Yet, Burtwistle added, attributing the
company’s struggles solely to culture clash is an oversimplification. Chances are slim that two merging companies will have similar process or values, and she said both must be meshed to make a successful company. Tis requires what she called harmonization. First Student’s wheels had become stuck in the mud of the bureaucracy that had developed. Burtwistle agreed that differ- ent operations across the country all had preferred ways of working, and this led to a lack of clarity and leadership that came to a head with its customer service. It became apparent that the solution could lie with the contractor’s greatest asset, its employees. So First Student turned to its people to find a solution by forming best-practice teams. Tese teams consist of employees from
across the country who work in various roles on various contracts. Some have been with First Student for their entire careers, while others joined the company via one of the ac- quisitions. Te teams are assembled to delve into, for example, the layout of bus garages to determine a better model and to create company-wide standard procedures on the location of a preventive maintenance bus bay. In fact, one team helped developed “Drive SMART,” which provides drivers
Roger Moore, senior vice president in charge of business and commercial development, was one of the new First Student employees after the 2007 acquisition of Laidlaw. He says the company transformation over the past two years has been “powerful.”
www.stnonline.com 37
1999: FirstGroup Plc of Aberdeen, Scotland acquires Bruce Transportation and enters into the U.S. school bus transportation market. In the same year, FirstGroup acquires Ryder Public Transportation Services (the school bus, transit management and fleet maintenance divisions of Ryder Transportation). The newly formed FirstGroup America is organized into First Student, First Transit and First Services divisions.
2000: FirstGroup buys Hertz Bus Company, Canada’s third largest yellow bus operator.
2001: FirstGroup America acquires Verona Bus Company, a school bus service provider based in Madison, Wis.
2003: First Transit acquires Coach USA Transit Services from StageCoach Group plc. First Services also acquires L&E Mobile Computer Mounts to create First Mobile Technologies.
2004: FirstGroup buys into British Columbia’s Farwest Group, expanding its Canadian holdings.
2005: FirstGroup buys controlling interest in Cardinal Coach Lines.
2006: First Student acquires school-bus service provider T-NT Bus Service from Atlantic Express Transportation Corp.
2007: First Transit acquires Cognisa; FirstGroup America acquires Laidlaw.
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