By Stephen Evans

However insignificant they may seem on the surface, parking lot dings and maintenance yard mishaps are serious business. Too often sloughed off as a minor inconvenience, they actually manifest as a major drain on the company. Unreported parking lot collisions are like an iceberg where only a fraction of the problem is showing above the waterline.
Transit agencies and bus operators often accept minor and unreported collisions as just coming with the territory, where drivers and inexperienced technicians are maneuvering commercial vehicles in tight spaces and parking lots. Without an investigation or follow-up report, the costs of such an incident are often simply absorbed into the administrative and maintenances ledgers.

What the operator sees on the surface are only the most direct costs of an accident. They can be substantial when
they include towing, adjusters, clean-up, repairs to damaged vehicles and property, as well as associated medical costs and legal fees.
Meanwhile, all the indirect costs are lurking below the surface. They result from investigations, equipment downtime, increased insurance premiums, a loss of production, not to mention additional administrative time spent on phone calls and extra paperwork that comes with filling out accident reports.
Above the waterline are the insured costs; below are the often greater uninsured costs of damage to property and miscellaneous expenses. The costs above and below the waterline add up to the real cost of an accident, which can be measured and controlled.
Quite often operators do not take action in such accidents, or they wait to make repairs because the damage does not warrant taking the vehicle out of service. But that is to ignore the threat. These small but significant accidents take place every day, particularly in larger companies.
Unreported parking lot accidents should be managed with as much focus and resources as a company would use with higher profile crashes. One large bus transportation company started capturing parking lot damages and quickly realized it had experienced no less than 164 incidents in the first six months at an estimated cost of $267,727, or $1,600 per unreported incident.
Projecting that rate of accidents over a full year—328 unreported collisions—with $535,454 estimated damages managed at 10 percent margin, produces these scenarios:
Scenario I: just the tip; no hidden costs under water —With an estimated $535,454 needed to cover costs “above the waterline,” the operator would require $5,354,540 in revenue.
Scenario II: for every $1 showing $1 is hidden — One-to one direct vs. indirect costs would require $10,709,080 in revenue to cover damages.
Scenario III: for every $1 showing $3 is hidden — One to three direct vs. indirect costs would require $21,418,816 in revenue to cover damages.
In this particular company, everyone knew from training what their role and duties would be when a major collision occurred, but with these smaller, and slyly expensive minor accidents, no one knew what to do, or if they needed to do anything. Armed with this more focused view of minor accidents, the company reviewed its policies and procedures and instituted several changes. Today:
The company frequently monitors video surveillance and drives cams.
Dispatch issues and checks pre- and post-trip damage cards. A driver with too many points could be suspended.
Daily walk-around inspections have been improved with inspectors being more careful to note new damage on damage cards.
Drivers and technicians receive more training and orientation to drive slower and more carefully, to avoid backing up as much as possible, and to use back-up cameras where possible.
Drivers rely on spotters in tight spaces and never ask for or accept assistance from a customer or passenger on the bus.
Where possible, the company established one-way drive routes and reversing policies that require alerting dispatch before backing up alone.
One last piece of advice to help reduce the cost of parking lot dings is to ensure the recognition of this problem and the policies to police it match with the core values of the company and its employees. Everyone must be accountable. Employees cannot cover one another for an accident or mishap they would normally consider minor and not worth mentioning, particularly when they know integrity is a stated core value of the company. BRM
__________________________
Stephen Evans serves as Vice President of Safety, for Pacific Western Group of Companies, Calagary, AB, Canada, and as Secretary, Bus Industry Safety Council (BISC).

By Glenn Swain

“For northern Californians, Tahoe is the place to ski,” Brian McCooey says.

While warm weather lovers may see snow is an unnecessary freezing of water, to motorcoach operators who book winter ski tours it represents an avalanche of positive income. Along with leaf peeper tours, one- and two-day ski trips remain popular as ever — if Mother Nature cooperates.

For 16 years San Francisco-based Bay Area Ski Bus has chartered one-day ski tours to Lake Tahoe. Founder and CEO Brian McCooey says for northern Californians, Tahoe is the place to ski.

