MotorCoachMania - Finding a Safe Coach Company

Finding a Safe Coach Company

As a person who is responsible for chartering a motor coach, you have perhaps a greater responsibility than you may realize!   It will be your decision that might put 47 - 55 passengers in harm's way.   Next to the Yellow School Bus, Motor Coach Transportation is the safest motorized ground transportation known to mankind. Each day thousands of motor coaches are on the road, safely transporting passengers throughout our country and throughout the world. Rarely do you hear of a fatality while riding a motor coach in our country. However, when that rare occurrence happens, it usually makes national news.   Unfortunately many chartering party leaders often are looking to shop for "a bargain price". I think there must be some personal satisfaction received by knowing you found "the cheapest company."   Often that price, when spread out among 50 passengers is less money saved than the cost of a "hotel coke". ($1.50 per person) That $1.50 saving may have sacrificed luxurious quality and, most importantly, the difference between a company who does an outstanding job of coach maintenance and a company who always runs shy on coach maintenance.

One late afternoon I recieved the following phone call and the lady said, "My daughter is riding your motor coach tomorrow on a ski trip and I am most concerned. You see, I am the person who chartered the motor coach that turned over and killed the football coaches daughter and a nine year old boy. The company that had taken us for years was totally booked up and I had to chose another company, I merely opened the phone book and called the company that had the biggest Yellow Page ad..........". This is certainly not a scientific or logical way to chose the company that you will entrust the life of your family and friends to.

Here at motorcoachmania.com we firmly believe that no one should charter a motor coach from any company without doing some prior investigation. If possible go and look at the companies operation, visit their office, look at their motor coaches inside, outside, and underneath as much as possible. Perhaps choose the coach that you would book and reserve a particular coach. Look at the tires, tread depth, seat covers, dents, bumps, scratches, etc. Does the company keep what you can see in excellent condition? If not, they do not keep what you cannot see underneath the coach in good condition either.

It is fairly simple to investigtate a company, even from your computer. First ask the prospective company for their DOT # and their MC #   If the company refuses to give you those numbers, I would hang up the phone and look for a company that is more cooperative and that has nothing to hide. Those numbers can tell you quite a bit about a company. Once you have obtained those numbers, log on to www.Safersys.org   Click on "Company Snapshot" place the numbers in either DOT or MC query and scroll down and read the history of the company as much as is known by the Department of Transportation. Their record of insurance should appear, the number of times that company has been inspected. (the more the better) their safety rating, and perhaps most importantly, their out of service record. Out of Service for the motor coach means, a safety defect has been found, don't drive or move the coach unitl it is repaired on site. Out of Service for a driver usually means, you cannot drive until you have taken off the required 8 hour rest period. There could be other driver disqualifications that would also affect the driver.

It would be of some value to ask the prospective carrier if they are a military carrier, meaning one that transports the armed services. These companies have an annual in-house inspection by independent inspectors and are often inspected when they pull onto an armed forces base to begin a troop move. Thus these coaches are most often inspected more times in a year and there is a better chance of knowing of any defects found due to the high rate of inspections. A company that has only two or three inspections in the past 24 months does not give you much to go on in obtaining critical information about the company.

Look and compare the companies record that you are considering with what is called the National Averages. National averages for out of service vehicles usually are in the low 22% to 24% area. If your company is below 6% to 10% you see that they are far below the national average. Finally scroll down and see if the company has had any reportable accidents. A reportable accident is one usually where either one of the vehicles in the accident had to be "towed off". (we are not talking about insurance reportable accidents for physical damage of the vehicle) All carriers at some time or other have scraped a post, bumped a parked car when turning, or had some other minor incident which was reported to the insurance company but not an accident that is reported to the Department of Transportation.

We have talked about equipment but what about the driver. A well maintained motor coach with a driver who "hot rods", speeds, and makes poor decisions is obviously an unsafe operator and may be worse than a motor coach that has a good driver that could use a little attention maybe here or there. Drivers can be 1. Passive 2. Aggressive or 3. Hostile. I would want a driver who is passive, who lays back, keeps the coach as much as possible running out of the pack, keeps a safe distance, at least a minimum of four seconds behind the vehicle in front of him, does not drive up on someones bumper, never flashes his bright lights on a car that really should move out of the "go lane", and one who tries to keep as much alone, never in a situation where another vehicle has determined his fate, who does not speed, one who slows down in rain, and at night when headlights do not show what could be seen in daylight hours. Give me a driver like that and I will take a good "cat nap", give me an aggressive or hostile driver and I will either be calling his boss on the cell phone or looking for the next bus stop. Please let me off as soon as possible!

Finally there is something you can do. Often chartering parties, particularly where school students are involved, want to drive all night long and then tour the sites all day long. A driver can only drive 10 hours and a driver change would need to be make more than likely to do that situation. Nevertheless, someone had to drive all night long who has changed his sleep pattern to fit your wishes. Many charter drivers are part time because of the nature of the business, particularly in rural non metropolitan areas. They may drive day trips two or three times a week and then be asked to drive the next trip during the night hours. Changing the drivers sleep pattern from the normal sleeping at night to driving all night long can add risks to your trip. Yes it will cost extra to drive 550 mile and stay all night and then finish your 1,100 mile trip the next day, but the latter would be much safer. How much is a life worth?   How much is your life worth?   Safety should be at all times, the very first and foremost issue.