Several years ago, the U.S. DOT Volpe Transportation Center in Cambridge, MA conducted a study of fires in motorcoaches to try to assess the scope of the problem. Their findings were startling. Since 1996, we have seen a steady annual increase in the number of fires in motorcoaches to the point where we are currently being reported at one fire every two days. Many of these fires are not significant from a loss perspective and none in the U.S., apart for the Wilmer tragedy, have caused a loss of life or significant injury.

However, ABA and the Bus Industry Safety Council are taking this growing problem very seriously. We have been working jointly with our partners in safety at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration over the past number of years and have developed both in-depth passenger safety briefing materials and industry emergency motorcoach fire escape recommendations.

ABA was an honorary sponsor at the first-ever international “FIVE – Fires in Vehicles Conference,” held in Gothenburg, Sweden a few weeks ago. I attended the meeting, which was hosted by the SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden, a part of the Swedish government. The conference was a tremendous success, with delegates representing more than 200 of the world’s leading vehicle fire safety experts from more than 20 countries.

Topics of discussion and presentations focused fire statistics and insurance issues; fire development in vehicles; electric, hydrogen, hybrid vehicles and other alternative power source risks; incident management and case studies; heat source and fire detection and suppression in vehicles; and the current and future state of legislation, regulations and standards.

Bus fires

While the purpose of the gathering was to study causation factors and fire mitigation strategies for all types of surface transportation vehicles, the predominant theme throughout focused on bus fires. Losses of buses due to fire appear to mirror the U.S. DOT Volpe finding on a worldwide basis. Conference presenters underscored the urgency of addressing this issue before loss of life or injuries increase. A number of the presenters made a case for international vehicle fire safety standards, pointedly stating their belief in the inadequacy of the current vehicle materials burn test standard. The current standard apparently does not test surfaces that may burn vertically and does not consider smoke toxicity. These are believed to be key factors required for slowing a fire and reducing occupant risk once ignition occurs.

There was absolute agreement by all parties on the need for the early detection of high heat conditions that can ignite a fire. This is where technology will undoubtedly come to the forefront, but the question remains: what technology? So, the underlying approach is that came out of this first conference was:

• Fire harden the vehicle during construction through the use of fire resistant materials with, if possible, low combustion toxicity
• Install heat sensing devices in key ignition and fire migration points
• Increase maintenance inspections on areas and components with a known history of fire causation
• Continue advancement towards improved fire suppression systems and install them on new vehicles as they are introduced into the marketplace
• Move quickly through both legislative and regulatory means to develop a single set of international fire safety standards for conventionally fueled and alternatively-powered vehicles.

The FIVE conferences will be held ever two years from this point forward. The next conference is being planned for September 2012 in Chicago. Anyone in the industry interested in eliminating the deadly danger that fires in all types of vehicles present to the traveling public should attend. For further information on the past FIVE conferences or the 2012 event, please email me at nlittler@buses.org.

Norm Littler is ABA’s  Vice President, Regulatory & Industry Affairs; Executive Director, Bus Industry Safety Council (BISC)

S. 554 will likely come before the Senate in the “lame duck” session which begins November 15. While the bill claims to enhance motorcoach safety, in reality it is a bad bill that can’t be made right. The industry was not asked to provide any input to the bill.  It must not be passed by the Senate during the lame duck session.

S. 554 ignores the fact that the motorcoach industry is in favor of greater safety in the industry. The industry and its association, the American Bus Association, worked with NHSTA on the agency’s proposal for lap/shoulder belts on motorcoaches. NHTSA’s regulatory proposal (NHTSA -2010-0112) is the first of several motorcoach safety issues NHTSA has listed for research (e.g. roof strength standards, emergency egress, fire suppression and prevention).  Indeed, it is fair to say that S. 554 is unnecessary in view of NHTSA’s research and regulations, as well as harmful to small business. S. 554 requires the imposition of its safety mandates (and there are 14 of them) in an accelerated time frame without scientific research. This rush to establish rules without proper analysis could make motorcoaches less safe rather than more so.

The bill would also subject motorcoach operators complying with the mandates to private law suits for failure to move as expeditiously as plaintiffs’ attorneys deem necessary and does not prevent States from enacting inconsistent safety standards forcing operators to choose the States in which they wish to operate.

S. 554’s safety mandates will each cost the industry billions of dollars. NHTSA estimates that the seat belt rulemaking alone will cost the industry up to $40,000 per vehicle (see 75 Fed. Reg. 50958, 50979) or $1.5 billion for the entire fleet.