McCooey started with two buses his first year; last year he chartered a total of 320, 56-passenger Prevost, MCI and Van Hool motorcoaches to haul ski enthusiasts to the largest alpine lake in the U.S. Nearly all of Ski Bus’ tours are to Lake Tahoe. For about $100 a person, Ski Bus provides transportation, a lift ticket, a continental breakfast and afternoon refreshments.

McCooey and Ski Bus made the best of Lake Tahoe’s record-breaking 800 inches of snow last season. Even in July. McCooey says when a number of Tahoe resorts opened for the July 4th weekend, he sent a busload up two days before.

“Tours this year have been fantastic,” McCooey says. “It just keeps increasing. This past season we were up about 5 percent from the year before. As far as the economy, we have a nice little niche. People can still afford the one-day ski trip, but maybe not a weeklong or weekend trip.”

Fashionable snowboarders take advantage of generous snow near Lake Tahoe during a Bay Area Ski Bus tour.

For his tours McCooey uses a number of Lake Tahoe resorts, including Alpine Meadows, Kirkwood Mountain, Sierra at Tahoe, Sugar Bowl, Northstar and Squaw Valley.

Stephen Miller, owner of Warwick, RI-based New England Action Sports, says his ski tour business grows every year. Miller began booking ski tours in the Northeast in 1971. Although based in Rhode Island, Miller’s company books day, weekend and weeklong tours out of Boston, New York, Connecticut, and directly out of numerous ski shops. Miller also schedules bus ski trips in Austria.

“I think the first year we were in business we chartered 27 buses,” Miller says. “Now we charter 500 to 600 a year. We have about 30,000 people a year go on ski tours.”

Miller’s company buses skiers to all the major resorts in the Northeast.

“We sell them a bus ride and a lift ticket for less than the price of the lift ticket,” he says. “The lift ticket for a resort in Stowe, Vermont is around $90. We sell the transportation and lift ticket for $73.95. Stowe is my favorite because it’s the best skiing around here.”

One problem Miller has run into is working with union drivers with seniority in Colorado. In the past Miller used Greyhound. According to Miller, union agreements allow drivers with seniority to bounce local drivers, no matter where the senior driver lives.

“You may get a driver from Florida or places that never see snow, and they’re driving up these mountain passes in snow,” Miller says. “It can be scary for passengers.”

While many companies are thriving, some are not. Tammy DuChene, a spokesperson for Downhill Riders Ski and Travel Co. in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, says tours were down last season. Blame it on the sluggish Canadian economy.

“The cause of the decrease was due to the economy not fully recovered,” DuChene says. “Groups planned only one event throughout the winter rather than several. But in 2012 we project we our tours should return to what they were two years ago.”

While ski tour trips can be easy for travel professionals, there are pitfalls. McCooey says the key to success is always using a dependable bus charter company that uses competent drivers and safe equipment. McCooey prefers to use the same companies so he can request specific drivers.

People aboard a New England Action Sports charter are all smiles.

One-day loop trips in the U.S. are easy, but overseas ski tours are not for the timid. Miller began planning ski trips to Innsbruck, Austria about 15 years ago. At first he made his share of mistakes because of more complicated logistics.

“If you’re setting up a trip to Europe it’s a little more difficult,” he says. “You’re a day off at all times, and that can be very tricky to plan perfectly. It can get complicated.”

McCooey says that not only are ski tours popular, they are even good for the environment.

“It takes maybe 30 or 40 cars off the road,” he says. “And it’s probably the safest and most economical way to travel.”

Eron Shosteck serves as president & CEO of The Media Consultant Group, Alexandria, VA, a marketing and communications firm specializing in transportation.

