Autorité de transport du comté de Fulton
Nous sommes fiers de servir les comtés de Fulton, Hickman, Graves et Carlisle
Statistiques et amp; Nouvelles
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
Pour la première fois de mémoire récente, la Fulton County Transit Authority compte deux récipiendaires d'employés de l'année.
Le vote pour le prix 2023 par les employés de la FCTA a abouti à une égalité à la fin du dépouillement des votes plus tôt ce mois-ci. Plutôt que d'essayer de déterminer un moyen de briser l'égalité, le directeur général Kevin Kelley et la directrice adjointe Kristin Grooms ont décidé de nommer deux gagnants.
Les employés FCTA de l'année 2023 sont le mécanicien Bill Shoemaker et le formateur de conducteurs Sonny Starr. Kelley et Grooms ont annoncé la victoire de Shoemaker lors du repas de Noël du bureau de Fulton FCTA le jeudi 21 décembre, tandis que le duo de dirigeants a annoncé la victoire de Starr au repas de Noël du bureau de Mayfield FCTA.
Shoemaker, un enfant de l'armée, a commencé à travailler sur des véhicules au lycée. Bien qu'il ait obtenu une bourse pour fréquenter une école technique, Shoemaker a choisi de rejoindre la marine américaine où il a travaillé sur des hélicoptères pendant huit ans. Après son passage dans la Marine, Shoemaker a travaillé comme mécanicien travaillant principalement pour des concessionnaires automobiles pendant une grande partie de sa carrière. Il est classé Master Tech 12 et Chrysler Master Tech.
Le 11 novembre 2022 était le premier jour de Shoemaker en tant que mécanicien de la FCTA. Travaillant sur des véhicules Transit, Shoemaker dit qu'il constate des problèmes mécaniques typiques.
"Il s'agit pour la plupart de choses mineures et rien de répétitif", a déclaré Shoemaker dans un article de mai 2023 pour le bulletin d'information Transmissions de la FCTA. «Je fais beaucoup de maintenance générale.»
Shoemaker et sa femme, Wendy, sont mariés depuis deux ans. Elle a commencé à travailler dans la planification chez FCTA plus tôt cette année. Le couple a quatre enfants à eux deux.
Bien qu'il n'ait travaillé qu'un peu plus d'un an à la FCTA, Shoemaker dit que cela a été une bonne période. Il apprécie beaucoup la reconnaissance des autres employés.
"J'apprécie tous les votes et j'espère faire un meilleur travail cette année à venir", a déclaré Shoemaker. "Merci pour tous les votes. Joyeux Noël et bonne année."
Starr est né à Tacoma, Washington, mais a grandi à Winston, Oregon. Lui et sa femme, Michelle, ont quatre enfants – trois filles et un garçon.
Starr a commencé à travailler chez FCTA le 20 juin 2022 en tant que chauffeur. Il conduit toujours pour l'agence, mais est également formateur de chauffeurs chez FCTA. Actuellement, il a formé de nombreux pilotes FCTA les plus récents.
Le natif de la côte Ouest a eu une multitude de carrières tout au long de sa vie d'adulte. Il a dirigé une série de stations de radio et a servi comme EMT. Il a travaillé pendant 14 ans comme producteur, historien du cinéma, chroniqueur de journal et animateur de la plus grande émission hollywoodienne classique du pays intitulée « Starr Talk With Sonny Starr ».
Starr apprécie beaucoup ce prix.
"Cela m'a pris par surprise", a admis Starr. « Je ne m’y attendais vraiment pas. Il y en a tellement qui sont mieux qualifiés que moi. Tout ce que je peux dire, c’est que je suis très reconnaissant pour un tel honneur. Le fait que cela vienne de mes pairs a une signification particulière. Merci beaucoup. Je me souviendrai toujours de ce grand honneur !
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.