Husky motors, the department that provides transport vans to various student groups, recently announced in an email that they no longer plan on utilizing vans in their service. The Lode conducted an interview with Sean Connors, Operations Manager of Transportation Services, to learn more about this announcement.
The current plan is to cease purchasing new vans, but stated in the interview: “continue to utilize the existing vans that we have.”. It is expected that in the next five or so years, transportation services will have eliminated vans from the fleet. During the interview, Connors mentioned “more rules are being put into place as to what we can and can’t do.” He stated that while used similarly to school buses, the vans aren’t built to the same standard, and don’t have technology that buses do to provide an extra layer of safety for passengers.
Several mentions were made to possible legislation coming in the future that would outright ban the use of ten passenger vans for student transport, but Connors was unsure of the specifics. The email that was sent out to all van certified students is consistent with what was discussed in the interview concerning the use of eight-plus passenger vans, “if you have over eight passengers,” Connors stated, “the likelihood of a fatality in an accident or the likelihood of a rollover is over 50% greater than it is with eight or less passengers.” The increased risk is driving insurance costs upward.
Minivans are currently the best alternative, but are manufactured in far fewer numbers than in the past. With the damage these vehicles see on their expeditions to conferences and competitions, and the risk they carry to operate, it is no surprise the email states the vans are becoming “uninsurable”. One van was even stolen in Nashville, where the perpetrators had “spray[ed] primer over the Michigan Tech decals”. Connors commented that recovery of the van came at a large expense.
Considering the rising costs of maintenance and the requirement to buy new vehicles to replace the vans, prices of renting vans will likely increase in the near future. As of publication, the current cost of renting a van is $100 dollars a day, while the cost of renting a minivan is $90 a day.
