Krise’s new company was growing rapidly and needed
capital. He was just what the investment company was looking for. “When you grow fast in this business, you’re going to have debt,” Pearson explained. “We will do the traditional buy, but we’re really looking for partners to help grow their business.” Pearson said that is the reason he returned to the
industry. He said the private equity group had done its homework and understood the business. “They were go- ing to give us the freedom to do what we already knew how to do,” Pearson said. “Access Holdings was a good marriage with us and has been a good partner with us. I use that word a lot. We truly believe in not only part- nering with the owners but partnering with the school districts and partnering with our vendors. So, it seemed to be a good fit. We brought Tim in, and he liked them, and he was our first partnership.” That’s when Pearson uttered one of his favorite phras- es to the group, “We’re bringing the band back together.” That was last year. Krise said the reunion of like-minded people is the
company’s strength. “It was people who basically had the same principals and philosophy that we brought back in and made part of a bigger structure so that relation- ship is stronger than ever,” he said. “We currently have 11
school districts and next year will go up to 14. We have 850 employees and next year we’ll be over 1,000. We will look at other opportunities, but currently my focus is on Pennsylvania. There are plenty of opportunities here.” Pearson agreed, estimating that upwards of 80 per-
cent of school districts there use private transportation contractors. ASTP operates as Krise Transportation, Inc. to take advan-
tage of the family brand’s reputation in Pennsylvania. New smaller partners reap the benefits of the Krise brand, the cor- porate structure and financial support of the ASTP umbrella. White said corporate structure is the biggest asset
ASTP brings to the table. “If you look at Tim Krise’s oper- ation before he merged with ASTP, Tim had grown the business quite rapidly and was bootstrapping it on his own dime,” White observed. “He was trying to do every- thing himself. What we brought to the table was more managers to distribute the work and helped Tim’s rapid- ly growing business because we got more resources.” At Krise, school buses are primary used, but vans are
optional depending on the needs of the school districts, as is the technology on the buses. Krise says he stresses partnerships with the school districts. “There is a big difference between us and other con- tractors because I will drive a bus if I have to,” he said.
The Durham Difference Proven Safety Innovations & Trusted Operational Expertise
Video telematics and AI reinforce safe driving behaviors
Zero tolerance for mobile device usage
Real-time GPS reports
Expanded safety analysis team drives performance improvements
Central hub for safety inquiries, compliments and concerns
Continuous license monitoring
Report cards to track and reward performance
Inspect and audit tire conditions and performance
Schedule an introduction and demo 800.950.0485 |
info@durhamschoolservices.com
www.durhamschoolservices.com
A National Express company
www.stnonline.com 25
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