Our fleet of more than 320 vehicles, ranging from sedans to CDL buses, with a mix of both ambulatory and wheelchair accessible vehicles, enables us to provide the highest level of service for Human Services Transportation (HST), Demand Response (DR) Transportation, Fixed Route (FR) Transportation, and other specialized transportation for a variety of municipalities, groups and agencies. At Kiessling, we put our family name on every vehicle because we are genuinely proud of the quality product we provide and the honesty, transparency, and integrity with which we run our business.
Every Kiessling vehicle is inspected on-site by our partner and mobile inspection company, Onsite Inspections, at our own maintenance facility. Working with Onsite has cut down on a number of maintenance-related costs by allowing for on-the-spot repairs and immediate re-testing of vehicles. This relationship has also reduced vehicle miles, gas consumption, wear-and-tear expenses and payroll costs. All are savings that we gladly pass along to our customers.
At Kiessling, we remain ever-committed to investing in the most innovative technologies for our vehicles in order to provide safer and more effective service to all our partners, customers and passengers.
Below is more specific information on each vehicle in our fleet. We feel these details are important to share so that all our clients can feel confident we are consistently putting the safest vans, buses, and sedans on the road.
All our vehicles share the same state-of-the-art features and meet the highest safety standards in the industry, including:
Modern Verizon PTT (Push-To-Talk) Handheld Units use a 3\4G cellular connection and integrated Verizon app to deliver communication between our drivers in the field and our operations staff at the corporate office.
Samsung Galaxy Tablets run a secure transportation application designed by HBSS which has features such as pickup and drop-off information, real-time and archived data for all trips, and a messaging feature that allows for instant communication regarding manifest changes, weather alerts, accident reporting, traffic information, and more.
DriveCam Onboard Cameras capture real-time video from the field, giving us the capability to determine the cause of an accident, whom may be at fault, accurate time and place data, speed, and many additional important factors.
All our vehicles share the same state-of-the-art features and meet the highest safety standards in the industry, including:
KTI owns 12 eco-conscious Ford Fusion vehicles which make up our passenger sedan fleet. We use these versatile, economical and safe vehicles for a variety of transit services such as airport runs, single trip HST/Paratransit transport for adults, 7D (school) transportation, and small group travel. A Kiessling sedan is the perfect vehicle for the student who wants a private car to Logan airport as well as for the adult client who requires ride-alone transportation for any reason. Our company has chosen to work, almost exclusively, with Ford Motors to supply our vehicles. This continuity has enabled our mechanics to become experts on maintenance, repair, and parts replacement for our sedans and all our vehicles.
Our 27 Dodge Caravan minivans have a strong safety record, high comfort level, excellent durability, and many additional customizable features, all which make these vehicles an optimal option for serving the needs of our customers and passengers. KTI’s minivans are primarily used for ambulatory (non-wheelchair) passengers who need demand response service. Like the passenger sedans, minivans are suitable for door-to-door services, scheduled pick up and drop off, and return home trips such as airport shuttling and transporting adults to and from daytime programs.
The 83 Ford Transit Passenger Vans in our fleet are Kiessling’s largest available non-wheelchair vans. If your organization serves a larger group of people, then these passenger vans are likely going to be the most effective and efficient transportation option. While a route might be slightly longer because there may be more pickups, you will find that the cost-savings can be significant when you use one passenger van as opposed to splitting your party into two minivans. In addition, KTI’s passenger vans are customized to meet the needs of almost any clientele. Unique specifications include a raised roof which increases headroom and allows drivers and passengers to easily walk upright in the vehicle, a center aisle for maneuverability from the front of the vehicle to the back, and risers to assist with vehicle entry. These are enhancements that go a long way in making the ride comfortable, safe, and stress-free for all passengers. While primarily used for HST/Paratransit services, our Ford Transit Passenger Vans are also popular choices for any type of larger group transportation needs, such as away game travel for a middle or high school sports team or a destination corporate event.
Our 21 Ford Eco Cutaway Wheelchair Vans have a variety of configuration possibilities. So, while this section of our fleet is used primary for paratransit services, these vehicles are also excellent for 7D (school) transportation, shuttle services, and larger private parties. For ideal comfort, we recommend maximum capacity at 12 ambulatory (non-wheelchair) passengers or three wheelchair passengers with two ride-along passengers. There are many attributes that make this van adaptable to a customer’s and passenger’s specific needs, including the flip-down seating option. When not in use, seats are folded up against the side of the van to provide room for wheelchairs. Like our passenger vans, we put a lot of customization into our wheelchair vans in order to meet the needs of our unique clientele. Working with our partner, National Van Builders, we can add adaptations to the Ford Cutaway, such as a Braun side wheelchair lift, modular flooring, additional heat/AC venting, raised roofs, extended wheelbases, and a spacious center aisle for ease of movement. The attention that we give to retrofitting our wheelchair vans ensures a safe boarding, travel, and exiting process for all passengers.
