When Shenandoah University’s newly wrapped team bus rolled out for its first road trip, heads turned, confetti flew, and the university president, Tracy Fitzsimmons, climbed aboard with pride.
At the wheel was a Varsity Travel driver, Ed, a proud Shenandoah alumnus. The destination: Dayton, Virginia, the school’s original home. And behind the scenes, making it all happen, was Tyler Tummolo, co-owner of Varsity Travel, who had one goal in mind: to ensure the Hornets arrived in a ride as bold and inspiring as the athletes inside it.
“This wasn’t about marketing. I didn’t even put our name on the bus,” Tummolo says. “We wanted to invest in them and show them how much they mean to us. Every time they pull up somewhere, they should feel proud.”
Tummolo and his wife, Kim, who purchased the Winchester, Virginia-based company in 2018, commissioned a full vehicle wrap designed by Shenandoah’s marketing team, produced by Canadian-based Turbo Images, and installed to perfection. The university didn’t pay a dime.
The Temsa TS 45 motorcoach, complete with an ADA wheelchair lift, now turns heads wherever it goes. The wrap showcases the school’s Hornets branding, and its reveal, staged with cold spark pyrotechnics, confetti cannons, and a dramatic vehicle switch, was a campus event. It was captured in this Facebook video.
“My wife and I used to work in theme parks, so we pulled in some of our old entertainment contacts from LEGOLAND Florida to help us make it special,” Tummolo says. “It was a showstopper.”
‘Match that energy’
But the project was about more than flash. For Tummolo, the relationship with Shenandoah is personal. The university is just six minutes from his company’s base, and years ago, its transportation contract belonged to Varsity Travel, then called Schrock Travel. Getting the partnership back after a decade with a competitor felt like coming full circle.
“They’ve been growing fast,” he says of Shenandoah. “They now have 23 athletic teams and nearly double the enrollment of five years ago. They’re doing amazing things, and we wanted to match that energy.”
Athletic Director DeShon Foxx, a former NFL player, played a key role in shaping the bus’s look and feel.
“He had great insight as a former student-athlete,” Tummolo says. “He helped ensure the design reflected the pride and spirit of the team.”
Since unveiling the bus, Tummolo says, Varsity Travel has attracted the interest of at least three other universities, all eager to work with a company that goes the extra mile.
But for him, it’s not about growth for growth’s sake.
“We’ve built a family culture here,” says Tummolo, who brings his 6-year-old daughter to the office in her own Varsity Travel polo. “We let employees bring their kids to work when appropriate, even on trips to places like Hershey Park, if the school allows it. That’s what I love about this business. It’s built on community and relationships.”
Relationships spur growth
Tummolo, a military veteran who got his CDL while serving as military police attached to a transportation company, first discovered the potential of the bus business while managing a whitewater outfitter. School districts started asking him to help with extracurricular trips, and he saw an opportunity.
The company has grown from 8 motorcoaches and 20 employees to 20 coaches, 85 non-CDL vehicles, and 145 employees across three locations. Even during the pandemic, when many transportation companies shut down, Varsity Travel weathered the storm, acquiring assets and clients from two local businesses that didn’t survive.
Tummolo credits much of its success to relationships, like the one it has built with Shenandoah University.
“When we drive through Winchester, people smile, wave, and give us the thumbs-up,” he says. “It’s a small community. A lot of students are local, and their parents and grandparents are alumni. It means something to them that we’re a local company supporting their school.”
As for what’s next?
“We’ll keep showing up for them,” Tummolo says. “Because that’s what this industry is really about, showing up, together.”
