Buckeye Logistics & Transit — the company formed by Brandy Vickers and other longtime van drivers — was ranked as the fifth-best option to transport students experiencing homelessness or diagnosed with special needs by an internal committee at Akron Public Schools.
Still, the group, during a May 27 school board meeting, earned the right to transport approximately 1,400 students during the 2025-26 school year.
The contract capped a years-long period in which Vickers and other van drivers worked to convince district administration and the school board to maintain their decades-long working relationship with APS and the families it serves.
“It means everything to us,” Vickers told Signal Akron. “We’re forever grateful for the board and the decision that they chose to make.”
“Buckeye is the premiere example of entrepreneurs that move in the entrepreneurial spirit,” said Emmanuel Hilton of Bounce Innovation Hub, who shepherded the trio of Vickers, Andrea Morton and Jocalyn Bush as they formed their company.
So how did the transportation professionals with decades of experience serving Akron Public Schools’ most vulnerable students become the school district’s primary vendor?
The answer is a mixture of local support, location, perseverance and relationships.
Why was Vickers’ transportation company ranked fifth?
Akron schools’ transportation department used a 100-point rubric to rank the eight companies vying for the contract to transport students.
The largest factor? Cost.
The second two categories:
- Number of vehicles in use.
- Experience of operating a fleet of 10 or more drivers.
Smartride Global Services of Parma ranked first. It proposed to charge the district $150 per route for routes with five, six or seven students. The per route figure includes morning pickup and afternoon drop offs.
Buckeye Logistics & Transit ranked fifth. The company proposed $220 per route for seven students and $200 per route for six or fewer students. The company also offered to run more than one route per day, at which point the price would decrease to $170 per route for seven students and $150 per route for six or fewer students.
Buckeye company formation assisted by Emmanuel Hilton of Bounce Innovation Hub
Vickers formed Buckeye Logistics & Transit in 2020, though she had no idea then of the events to come.
Last September, when Akron schools issued a request for proposals to move van driver services to one vendor, Vickers, Morton and Bush started working on their bid at Bounce Innovation Hub, an Akron-based nonprofit which serves entrepreneurs, innovators and startups across the region.
Vickers said there were a lot of late nights and early mornings to make sure the work of their bid was done right. Where some vendors have legal teams and staff dedicated to public bids, Buckeye had the three women and Hilton.
Hilton, the hub’s vice president of ecosystem growth, took on their project. He connected them to professional services in the city and ensured their services and bid aligned with district and state policies.
“He was the biggest advocate for us, the biggest help,” Vickers said of Hilton. “He has been tremendous. We probably couldn’t have done everything we’ve done without him.”
For Hilton, taking on this project was personal. His mother drives adults with special needs, so he knows how valuable continuity and relationships are.
Beyond his personal connection, he was impressed with the work Vickers, Morton and Bush put in.
“When you look specifically at Brandy, Andrea and Jocalyn, it’s inspirational,” Hilton told Signal Akron.
Their work was recognized by other independent van drivers, who long pledged to work for the trio if they formed their own company.
Akron school board deliberations
During the May 27 school board meeting, Debra Foulk, the district’s executive director of Business Affairs, recommended the approval of contracts with eight van transportation companies — Buckeye Logistics & Transit is the lone bidder based in Akron; Smartride Global Services is based in Cuyahoga County.
Hiring local companies has regularly proved to be a point of contention for some board members, an issue amplified by public comments from van drivers.
“We created a problem where there was no problem,” board member Gregory Harrison said at the meeting. “… Buckeye Logistics represents the consolidation of our current van drivers.”
Ultimately, the board voted unanimously to amend the business affairs recommendation to make Buckeye Logistics & Transit the primary van driving vendor, with Templeton Transportation the secondary.
“We were excited and happy to get that position,” Vickers told Signal Akron. “I think it was a common sense approach to the solution.”