With its order for 84 40-foot CNG-powered MCI Commuter Coaches, Motor Coach Industries (MCI), Schaumburg, IL, is now an ally of the City of Los Angeles, CA in its continuing effort to improve air quality. LADOT signed a contract for the clean-air, wheelchair-lift equipped commuter coaches with the Cummins ISL G 8.9 liter, 320hp engine that meets 2010 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and California’s California Air Resource Board (CARB) standards.
MCI says the CNG coaches will be the first MCI models in the LADOT fleet, and the order includes an option for 11 additional coaches after deliveries begin in the third quarter.
LADOT is using Federal Transit Administration grants for 70 percent of the funding to replace a majority of the 94 older, heavy-duty Commuter Express diesel buses, which are among the department’s oldest equipment on the road. The total value of the 84 MCI bus order is $59,220,000.
The 49-seat LADOT coaches will run on the Los Angeles Commuter Express system that connects outlying suburban districts with Downtown and other employment centers that include Century City, Westwood, LAX, El Segundo, Pasadena, Glendale, Burbank and Encino.
LADOT launched its Commuter Express program in 1985, beginning with a single route carrying passengers between a city-leased park and ride lot in Encino and downtown Los Angeles. Today, the service has 13 routes operating throughout Los Angeles County during the weekday morning and afternoon peak commuting hours.

“A bus operator could easily become the face of the industry if something bad should happen,” writes Media Consultant Group President & CEO Eron Shosteck in the introduction of the company’s new 20-page step-by-step guide, Crisis Management In A Box. “An operator must know to use the attention as a chance to show how much the company is doing for safety, as opposed to letting those who know so little about buses and coaches set the tone in distorted terms.”

Responsible bus operators frustrated and concerned about the long-term effects the recent spate of illegal motorcoach mercenary crashes could have on their companies now have available to them a special toolkit created to help them prepare for, navigate, and ultimately emerge triumphant from the situation with the new Crisis Management In A Box toolkit has the right tool at the right time to empower operators with the strategies they need. Tactics include how to approach direct crises vs. indirect crises; how and when to engage the media; a 100-question checklist operators should have the answers for within reach at all times; how to turn ambushes into opportunities to showcase your company’s operations; and tips to help operators combat bus safety distortions to protect their companies’ reputations and reassure their customers.

“The current crisis regarding the perception of bus safety is so widespread and overheated that every operator is likely to be affected if they do not take some kind of corrective action,” says Shosteck. “There is no performance metric to measure the possible effects that the erosion of consumer confidence in bus travel could ultimately have. Left unaddressed, however, it could damage the bottom line of bus operators throughout North America irreparably.”

Shosteck authored the step-by-step crisis management guide in response to calls he received from operators requesting it. It also includes information for companies on the importance of building media relationships to establish clear lines of communication.

The Media Consultant Group is also offering on-site media training, crisis mitigation exercises and mock press drills in response to operator requests. For more information, visit www.mediaconsultantgroup.com/products. BR

By Gerald Rawling

Schools out! Graduates of a Valetta academy hire a bus — the older the better seems to be the rule — for a rowdy “right-of-passage” celebration. Photo by Gerald Rawling

Before my recent visit to the small Mediterranean island of Malta, my colleagues advised me in advance to pay close attention to the iconic Maltese buses. Although they are being phased out of the public transportation system, they will certainly not be forgotten. Bus enthusiasts on a shopping spree in Valletta, the capital city and a UNESCO Heritage site itself, will be the first to spot the recurring motif of the bygone bus on postcards, key chains, refrigerator magnets and mouse pads, just to name a few of the souvenirs.

The Maltese buses, usually painted in some gaudy combination of yellow-orange and red, or grey-blue and red on the smaller island of Gozo, have been the public transport on Malta since 1931, two years after the last run of the Malta Railways streetcars.

The last of the Malta long noses in regular service — a Ford Thames from Dagenham. Photo source: Wikemedia Commons, author Taueres — a Ford Thames from Dagenham. Photo source: Wikemedia Commons, author Taueres

During post-World War II, these workhorses first were “long noses” built on British or Canadian truck chassis with manual gearboxes, and frequently “tricked out” by the driver-owner and a supporting garage. A parade of some of the chassis were literally left behind or gifted by the Allies military units.

Only one long nose remains in regular service. In the 1960s and 1980s came a motley collection of British buses, some ex-town and country, some ex-holiday coaches.

In recent years some imports to the system have been Volvos, Turkish BMCs, and a number of King Longs from China. Maltese garages and body shops are very inventive, having gone the length to rework the front of a long nose into a seriously “flat-nosed” bus that emulates the newer vehicles.

Now, for these time-warp icons their number is up, ostensibly because they collectively breach many of the arcane EU rules for operating public transport vehicles, such as drivers’ hours at the wheel, lack of accessibility, and particularly emission standards.