The private motorcoach industry, which is largely a small business industry, provides all manner of transportation services to the nation. The majority of operators have fewer than 10 employees and seven coaches. The industry provides 762 million passenger trips annually and operates largely without any subsidy.

The private motorcoach industry is safety conscious. The industry does support a true safety bill, H.R. 1135, introduced on a bipartisan basis by several members of the House of Representatives. H.R. 1135 has all of the provisions S. 554 lacks, including a reasonable, workable time line in which all of the safety mandates in S. 554 can be enacted by the federal government, motorcoach manufacturers and operators.

It is fair to say that if S. 554 is passed that many operators will be forced to close their doors or drastically curtail service. It is also fair to say that this bill will do little to enhance safety.

Please write, call or email your Senators. Tell your elected officials that S. 554 is a bad bill that cannot enhance safety and must be rejected.

Clyde Hart is Senior Vice President for Government Affairs & Policy at the American Bus Association.

Retaining capable bus and coach drivers has always been a major challenge for motorcoach operators. In today’s travel market, however, retaining safe and qualified drivers is no longer enough. The most competent drivers also serve efficiently and effectively as safety experts, schedulers, technicians, ticket-takers, baggage handlers and customer service representatives.

Motorcoach drivers have always been responsible for balancing their duties as a one-person crew, fulfilling by themselves the many tasks for which airline flight crews have separate staff.

But the travel mode shift away from planes, trains and automobiles toward coaches has added to the driver’s lengthy list of duties the role of company ambassador. Passengers may never see a coach company CEO. In many instances, the only personal, face-to-face contact passengers will have with a bus company will be with the driver. In that sense, your driver is the public face of your company.

That means many of the frustrated travelers abandoning other travel modes because of hassles, price, delays, cancellations and baggage fees may be trying the motorcoach option with your company for the first time. So getting safe, conscientious, and customer-centric drivers is more important than ever. Even the most upscale amenities on a motorcoach could potentially be remembered less vividly, and make less of a lasting impression, than its driver’s demeanor.

Business management experts refer to this phenomenon as “primacy and recency.” Customers will always remember their primary personal experience with any business, as well as their most recent experience with it, to form their lasting impression of that business.

In the motorcoach, tourism and group travel industry, any customer’s primary contact is almost universally with the driver. And their most recent contact – the last interaction with a company employee once they reach their destinations – is with that driver.

Eron Shosteck is senior vice president of communications at American Bus Association in Washington, D.C.

By Eron Shosteck

Close cooperation and open communications between American and Canadian members of the motorcoach, tour and travel industries are more important today than ever as people slowly start traveling again for leisure across all regions of North America.

As the recession recedes and travelers resume taking summer vacations, they will likely start by taking more affordable trips closer to home. Instead of jetting to Paris, they’ll climb aboard a motorcoach tour to Quebec City, the only walled city in North America, as an alternative destination. Quebec City offers more than four centuries of historical attractions. The city is a dead ringer for Paris — minus the Eiffel Tower.

Border crossing issues, therefore, are going to be increasingly an area of focus for operators – especially when you add in the new document requirements resulting from the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) and post 9/11 security issues. This is such a critical issue that a study about the effects of the terrorist attacks is underway to gauge the extent to which U.S.-Canadian border security measures have made crossings harder, possibly hurting tourism.

Decline in volume of vehicles

The Binational Economic and Tourism Alliance study is aimed at determining if increased security measures have caused the drop in activity in the Niagara Region and, if so, what measures can be taken to make the crossing easier while keeping the border secure. Since the attacks, there’s been a decline in the volume of vehicles crossing the U.S.-Canadian border in the Niagara region, and its four bridges that link New York State and Ontario. The study’s final report and remedial implementation plan is slated for delivery by December 2010.

Then there are the details of border security that are vital to bus tour customer satisfaction. Motor Coach Canada recently reported that U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) officers at the Detroit-Windsor crossing have advised drivers and tour escorts that passengers should refrain from locking their suitcases, as travelers are responsible to present all goods for inspection, and a locked bag can interfere with the process in which travelers are asked to open any locked items or compartments.

In the rare event unaccompanied bags are locked, CPB has the authority to cut or break the lock to perform inspections. CPB officers at the land border crossings do not carry keys for the “TSA airport-approved locks” that some travelers use on their suitcases. Canada’s Border Services Agency said their policy on baggage locks is identical to the U.S. policy. Coach and tour operators should advise passengers in advance of travel that baggage locks are not advisable for the portion of the journey that includes a border crossing.

