August 15, 2008 Dems get coaches for convention Are you paying attention But procedures to your customer service? leave bad taste Are operators in touch? DENVER — Transportation SAN FRANCISCO — Laura drive around in a strange city,” planners for the Democratic Na- Maki wanted to hire a motorcoach says Maki, is lives in Louisville, tional Convention — to be held here to pick up and drop off her wed- Ky., and is a server in a barbeque late this month — have wrapped ding party at a local hotel for the restaurant. up contracts for 250 motorcoaches rehearsal dinner, the wedding, and Is Maki’s story an isolated ex- and now have only to wait to see sightseeing trips. ample of bad service, or an indica- how their strategy plays out. Simple enough, she thought. tion of an industry that somehow Events & Transportation Asso- Talk to a few companies, get a few has lost touch with its customers? ciates of Lakewood, Colo., said quotes, make a decision. It depends on who you ask. coaches from several local private What she experienced, howev- Most industry executives, when motorcoach operators, a national er, was weeks of frustration be- informed of Maki’s tale, expressed carrier, and two public transit Coach America will supply 150 coaches for the Democratic National Convention. cause coach companies would not disappointed that a potential client agencies will be used to shuttle the return her calls or provide quotes didn’t get the help she needed. 5,000 delegates, 15,000 members tion, complaining they were left information about the work was over the phone or by e-mail. In the “I don’t think much of that,” of the news media and thousands out of the big event or given short sent to dozens of carriers and nu- end, she would rent vans and ask said Gale Ellsworth, president and of others who will be attending the shrift. merous brokers from around the many of her guests to drive their CEO of Trailways Transportation four-day event, Aug. 25 to 28. But ETA owner Brian Clark country shortly after ETA was own vehicles. System. “That’s the best way to Some private operators have says his company did all it could awarded the transportation plan- “I did always hate that about lose future business.…I think it’s criticized Events & Transportation to notify charter companies of the ning contract in February. my wedding — that I made people CONTINUED ON PAGE 6 c Associates’ handling of the opera- convention opportunities. He said CONTINUED ON PAGE 10 c Run Mike Run! Transits file initial reports under charter service rule Former operator Sodrel makes new bid for Congress WASHINGTON D.C. — The are not required to file reports. JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. — to 49 per- in Alaska along with six other Re- first quarterly reporting deadline Under the new rule, transit Mike Sodrel, the former Congress- cent, but Hill publican congressional challengers. for public transit agencies that pro- agencies may legally provide char- man and former motorcoach oper- rebounded in The wildlife refuge is at the vided charter bus service under the ters if they obtain a special waiver ator, appears to have a strategy 2006, win- center of the national debate over new federal charter service rule has from the Federal Transit Adminis- tied in part to high fuel prices that n i n g b y energy policy and future drilling come and gone with 52 of the na- tration, if no private charter com- he hopes will return him to 10,000 votes, for oil in the U.S. tion’s 550 agencies filing reports. pany is willing to handle the job, Congress. 50 percent to “In the short term, we must be- Many of the transit agencies or if the charter involves transport- For the fourth consecutive 45.5 percent. come independent of foreign submitted reports saying they did ing government officials or mem- not do any charter work or did only bers of qualified human service election cycle, Republican Sodrel A third can- sources of traditional energy,” says one or two small jobs during the organizations. The agencies also is facing off against Democratic d i d a t e i n Sodrel. “In the long term, we need Mike Sodrel April through June reporting period. may lease their buses to private Rep. Baron Hill, and not surpris- 2006, Liber- to become independent of tradi- According to the FTA rule that carriers for charters. ingly gasoline prices and energy tarian Eric Schansberg, who’s run- tional energy altogether.” took effect April 30, public transit Among the notable reports was are the hot-button issues, along ning again this year, picked up 4.5 On his return from Alaska, So- agencies that provide charter ser- one filed by Rochester-Genesee with tax relief and health care. percent of the vote. drel called for a major emphasis vice