Riding the tortuous and switchback Route 4 around Valletta harbor to climb over Cospicua into Kalkara proves there is some truth to the latter indictment; grinding gears and laboring engines suggest some noise standards are being violated at the same time. The public authority, Malta Transport, put the whole network up for grabs. As of July 3, the operator will be global powerhouse Arriva, now owned by Deutsche Bahn.

“Standard issue” city or county transit buses; also secondhand from Britain, and probably ex-London Transport Leyland Lynxes, on routes to Hamrun, Birkirkara, Rabat. Here they squeeze past on the main commercial and retail street through Hamrun.

The prevailing bus color will be Arriva teal. Could it perhaps include a flash of yellow-red and orange to at least acknowledge the icons they displaced?

The Malta bus system of today is a mixture of makes and models from many countries. The fleet numbers about 510 units with more than 400 licensed operators, and a network of body shops and garages to keep the buses running. It is not unusual for an operator to alternate between a 16-hour day and a day off.

A management team elevated from the ranks hands out written route assignments bi-weekly and watches over them daily. The public authority, Transport Malta, conducts general oversight to see that the team fulfills all its assignments.

If the callers on open mike radio in Malta are representative, then the population is not in favor of the change over. Arriva says it will restructure the route system, using only half the number of buses for the same overall service level, but more drivers will be needed if they intend to conform to service hours regulations and continue with limited night service. The plan is to discontinue its current national subsidy in excess of three million Euros and introduce a universal national-level fare.

This is the essential Malta postcard — the all-day, every day bus rodeo that is the terminus for the large number of routes radiating from the capital Valetta. The bus on a truck chassis is circa 1950, body by Brincat, a Maltese coachbuilder, and customized by the owner.

For now, while some buses are being repainted or being traded in there is a steady, stream of truly international bus aficionados principally from Britain pouring onto Malta with spotters’ books and web downloads in hand to get that last video or photo. BR

Bus enthusiast Gerald Rawling, a retired metropolitan transportation planner, is the former director of operations analysis for the Chicago area transportation system.

By Glenn Swain

Touring cars sit in front of the State Game Lodge in Custer State Park in South Dakota in this 1920s-era photo. The State Game Lodge was also the “Summer White House” for Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and Calvin Coolidge.

Restoring a vintage 1920s tour bus has become a labor of love for Herman Jones, owner of Mount Rushmore Tours in Rapid City, South Dakota. Jones first had the idea to restore an old bus back in 1970. Through the years Jones had refurbished a 1932 Ford five-window vehicle with a rumble seat that had been given to him in the 1960s, but he really wanted to restore a bus. He had seen a number of photos of original 1920s rag-top, 15-seat passenger tour buses that hauled passengers in the nearby Black Hills region.

The vehicles had been owned by the Black Hills and Western Tour Company.

“I decided I wanted to find one of these tour buses, so I started looking,” Jones says. “I found one in Minnesota and they wanted $56,000 for it. I didn’t have that kind of money then. Besides, if I did I would have bought a big bus and made some money with it.”

In 2005 he finally located one in Harmony, PA. The price was right at $6,000 and he bought it sight unseen over the phone.

“It was obviously a basket case,” Jones says of the condition of the bus. “A father and son got started working on it and got the motor finished, but eventually they had it more torn apart than together.”

While Jones had visions of using the bus for specialized commercial uses, his insurance man suggested he be very careful in putting too much money into the restoration. Vintage vehicles can sometimes be nearly uninsurable.

Herman Jones’ vintage 1920s touring bus looks like a junkyard heap now, but plans are to restore it to working order.

“There’s no reason to have one of these if you can’t use them,” Jones says. “My approach is to try to get it up to DOT standards. We’ll be able to use it for specialty events like weddings, anniversaries and parties. It’ll be more of a fair-weather rig than an all-weather vehicle.”

The cost to get the old bus back on the road is not cheap.

“We’ll easily dump $80 to $100,000 into it,” Jones admits. “That’s to make it look like is just rolled off the showroom floor. I’m one of those guys who says if we’re going to do it let’s do it right. Let’s not poor boy it where you have to fix or repair the thing constantly for the next ten years.”

