GET TO KN the District Team
W
5 Things You Should Know about the District Transportation Department aldwin-Whitehall BALDWIN-WHITEHALL SCHOOL DISTRICT News
GET TO KN
BWSD Alumni
W
The Baldwin-Whitehall Transportation Department; David Tompkins is seen 2nd from the right in the back row.
How much time do you spend thinking about school buses? Until you find yourself stopped behind one, your answer is probably,“ never.” But ask BWSD Transportation Manager, David Tompkins, that question and you’ ll get a very different answer.
Tompkins and his staff of mechanics, trainers, and drivers, are the logistics experts who keep our entire district running on time. Here are 5 things you should know about this hardworking team.
1. Their daily schedule is epic.
“ I’ m usually here by 5:45 every morning, and I leave as late as 5:30 at night,” says Tompkins. While a good day with no complications can end by 2:30, Tompkins often works much later— sometimes until 8 or 9 in the evening. This is especially true during the beginning of the school year, when drivers and students alike, get used to new routines.“ I also usually come in for one day each weekend,” adds Tompkins,“ when it’ s a little quieter and I can get a few more things done.”
2. It takes a lot of math to keep the buses running on time.
With a team of 61 full-time drivers, 21 part-time drivers, and a fleet of 90 vehicles that travel more than 2400 miles every day to serve 60 locations, reliability is key. But that makes Tompkins’ s job one giant logic problem. As he maximizes the capacity of our buses and vans, Tompkins must also account for special needs students, wheelchair lifts, hard-to-reach locations, and the daily challenges of Pittsburgh traffic.
“ We spend a lot of time trying to get the greatest number of students per bus, per run,” says Tompkins.“ If we didn’ t, we’ d need 250 vehicles and 280 drivers.” 3. His big focus on little details really adds up.
“ On an average day,” says Tompkins,“ I might do everything from ordering new materials to pricing new parts, comparing budgets, negotiating prices with vendors, and consulting with mechanics to draft new specs for our vehicles. Some of those specs are 17 pages long, and they’ re all focused on ways to make a vehicle more mechanically friendly, so it works better and lasts longer.”
80 brentwood-baldwin-whitehall
This doesn’ t include all the hours Tompkins spends handling morning call-offs, managing his staff, organizing training events, and troubleshooting anything that goes wrong. That’ s why Tompkins is so meticulous about efficiency. So far, his attention to detail and refusal to cut corners has paid off in big ways. Just since the beginning of the year, the District has already saved over $ 26,000 compared to last year— while adding new students and new stops along the way.
4. The wheels on the bus can’ t go’ round and’ round forever.
“ When I started here five years ago,” says Tompkins,“ some of our vehicles were almost 20 years-old. They’ d rust out before the mileage caught up with them, but that still created all kinds of repair problems.”
Tompkins’ current goal? To reach an average age of 12 years or less per vehicle, which will reduce repair costs and increase efficiency fleet-wide. To this end, the Transportation Department is working with the School Board on a proposal to buy 12 new 72-seat buses every three years, which will help cycle down the average vehicle age and keep each new vehicle on the road longer.
5. What really helps the department stand out? Training. David Tompkins began his career as a mechanic at the
Port Authority. After retiring, he became an independent consultant who specialized in reducing the cost of training for transit employees while maintaining the quality and impact of their instruction.
Today, Tompkins is approved by PennDOT to train drivers in other districts as a thirdparty tester.“ We train drivers from Chartiers Valley and some other districts right here in Baldwin-Whitehall,” says Tompkins,“ which actually brings additional revenue into our District.” His department also helps train future mechanics through a partnership with Steel Center trade school.
Tompkins’ long-term focus on training also means that our own drivers and mechanics get all the guidance they need.“ At the beginning of every year we have an in-service day,” says Tompkins.“ State Police come in and teach all our drivers how to properly install car seats and operate wheelchair lifts for special needs students. Drivers and students also practice rear-door evacuations twice a year, in case there’ s ever an emergency. And before the school year starts, we do mock runs to make sure every driver knows their run and feels comfortable out on the road.”
For this, the thousands of families who rely on our Transportation Department every day say:“ Thank you!”