Local Jobs - job08

POSTED: Saturday, Oct. 18, 2008

TRANSPORTATION: Shuttle service attracting more attention

Find someone who is fully licensed with a spotless driving record and you've got the perfect person to wheel a bus to Sea-Tac Airport. Right?

Not quite, say administrators at Bellair/Airporter Shuttle. Some people with good driving habits and experience last only a short time before they realize there's more to the job than a safe trip, the No. 1 priority.

Drivers have schedules to maintain, routines to master, heavy bags to lift and different passengers to satisfy every day, many with distinctive demands.

"You need good customer-service, savvy people," says Amy Klander, Airporter Shuttle's human resource manager. "People with a professional approach and a flexible nature."

Most turnover among drivers comes in the first year, she says. "If they make it past the first year, they often will stay quite a while."

Dispatchers, who monitor the trips up and down the Interstate 5 corridor, have challenging duties as well, often facing situations that demand quick thinking and decisiveness under pressure.

Richard Johnson, the Ferndale company's president and owner, says dispatchers need "an analytical approach to life. They need to picture things in their head."

Airporter carries 130,000 riders a year, with loads increasing 5 to 7 percent the past two years and 12 to 15 percent in the most recent quarter.

More travelers are keeping their cars at home.

"The spike in gas prices is a huge factor," Johnson says. "My question now: Will it continue?"

The company instituted a fuel charge about five years ago, which has risen from 25 cents to $4 round trip on most routes. That's reflective of the gas hike, says Johnson, who says the business is paying $250,000 more a year in fuel than two years ago.

Johnson bought the company in 2006 from Larry Wickkiser, who started it in 1985 with his father by running two vehicles. Now 53 are on the go, including 25 coaches.

Job growth has been steady, with the number of drivers rising to more than 40. The 80-person work force includes mechanics, a detail crew, a marketing and sales department, reservationists and an office staff.

All the frontline departments received wage increases the last two years, Klander says.

Full-time drivers can make up to $700-750 weekly in wages and tips while mechanics earn $15 to $23 per hour. Detailers usually start at $9 an hour, dispatchers around $12 and reservation agents $9.25.

"Our preference is to hire the attitude and train the skills," Johnson says. "We like that energetic, positive-attitude person rather someone who's a know-it-all."

The company also values workers who can adjust to a variety of circumstances, some of which don't fit neatly into the rules box, and keep their calm.

"If you're a really rigid person, or derail when something goes awry," Klander says, "you're probably not going to be comfortable here."

Bob Carter is a White Rock, B.C., freelance writer and former editor for The Bellingham Herald.