Jones did confirm the bus was used in the Black Hills in the 1920s. He found a physician in Loma Linda, CA whose hobby is, oddly, keeping track of serial numbers of antique tour buses.

Jones is currently working with a guy in Illinois to buy and ship a new chassis for the tour bus so it can meet specifications. When found, it will be a simple matter of transferring the body onto the new chassis.

Jones predicts the finished project is maybe a year away.

“It’s a labor of love. It’s not something that we’re doing to make lots of money off of. It’s something to give somebody that nostalgic appeal that wasn’t expected. We try to give people what we promised them, and more.” BR

By William “Gator” Pryne
MCI Senior Technical Advisor

Pryne inspects the A/C system during an MCI Technical Tune Up Session at the MCI Training Center in Louisville earlier this year. Photo courtesy of MCI

Summer is fast approaching, that time of year when a great number of bus and coach operators throughout the country must deal with air conditioning (HVAC) systems working their hardest. This is the time to give the A/C all the attention it needs to ensure reliable, optimum performance on the hottest days. Do not wait until it is too late and costly. Preventative maintenance is the key.

MCI offers these steps ensure passengers and the driver remain cool and comfortable during the trip.

The PM process should include checks of the A/C compressor drive belt, compressor oil level and the system refrigerant level as part of each and every HVAC system inspection.

Leave the engine turned off to check the tension and the condition of the A/C compressor belt without the engine running, as well as the condition of the crankshaft pulley and clutch pulley.

The belt must ride high on the pulleys for best performance. Refer to the maintenance manual and the drive belt manufacturer specifications and guidelines for information on when and under what conditions to replace the belt.

While the engine and HVAC system is running, listen for abnormal noises from the compressor and the condenser and evaporator motors. Check the compressor oil level and the refrigerant level only after the HVAC system has operated for at least 20 minutes. Conduct weekly checks of the condenser and evaporator coils and evaporator filters for cleanliness to ensure A/C efficiency.

Do not allow road debris such as scrap paper and plastic to block the condenser core. Check and clean the interior ventilation system on a regular basis.

Inspect the area around the compressor crankshaft seal and the system refrigerant hoses regularly for oil residue, which may indicate a leak. If a leak is detected, the maintenance manual explains the steps to make the repair.

Check the refrigerant filter regularly for a temperature differential of more than 5 degrees across the filter inlet and outlet connections, indicating the filter drier is becoming restricted and needs replacing.

Inspect the evaporator and condenser motor bearings and brushes monthly, along with the A/C compressor mounting hardware and the HVAC component electrical harnesses. Look for discolored terminals and connectors that may indicate a loose or failing connection. Use a mechanics stethoscope or a similar ultrasonic listening device to detect bearing failures before the problem. BR