Secure Certificate of Indian Status

The Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA), in a partnership with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, has a new form of identification — the Secure Certificate of Indian Status (SCIS). The SCIS cards, distributed since late 2009, are acceptable as stand alone WHTI-compliant documents for entry into the U.S. SCIS cards will only be issued to Canadian First Nations People. When a First Nations traveler presents the card, other documentation isn’t required.

CBSA and CBP worked to ensure that SCIS cards are secure, tamper resistant, and easy to identify.The card contains a machine-readable zone and multiple layers of overt, covert, and forensic security features. This is another example of vital information for operators who cross borders regularly.

ABA has always maintained close ties with Motor Coach Canada and the Ontario Motor Coach Association. With the new WHTI regulations, heightened border security alert status, and other developments affecting bus and tour operators and their customers who cross from the Stars & Stripes to the Maple Leaf, strengthening these ties is more important than ever.

Eron Shosteck is senior vice president, communications, American Bus Association, Washington D.C. [www.buses.org]

For years, the American Bus Association has been urging the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to crack down on illegal “rogue” operators imperiling public safety. This month, FMCSA took decisive action against one of these illegal bus operators. The entire motorcoach and group travel industry should applaud the agency for doing so.

At the same time, we also should make clear with a united industry voice that this is the first of what should be many punitive actions to get the rogues off of the road. This milestone case could change everything for the better, not only setting a precedent that illegal companies won’t be tolerated, but sending a clear message that the days of bandit buses are over.

In this case, FMCSA charged Cayetano Martinez, owner of California-based Tierra Santa, with multiple federal motor carrier safety violations. The feds fined him $72,760 after an investigation of a fatal crash in Phoenix on March 5 of one of his buses resulted to the tragic and needless deaths of six innocent passengers, while injuring 16 others.

The worst kind of ‘chameleon carrier’

FMCSA charged Martinez with 78 violations of 13 separate safety regulations. It also identified the four separate company names Martinez allegedly used to illegally operate and evade previous orders from FMCSA to cease all interstate and international passenger carrier transportation. Indeed, this scofflaw was the example of the worst kind of “chameleon carrier.”

The violations against Martinez and his reincarnated companies included 19 counts of operating without federal authority; 21 counts of operating without required minimum insurance; 24 counts of operating in violation of a previous FMCSA order to cease operations; violation of alcohol and controlled substance testing requirements; violation of driver qualification requirements; violation of Hours of Service requirements; and violation of vehicle inspection requirements.

ABA has for years urged the government to be more assertive in its crackdown on rogue bus operators, because safety is our top priority. The industry’s commitment to protecting its passengers has made it the safest form of surface transportation. But a single fatality is too many, and the industry wants to make the safest even safer.

This action by FMCSA helps do just that. Safety begins long before any rider steps aboard a motorcoach. It starts with enforcing the law. FMCSA deserves kudos for setting an example with Martinez and Tierra Santa. ABA hopes it’s only just a start. We need government officials to conduct a comprehensive, coordinated nationwide sting campaign that includes padlocking their garages, stripping the plates from their buses, booting bus wheels and fining those guilty of criminal activity, which the FMCSA just did in this case. Keeping these safety menaces from ever getting on the road in the first place is the best way to prevent future tragedies like this one.

Make no mistake about it: Responsible bus operators want more government oversight.

‘Motorcoach Safety Action Plan’

That’s why ABA is proud to be working with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) on its “Motorcoach Safety Action Plan,” which provides a holistic approach to motorcoach safety, and which welcomes the input of the industry with a cooperative spirit of “safety first.” We have welcomed the opportunity to work constructively with DOT Secretary Ray LaHood and other agencies to support science-driven safety. ABA was proud to meet with Sec. LaHood at DOT’s Washington headquarters last month as the voice of the industry, and to discuss areas of common ground we could embrace.

In addition to that, I have been honored with the opportunity to serve the industry and the traveling public by being selected as one of eight new members of the FMCSA’s Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee (MCSAC), a term I began serving June 10. Established by Congress in 2006, the MCSAC is charged with providing information, advice and recommendations to FMCSA on motor carrier safety programs and regulations.

Improving safety takes cooperation from the industry, the public and the government. ABA is heartened to see the regulators adopt a tougher stance against illegal bus companies. I look forward to the decision against the owner of Terra Santa being the first of many that ultimately help to achieve everyone’s goal of making motorcoach travel even safer.

Peter Pantuso is president and CEO, American Bus Association, Washington DC. [www.buses.org]