Checklist: evaluating a transport partner for your preschool

Short answer: a good transport partner for a preschool should be able to show you, in writing, how drivers are checked, what parents can see during a ride, who covers breakdowns, what it costs the school, and who answers parents’ questions. If a partner is vague on any of these, keep looking.

Once you put a partner’s name on your transport, parents hold the preschool responsible for every ride. This checklist is meant for the meeting where you compare options. It focuses on what to ask and what a clear answer looks like.

1. Start with the drivers

Very young children can’t tell you much about a ride, so the driver matters more than the vehicle. Ask for the full vetting process, not a summary.

• Police verification for every driver, including standby drivers.
• A background check. Ask what it covers and who carries it out.
• Temperament. Ask whether drivers are assessed for patience and behaviour, not only driving skill.
• Ongoing checks. Ask how driving is monitored after onboarding, and what happens when a driver’s record slips.

2. What can you and parents see during a ride?

GPS shows where a car is. It says nothing about what is happening inside it. Ask whether there is live video from inside the vehicle, how boarding is recorded, and whether parents get an alert when their child gets in.

Also ask what happens if something goes wrong mid-ride. Is there an SOS button? Who answers it, and are they available for every ride, including early starts and late pickups?

3. Who covers a breakdown or an absent driver?

Every fleet has bad days. The question is whose problem they become. If the answer is that the preschool should keep a spare van or a spare driver, you are back to running transport yourself.

• Does the partner keep backup vehicles and drivers?
• Who arranges the replacement, and who tells parents?
• Who pays for repairs and maintenance?

4. How is the cost structured?

Look beyond the per-child figure. Ask what the preschool has to spend upfront, and which running costs stay with you: vehicles, fuel, maintenance, insurance paperwork, driver salaries and leave cover. Our earlier piece on running preschool transport without owning a single vehicle goes through these line items in more detail.

Also ask who collects money from parents. If fee collection and follow-ups fall to your office, that is a hidden workload.

5. Who talks to parents, and how?

Parents will have questions about timings, holidays, and changes in pickup address. Ask whether the partner handles these directly, through an app or a helpline, or whether calls will come to your front desk.

• Can parents subscribe and manage rides themselves?
• What happens on holidays and sick days? Do parents pay for rides their child doesn’t take?
• Which languages does the support line handle?

6. How do day-to-day rides work?

Small rules decide whether mornings run smoothly. Ask how long the pickup window is, how long a driver waits, how far ahead a ride must be booked, whether a driver can cancel, and whether prices change at busy times. Ask who else can be in the car, both children and adults.

Finally, walk through the moment a child arrives at your gate. Who hands the child over, and to whom? Our guide to a good gate handover for preschool transport can help you set that standard.

7. Ask for a demo before you decide

A demo should show you the parent app, the live view, the boarding alerts and how the partner handles a problem. Bring the person who manages your front office, since they will field parent calls, and ask the partner to answer the questions in this list on the spot.

If you’d like to see these answers in practice, book a demo for your preschool.