BR: What changes in public perception of Trailways have you observed in the time you have been at the helm?
Gale Ellsworth: Trailways remains a viable entity even though the resurgence of the brand has been slow. We are making progress in educating the traveling public on the kinds of transport services and products Team Trailways now provides. The company still operates interline bus schedules, just not as widely as before Continental Trailways sold its vast assets and routes to Greyhound.
BR: What was the state-of-the-company when you joined the team?
Ellsworth: The spirit of the independent bus operators who were still affiliated with Trailways was very strong when I arrived in July 1997. They were quite determined to keep the brand alive even though the number of Trailways operators had dwindled down to about 18 at that time.
The board of directors told me right up front my job would not be easy, that it would require a lot of hard work to keep the brand alive and rebuild the network by adding bus operators who were mostly charter and tour operators, and not necessarily scheduled route carriers.
I knew going in it would be a challenge. We would need patience in convincing non-Trailways bus operators to join the team and enjoy the advantages of affiliation with the brand.
BR: Prior to the Jet Age, Trailways was the premier line-haul and cross country motorcoach tour operation. Do you foresee a renaissance of sorts for regular scheduled coach service?
Ellsworth: We are just now seeing ourselves on the edge of a return to new bus service travel. Air travel has turned into hassle travel. In most cases it takes longer for someone to go 150 miles by air than by coach with direct service and pair-city travel with only limited stops. The traveling public is shifting its travel decisions and searching for alternative travel modes. Many individuals are avoiding air travel altogether. They first think of taking the train, particularly in the Northeast region of the U.S.
BR: Could the number of Trailways operators actively engaged under the 5311 Rural Transit grants be the springboard to promoting scheduled coach service to a broader demographic?
Ellsworth: I know a number of our Trailways carriers have begun supplying regional community transport service under the 5311 Grant. What we must now consider is how to manage after those funds have run out. The key for our operators will be to engage in careful planning, studying ways to maintain back-up reserve funds to aid their success before embracing any type of new venture like those promoted with 5311 funds.
A carrier should gather potential ridership data and perform a candid study about the demographics for the service they intend. They will need enough reserve funds set aside to carry forth the new service in case of losses or situations that 5311 funds will not cover.
If ridership shows potential and operators can offer affordable service the public needs and still make a profit, I think every Trailways carrier should review all opportunities that may be outside their normal or comfort transport service menu, whether the opportunities are 5311 Grant supported or not.
BR: How realistic is this vision?
Ellsworth: It is realistic, but a behemoth challenge, and one the industry will certainly not achieve over the short term.
BR: What are some of the bigger hurdles to making regular scheduled a more viable option in this day and age?
Ellsworth: It is a time-consuming, complex, expensive and risky process. It will certainly include reeducating the general public to the advantages and enjoyment of coach travel, particularly at the regional level where scheduled bus service is truly competitive with the airlines in terms of both money and time.
I do believe in the next two-four years, the traveling public will select bus travel over air travel for distances that are no greater than 200 to 300 miles away.
The challenges are different for coach companies depending on how they conduct business. What works in the Northeast may not take off in the southwest, simply because of the greater distances between the major metropolitan areas. But with the renewed interest in high-speed rail, perhaps we will see greater opportunities emerge for intermodal coach connections.
BR: Do stakeholders in the Trailways franchise enjoy more opportunities and avenues for diversification within their operations?
Ellsworth: I see the team getting more excited about this concept and just how lucrative brainstorming, sharing of successful ideas, promoting and referring customers and business among each other throughout the network can be.
Each member has 84 sister-companies located all across North America and in Europe in which they can refer business, access each other’s successful opportunities, best business ideas and venues and product diversity. Our job is to remind every member of this private tap. We are always looking to each of our members for new business, ideas, strategies that will carry the entire Team forward.
BR: The Department of Defense transportation certification is a service almost exclusive to Trailways and certainly sets the franchise apart from competitors. In light of our nation at war on two fronts, is Trailways troop transport and the tremendous effort and contribution by coach operators still somewhat unsung in the public eye?
Ellsworth: I think that is the nature of us humans as the general public. We really don’t appreciate something worthy, beneficial, or exceptional until we either lose it, almost lose it, or reminded harshly how important certain structures or methods are. That includes those dedicated to supporting the military, travel safety and security, and trying to provide something better than just the normal.
BR: What chief criteria must an operator meet to obtain a franchise and become a TEAM TRAILWAYS operator?
Ellsworth: I will just cite the 10 basic considerations:
The candidate’s DOT safety record for five consecutive years in business
A Dunn and Bradstreet/bank/credit rating
A profitable profit/loss, based on a review of the company’s year-end tax returns for two years
Vendor references
Department of Defense Rating not less than two — one is preferred
Bus and coach equipment not over eight aggregate years of age
The candidate’s proactive commitment to work as a team, demonstrating loyalty, trust and dedication to the Trailways brand
The candidate must own or lease a full service garage in or very near to the company location
All equipment and related business collateral and communications must bear the Trailways brand
Lastly, have the written endorsement from at least two current Trailways carriers.
BR: When you must decline an application, does the operator get another chance?
Ellsworth: Yes. We have turned down two companies in recent months because the age of equipment. However, if they address this concerns to our satisfaction, we will by all means review them again and consider their application to affiliate with Trailways.
BR: What would you like to see happen over the next 75 years — or at least the foreseeable future?
Ellsworth: The bus industry needs a standardized universal online ticketing system whereby online customers can select carriers’ various travel schedules, see the various fares and buy tickets online instantly from any viable carrier.
As well each viable carrier will accept the online ticket from every other viable interlining carrier that offers its fares and schedules and the sale of tickets online. The airline industry is far ahead of the bus industry when it comes to being able to see everyone’s fares, schedules, and the ability to buy a ticket from online, such as Expedia and Travelocity.
I think having an online universal bus fares, schedules and ticket sales system will do much in promoting the use of bus travel both for individuals and for group travel. BR

