Bus company owner: Insurance costs behind request for Harrisburg rate hike

The owner of Robinson Transport, the bus company that carries Harrisburg and Carrier Mills students to school, among others in southern Illinois, says her insurance costs are what is driving her to ask the Harrisburg schools for a 3 percent increase in 2017-18.

Joyce Robinson, the president and owner of the bus company based on Route 145 in Harrisburg, said her company carries a $20 million insurance policy on her fleet, and that it now costs $3,250 per year to carry insurance on each single bus - more than double the cost in recent years.

Still, "We live here, we want to work here, we know the kids here and we want to stay here," Robinson said Wednesday, adding that many of her drivers come back year after year.

She said she expects to meet with Harrisburg Superintendent Michael Gauch again soon.

The Harrisburg Unit District 3 school board tabled the request on Aug. 16, to bring it up again later. At the time, Gauch characterized the 3 percent request as not out of line, but added that the district's transportation fund is already so strapped. They are moving money out of the education fund to pay busing costs.

Robinson Transport first started carrying Harrisburg students in 2003.

Joyce Robinson said under the 2016-17 contract, Harrisburg is presently paying $33,000 per bus per year to Robinson Transport, but adds that the average per bus price in the area is between $37,000 and $40,000.

A Daily Register story on Aug. 17 suggested that fuel and manpower costs were behind the 3 percent increase, but Robinson said fuel costs have actually gone down. Insurance is the culprit, she added, along with the price of parts, and of wages. She added that even the prices of new buses themselves have risen - they now cost around $87,000 apiece, or higher.