Doug Sellers
Fleet Mechanic, Delmarva Power, and IBEW Local 1307 Member

How Did You Get Started with the Company?

In a few months, I will have spent 47 years with the company. I started off in the maintenance department at the Power Plant in Millsboro and transferred to the fleet side of the company in 1981 in Salisbury, Md., and I’ve been here ever since.

Describe your Day-to-Day Responsibilities:
When I first started out with the company, I was a maintenance helper. I would assist the machinists over at the powerplant with anything they needed. When I came to the fleet team at Delmarva Power, my normal day-to-day changed significantly. Now, I come into the shop, and I’m given a list of vehicles that need preventative maintenance performed. This could be anything from changing oil and inspecting aero devices to checking air pressure in tires. I have a lot of pride in ensuring that the vehicles I work on are safe and reliable for our crews.

What’s Been One of the Most Complicated Fixes You’ve Had to Complete?
I had a small bucket truck where the controls didn’t work, and I spent three days trying to fix it.

How Has the Industry Changed in Your Line of Work? 
The industry has changed so much. When I first started, we were doing spark plugs, air filters and tune ups every year. Now with computer controls being integrated into all vehicles, including fleet vehicles including diesel trucks, everything is done with a scan tool.

The new diggers now have sensors and monitors on them, so if you overload the hydraulic system, it sends an email to the supervisors letting them know and requesting maintenance or action be taken.

What’s Your Favorite Thing About Your Job?
I enjoy being around people and I like performing preventative maintenance on the vehicles and equipment we have. I have a good team, and we have a very diverse group from folks. My team is made up of members who can fabricate anything, folks who excel at wiring, others that are great with computers, and more.

What’s Something Most People Don’t Realize about Your Job?

Most people don’t realize what goes on behind the scenes. Every time someone gets into their truck or their vehicle, whether they realize it or not, that vehicle has already been inspected and checked for safety and maintenance on a regular basis. We work on the vehicles in the early mornings or at night to ensure that they’re ready to go the next morning for that crew, ensuring there is no downtime for a truck, so it doesn’t hold up a crew from performing work for customers.

What Drew You to the Organization and What Keeps You Here?
I knew this was a good company to work for and that it has great benefits. My father and my uncle both worked and retired from this company, so I knew I wanted to be here.

Matt Breeding 
Supervisor of Fleet Maintenance, Delmarva Power

How Did You Get Started with the Company?
I started working at a Ford Dealership, and then when I came to Delmarva Power, I started in the Centreville District as a mechanic. I was a mechanic there until 2020, and then I applied for a supervisor of Fleet position, and when I received that job, I transferred to Salisbury and have been here ever since.

What Drew you to Delmarva Power?
We have friends of the family and family members that worked at Delmarva Power, and I always knew it was good place to be, a nice place to work. It was safe, secure, and there are a lot of opportunities to grow.

What Stood Out to You When You First Started with the Company and What Stands Out to You Now?
I love working here, and I had the opportunity to grow within the company. I really like working here because it feels like a family. Everyone knows everyone, a lot of people have met your family and sometimes you get to see them outside of work. There’s a lot of good people here, it’s very family-oriented, and it also stands out to me how long people stay with the company. It’s a place where people want to be, and I enjoy it. I wouldn’t want to work anywhere else.

What Types of Training Do You Need to Take on this Role? 
You need to be certified in the vehicles that make up our fleet. You have to pass an Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) certification, and the organization will pay for it if you pass and will continue to pay for your recertifications every five years.

What’s a Program You’re Especially Proud of that You’ve Worked on?
We have set up a Ford Training Program that I started about three years ago. Our fleet mechanics now have the same training that the Ford Dealership technicians receive. It’s very valuable training and allows us to work on our own vehicles, especially if they’re still under warranty.

What Do You Like about Working in Fleet? 
I really enjoy interacting with people and building relationships with customers, and ensuring they have a good customer interaction. When I was a fleet mechanic in my last role, I enjoyed getting to go out to the jobsites and perform repairs on vehicles, and then getting to know the line crews and understanding the work they do. It helps me do my job. That’s the cool thing about working here as a mechanic, there are so many things you get to do. You could work five days in a row and not do the same thing twice. You could be performing preventative maintenance on an Articulating Non-Overcenter Aerial Device (AN55) one day and then the next day you could be rebuilding a trailer and replacing axels, and the day after that you could be servicing a derrick digger or working on a mobile substation.

What’s One Thing Our Customers Don’t Know that Your Team Does?
We’ll send a mechanic to go with our crews during mutual assistance efforts if they are leaving our system. This way, it ensures our line crews have support while they’re supporting our customers. Before the crews leave, we’ll receive a list of the vehicles that are being deployed to support mutual assistance efforts or storm restoration efforts, and we get mechanics to review all the vehicles before they leave to ensure they’re ready to go, fluids are topped off, and everything is working. When the lineworkers are done working at the end of the day, our mechanics jump into action to check the vehicles to ensure they’re ready to go the following day. That means either checking them in the evening or first thing in the morning before the crews go out again.

How Does Your Department Support Reliability Efforts?
Our fleet department is key to delivering reliable service, even though we’re often behind the scenes. We’re a phone call away — they call if their truck is broken down and we leave ten minutes after we receive the phone call. If we didn’t have that, our crews would be reliant on third-party assistance.