Shuttle Van Operator

Job Description

The Shuttle Vans are the key to each team’s success. They will ferry fresh runners to the various Stages along the course, help prepare runners for their portion of the race, and then collect runners after they completed their stages, and return them to Las Vegas.

In order to monitor these vans, we have Shuttle Van Operators for voice communications, and GPS/APRS trackers in order to monitor the travels of each van along the race course.

Shuttle Van Operators should monitor the voice net, and be aware of activities of the other vans supporting their team. You should be ready to answer questions that your driver may have. If you haven't heard what the driver needs, then you should call the Net Control Station (NCS) to try to get your answer or pass your traffic.

Shuttle Van Operators should try to keep their transmissions short and to the point, and remember to leave ample pauses between all transmissions, to allow the Follow Vans to call out their time sensitive messages (One Mile Out, One Minute Out, In the Gate). If you hear a Follow Van make one of their time sensitive callouts, please suspend your transmissions until that van has made their "in the gate" call.

The Net Control Stations (NCS) will consider all Shuttle Van traffic as "routine", and will prioritize it on an "as called" basis. If you think that your traffic is a higher priority, you should advise NCS when you call in, and indicate the nature of the traffic, so that NCS can prioritize it. For example, "Net Control, FBI 2, Urgent Medical, Another teams runner down, approaching stage 9."

Any Emergency and Urgent traffic will always be handled before routine. If you feel that Net Control has forgotten about you for too long (and the channel has been quiet for a few minutes), you can try to remind them gently...
"Net Control, ALCO 4, still standing by"

You will also be expected to watch for some of the Follow Vans of teams competing against your team. You will be told which team numbers to look for. We will want you to advise us how far apart the runners are, and when the observation was made. These "spotting" reports will be considered "low priority" on this net, so making a note of the time will be important.

After each van shift is finished, the van should be returned to Las Vegas and the operator should check in with LV-NCS, and advise that their van is out of service. Do NOT leave your vehicle until you have been relieved by the next shift operator, or the deinstall crew! DO NOT ABANDON THE RADIO EQUIPMENT!