Employee Spotlight: September 2022

Shuttle Driver, Ron Tickle

This month’s employee spotlight is our Shuttle Driver, Ron Tickle. In addition to being Wake’s longest-tenured driver, he has also set the record for driving over 300,000 miles in a WFU vehicle without any accidents over the past 12 years.

To celebrate all of Ron’s achievements, we asked him a few questions about his time at Wake in Transportation & Parking Services.

Tell us more about your role and background.

I started driving a truck in august of 1983 hauling petroleum products. I did that until October of 2000 when took a job dispatching trucks at night along with driving part-time during the mornings. I’ve been associated with transportation for 39 years.

What made you apply for the Transportation position at Wake?

When the economy took a downturn in 2008 the trucking industry started slowing down and I got laid off in 2009. I ran across a posting for a shuttle driver here at Wake Forest and applied and was hired in January 2010. This is much better than trucking!!

What’s a highlight from your years of service?

What I consider a highlight is all the people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting.

What is your favorite part about your job? What excites you most?

My favorite part of the job is the work atmosphere and seeing just what some of the students I’ve transported over the years have achieved. That’s exciting.

What do you see as the biggest accomplishment during your years of service?

My biggest accomplishment is finding a great place like Wake Forest to work.

What is your favorite hobby or activity to do outside of work?

My hobby away from work is large format film photography. It’s the same technology as what was used in the 1800s just with better lenses and film. As I say, this type of photography is a fickle mistress but it certainly is fun. I also do medium format film photography along with a little digital.

Thank you Ron for all your hard work and for keeping our students safe on the roads! We are so lucky to have you on our team!