THE SUCCESSION PLANNER Kevin Lundy Title: Fleet Manager Employer: Minneapolis Public Schools
Kevin Lundy has a lot of work to do
before retiring next month after nearly 28 years at Minneapolis Public Schools. He leads seven mechanics, a parts specialist and a data specialist in preparing for the new school year, and ensuring vehicle safe- ty for both the drivers and the students. Lundy said he enjoys regularly assisting his staff with working on the 170 school buses and about 160 other vehicles ranging from pickup trucks to delivery vehicles to one-ton Ford E-350 vans. “Kevin has worked tirelessly to build a staff of mechanics who are engaged in the common goal,” said Scott James, the director of transportation services at MPS. “Kevin has proven himself time after time to be a leader who is willing to get dirty if required, be active in training drivers and
staff and take the initiative to take action when need- ed to ensure district and customer needs are met.” For example, James
said Lundy developed a replacement plan that transitions to a green fleet with the adoption of propane powered vehicles and led the design and development of a fueling station that “will meet the needs of the district for years to come.” “I’m lucky that we’ve got the crew
we’ve had,” Lundy said. “It’s a very good bunch. We’ve always got it done, no mat- ter how cold it got or what came down the road.”
Tat, like countless other districts, bus companies and even dealers, includes a mechanic shortage, one Lundy had some insights on not only for Minneapolis, but nationwide.
“It’s very difficult to get someone who can come in and help you immediately,” said Lundy, who worked for the City of Minneapolis fleet for two years making the lateral move to MPS in November of 1988. “Tis is just a figure of speech, but I don’t think they want to get dirty anymore. Tis is not an easy job. When I started we didn’t have
electronics, we had electrical. It was basic. When we had breakdowns, it was mostly mechanical and it was worn out. But now, it’s rarely that we have a transmission that completely fails. We have a part of it that fails, and it takes a lot of know-how to get it back on the street.” Instead, many of the applications coming
in are from mechanics with only limited experience in changing oil or tires, but who are unable to, for example, connect a computer to a J1939 connection. “If you can grasp what we do as me- chanics, you can probably do very well outside of this vocation and not have to take service calls or crawl around on a creep or underneath a vehicle. You can probably get a pretty nice job do- ing computer work or other electrical or electronics.” Lundy pointed out that a dozen lo- cal trade schools dwindling to “maybe three” over the past couple of decades has led to a brain drain. Ten there’s the subject of pay. “For the type of schooling we have to go through, I think we are a little are underpaid compared to other trades,” he said. “It’s what the market will bear. Tat’s capitalism, and there’s a shortage.” But Lundy said he knows he is leaving his shop in good hands, as wit- nessed by the development of several younger techs who are exceling with today’s technology. “I tell them you have the world by the tail because you understand this stuff,” he said. “You’re young and fast and you’ve got drive behind you. I admire them. I think they will do very well.” l
42 School Transportation News • AUGUST 2016
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