WALLKILL – In a letter to Wallkill Supervisor Frank DenDanto, Supervisor of Transportation Jennifer Crover has recounted a recent audit of the Wallkill Dial-A-Bus conducted by the Public Transportation Safety Board (PTSB) through the NYS Department of Transportation on January 14 and January 22. The inspectors visited the facility in the Town of Warwick, the office in the Town of Wallkill, and the Highway Garage in the Town of Wallkill to perform a review of the operations. Many different areas were covered, including all records, maintenance, Drug Testing Policy, 19A records, accident registry and analysis, bus records, and other documents. During the review, John Sheehan, the state inspector asked many questions and reviewed several files. He also performed a bus maintenance review with the mechanics on their procedures for maintaining the buses. The staff received very good compliments on all procedures, according to Crover. He ensured every aspect is operating as stated in our System Safety Program Plan (SSPP).
During the review, the inspector asked for two different drivers at random to perform their daily pre-trip inspections on their buses. Drivers Betty Pepper and Lisa Klabanoff performed exceptionally. They received very good compliments and Crover said she was told that they were very thorough and he (Sheehan) could tell they knew important details about what they were checking and why.
Dial-A-Bus was commended on the clean records review, including no accidents and all driver records through 19A. Crover told town officials “We were commended on our very clean buses and the fact that they did not have dents, scrapes, etc.”
Crover also said that the inspector spoke very highly of the arrangement that the Town of Warwick and Town of Wallkill have. Since Wallkill is operated through Crover’s office, all-important policies are implemented together for each municipality. This helps in reviews like this to save time.
Of the overall review, Crover said “I take great pride in reviews like these. It is very nice to receive such positive feedback on all the different areas that keep us operating. He commended me on running two big operations as well as I do and stated that he has never reviewed two large operations and had them be flawless!. It was nice to be recognized by PTSB.”
