your student transportation needs. We have assembled the most highly trained team of experts encompassing the best processes and protocols in the industry in order to deliver the results your specific school district needs.
We play the role of consultant and provider, ensuring each client maintains control of the overall policies of their transportation program. We can, and do, advise customers on how their particular parameters and decisions affect their program and its success, but ultimately the school district decides what works for them.
Industry Leading Technology
Petermann Bus has assembled the most highly trained team of experts encompassing the best processes and protocols in the industry in order to deliver the results your specific school district needs. We play the role of consultant and provider, ensuring each client maintains control of the overall policies of their transportation program. We can, and do, advise customers on how their particular parameters and decisions affect their program and its success, but ultimately the school district decides what works for them.
We know that managing a transportation program is difficult, which is why we provide the services that we do. A transportation director manages customer service issues, vehicle maintenance and inspections, accidents and insurance, routing, hiring, training and retention of staff, cost management, and the list goes on. Let us partner with you to develop a successful transportation program that allows you to oversee the day-to-day operations, giving you the space you need to make improvements. You’ll gain access to our data analytics dashboard and be able to make recommendations to your organization in order to drive change at your district. Your stakeholders deserve only the best.
Know the Facts
Petermann Bus must adhere to the same rules and regulations governing the operation of school buses as your school district. As a private company, there are additional requirements we must meet that a school district does not have to worry about. For example, state inspectors and state authorities are more rigorous in their examination of our employees and in the inspection of our buses. We must meet higher standards than most school districts.
Current transportation employees are an important concern for us too. It is in our best interest to retain as many of these employees, who meet our employment standards, as possible. Because they are familiar with the community, parents and students, it’s a win-win scenario to be able to hire current staff. These employees receive first consideration for all available positions. The drivers who come to work for Petermann will receive a competitive wage package as agreed to by the school district.
All drivers will be required to pass a drug and alcohol screening, a criminal background check, and a driving evaluation. This will ensure they meet the high standards both the school district and Petermann agree are necessary to run a safe and efficient school transportation program.
We provide a competitive benefits package, customized for each client.
Student discipline is a critical issue for both the company and the school district. Keeping this in mind, we strongly believe that a partnership approach regarding student management is key to enhancing the transportation experience for all students. We customize a student management plan that is based on the school district’s discipline policy, while incorporating best practices we’ve identified over the years through our experience. We rely on close cooperation between the school’s staff and the driver for effective implementation. Our experience also tells us that this formula is highly successful in keeping discipline issues that might cross your desk to a minimum.
There are three principal reasons for this:
First, the public sector operates in a monopolistic environment, while the private sector functions in a competitive environment. In other words, a company like Petermann has competition; a school district has no one to compete with but itself. Private company managers are constantly faced with the challenge of providing quality service at a competitive price. We must compete for your business not only within our own industry, but also with you.
Second, Petermann Bus’ general managers—the people responsible for operating the day-to-day transportation program —are backed by a corporate staff of individuals with expertise in each area of the operations, i.e., safety, training, maintenance, operations and cost control. When a Petermann manager is confronted with a new or unique issue, they are not in it alone or in the position of having to “reinvent the wheel” to find a solution. Petermann’s years of experience provide a wealth of information. This allows our corporate staff to provide the local manager with solutions and support that will be safe and cost effective.
Third, capital costs (buses and equipment) are spread over the entire useful life of the equipment. The school district pays only a proportional share of these costs on an annual basis, rather than the total cost for replacement. This leveling of equipment costs plus accelerated tax deductions available to the private sector creates lower costs for the customer.
In summary, there are multiple ways our managers work every day to ensure the safest, most cost-effective transportation program. It’s all of the big and little efficiencies combined that result in a highly efficient, low-cost operation that can improve safety, quality, and service to your school district.
BROCHURE
Experience the Petermann Promise
The benefits of outsourcing your student transportation are manifold. Petermann is your resource to provide them. Learn more about how we can help.
CASE STUDY
Hudson City School District
“The Petermann General Manager has been a Godsend to me.”
CASE STUDY
Lakota Local Schools
“We have a true partnership with Petermann. It’s not a vendor relationship.”
CASE STUDY
Middletown City Schools
“There is constant and effective communication between Middletown and Petermann. It’s a solid partnership.”