Each year, more than 1.2 million pupils reach their school by means of bus pick-up. But in this start of the 2022 school year, the situation was announced, a few weeks ago, catastrophic. The fault of a shortage of drivers, known for several years, and which has further worsened. Around 7,000 drivers are still missing in France, according to the profession. Many have retired, others have left the profession after successive confinements.
However, despite this delicate context, the worst will be avoided this Thursday for the start of the school year and the following days. No less than 95% of school services in the territory will thus be provided, promises the national federation of passenger transport (FNTV). “A joint mobilization has made it possible to reduce the tensions observed in a certain number of regions and to secure almost everywhere, through emergency measures, the organization of the start of the 2022 school year”, confirms the government.
Modified schedules, exceptional reinforcements…
Aware of the challenge, the regions, transport organizers and companies have indeed rolled up their sleeves this summer, mainly playing on timetables. “These are reassignments to school services of drivers who operated regular lines or tourist transport. There will also be reorganizations of circuits: we optimize the services so that with a single trip we can serve two or three usual circuits. It will be a degraded service but we have to go through it temporarily, ”explains Ingrid Mareschal, general delegate of the FNTV. Parents should therefore expect buses to be overloaded at times, with children standing in the aisle. Adult travelers should be prepared to see their usual regular line cut or suspended.
Another solution found in some companies: exceptional staff reinforcements to provide the missing services. “We call on employees who hold a D license but who do not usually drive: mechanics, administrative staff or even company managers, specifies Ingrid Mareschal. We also called on young retirees for a punctual return. These reinforcements will leave time to train new candidates. »
Because the tension will decrease only by improving the problem of recruitment. Penalized by its part-time work, its restrictive schedules (rather early in the morning and late in the evening) and remuneration deemed unattractive, the profession is struggling to seduce. The administrative delays of training accessible only from the age of 21 do not facilitate the task. “The period for issuing authorizations for the D license can take several months when the driver has passed the exam, deplores Fabrice Marcon, who heads the school transport branch of the family business Alcis Transports (350 employees), near Toulouse. Before, the training organizations took care of these formalities which are now the responsibility of the drivers. Some prefer to give up. »
Ideas to avoid part-time work
To counter these difficulties, many measures have been put in place in recent weeks. “Many regions have launched communication campaigns and operations to encourage applications,” says Ingrid Mareschal. They have also taken initiatives to find additional employment to provide drivers with full-time work. The Minister of Labor is also advancing on a partnership with mass distribution and home employment to promote these additional jobs. The profession also communicates with insistence on the advantages of the profession: autonomy, freedom, human contact, employment that cannot be relocated…
As for remuneration, it has just increased by 6.5%, indicates the FNTV. “It’s a major effort that employers have trouble passing on to public ordering parties,” says Ingrid Mareschal. However, we will soon see the social partners again in order to try to make an extra effort for the end of the year. »
According to the FNTV, very rural territories, like Limousin, are those which will experience the most difficulty at the start of the school year, as will certain areas around agglomerations, in particular Bordeaux and Aix-en-Provence.