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Statistik & Nachricht

Two tie for prestigious award

SPECIAL DELIVERY: Santa Claus came to town Thursday, September 5, in the form of five transport drivers from two different companies. There were no reindeer involved, but Fulton County Transit Authority received one Chrysler Voyager low floor van and four Glaval cutaway buses built on Ford bodies. The van came from American Bus and Accessories, Inc. near Cincinnati, Ohio, while the four cutaways were delivered from Tesco Bus, a company located in a suburb of Toledo, Ohio. The drivers were excitedly greeted by members of the FCTA Management Team and other employees. FCTA Certified Mechanic Bill Shoemaker quickly popped the hood on the van, the first vehicle to arrive, to get a quick view of the engine. Executive Director Kevin Kelley, Maintenance Supervisor Chris Brown, and Driver Supervisor Jerry Young took turns checking the vehicles’ bells and whistles, aka lights and back up alarms, to make certain all worked properly. The five vehicles are the first of 22 FCTA is purchasing to replace vehicles that have aged out of the fleet as well as those lost during the December 10, 2021, tornado that hit Mayfield. At that time, FCTA had an office building on South 9th Street where more than a dozen vehicles were parked overnight. FCTA has moved to a new office space at 3414 State Highway 45 North. The agency is in the process of opening that office after leaving an office on East Broadway near downtown Mayfield. Funding for the vehicles was provided by state and federal grant monies.

The new FCTA office in Mayfield is on Highway 45 North off I69.

Agency moves to new office in Mayfield

Fulton County Transit Authority has obtained a new place to call “home” in Mayfield/Graves County.

Following the loss of the agency’s office in the tornado on December 10, 2021, FCTA Drivers had no real place to go for a brief break or eat their lunch in between calls to pick up clients.

In the Spring of 2023, FCTA Executive Director Kevin Kelley helped the agency obtain a new building to serve as an office and break site for Drivers. This building, located at 802 East Broadway in Mayfield, was small but adequate to serve as a place for FCTA employees to break while in the Mayfield area as well as serve as a place for area residents to pick up applications for jobs at the agency.

Recently, Kelley was made aware of a larger building in the area that had a maintenance area in the back of a lobby area and large office area. After doing his homework and getting the approval of the FCTA Board of Directors and the Kentucky Office of Transportation and Delivery, Kelley signed a lease for the building located at 3414 State Highway 45 North.

This 7,500-square-foot building will be able to accommodate the Drivers who work in the Mayfield/Graves County area or are staging in the area to transport clients elsewhere at some point.

The building will be utilized as a place to take a break, eat lunch, complete paperwork, and use restroom facilities as needed. With the large maintenance area that contains nine garage doors, the building will also serve as a place to house FCTA vehicles overnight and allow Drivers assigned to the Mayfield area the opportunity to begin their workday there rather than drive the 25 miles to Fulton to sign in and get their vehicles. It would also prevent them from having to drive back to Fulton at the end of the day to clock out and park their vehicles.

According to Kelley, once the building is fully available for use there will be four vehicles assigned there. Eventually there may be as many as eight vehicles parked inside the maintenance area overnight.

One of the biggest pluses for being able to park the vehicles indoors is the Drivers won’t have to remove ice or frozen frost from the windows upon arrival in the early mornings of the months when Western Kentucky has wintry and/or inclement weather. Garage parking will also give the Drivers a warmer, cooler, or drier place to complete pre-trip paperwork prior to beginning their workday.

The vehicles also won’t be as difficult to warm up in the mornings since they have been parked inside overnight.

Although FCTA has the keys to the building, it will be a few weeks before the agency moves completely into their new “home.” In a meeting on site in the Mayfield area recently, FCTA Managers completed a walk-through of the site and determined all that will have to be done to get it ready for business.

New signage is in the works now and will most likely be one of the first FCTA-related items placed there.

In addition to the new office space, FCTA still maintains its primary office at 302 Eastwood Drive in Fulton. The maintenance building in Fulton will still be utilized to service and repair vehicles that are used by the agency in the other counties served by FCTA.

In all, FCTA proudly serves Fulton, Hickman, Graves, and Carlisle counties.

FESTIVAL HELP: Several FCTA employees took a more hands-on part during the recent Banana Festival held in the Twin Cities of Fulton, KY and South Fulton TN. Not only did they help plan the event, some of them took part in several behind the scenes activities. FCTA Ambassador Darrel Sims rode in the parade. Marketing Director Kim Jobe was named 2023 Twin Cities Citizen on the Year which garnered her the Banana Festival Parade Grand Marshal duties.

