by MaryAnne Block
It takes vision, work and years to grow a legacy. To have that legacy continue to flourish requires more of the same, and Trobec’s Bus Service is doing just that.
Trobec’s Bus Service began in St. Stephen in 1938 when Tony Trobec decided to do something about a problem. The problem was how to get school students from St. Stephen to the Holdingford High School. Thus, a legacy was born with one man, one bus, one dream.
In June, Trobec’s Bus moved to the new 120,000 square-foot bus facility at 618 21st Ave. NE in St. Joseph. This became the new home for the entire Trobec operation. It was a hard decision to leave St. Stephen, which had been so good to Trobec’s throughout the years. But growth demanded the upgrade.
Through the years Tony added his wife, Frances, and later his siblings Tom and Betty to the business as it grew. Adding more buses to handle the growing demand to transport school children in the St. Joseph and St. Cloud area created a problem of where to house the buses. Tony started storing buses overnight in various locations in the 1960s. One such site was south of St. Joseph on the Leo Latzell farm, which is now owned by Leo’s son, Alan.
When Tony and Frances decided to retire, they knew the bus service was in good hands with his brother Tom, and also a fairly new hire, Tim Schubert. Actually, Tim was hired in the 1980s as an 18-year-old tour-bus driver, later becoming a mechanic, then a general manager.
In 2016 Schubert became Tom Trobec’s partner and then Schubert bought into the company in 2020. But before that, in 2009, he and Tom had hired a young girl, Tim’s daughter Bethany, to clean buses. She got her commercial driver’s license at age 19 and began to drive for Trobec’s.
Then in 2015 Tim’s younger daughter Becca joined in a temporary position, helping in the office. Her six-month tenure grew into a full-time job. She also earned a CDL license.
Influenced by Tony, Tim and their dad, the women learned nearly all facets of the business, from the ground up. Tim began to take a back seat to Bethany and Becca leading the bus service. By 2020 he passed the baton to Bethany as the president and to Becca as vice president. He continues to mentor, guide and grow their leadership qualities. At other times, he might be found puttering in the huge new four-bay, eight-bus maintenance temperature-controlled garage. Bethany and Becca choose to drive routes at least once a week.
With the demand continuing to grow for school and tour-bus services, Trobec’s purchased 15 acres in the St. Joseph northwest Industrial Park. There they built the huge facility that houses all 90 of their vehicles. Seventy of those are school buses, with the balance being state-of-the-art tour buses and a few smaller vehicles used for special-needs students. The tour buses have a connected, yet separate, series of bays.
“Safety is our top priority here at Trobec’s,” said President Bethany (Schubert) Bertram. “That means keeping our students, tourists and guests, our drivers and all the employees safe. For that reason, the facility was designed for traffic to go in only one direction. No one is allowed to back up. That prevents possible blind spots.”
“Having all the buses inside the temperature-controlled building eliminates the need to heat up the buses, or scrape ice or snow,” Bertram said. “The diesel fuel buses require about 30 minutes for the coach area to get warmer while the propane buses are toasty warm within five minutes.”
Although the diesel and propane fuel costs are similar, several new propane buses are added to the Trobec fleet each year to make their operation more “green.”
Many of their bus drivers travel quite a distance to drive for Trobec’s, so a spacious drivers’ lounge with amenities is available in the new facility. Once a month the company provides special goodies to please their drivers. Those goodies include hot cocoa and cookies while they wait to go out to finish their routes.
One mechanic, Matt Tupper of Little Falls, has been with the company for five years. He is very pleased with his job and how supportive administration is.
There is a saying that goes like this: “Never despise small beginnings.” Trobec’s is a perfect example of that, starting with one man, one bus, one dream. The Trobec legacy is alive and thriving.
Bethany (Schubert) Bertram (left) is president of Trobec’s Bus Service in St. Joseph. She shares responsibilities with her sister, Becca, who is vice president. The new 120,000 square-foot bus barn reflects their ongoing vision of service with excellence.
Matt Tupper of Little Falls is one of the mechanics at Trobec’s Bus Service. He has been employed for five years and said he is pleased with the new facility in St. Joseph.
