Get to know your IPF crews: Motor Pool and Bus Drivers
L-R Brian Wolfe, Brenda Bond, Duferia White (retired), Deb Rowe and Brooke Pugh
Anthony Yuhasz
February 26, 2020
They are responsible for the transport of the university’s most valuable cargo – its people. From athletes to alumni, deans to dairy students, their goal is to help them all get safely to their destination.
They are the Transportation Services Motor Pool staff and bus drivers.
Brian Wolfe, manager of vehicle and bus leasing, leads this talented team consisting of clerk/receptionists Brenda Bond and Duferia White (recently retired), operations coordinator Brooke Pugh, bus driver/group leader Deb Rowe and bus drivers Greg Brown, Doug Dekker, Evelyn Griffin, John Jefferson, Mike Lindley, Scott McKimmy, Ginny Plaxton, Gary Sharpe, Joe Williams, Bob Wood and Karen Wright.
“Since university departments are not authorized to own passenger vehicles (only service/utility vehicles), Motor Pool supports most of the campus’ transportation needs by maintaining a large fleet of cars, vans, trucks, SUVs and buses,” Wolfe said. “We average about 260 vehicles out on long-term lease (90 days or more), 140 short-term rentals and five buses for charter.”
Just about every college and department at MSU uses the long-term leasing services offered by the Motor Pool.
“IPF and Admissions are two of our biggest campus partners,” Wolfe said. “We also own, and lease back to the Police Department, their 50-vehicle fleet.”
Summer is the busiest time of year for long-term leases, with academic researchers needing vehicles for their off-campus projects, bumping the numbers up to 300 or more.
“A wide variety of people utilize the short-term rental option,” Pugh said. “Conferences, class field trips, donor meetings; you name it.”
Occasionally one of their drivers will rent a vehicle for a day to drive higher-level administrators to out-of-town events, even as far as Chicago, if it’s cheaper than flying.
“Even the Police Department rents an additional 18 vehicles from us for every home game, for traffic and parking control,” Bond said.
Most of the vehicles purchased for the university are acquired through existing county or state contracts. Transportation Services works with an MSU Purchasing agent who, working within the specifics of each contract, selects the “fleet” versions of the vehicles needed, and places the order out for bid.
“Every new vehicle purchased for the university comes in through us, and when they’re ready for replacement, we make the arrangements for them to be sold through MSU Surplus,” Wolfe said. “Currently, the university owns about 1,200 vehicles in total (fleet vehicles, service vehicles, buses, etc.), and we ID them, maintain equipment records and hold the titles.”
When it comes to buses, Deb Rowe is the person in charge.
“She is a one-woman show – coordinating all of the bus operations, handling requests and scheduling drivers,” Wolfe said.
In 2019 alone, they drove for 670 events, and contracted out an additional 252.
Rowe, along with her team of eleven drivers are often “ambassadors behind the wheel” for the university.
“Everything we do is about customer service,” Rowe said. “Our drivers are oftentimes the first person our customers interact with, and so it is our job to positively represent MSU.”
A sampling of their customers includes
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MSU athletes (football, baseball, soccer, wrestling, track, field hockey, gymnastics)
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Alumni (manning the “President’s Shuttle” on home game days)
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Outreach attendees (Odyssey of the Mind, Boy Scouts, 4-H, Grandparents University, Upward Bound)
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Event attendees (Home/Horse Shows, home football game fans, recruiting events)
Most of the drivers are current or former school bus drivers with many years of experience. However, due to limitations in their available work hours and the fact that requests for buses can come at any time, day or night, scheduling can sometimes be a challenge. Rowe often ends up taking to the road herself.
“Deb has even wrangled me into driving when we have been short of drivers,” Wolfe chuckled. “There are strict licensing requirements to drive these large vehicles, and the fact that they work on-call, means that finding qualified and available drivers can be difficult.”
Their drivers often receive kudos for the masterful way they respond to on-road hazards, and for their impeccable customer service.
“There is never a dull moment,” Rowe laughed. “It is a huge responsibility to safely transport a busload of passengers, and we rise to the challenge every time.”
There are reasons why many drivers have worked for the university for numerous years – the family-like atmosphere in the workplace and a love for the people the university touches.
“Through interacting with faculty, staff and students, I have learned about the many positive impacts MSU has on local, national and even global communities,” Brown said.
Driver Ginny Plaxton summed it up nicely, “I love the diversity of folks that I have the opportunity to be in contact with; I feel that I learn new things all the time.”
For more information on the services they offer, visit the Transportation Services web page.