From Bus Driver to Company CEO
The success story of Magda Dimmendaal
By Thomas G. Dolan, School Transportation News, March 2004

"My introduction to the bus business began as a fluke," recalled Magda Dimmendaal, CEO of the Dousman, Wis.-based Dousman Transport Company, Inc.

She recalls that in 1973, when as president of a local community club that was storing auction items at the facilities of Dousman Transport, she was invited by a driver/trainer to come along for the ride. "A few miles down the road he told me to get behind the wheel," Dimmendaal said. "I said, 'I'm just along for the ride.' He said, 'There is no free ride.' I said, 'I don't know what this third pedal is for.' He said, 'That's what I'm here to teach you.'"

"it was a tough drive with lots of jerks and stops," she recalled. "I learned the third pedal was the clutch."

One thing led to another and before long she became a part-time school bus driver. It gave her a chance to earn some extra money to visit her native Netherlands, from which she emigrated in 1963. When she returned home to Wisconsin, like many moms in those years, she found that her driving schedule did not interfere with her care of her two school age children.

After driving a bus for three years she was asked to become a driver trainer, then moved up to dispatcher, manager and vice president, taking over more and more of the running of the business, including negotiating contracts, as the former owner was phasing out.

Her entrepreneurship began to assert itself in 1988. In October of that year, 15 years after first stepping into a school bus, with a combination of an SBA loan, financing from the former owner, and a second mortgage on her home, Dimmendaal purchased the business.

Dimmendaal's first contract was with the 90 square mile Kettle Moraine School District. THe company now transports 4200 children in this district. Her second contract was for special needs children in the 150 square mile Mukwonago School District, also in 1988. The company now transports 500 special ed and elementary students for this district.

Shortly before Thanksgiving, 1996, the neighboring 120 square mile Arrowhead Area Schools "asked us to bid on their contract because they were not happy with the service they were receiving from another contractor," said Dimmendaal. She was awarded the contract to start providing service for the 1997-98 school year, a week later. The same day the contract was awarded, her right hand person had a massive heart attack and died. "I had nine months to find the land, build the terminal, and buy a fleet of 40 buses," Dimmendaal recalled. Routes more than doubled, from 29 to 68.

The company now transports 5000 Arrowhead students. It also has a few smaller auxiliary routes. These three districts are contiguous to each other in Waukesha County, the fastest growing county in Wisconsin.

Altogether, based on Wisconsin's 180-day school year, Dousman Transportation provides an estimated 3.7 million student rides in Waukesha County annually.

The oldest bus in her company's fleet is a 1993 model, and the oldest regular route bus is a 1996 model. The average age of the fleet is five years old. Dousman's fleet of 104 buses consists of one 72-passenger Type C, 88 large Type D buses, and 17 buses dedicated to special needs transportation. Of these, 11 are wheelchair equipped. The fleet is 90 percent Thomas and 10 percent Blue Bird. THe company has three terminals and 120 employees.

As a former driver, Dimmendaal has an acute sensitivity to driver needs and comfort. "We spec buses so they are driver friendly," she said, "even though they may cost a little more." THe buses have a full acoustical headliner, inside public address system, automatic rather than standard transmission, adjustable driver's seat and steering wheel, transit rather than conventional style for better visibility and maneuverability, and flip switch rather than manual doors.

Drivers are given recognition through gestures such as taking them out on their birthday for breakfast and given a morning or afternoon off, an annual safety award banquet, turkey certificates at Thanksgiving and gifts at Christmas, as well as working with administrators so school children and staff can interact with drivers on the annual school bus driver appreciation day. As a result, the average tenure of the company's school bus drivers is nine years. "We are blessed with an excellent workforce," she said. "No adversarial relationships here."

Dimmendaal has emerged as an industry leader. She's got finished two years as president of the Wisconsin School Bus Association, having been vice president two years before that. She is currently a member of the safety committee for the National School Transportation Association and has a seat on the association's board of directors. She applauds the organization "for letting us accomplish much more as a group than we could ever do on our own." Ever civic minded, Dimmendaal has served as officer in the local chamber of commerce, Rotary Club, and other community efforts.

When asked the secret of her success in the school bus business, company president Rob Nelson replied, "She has the gift of talk. She can turn around situations that look terrible because of her people skills and knack of communication. And it doesn't matter whether she is dealing with parents or drivers. And the drivers really respect that. In fact there is a lot of respect back and forth between Magda and the employees."

This is not a profession I had ever planned to go into," Dimmendaal said, "but it's given me a tremendous amount of fulfillment and I've never had a day go I've not been eager to go to work."