By: Madison Smalstig
Troy Denson is the maintenance director at MITS and is in charge of keeping track of the records for the fleet of buses, making sure all preventative maintenance programs are upheld, overseeing the mechanics working in the garage, and purchasing and inspecting new buses. He has been working in this position for five years after spending seventeen years at another public transit company in a similar position.
Before Troy became a manager of mechanics, he was a mechanic himself. Working with cars first piqued his interest when he was just a little kid. His grandpa was constantly working on and playing around with cars so Troy also learned a few skills. After a while his interest developed into a hobby, and, eventually, a career. “It’s a knack you get,” said Troy. “I got into it and never left.”
Troy’s hobby for working with cars became a career with his first job as a mechanic. For a period of time, he even worked as a mechanic for race car builder Andy Granatelli but now is in the diesel engine business. Troy enjoys the variety in his job. “It’s something different every day,” said Denson, explaining that he loves problem solving. “Something as simple as the weather can dictate my day. For instance, if we get a bunch of snow, I have to send mechanics out to plow for the buses to navigate the streets.”
Troy, and MITS alike, also work to solve accidents proactively. In order to make the vehicles less prone to breaking down, MITS has continued to make safety, air quality, and fuel economy improvements to their buses. “The idea is to maintain [the bus] so you are servicing it before it breaks down instead of waiting until it is barely working,” said Troy.
Troy’s motto when fixing and proactively stopping these problems is to figure out a solution as quickly as possible. He never truly knows what complications he will encounter from day-to-day, but he always works to make sure that he is putting out a safe clean bus for anyone who wishes to ride with MITS.