Women in Buses Council Announces New Driver Recruitment and Retention Campaign

The American Bus Association’s Women in Buses Council has launched a new driver recruitment and retention campaign to help tackle the industry’s driver shortage problem. The campaign is being developed and led by industry experts and members of ABA.

“Before the pandemic hit, the motorcoach industry had a huge problem with a shortage of drivers,” said Peter Pantuso, president & CEO of ABA. “Our industry was having its best year on record, but many trips couldn’t happen because we didn’t have enough drivers to make all the trips. Now that we are grappling with the pandemic and have had to furlough a number of our drivers. When our buses are running again, we want to ensure our members have the staff they need to help keep America moving.”

The team behind the Driving Force campaign is working to tackle the nationwide driver shortage. Over the course of the next several months, they will be providing industry operators tips and tools to recruit and retain their most valuable assets: drivers. This team of industry experts is led by the Women in Buses Leadership Committee member Erin Ducharme of Bloom's Bus. The members of the team include James Blain, PAX Training; Adam Hall, Bridgestone Americas; Elizabeth Hall, John Hall's Alaska; Pam Martinez, DATTCO; Brent Maitland, MCI; Mike McDonal, Saucon Technologies; John Meier, Badger Bus; Debbie Piner, Prevost; Mike Van Horn, Betterez; and Michelle Wiltgen, National Interstate Insurance.

“ABA thanks the Women in Buses leadership team for bringing this campaign to fruition and ensuring it is truly an industry-wide project for all to benefit from it,” said Pantuso.

For its first piece of collateral, the Driving Force team developed a checklist aimed at retaining furloughed drivers. Click here to review the checklist.

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About ABA’s Women in Buses Council

Women in Buses Council (WIB) exists to recognize and advance the role of women in the motorcoach industry through networking, education and mentoring programs. It was created in 2011 and is a program of the American Bus Association. Since that time, the leadership, structure and activities of the Council have been developing to meet the goals of the Council. For more information, visit buses.orgWIB.