By Glenn Swain

The coaches find their place in the growing Best Chauffeured Worldwide fleet. Photos courtesy of Best Chauffeured Worldwide

An emerging trend in the limousine industry has to do with companies investing in one or more full-size motorcoaches to accommodate clients requesting transportation for larger groups. The trend is inviting a new and broader market beyond that one celebrity in the backseat or small groups traveling in minibuses. Best Chauffeured Worldwide, Huntington Beach, CA, is one such company.

The company opened in 1997 typically sporting a fleet of stretch limousines, Town Cars, SUVs and minibuses. However, late last year company owner Robert Vaughn elected to expand Best Chauffeured Worldwide to include a 56-passenger luxury motorcoach. In his anticipation of this niche growing larger, Vaughn will soon take delivery on the two new Van Hool C 2045 motorcoaches he ordered from ABC Companies, Faribault, MN.

Prior to making this move, Vaughn would typically call on other motorcoach operators in his area to outsource the larger group bookings. He says adding the motorcoach option has made an immediate difference.
“We have built our company as a meeting and destination service,” Vaughn says. “Back in 2005 we started to consider getting into the motorcoach business because we were farming out so much work. It only made sense to purchase coaches of our own. We were looking to do that, but then the bottom of the economy fell out and we decided to back off.”

“Ideally, I would like to be operating four new Van Hool coaches by the end of the year,” he says. “My plan is to grow this new division of our company.”

Vaughn worked closely with his ABC Companies sales team to achieve a top quality customized look for this new venture.

“To maintain the look and feel of the luxury we already offer, I went for the high-end interior appointments,” he says. “We want to carry that right on into the coaches.”

The new Van Hools come with a TV system with interior monitors, DVD players, extra large tinted view windows and a large luggage compartment.

“We were losing out on some work to meeting planners or a DMC who’s going to book a group with us,” Vaughn says. “We would lose a group potentially if they had one or two motorcoach moves in it. We said we have the work built in, so let’s start with a couple coaches and see how it goes. With the amount of work we farm out, it was easy to say we’re going to go and invest in a couple of large vehicles. It wasn’t like we were adding vehicles then going out to drum up business.”

Vaughn says on average he used to outsource about$500,000 in coach charters every year. Now with one motorcoach on the road and two more arriving soon, that money will go directly to the company.

“This year has been a better year than last year,” Vaughn adds. “The timing is right to move ahead in 2011.”

Beginnings
In 1995 Vaughn, then in his late teens, was working for his father’s towing business as a graveyard dispatcher. At the time his father wanted him to learn the tow business by driving a truck.

“I said it was really my thing, let’s look at doing something else,” he says.  “We purchased our first limousine and have grown from there.”

With the purchase of one white limousine, Vaughn founded Best Limousine Service. Vaughn and his father began modestly by serving the wedding and weekend limousine rental market and quickly built an outstanding reputation. Within the first year, Best grew to five vehicles and began marketing to corporations, travel agencies and local destination services companies.

The company grew substantially and maintained a large fleet serving several of the top Orange County corporations, celebrities, VIPs, hotels, meeting planners and DMCs. Best Chauffeured Worldwide is now connected to affiliates worldwide that service 500 cities and 50 countries – 24 hours a day – 365 days a year. Vaughn purchased the company from his father a couple of years ago, and still has the tow business. Currently, the company employs over 100 people.

“I see a lot of limousine operators starting to look more at the minibuses as opposed to the large coaches right now,” he says. “We are definitely seeing fewer limousines and more vans and minibuses than we have seen in the past. One or two minibuses in a fleet is not that big of a deal, but a couple of motorcoaches represents a huge step, and makes sense for those of us operating in Southern California to bring on more of that type of equipment.”

With the Van Hools, Vaughn plans to book more charter tours and trips to more destinations outside of Southern California.

Vaughn says as Best Chauffered Worldwide moves further into the motorcoach side of the business, he wants to present a professional operation that gives the motorcoach industry a good name. BR