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By Alex Guerrero

He’s only been on the job two months, but Derrick Barnes, transportation manager for Albert Lea Bus Co., has already experienced his first Bus Driver Appreciation Week, which area school districts celebrated this week.

The week-long event was something he appreciated, as he himself was a bus driver and still operates one when the company is short-handed.

“It’s super important because, especially with the nationwide driver shortage in general — it’s very important to recognize the employees that we have currently and make sure that they’re appreciated,” he said. “They’re very important people that run day-to-day daily routes transporting students to and from school consistently every day, every morning as safely and efficiently as possible.”

Over the week, Barnes has received donations from a number of local companies, including Taco John’s, Wendy’s and Kwik Trip. Albert Lea Area Schools brought over cupcakes, while individual schools provided their own treats. Not to mention all the treats laying around over the week.

Del Johnson has been with the bus company for 22 years and started after he was talked into filling out an application.

His favorite part of driving the bus is seeing the students.

“Some of the kids I’m taking to the high school now, I used to take them home in the afternoons as grade-schoolers,” he said. “It’s just amazing to see how they’ve changed over the years, how much they’ve progressed,” he said.

Rich Chapman retired from Ventura Foods but is now a third-year driver.

“I worked with Del (at Ventura Foods) all the time, and he was driving a bus,” he said. “We talked about it at work a couple times.”

And because he wanted to stay busy, he decided to get a part-time job.

Like Chapman, he enjoys his interactions with students.

“The kids are great,” he said. “People say they’re not that way. But get them on a bus, get them on a one-on-one … Probably 50 to 60, maybe close to 75% say thank you.”  

Besides the donations, the bus company held drawings throughout the week for gift cards and other prizes. Wednesday Barnes served an egg, hash brown, sausage and bacon breakfast, as well as a lunch consisting of burgers, hot dogs, potato-pasta salad and chips.

He also wanted to thank his drivers and said he, along with Albert Lea Area Schools, appreciated them and thanked the district for everything they did over the week.

Albert Lea Bus Co., which employs around 75 drivers, operates just over 50 buses and transports around 1,500 children, also transports students attending Hollandale Christian School, St. Theodore and the Oakland Education Center. 

Before taking over as transportation manager two months ago, Barnes worked at the company for just under two years as a driver.