Fleet Maintenance Superintendent Phil Brienza Jr. keeps Lewiston's vehicles on the road

Phil Brienza Jr., the superintendent of fleet operations for Lewiston Public Works, is at the Lewiston garage on Saturday. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

LEWISTON – He’s a mechanic by trade who now oversees a multi-million dollar collection of backhoes, trucks, snowplows, police and fire vehicles, buses, vans and miscellaneous equipment.

For Phil Brienza Jr., that also means running the municipal garage at 103 Adams Ave., training employees on specialized equipment like cranes, overseeing a staff of mechanics, reviewing vehicle specifications and purchases, and teams and acts as security security for the city. official, among other functions, how to help their mechanics solve problems and find a solution.

But as the first snow flies, Brienza focuses on the snow plows and crews that keep the roads clear and navigable. “We’re busy all year round, but this is probably the worst,” he said.

Trucks take a beating.

“In the winter, they could run 15, 20, 30 hours (at a time) because they are plows,” he explained.

Attach a 22-foot plow and a load of sand and salt, Brienza says, and it takes a lot of effort to push the rig down the road. And then there’s the highly corrosive stuff they use to melt the snow and ice off the roads.

“We have to replace the transmission bolts,” he said, referring to the city’s trucks that double as snow plows. “How often do you replace your transmission bolts? Never.”

If it’s so corrosive, why use it, you might ask? “It might be corrosive, but everybody wants black streets,” he quickly replies. “They don’t want ice.”

It also creates big problems for the Department of Public Works. Trucks must be washed constantly, a process that takes several hours per vehicle, which involves taking it offline. Then it snows again and the process starts all over again.

What the public doesn’t realize, Brienza says, is that salt and de-icing fluid is why they buy trucks with mirrors and stainless steel steps. Yes, they cost more up front, but stainless steel resists corrosion much better than regular steel and saves money on replacement costs. These are the issues that Brienza has to make decisions every day.

As a supervisor, Brienza faces the same problems as most companies these days, finding enough qualified people to fill open positions. “The people applying are not really qualified,” he said.

“A lot of people we’re hiring don’t have a commercial driver’s license, but we have to train them and get them licensed,” Brienza explained. “And then we have to train them how to drive a big truck. If you’ve never driven anything but a Honda, that’s a big change.”

Brienza says technology that’s supposed to make everything easier to maintain and run more efficiently can cause problems. “It’s triage right now,” he said, referring to keeping up with technology and the myriad of jobs.

Phil Brienza, superintendent of fleet operations for Lewiston Public Works, works on a truck at the shop on Adams Avenue on Saturday. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

“The biggest problem with the new technology is emissions,” explained Brienza. “If you took out all the electronics and could run that way, it would be a lot easier.”

Some of the trucks have multiple computers on board, which increases the complexity of finding and fixing problems. “It’s like detective work,” Brienza said. “The outside world is charging two or three times more per hour than it costs us to do with the vehicle.”

Brienza is a practical person and has the respect of her staff. “He’s a very knowledgeable guy when it comes to trucks and equipment,” said Cody Pleau, a mechanical supervisor, when asked about his boss. “He always comes into work with a good attitude.”

“Phil is a very patient and understanding guy, even when it comes to people learning new things,” Pleau added. “He is willing to adapt to everyone’s needs.”

Brienza came to Lewiston 19 years ago, after working for 21 years at a Massachusetts power company. He and his wife would travel to Maine by snowmobile in the winter and buy land in Poland near Range Pond. Deregulation of the energy market provided an opportunity to move to Maine and build a home on their land.

“I’ve always had two jobs,” he said. “I’ve been a mechanic all my life. I have worked for construction companies; I have built gas stations; car wash I always had two jobs growing up and all that. You know, here, as I say, I’m the president of the snowmobile club. I am a high school coach at the regional high school in Poland.”

He admits that he doesn’t like having nothing to do.

He is always playing, helping neighbors or friends, or working with teenagers. “He really enjoys helping the kids on the track team he coaches,” Pleau said. “You can tell he’s proud when he talks about how well the kids are doing.”

Brienza’s son also works in Public Works in the electrical department, so emails are sometimes misdirected. The younger Brienza is called “junior” and not the more formal Phil Brienza III.

“It started when I was in high school mowing lawns during the summer,” Brienza said. His son went to college and studied electrical technology and worked in the water department.

Brienza says she doesn’t really have a “bucket list” of things she wants to do. But it’s very clear that he really likes to go snowmobiling and riding on four wheels. “I like riding the mountain trails, or whatever, and the beauty you see from up there and the animals you come across.”

His wife, however, commented to him one day that they never see wildlife on the trails.

“Then I said, ‘You take so long to get ready in the morning, that’s why you don’t see any wildlife.'” So we go out, going down this trail — there’s a corner and a train track and we go up a hill. When we got through that cut, and this elk was on the hill, we spooked him, and we almost shot him from behind,” he explained.

A group of four-wheelers coming the other way spooked the moose, who turned back towards them. After that, some confusion and excitement, until finally the moose gave in and ended the close encounter.

“And we’re, like, in the middle of everything, and finally he goes up the hill into the woods and runs away. I’m like, ‘Have you seen enough wildlife today?’

Brienza says his wife no longer complains about not seeing wildlife.

It is a distraction that he likes and that allows him to escape from the demanding job of managing the city’s fleet of vehicles and machinery, where there is constant work, problems to solve and calls to attend to.

“Sometimes he can be a little forgetful,” explains Pleau, “like when he forgets his phone at home, which makes it really hard to get in touch with him. He’s generally a great guy to work with and with who. “