under one of four allowable Regional Transportation Authority Six years ago, in their first Sodrel, who formerly headed on drilling. He said that drilling exemptions are required to file de- in New York, which reported doing race to represent southern Indiana the Free Enterprise System, a large will help the quality of life in tailed reports about the work with- 16 charters in June that the transit in Congress, Hill topped Sodrel by motorcoach operation he founded Alaska and it would not have a in 30 days of the end of each quar- agency said private carriers were 9,500 votes, 51.2 percent to 46.1 in Jeffersonville, put the spotlight major environmental impact. It ter. The deadline for filing the first not interesting in doing. The agen- percent. on fuel prices and energy with a could, he said, save Americans tril- reports was July 30. cy received revenue of $2,671 for Sodrel squeezed out a win in tour last month of the Arctic Na- lions of dollars. Those that did not do any char- the work. 2004, by 1,400 votes, 49.5 percent tional Wildlife Refuge, or ANWR, CONTINUED ON PAGE 14 c ter work during a reporting period CONTINUED ON PAGE 14 c The 2009 MCI® J4500 Now Available Smooth. ® Sm art. Sophisticated. Call 1-877 - I BUY MCI (428-9624) MCI Banner_Smooth3.indd 1 7/31/08 5:10:48 PM Bus & Motorcoach News INDUSTRY NEWS August 15, 2008 3 Filter manufacturers are Sports Museum of America opens in NYC accused of fixing prices NEW YORK CITY — The for basketball, soccer, hockey, golf “We’ve designed (the Sports Sports Museum of America is the and 15 others. Museum of America) as a truly Upwards of 35 lawsuits have fuel and transmission filters in the newest destination in New York Located in Lower Manhattan universal sports experience and… been filed across the U.S., alleging aftermarket…to fix, raise, main- City. at the base of the famed “Canyon to be America’s number one sports a broad conspiracy among manu- tain or stabilize prices, rig bids, Billed as the nation’s first-ever, of Heroes,” the Sports Museum of destination for everyone in the facturers to fix and inflate prices and allocate customers for filters all-sports experience, the museum America is designed to showcase U. S., as well as for international of oil, air, fuel and transmission in the United States.” is an interactive experience cap- “the spirit of America through visitors to our shores,” said Philip filters. According to one suit, a confi- turing America’s sports heritage. sports,” including inspiring stories Schwalb, founder and CEO of the The conspiracy supposedly dential informant who was a senior More than 50 single-sport and sports heroes. museum. began in 1999 and continued into sales executive employed by two Halls of Fame, national governing It also is the new permanent The museum is at 26 Broad- this year. of the companies, says the defen- bodies and museums from across home of the Heisman Trophy, as way, next to the “Charging Bull” “Through meetings at industry dants conspired and agreed to co- North America are providing ma- well as the Billie Jean King Inter- statute and footsteps from the events and elsewhere, and (through) ordinate prices, rig bids and allo- terials to the museum. These in- national Women’s Sports Center, Statue of Liberty Ferry. For infor- the exchange of confidential pric- cate customers. clude the Pro Football Hall of which includes the first ever wom- mation, go to www.sportsmuseum. ing materials, defendants unlaw- Former Champion manager Fame, as well as the halls of fame en’s sports hall of fame. com. fully agreed to the magnitude and William Burch has admitted to the timing of price increases,” one of conspiracy, according to the suit the suits asserts. filed in federal court in Newark, Filed by automotive parts dis- N.J., by Central Warehouse Sales, tributors, service outlets and vehi- a Scranton, Pa., filter distributor. cle dealers, the suits are against Burch “testified in an Illinois Champion Laboratories, Purolator court proceeding that he was asked Filters, Honeywell International, to participate in fixing prices,” ac- Wix Filtration Products, Cummins cording to an attorney who repre- Filtration, the Donaldson Com- sents Central Warehouse. pany, Baldwin Filters, Bosch, Burch tape-recorded his con- MANN + Hummel, Arvin Meritor, versations with other people in the United Components and The Car- industry, and copies of those tapes lyle Group. have been sent to the U.S. Justice The suits, which have been Department, the attorney said. filed in New Jersey, Connecticut, Champion sued Burch in 2006 and Illinois and Tennessee, allege “a accused him of submitting false massive conspiracy among the expense account charges, which he largest manufacturers of oil, air, denied.