2008 Woodie Awards
Passenger vans available for Central employees, student organizations
Jason Hamilton
Issue date: 2/9/06 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
Organizations needing transportation may want to consider renting passenger vans from Central's physical plant.
"This program was developed to support the activities on campus," said Robert Rives, Central's assistant director of ARAMARK, a food and facilities management service.
This rental service has been available for about three years, and many campus organizations use the vans for travel. Central's athletic programs use this service to travel from game to game, but the rental service is open to all Central-related groups. There are a few regulations on who can rent and drive the vehicles.
Central employees may rent a vehicle from the physical plant, but students are not allowed to rent unless they are employed by Central and the rental is used to attend a university function. The student worker renting the vehicle must be cleared by the head of their department.
To drive one of the maxi-vans, the renter must take a course through the Missouri Safety Center. The safety awareness course was introduced in 2004 as a safety precaution for any potential drivers. Central adopted the course to teach drivers the proper way to handle emergency situations.
Terry Butler, safety course instructor, said the weight of the vans is higher than the center of gravity, which makes the vehicles top-heavy and prone to tip over in a sharp turn.
Butler also said during a typical accident, the wheels are known to slide off the side of the road, causing the driver to yank the wheel back toward traffic in an attempt to over-correct.
Four 15-passenger maxi-vans and two 25-passenger people movers are available for rent. A commercial driver's license is required to drive a people mover.
If international students need to be picked up from the airport when they first arrive, someone from the international office will rent a van from the physical plant to bring them to campus. The vans are also used to take the international students on ski trips and smaller trips such as shopping at Wal-Mart.
Fraternities and sororities should contact Kelvin Mooney, Central grounds keeper, for clearance to rent a vehicle. Organizations can also pay by the hour to rent a driver provided by the physical plant.
The physical plant is located on the north end of Walton Stadium facing South Street.
"This program was developed to support the activities on campus," said Robert Rives, Central's assistant director of ARAMARK, a food and facilities management service.
This rental service has been available for about three years, and many campus organizations use the vans for travel. Central's athletic programs use this service to travel from game to game, but the rental service is open to all Central-related groups. There are a few regulations on who can rent and drive the vehicles.
Central employees may rent a vehicle from the physical plant, but students are not allowed to rent unless they are employed by Central and the rental is used to attend a university function. The student worker renting the vehicle must be cleared by the head of their department.
To drive one of the maxi-vans, the renter must take a course through the Missouri Safety Center. The safety awareness course was introduced in 2004 as a safety precaution for any potential drivers. Central adopted the course to teach drivers the proper way to handle emergency situations.
Terry Butler, safety course instructor, said the weight of the vans is higher than the center of gravity, which makes the vehicles top-heavy and prone to tip over in a sharp turn.
Butler also said during a typical accident, the wheels are known to slide off the side of the road, causing the driver to yank the wheel back toward traffic in an attempt to over-correct.
Four 15-passenger maxi-vans and two 25-passenger people movers are available for rent. A commercial driver's license is required to drive a people mover.
If international students need to be picked up from the airport when they first arrive, someone from the international office will rent a van from the physical plant to bring them to campus. The vans are also used to take the international students on ski trips and smaller trips such as shopping at Wal-Mart.
Fraternities and sororities should contact Kelvin Mooney, Central grounds keeper, for clearance to rent a vehicle. Organizations can also pay by the hour to rent a driver provided by the physical plant.
The physical plant is located on the north end of Walton Stadium facing South Street.