Power Outage, No Access…No Problem!
Fullington’s Resilient Response to a Facility Shutdown
Imagine this scenario: The power goes out at your main office. No phones, no internet. You think to yourself, “Oh, it’s Sunday. No big deal.” But wait, the situation is far from simple. It turns out that multiple utility poles have fallen, along with all the wires—spanning nearly half a mile—and they’re blocking the only entrance to your facility.
But here’s the kicker: This location is also your primary garage. That means you can’t get vehicles in or out. Most of your fleet is already out on the road, with drivers heading back to the base. You can’t access the maintenance bays. There’s no way to wash or dump the motorcoaches. Drivers are stranded—some at the garage, unable to leave due to live wires on the ground, and others stuck in a parking lot about 5 miles away.
So, what do you do? You do what you do best: you act. Fast.
On Sunday, March 16, severe storms swept through Central Pennsylvania, potentially causing significant disruption to Fullington Bus Company’s operations. Despite the challenges, they didn’t let the lack of a functioning facility stop them. They pulled together and made it work. Initially, everyone thought it was just a temporary setback, but it ultimately lasted the entire week. Still, the Fullington team didn’t miss a beat.
The operations team immediately sprang into action. They reached out to partners at Penn State, making quick arrangements to secure parking for the returning buses. Uber was enlisted to transport stranded drivers to local hotels. Work continued late into the night, with the Operations and Sales teams collaborating to develop alternative plans for charters scheduled within the next 12 hours. This triage effort continued into Monday morning and eventually evolved into a more semi-permanent solution.
By Tuesday morning, with additional assistance from the community (including local township officials, emergency management, State College Regional Airport, and more!), the operations team had set up a temporary base at a local hotel. Dispatchers worked from a conference room, and the IT team brought in monitors and printers to get the office running. Cleaners packed their supplies and went directly to the buses, while mechanics grabbed their tools and computers to do the same. The sales team worked from home offices. The drivers, showing incredible flexibility, helped shuttle buses and adjusted to find the right vehicles they needed to drive.
Throughout all of this, the customers were unaware of anything. Everything was running smoothly behind the scenes. The Fullington team demonstrated resilience, teamwork, and quick thinking in the face of adversity.
