Pattonville School District earned the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s “Total Fleet Excellence Award” for the second consecutive year. The transportation department team obtained a first-time approval score of 94% during the annual inspection of its buses and the district’s score was 100% at the conclusion of the inspection. 

The buses that had a minor issue were repaired quickly, re-inspected, and approved. 

Things that worked for the transportation department to exceed the 90% inspection score to qualify for the award were:

• Standardized preventative bus inspection checklist followed by mechanics.

• Mechanics inspecting buses immediately before the bus entered the staging lineup.

• Well-trained driver inspection team.

• Retaining one mechanic at the inspection line for inspector questioning and miscellaneous requests.

Not only are the buses in Pattonville safe, but so are all 65 Pattonville school bus route drivers. They were certified in the Smith System at the beginning of the school year and new drivers complete the online program. The Smith System is recognized as the industry leader in professional CDL driver training, hands-on vehicle safety education programs and defensive driving. More than half of Fortune 500 fleets use the Smith System for driver safety training.