Two tie for top employee award for 2023

Zum ersten Mal in jüngster Zeit hat die Fulton County Transit Authority zwei Preisträger für den Mitarbeiter des Jahres.

Die Abstimmung der FCTA-Mitarbeiter über die Preisverleihung 2023 ergab am Ende der Abstimmung Anfang dieses Monats ein Unentschieden. Anstatt zu versuchen, einen Weg zu finden, das Unentschieden zu lösen, beschlossen der Geschäftsführer Kevin Kelley und die stellvertretende Direktorin Kristin Grooms, zwei Gewinner zu benennen.

Die FCTA-Mitarbeiter des Jahres 2023 sind Mechaniker Bill Shoemaker und Fahrertrainer Sonny Starr. Kelley und Grooms gaben den Sieg von Shoemaker beim Weihnachtsessen des FCTA-Büros in Fulton am Donnerstag, den 21. Dezember, bekannt, während das Führungsduo den Sieg von Starr beim Weihnachtsessen des FCTA-Büros in Mayfield bekannt gab.

Shoemaker, ein Armee-Gör, begann in der Highschool mit der Arbeit an Fahrzeugen. Obwohl er ein Stipendium für den Besuch einer technischen Schule erhielt, entschied sich Shoemaker, zur United States Navy zu gehen, wo er acht Jahre lang an Hubschraubern arbeitete. Nach seiner Zeit bei der Marine arbeitete Shoemaker einen Großteil seiner Karriere als Mechaniker, hauptsächlich für Fahrzeughändler. Er ist als Master Tech 12 und Chrysler Master Tech klassifiziert.

Der 11. November 2022 war Shoemakers erster Tag als FCTA-Mechaniker. Shoemaker sagt, dass er bei der Arbeit an Transitfahrzeugen typische mechanische Probleme sieht.

„Es handelt sich hauptsächlich um Kleinigkeiten und nichts, was sich wiederholt“, sagte Shoemaker in einem Artikel vom Mai 2023 für den Transmissions-Newsletter der FCTA. „Ich erledige viele allgemeine Wartungsarbeiten.“

Shoemaker und seine Frau Wendy sind seit zwei Jahren verheiratet. Sie begann Anfang des Jahres in der Terminplanung bei FCTA zu arbeiten. Das Paar hat vier gemeinsame Kinder.

Obwohl seine Zeit bei FCTA erst etwas mehr als ein Jahr her ist, sagt Shoemaker, dass es eine gute Zeit war. Er ist sehr dankbar für die Anerkennung der anderen Mitarbeiter.

„Ich freue mich über alle Stimmen und hoffe, im kommenden Jahr einen besseren Job zu machen“, sagte Shoemaker. „Vielen Dank für alle Stimmen. Frohe Weihnachten und ein gutes neues Jahr.“

Starr wurde in Tacoma, Washington, geboren, wuchs aber in Winston, Oregon auf. Er und seine Frau Michelle haben vier Kinder – drei Mädchen und einen Jungen.

Starr begann am 20. Juni 2022 als Fahrer bei FCTA zu arbeiten. Er fährt immer noch für die Agentur, fungiert aber auch als Fahrertrainer bei FCTA. Derzeit hat er viele der neueren FCTA-Fahrer ausgebildet.

Der gebürtige Westküstenbewohner hat im Laufe seines Erwachsenenlebens eine Vielzahl von Karrieren hinter sich. Er leitete eine Reihe von Radiosendern und diente als Rettungssanitäter. Seit 14 Jahren arbeitet er als Produzent, Filmhistoriker, Zeitungskolumnist und Moderator für die landesweit führende klassische Hollywood-Sendung mit dem Titel „Starr Talk With Sonny Starr“.

Starr ist sehr dankbar für die Auszeichnung.

„Es hat mich überrascht“, gab Starr zu. „Damit habe ich wirklich nicht gerechnet. Es gibt so viele, die besser qualifiziert sind als ich. Ich kann nur sagen, dass ich für diese Ehre sehr dankbar bin. Die Tatsache, dass dies von meinen Kollegen kam, hat eine ganz besondere Bedeutung. Vielen Dank. Ich werde mich immer an diese große Ehre erinnern!“

Bill Shoemaker (center, left) and Sonny Starr (center, right) were named Employee of the Year at FCTA. Presenting their awards were FCTA Executive Director Kevin Kelley and FCTA Deputy Director Kristin Grooms.