Just like other school bus companies across the state and nation, Brandt Buses Inc. in Manitowoc is experiencing a driver shortage this summer.
Seehafer News spoke with company president Steve Roekle, who says they have found due to COVID-19, the workforce has shifted in many ways.
“We used to have a lot of retirees who would come here and supplement their fixed income and they’re not as comfortable getting back to the workforce yet,” Roekle explained. “We have parents who used to drive for us and that workforce is not back yet because they’re not familiar with how school will go. So, once school gets back to normal, which we’re hoping this year, those parents will return.”
Roekle said they used to rely on shift workers in local factories, however, “The way the factories are now where they’re having a shortage of hiring, they’re working Overtime so we don’t have them coming over here for supplemental income. In addition, we feel the additional federal unemployment benefits people are getting is also slowing them from coming back into the workforce.”
The Brandt Buses leader closed by saying, “We’re in the perfect storm, other industries are in that too, We’re hoping things change within a short period of time. We encourage people to apply, it’s a great part-time job with a good income and there are no night’s weekends or holidays. That’s one of the benefits of school bus driving.”
Brandt Buses will begin transporting students from the Manitowoc Public School District in one month, on August 30th.
