MCI transit pros get a handle on big fleets

Helping an operator take care of a five-coach fleet is one thing. Helping take care of 500 coaches is quite another matter. Like MCI's private customers, MCI's public sector customers — be they small, mid-sized or large — often turn to Fleet Support for their parts and warranty needs, but the process is much more complex.

"In the private sector, fleet support managers can close a parts order right away. In the public sector, things go through a bid process," says Dan Besserer, director of Public Sector Fleet Support. Besserer also leads Fleet Support Managers Bob Strangway and Jamie Cressman as well as product support specialists who tend to technical matters.

Like all fleet support managers, Besserer and his team travel a lot. But unlike their private-sector counterparts, they may end up staying with their customers for much longer periods of time, prepping large deliveries and resolving new-coach and customer-service issues. Besserer points to his 18-month stint at New York City MTA, which has taken delivery of more than 500 MCI coaches.

"It helps that MCI delivers a good product off the line," says Besserer. "It makes our job easier."

Besserer, who has more than 30 years of coach-industry experience, much of it on the customer side, says a lot of new-coach issues come down to training, which MCI is happy to provide to customers. The ultimate payoff is when good fleet support leads to new coach orders — which in the case of transit customers, can amount to big business.

Still, says Besserer, even the biggest agencies appreciate a personal touch. Says Besserer, "We come with our own special team at MCI, and we work well together. We're very hands-on, and we get in there and do it."

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