A RARE BREED Lair and Dupille represent a rare
breed of women who have success- fully encroached upon one of the last refuges of dirt-under-the fingernails machismo. Women mechanics are so rare that they represent barely a blip on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ radar. A 2011 federal report estimated
that women comprised only 0.7 percent of the estimated 312,000 bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists nationwide. Tat same year, women were 1.3 percent of the 199,000 heavy vehicle and mobile equipment service techni- cians and mechanics; 0.3 percent of 52,000 small engine mechanics; and 1.4 percent of the automotive service technicians and mechanics. Te STN maintenance survey this
month found that only 11 of 278 responding fleet managers said they supervised a woman in the garage. It’s not surprising, then, that few
female school bus technicians ever meet another of their kind. Tey of- ten find themselves the only woman in training classes. Dupille said she met another wom-
an technician one summer who faced the same doubting attitudes. Dupille was totally impressed by her skills. “She was removing a transmission,
overhauling it and putting it back in,” Dupille said. “I was in awe. She had some really cool tools, too.” Annie Bell, director of transpor-
tation for Peninsula, hired Dupille. She said Dupille is the first female mechanic she has seen in her 27 years in the industry. “She was the only female appli-
cant,” Bell said. “She (had) a great interview. We weren’t looking for a woman, just a qualified person.” Dupille said she is considered a bit of an oddity around the district. “I walk to the district office in
my overalls and people I don’t know say, ‘Hi Joni’,” she said. “I raise some
à
Joni Dupille, left, was the only female to apply for a mechanic opening posted by Annie Bell, right, director of transportation for Peninsula School District in Gig Harbor, Wash. But Dupille was also the best applicant.
eyebrows when I go to a school on a call, and students and parents look at me like: What are you doing here?” Women who dare to enter the
world of mechanics are met with disbelief, condescension and outright hostility. As is the case with trail- blazers, the women who make it have to be better than their male coun- terparts just to be considered equal. Some women report that not all men are opposed to women mechanics, but unless their supporters are indus- try veterans, they usually are beaten down by the doubters. Rich Skibitski, fleet manager for
Wayne County Public Schools in New Jersey, is a supporter. “I would be hard pressed to recall any shop I ever worked in where a woman would be treated equally,” he wrote in an online post. “Guys would either be over-protective or try to prove the woman doesn’t belong there. I always held the belief that if someone can do a job, you shouldn’t get in their way.”
A Complete Heating Solution
• Powerful enough for engine preheat and supplemental heat
• Ensures cold weather starts
• Clear windows and warm interior for driver and student comfort & safety
• Uses bus fuel and power
• No need to plug in or idle engine to maintain heat
• Meets anti-idling legislations
• Optional timer sets a start time for unattended operation
• OEM and aftermarket packages
www.proheat.com 50 School Transportation News March 2014
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