How to pass the torch and not get burned

The motorcoach industry is peppered with proof that family-owned and operated businesses can take management transitions in stride. There may be differences in management styles and temperaments, advances in technology and the changing face of today’s economy to contend with, but with proper steps and a little planning, the process can strengthen both the company and the family.

Motorcoaches put stimulus dollars to work

Public and private coach operators across the country are vying for and receiving federal funding under the recently passed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), more commonly known as stimulus funding.

There is a lot of talk these days about shovel-ready projects. While it would be difficult to actually find a shovel on the production line of the Motor Coach Industries (MCI) factory in Pembina, ND, it is fair to say the nearly 250 workers at that facility are wrench-ready.

The Motorcoach Council will augment everyone’s good ideas

The hefty $25,000 donation from the Tennessee Motor Coach Association and the $10,000 North Carolina operators put together should send a strong signal that this industry is starved for attention and anxious for the exposure the Motorcoach Council promises to provide.

Megabus is a tale of two countries

A standing joke at the headquarters of the Stagecoach Group, Perth, Scotland, is how the staff must be ready on Monday mornings to hear of some new project that co-founder and chief executive Brian Souter has dreamed up over the weekend. The man is always thinking of novel ideas to drive the company forward, and many of them have been very successful. Stagecoach is without doubt the most innovative bus operator in the United Kingdom.

Dragon Bus fires up the Northeast Corridor

Based on the success and growing popularity of Megabus, and the obvious demand for low fare express coach service in cities throughout the Northeast Corridor, Coach USA, Paramus, NJ, presents Dragon Bus as its newest iteration on intercity service.

When the going gets tough…

A down economy presents challenges of every sort. One of the subtler is to nail down the one maxim that keeps everything in perspective. Over the last couple of months I have talked and listened to motorcoach operators and industry leaders who only reconfirmed my belief that when the going gets tough, the tough go shopping.

Don’t move that bus!

It is not very often a motorcoach gets a spot on primetime television. But on ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, the show just would not be complete without its bus.

What a difference a driver makes

Hiring and retaining highly qualified drivers is among an operator’s greatest challenges. With increased ridership and greater focus on public transportation, the pressure to find safe and responsible drivers becomes more crucial as bus operations experience further expansion, but it is not necessarily risky business.

Riteway delivers a wake-up call

Ronald Bast stepped up to accept the 2008 BUSRide Motorcoach Industry Achievement Award on behalf of his family’s company, Riteway Bus Service, Richfield, WI. This annual award honors the motorcoach owner-operator who demonstrates excellence and innovation throughout the business.