Published on May 8, 2024 at 9:34 pm
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Durham School Services, one of the two companies Duval County schools uses to manage its transportation services, is hosting a hiring fair on Thursday and Friday to fill the needs of its expanding service area within the district.
Duval Schools needs about 50 new drivers – and some mechanics, too – to staff Durham’s new routes starting when school returns in August. Most of them are in the Beaches area and Arlington.
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Partway through this current school year, Durham was tapped to take over many routes that were previously driven by another operator, Student Transportation of America. The number of bus driver vacancies today is the roughly the same as the district had when the last school year started, and its resulting delays snarled many a morning routine. A message left with the district to ask about today’s overall bus situation wasn’t returned by this story’s publication.
John Ziegler, Durham’s director of business development, says the company welcomes drivers with all levels of experience, including no experience at all.
“We’d love to see people who have never done it before come out and see what we’ve got to offer,” Ziegler tells Jacksonville Today.
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Durham will provide all training at no cost to prospective drivers. Once hired, the pay can be more than $25 per hour.
Ziegler said bus drivers’ work schedules are usually split. A shift might start at about 6 a.m. and go until 9:30 a.m., then pick back up for the afternoon route between 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. If they desire, drivers can get extra hours by driving buses for field trips and sporting events.
The main requirement? Loving kids, Ziegler says.
We’re looking for people who can keep a good schedule and be dedicated to what they do,” he says. “It’s very rewarding.”
The hiring event is happening Thursday and Friday from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. at 1205 Monument Road, Suite 301. All that’s required to apply is a driver’s license and Social Security card.
