After creating 90 new driver shifts to accommodate student class schedules at the University of Massachusetts, UMass Transit Services has launched a hiring campaign they hope will attract 20 to 30 new employees.
The newly-hired drivers would join those at UMass Transit who are responsible for driving the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority buses which are operated by the University, as well as the buses used for school field trips, meet-and-greet services and disability or injury accommodation.
“We don’t like to look at it as a driver shortage,” Kevin Morrissey, a training supervisor at UMass Transit Services, said. “We’re looking to hire lots of new drivers because of our expansion of service.”
Morrissey, a junior majoring in finance and sports management, explained how the increased demand for ridership of the UMass Transit system has necessitated the creation of more driver shifts. Transit Services has seen gradually more riders using its vehicles every year.
The increased demand for UMass Transit saw three million riders use their vehicles last year and the expectation that UMass Transit would see even more demand required the creation of new shifts.
“Instead of every 15 service until six o’clock, it’s now every 15 minute service until eight or nine o’clock,” Derek Pires, who is the operations supervisor at UMass Transit, said.
UMass Transit’s attempts to hire new drivers are being fueled by a large effort to inform students about the hiring campaign. UMass Transit brought the Resource Bus to the Fine Arts Center, where the hiring campaign is advertised with a large banner: “UMass Transit Now Hiring.”
Social media will also factor into the hiring campaign, as Morrissey anticipates that the University’s Twitter account will retweet statuses about the campaign. UMass Transit will also run information about how they are hiring on their buses’ informational displays.
Drivers have a minimum requirement of 15 work hours a week, although they are free to pick up more hours when they can. Morrissey said drivers can input their class schedules on the UMass Transit website, which will create a work schedule based around their classes.
He also mentioned that driving jobs at UMass Transit often lead to promotions of their employees, and that it ‘s not uncommon for students hired as drivers to become dispatchers, training supervisors and eventually operations supervisors.
Training is done entirely on-site and managed by training supervisors like Morrissey. Trainees are able to drive buses through lanes made on the training course with orange cones and are paid to complete the training.
UMass Transit Services also pays for their employees to receive Commercial Drivers’ Licenses, which are required to drive commercial vehicles such as buses. Morrissey mentioned how he considers being paid by UMass Transit to get a CDL a huge perk of working for the organization.
“When you factor in the paid CDL it is one of the highest paying jobs on campus,” he said.
Most of the UMass Transit Services’ employees are students and Pires said that only one of the employees at Transit Services did not start out as a student driver.
Pires also mentioned that every employee at Transit Services has a CDL, which he said is unusual for transit organizations. Pires positively compared UMass Transit to other transit organizations, which he said normally have managers without the experience of driving commercially.
“It’s an incredible organization,” Pires said. “It’s really homegrown.”
Stuart Foster can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @Stuart_C_Foster.
