The number of men and women looking for work as motorcoach drivers is on the rise in some parts of the country, but most operators arent expecting the increase to ease their long-running shortage of over-the-road drivers.

While the numbers of job applicants are up, say coach owners, many of those seeking jobs fall short of the standards they require of their drivers.

Such standards as solid work history, good health, experience working with people, excellent driving record, and pleasant personality among them.

"Its still the quality," said Callen Hotard of Calco Travel in Geismar, La., which just finished a campaign for drivers that drew 34 applicants, but only four hires. "Its not that we didnt want or need more drivers, but those were the only ones who met our qualifications," he noted.

Jack Wigley of All Aboard America in Mesa, Ariz., said while he, too, has seen an increase in driver applicants for his Arizona operations, he continues to be beset by quality issues.

"Seven or eight out of 10 people who apply cant be hired, so right off you lose at least 70 percent of them," he said.

Godfrey Lebron of Paradise Trailways in West Hempstead, N.Y., said he was stunned by the response he received from a recent newspaper advertisement seeking drivers to fill positions for a new shuttle service he is operating for the Long Island Rail Road.

Not only did he get a much larger response than he anticipated, but the caliber of many of the applicants was outstanding, leading him to believe that he might be able to hire some of them to fill driver vacancies in his regular charter business. His hopes were dashed, however, when he was told by many of the applicants that they only would take part time work with day-time hours.

"The over-the-road drivers willing to run charters still arent out there," he said. "Instead, a lot of the people trying to get those types of jobs look like they just came from a homeless shelter or a halfway house."

Wallace Jones of Blue Grass Tours in Lexington, Ky., said a jump in the number of people applying for driver jobs at his company has helped him fill his needs, but has not eased his concerns about new hires staying on the job once they are hired.

"We have been able to fill our positions fairly easily and thats pretty uncommon," he said. "But longevity is the thing and we just dont know how many will stay around for long, or if they will be here today and gone tomorrow."

Factors behind surge

While operators who have experienced an uptick in job applicants say they cant for certain explain what might be behind it, they say they see some signs that the nations troubled economy and rising unemployment rate may be a key factor.

"Weve had some applicants come in here and apply for jobs after theyve gotten laid off in other states," noted Jones.

Lebron said many of his recent applicants appear to be men and women who are looking for second jobs so they can earn extra money for their families. "If they can pick up a little extra money it means they might be able to have a night on the town," he noted.

Randy Charlebois of Premier Coach Co. in Colchester, Vt., said that while economic conditions could be behind the jump in applicants at his company, a new pay scale he recently introduced for drivers is a more likely cause.

Concerned because his hiring efforts had not been going well, he increased driver pay by 22-percent across the board and started holding job fairs at his facility. The result was not only a rush of applicants but enough good ones to bolster his driver pool.

"Our driver applicants are much better now than what they had been in the past and were getting a nice mix of them, including experienced drivers who are coming over from line runs," he said.

Charlebois said he also increased his charter rates by 3.5 percent to help make up for some of the higher wages. "We made up 12 to 15 percent of the driver increases," he said. "We know we wont make it all back but we have much better people behind the wheel now."

Regional differences

While many operators are reporting increases in job applicants, others say the employment situation at their companies and in their parts of the country has not changed much even as the economy continues to struggle and job losses continue to mount.

Matt Shoup of Cardinal Buses in Middlebury, Ind., said things remain about the same as they have for the past five years a good number of applicants but only a small number of them good enough to hire.

"Most of them are second-career people, empty nesters looking for another career," he said. "We like those types, though, because they dont have any bad habits to break."

Wigley said his All Aboard America operation in New Mexico hasnt seen any changes in applicants and he continues to have difficulty finding good drivers. "And we have been advertising every which way but loose," he added.

At the same time, he said there continues to be no shortage of good applicants and good drivers for his West Texas operation. "We dont really have a driver shortage there and havent had any problems finding drivers."