This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
03/28/2023 11:07 AMIf there is such a thing as the “transportation gene,” it’s been dominant in Melinda Torelli’s family. Before school buses were on the streets of the shoreline, her great-grandfather ran a horse and buggy company in Branford. Horses gave way to buses, and the business was eventually passed down to her father, with the rest of the family lending a hand.
“My father had buses until 1986 or [198]7. He passed of Alzheimer’s, and we had a family meeting because we all worked in the business and decided it was best if we sold…to a private company,” Melinda says.
Melinda worked for that private company until 2006 and then for the company that purchased it next until 2021. She now works as a yard manager for B and B Transportation at its East Haven base, overseeing the arrival and departure of buses, keeping in contact with drivers (many from East Haven), and connecting with the community.
With a brand-new fleet of school buses in their East Haven yard, Melinda is proud of the services that B and B Transportation provides for the town, especially with its mom-and-pop status. She remembers when the company started out with only a single bus in its arsenal. While she was working in the corporate sphere before coming to B and B, she had seen its growth since the late 1980s, now coming to work for them years later.
“I’ve known them through the bus world. Being in the corporate world…I said, ‘I can’t do this anymore. I had it up to here with the corporate world,’” she says.
Having started out originally with a family-owned business herself, Melinda says that services being provided under a mom-and-pop management structure makes for a better way to connect with the community.
“I feel like with a mom-and-pop business, you deal with the community on a more of a community level. The corporations don’t ask for donations; we can’t donate to anything unless it’s one of your driver’s softball team. Corporations don’t do that. We become part of this whole community.”
Melinda’s workload with B and B has changed significantly as well after departing from the corporate world. But that gives her more opportunities to be involved with the people who are providing transportation services with the approximately 50 buses at the East Haven yard. Consider this: when working with her previous larger company, it was not out of the ordinary for her to receive a minimum of 40 emails a day.
“I’m lucky if I get nine a day now,” she says. “So, I spend more time with drivers, running rides. I become more involved in the community: getting to know all the admins at the schools, the secretaries, because you’re dealing with them day-to-day. Getting to know the kids, getting to know the parents. You’re more involved with a smaller business.”
Paramount among her responsibilities is ensuring the safety of the kids who take the buses under her supervision, especially so that every kid in third grade or younger doesn’t get off the bus “without a parent present” at their stop at the end of the school. She also makes sure that all the buses are up and running, “no matter what the weather, what the conditions,” she says.
“If you get snow the night before, and you’re not sure if the school is going to cancel, call in the snow team, get the buses ready to roll, no matter what.”
She said, “it takes hours” for her snow team to clean off the buses after a storm to avoid any dangers from falling snow from a bus’ roof to drivers, but she says she “has a good team for that.”
That doesn’t mean she is totally opposed to some snowy weather every now and then, especially this past season.
“I was really hoping for a couple of good snows. I love the snow, that’s why I live in New England. But it didn’t happen this year.”
Weather, road closures, and other unexpected obstacles are commonly met, but Melinda again says that “no matter what” each unanticipated incident must be overcome.
Other than providing transportation for East Haven Public Schools and their field trips, the buses Melinda looks after also transport people for events such as weddings, and the company participated in a “stuff-a-bus” fundraiser at Stop & Shop during the holiday season. Collaboration with the schools doesn’t end, however, especially when continuing to connect with the community.
“We did an ‘angel tree’ for Julie Church, who is the family resource coordinator for East Haven Public Schools. They gave a list of kids and what their age was, male or female, and what their needs were. And I’ve never seen anything like it,” she says. “It just brought everyone together, and it was just heartwarming to see how this whole team came together for the ‘angel tree,’ for a ‘stuff-a bus.’ So now we’re already looking into what we can do next year for the community.”
Ultimately. Melinda knows that she could not do everything on her own to ensure the safety of East Haven children, keep buses on schedule, and overcome difficult weather patterns. People should also enjoy what they do as well.
“It’s a team effort, and if you don’t have a good time…and it takes a lot to get that good team,” she says. I’ve always felt like I want people to come to work because it’s a happy place. It’s a good place, and they’re secure enough to come and enjoy their job.”