At Kiessling Transit, we own one of the nation’s most unique and innovative fleet of large wheelchair vans. Of our 92 Ford Eco Cutaway Large Wheelchair Vans, 72 are equipped with LightningHybrid Technology, a hydraulic hybrid energy recovery system designed for medium-sized and large urban vehicles, which saves fuel and reduces harmful emissions. This technology is an after-market installation that takes place at our corporate office location in Norfolk, MA. In collaboration with our partner, Lightning Systems, and their highly skilled technicians and engineers, we ensure that the system functions correctly and is tuned optimally to give the best performance and experience for our customers and passengers. All of our large wheelchair vans can hold up to 14 ambulatory (non-wheelchair) passengers and as many as six wheelchair passengers, depending on the type of wheelchair. It’s important to note that larger, motorized wheelchairs may limit capacity to fewer than six wheelchairs per van. Due to the size of these vans, they are used primarily for fixed route paratransit services, as well as 7D (school) transportation, shuttle services, and private parties.
Over the course of the 13 years that Jon has been with Kiessling Transit, he has held many roles and taken on a variety of responsibilities. Essentially, Jon’s path has paralleled the trajectory of the company. As Kiessling Transit has transformed and grown in the past decade into a leader within the transportation industry, so too has Jon developed from an IT professional and office administrator at the company to a key executive of the organization.
Jon is both a longtime friend and employee of the Kiesslings, having joined the company in 2004. At the time of his hiring, Kiessling was entering into a new MBTA RIDE contract that required a fully dedicated IT person to manage all facets of the company’s technical infrastructure, systems and support. The Kiesslings hired Jon for this critical role for many reasons, including his expert problem-solving skills, his ability to effectively streamline business practices, and, most important, his collaborative and easygoing demeanor. During Kiessling’s contract management of the MBTA’s THE RIDE services on the South Shore, Jon was solely responsible for managing the Wide Area Network (WAN) installation connecting Kiessling’s Norfolk location with the MBTA’s 10 Park Plaza offices in downtown Boston. Jon has also successfully led a number of company projects, with a heavy emphasis on software migrations of multiple company on-premise systems ranging from Microsoft Exchange/Office365 to cloud based Payroll/HR solutions, many which trimmed annual company IT costs significantly.
Today, as Vice President of Operations, Jon works in lockstep with the Kiessling owners, Lars and Roger, and, with great attention to detail, he oversees all the day-to-day operations at the company. His responsibilities include investigating, recommending, installing and upgrading all company software and reviewing company backups of all databases. Jon’s quick thinking and response time, as well as his proactive IT planning, mean that equipment downtime and other operational issues are kept to a minimum.
It’s truly exciting to see the impact that my team and I have had on improving the practices and processes at Kiessling and at our partner companies. Our goal is always to go above and beyond to help our clients accomplish their desired goals. I look forward to helping you make positive changes at your place of business and a genuine difference in the lives of the people you employ and serve.
Before joining the Kiessling team, Jon was already an accomplished manager, operating internal IT departments and new system rollouts. He has held technical roles at a variety of Massachusetts-based companies, including serving as a systems administrator in the IT departments of both Centra Software Inc. (now SABA Software), in Lexington, MA, and TJX Companies in Framingham, MA. He was also a technical recruiter at Judge.com, previously located in Needham, MA.
Jon grew up in Walpole, MA and now lives close by in Wrentham, MA. He earned a Management Information Systems degree from Salve Regina University in 2000.
While leading the operations team at Kiessling is a consuming job, Jon makes sure to build in time for his family, friends and sports. He devotedly coaches his sons’ athletic teams and loves the opportunity this gives him to watch them grow on many different levels. Jon’s other favorite pastimes include attending concerts and Patriots games, enjoying local restaurants, and playing many, many rounds of terrible golf!
In late 2011, the rising cost of fuel combined with a broader understanding of the dangers of vehicle emissions, led Kiessling to initiate a search for more environmentally-friendly alternatives. Our management team set out to find a solution and uncovered an innovative hybrid product from Lightning Systems, a Colorado-based hybrid technology developer.
Lightning Systems designs and manufactures the hydraulic hybrid Energy Recovery System (ERS) for medium- and heavy-duty fleet vehicles. This groundbreaking technology provides fuel efficiency by regenerating braking energy, provides safer braking and more power for acceleration, and decreases greenhouse gas emissions. The ERS does not have any batteries; instead, the system safely and efficiently stores energy mechanically in composite hydraulic accumulators, which are a fraction of the cost and weight of batteries. ERS can be installed on new vehicles as well as retrofitted on vehicles already in service.
In 2013, Kiessling and Lightning Systems joined forces to pilot a program that would test this innovative hybrid vehicle system in cutaway large wheelchair vans. Since vehicles with LightningHybrid Technology produce half of the NOx emissions and 25 percent fewer CO2 emissions compared to vehicles without the company’s system, the vans in this program provided an immediate positive impact on the environment, including:
Approximately 25% decrease in fuel use
Longer brake life
Better low-end torque
Lower maintenance and operational costs
Kiessling Transit currently operates 72 cutaway large wheelchair vans using the LightningHybrid system, which is the largest fleet of its type in the entire world. We are proud to be setting a national standard for innovative hybrid vehicle technology and we will continue to explore ways to reduce our fleet’s carbon footprint.