The Freedom Bus rolls with a little help from its friends

As pastor of the Terrestrial Temple Church of God In Christ, Muncie, IN, and an active member of the Martin Luther King Dream Team, James Lawson has a keen sense of history and how it can inspire and motivate young people.

FirstGroup America commits to a smaller carbon footprint

Environmental consciousness has a definite effect on corporate policy. Corporate social responsibility programs are transforming forward-looking companies like FirstGroup America, challenging leadership to take a hard look at fuel choices, driving techniques and improved vehicle technology.

Sorry, a rogue is no reincarnate

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) uses the word reincarnated to describe out of service operators who have returned in no better shape than when they left to do business under a new identity.

Chase down that cracked air filter indicator

For about a week I had been hearing a high-pitched whistling noise coming from an S-60 engine. I inspected it and drove it personally, but was still unable to locate the source. With a little more probing, I eventually diagnosed the disturbing noise as coming from the air intake system on the engine.

BCI put to the test

It has been almost three years since Bus and Coach International (BCI) debuted the Falcon 45 at the UMA Expo in New Orleans. Now with close to 120 units in the United States accruing more than 5,000,000 fleet miles much of the skepticism surrounding the introduction of this new full-sized motorcoach has ebbed.

Coaches carry the pride

Years ago when part-time driver Gene Mitchell was the crew chief for Purdue University Bus Department, he coined the saying, Anyone can get a bus anywhere, but no one can buy the kind of service that comes from someone who truly cares.

Lamers Bus Lines always ready, always there for the National Guard

A little after the fact, but still a relevant case study on the logistics involved in troop movements. Lamers Bus Lines made history this past winter in Wisconsin when it moved a total of 3,500 National Guard troops over the course of eight hours.

The soldiers of the 32nd Brigade were headed to Camp Blanding, FL, to receive training prior to their eventual 11-month assignment in Iraq.

Do not dismiss dispatch

An effective dispatch department can keep a motorcoach operation feeling less like a circus, and more like a well-oiled machine. As a central hub of an operation, dispatch is like the ringleader, capable of taming the beast—or at least keeping the chaos organized, and putting out fires with quick thinking and problem solving.

What we have here is a failure to administrate

In its summation of the Mexican Hat crash of January 2008 that killed nine passengers, the decision by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to also bring the hammer down on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has stirred a smoldering fire.

The Red Arrow delivers 30 years of consummate service

With departures and arrivals as punctual as clockwork the Red Arrow is the lifeline travelers rely on to carry them up and down the Canadian province of Alberta. Commuters of every ilk have integrated the luxury motorcoach service into their regional travel to and from Calgary, Red Deer, Edmonton and Fort McMurray. The bonus is a ride more comfortable and convenient than any transportation service they have ever experienced. Passengers say they view the Red Arrow, a division of the Pacific Western Transportation group of companies, as their perfect solution — just as its founder and chairman Robert B. Colborne originally envisioned.