January 10, 2019
By: Dwayne Page
All DeKalb County School buses are undergoing an annual state inspection this week.
State Troopers Darryl Winningham and Craig Wilkerson of the Tennessee Highway Patrol, inspectors for this district, are conducting the evaluation of the school systems 36 buses on route and the four substitute buses. No major deficiencies have been found that would cause a bus to be taken off the road.
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“We do a complete level one inspection on the buses. We go from the bottom to the top and inside, outside. We check every bolt. Every nut, tire tread, brake pads, seats. We make sure the dash works and all the lights inside. We want to make sure everything is safe. We check tie rod ends. Everything about the vehicle. We’re always going to find something. No matter how minor we still want to find everything we can find to get it all repaired,” said Trooper Winningham.
The inspectors conduct an annual inspection for three days in January but spot checks may be made during the year.” We’re here this week but we’ll be here more than this once a year. We also do 10% spot checks throughout the year. We just pull in and walk through the lot and say we want to check this bus or look at that bus. They pull them in and we’ll do a complete inspection on them again,” said Trooper Winningham
“DeKalb County is blessed with good drivers that take pride in their jobs and take care of the buses. They truly care about the children. My drivers provide transportation for the children in the morning and afternoon and our main objective is to get them safely to and from school each day,” said School Transportation Supervisor Jimmy Sprague.