BRYAN, Texas — “My day typically starts around 4:30 in the morning," said Bryan ISD bus driver, Damian Allen.
"I’m getting myself prepared for the day, so I make sure I’m up before my kids most of the time.”
Allen has been one of the first faces that local students see in the mornings on their way to school.
“I started under the training program and I began to work my way up to get my CDL," Allen said.
"I began to learn the numerous routes here at Bryan ISD Transportation — I started on bus #215, and currently my route is #53.”
On his route, Allen sees almost a hundred students daily, going from schools across Bryan ISD.
As the years have gone on, he’s found himself picking up more children due to staffing shortages.
“[We] felt with being behind and putting an extra load with kids, it puts more on our supervisors, trainers, and the people in the office that are supposed to be focused on other things," Allen said.
Lori Sears is the Director of Transportation for the district, and explained to 15ABC how Bryan ISD is doing what they can to keep operations going by stepping out of the office when it's needed.
“We run about 110 routes and we are about 10 drivers short, but when we start having more than 10 people off, that’s when I can be out on a route," Sears said.
"My assistant directors, our executive directors, even teachers that have CDL's cover those routes.”
While many drivers are taking on multiple routes to make up for the shortage, Sears said it makes room for the unexpected, like maintenance issues or traffic backups, even harder to have completed routes on time.
“As we grow, train, and recruit more drivers, we don’t want that tight, we want to be spread just a bit more and have a bit more play so when these unexpected things happen we can handle it.”
As for Allen, he’s been thankful to have a supportive team to help drivers like him when it matters the most.
“It’s an honor to know they are going the extra mile to help us out and they aren’t just saying '53 go over there to get this kid, I’m in a meeting right now' — they actually stop their plans and they come out to help us be along our side," Allen said.
Anyone interested in applying to be a bus driver for Bryan ISD can apply here.