In the world of public transit, transporting passengers safely is any agency’s number one priority.
At C-TRAN, we acknowledge this focus by honoring accident-free operators with Safe Driving Awards for each year of service that they drive without a preventable accident. When you think about the amount of service hours operators clock and the number of days they spend on the road throughout their careers, you begin to understand how huge of an accomplishment this is.
A handful of long-time C-TRAN operators have decades of accident-free driving under their belts. Earlier this year, the two longest-tenured C-VAN operators received Safe Driving Awards for an incredible 25 years of accident-free driving. C-VAN operator Javier Valencia is number one on the seniority list, and Jaime Somosot, who started just a few months after him, is second. Their 25 years of Safe Driving Awards span their entire careers as C-TRAN employees, and don’t even include the time they spent driving for C-VAN when it was provided by an outside company. Both Javier and Jaime started in 1997 working for Dave Transportation, the company C-TRAN contracted with for paratransit service at the time.
We had the pleasure of chatting with Javier and Jaime to learn more about what brought them to C-TRAN and what their experience has been like—including pro safety tips they’ve picked up along the way.
How long have you been driving for C-TRAN?
Javier: Since January, 1997. When I first started doing this job, I actually worked for the other company [Dave Transportation] for a little over two years before I got hired by C-TRAN. … Then, C-TRAN hired us in May of 1999. I started with the other company, but it was the same job before they brought it in-house.
Jaime: Oh my God, 1999? Javier started a few months earlier than me.
What brought you to C-TRAN?
Javier: When I started doing this job, when I read the description of what the job was, I thought, “Oh, that seems like something that would be rewarding to do,” because you’re helping people. We work with the elderly and disabled, so that was kind of why I thought it would be something rewarding—and it has been. I also needed a job. Nobody referred me; I just read the job advertisement. At the time, it was probably still in the newspaper. In ’97, the internet was not the thing yet [laughs].
Jaime: It was something different than I was used to. Hewlett-Packard is where I came from. I was working indoors. It had its perks, but at the same time, I wanted to do something outdoors and something different from that kind of business. I saw an ad in the newspaper from [Dave Transportation], and I said, “You know what? I’ll apply.” And I went in for the interview and I think I pretty much got it that same day.
Did you drive professionally before coming to C-TRAN?
Javier: No, not really. I did drive, but it was the airport. I was fueling aircraft at the airport. I didn’t really go out on the road. I mean, safety was a big thing there, too, because you can’t run into stuff [laughs].
Jaime: No. It’s totally different from what I was used to. After the military [Jaime is a United States Marine Corps Veteran], I came back to the States. My mom got transferred up here, and that’s what brought me up here. She was working for Hewlett-Packard, and she transferred up here. At Hewlett-Packard, I was printing and manufacturing, pretty much inside all day. I always say with C-VAN, it’s the best of both worlds. I’m indoors when it’s inclement, but at the same time, I’m outside enjoying the view. Office with a view. I tell dispatch, “If anybody’s looking for me, I’ll be in my office [laughs].”
All safety tips are important, but are there any in particular that have stuck with you throughout the years?
Javier: You really have to have a defensive mindset. You have to feel like when you’re out there driving, you have a mindset that everybody around you might not be paying attention and that anything can happen. It’s the defensive driving approach—be on guard, be as alert as possible, and take the driving aspect of it really seriously. A lot of things that I see out on the road, you’d just shake your head. You can only imagine. Even if you’re out on the road for twenty minutes on the way home, you might see something. Now multiply that by ten-hour days for 27 years. You’ll see people reading with a book in the steering wheel, their cell phones in front of the steering wheel, and you can see they’re watching videos … I guess I’ve been lucky that I’ve been able to avoid being in an accident, but it’s very challenging, very difficult.
Jaime: Back in the day, when Andrew Hill was my trainer, he was a Grateful Dead drummer-type musician and was like, “You’ve got to rock and roll, man.” The a-pillars are really wide on our C-VANs, so things get hidden behind them. If you move forward and back [“rocking and rolling” in your seat to look for hazards], you can see what’s behind it, which has saved me quite a few times. I share that with other trainees that I’ve trained, and they go, “You know what, Jaime, that rock and roll thing…” which I learned 25 years ago from Andrew, “It really works.” Also, try to be patient and take your time. Do the best you can, but don’t sacrifice … relax and take your time.
What’s your favorite thing about your job?
Javier: Making a difference in people’s lives. With our passengers, you’re making a difference in their lives for the better. They always tell us, “If C-VAN was not here, I don’t know what I would do,” to get to the doctor or store or whatever. Rides are expensive, or people can’t take them places. This area is lucky because some places don’t have paratransit. That’s got to be difficult. Even though it’s our job, at the same time, I think most of us feel like it’s rewarding. We hear it every day. There is almost not a single day where someone doesn’t tell you that they appreciate what you do for them. It’s almost like you’re a social worker, but you’re not. You’re not responsible for them other than getting them from one place to another safely. A lot of the time, though, we do end up going above and beyond. Sometimes, you’re put in situations where you have to use your best judgment on what you should do. We always know that as a driver, dispatch is there to support you.
Jaime: Our employees and our customers. The C-VAN side is different from fixed-route. We have a different clientele, and the majority really appreciate us. I always tell my wife and even our trainees that every day, there will be at least one person who tells you, “Thank you for being here.” It’s like, a lot of jobs, you pretty much go in and do your thing. Not that you need gratification from other people, it’s just nice to hear, “Thank you for being here. Without you, I wouldn’t be able to get my groceries.” Things like that. If you do this long enough, it’s like driving your family and friends around. And we’ll grow old together! From our coworkers to our passengers, we’re getting older together. You know it’s good when you’re working somewhere and time flies. You don’t dread work thinking, “Oh my God, when am I going to retire?” If I can’t do this anymore, physically or mentally, we’ll come to that decision. But until then, it’s like, “What? You’re paying me to do this?” Once you put your time in, this job has a lot of feel-good stuff.
