I am currently working for Coach America(planning on changing gears and getting into expediting in 2007), we got word today that we were aquired by Fenway Partners, an investment group. After checking out Fenway's website, I saw that they aquired Panther Expedited in June 2005. Coach America is the largest tour and charter in the U.S. and the 2nd largest motorcoach services provider with 2600 vehicles and over 5000 employees. Coach America has offices from Baltimore/D.C. down the east coast thru the Carolinas into FL, then across the southern US in LA,TX,AR,TN, West central US AZ,CO,WY,ND,SD,MT. and the west CA,NV,UT and OR. Fenway also owns Road Link among other companies. This is all pending approval from the STB, but pretty much is a done deal from what we hear. Who knows maybe FedEx will purchase Greyhound(Although, I don't think anybody would be that dumb!) Tom.(Soon to be outta the bus and back in a truck).
Panther owners aquire Coach America.........
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I'll bet you couldn't get used to having your freight talk to you.
>I'll bet you couldn't get used to having your freight talk
>to you.
That's one of the reasons I'm getting out of the bus after 27 years, the "freight" talks back to you too much, always with an attitude. It used to be a pretty good job, but anymore everyday is a new adventure or should I say "crisis". I love that quiet freight! Tom.
>to you.
That's one of the reasons I'm getting out of the bus after 27 years, the "freight" talks back to you too much, always with an attitude. It used to be a pretty good job, but anymore everyday is a new adventure or should I say "crisis". I love that quiet freight! Tom.
>Thats very interesting. I worked for Coach America for 1
>week last month and decided it wasn't for me. Too much
>potentail liability and weekend work. But the rumor there
>was that Coach America was going to buy Greyhound. So much
>for rumors.
We heard the same thing, GH has cut service to about half the country trying to cut costs and make it look more attractive to a potential buyer. In doing this they've managed to alienate a whole lot of people. A couple years ago the rumor was UPS was interested in GH, mainly to tie in their package express service with UPS. But GH was in such sad financial shape, it would've been a financial nightmare so they nixed it. Which Coach America office did you work at? Tom.
>week last month and decided it wasn't for me. Too much
>potentail liability and weekend work. But the rumor there
>was that Coach America was going to buy Greyhound. So much
>for rumors.
We heard the same thing, GH has cut service to about half the country trying to cut costs and make it look more attractive to a potential buyer. In doing this they've managed to alienate a whole lot of people. A couple years ago the rumor was UPS was interested in GH, mainly to tie in their package express service with UPS. But GH was in such sad financial shape, it would've been a financial nightmare so they nixed it. Which Coach America office did you work at? Tom.
a coach driver of 7 years now on and off...
This is interesting... However, I think Coach America and American Coach Lines may be 2 different companies.
I highly doubt that Grey Hound will ever be bought out. They don't seem like they're doing well sometimes, but they're not hurting.
They're still managing to put charter co.'s out of business in some area's of the country. They have contracts with many corporations and companies... not to mention the country's prison system, along with many sherrif/police departments. US Marshals and bounty hunters are still known to this day to use Greyhound "for transportation methods".
Some history... Coach USA, once a large bus co. in the US, which was owned by StageCoach Corporation in Europe, a few years ago more or less disentigrated when StageCoach decided to sell off most of Coach USA interests in North America. 2 of those fleets I worked for personally, in Jacksonville, FL and in the West Palm Beach area as well.
American Coach Lines was formed with 17 former fleets of Coach USA.
You still see "Coach USA" on some buses.
However, look behind the front tires...
Where it's not uncommon to see "DBA" meaning Doing Business As...
Why? Because it's easier and more importantly cheaper from a graphics and paint cost to replace tiny letters than big letters.
Over a period of 2 weeks, unknown to most customers at the time...
Coach USA became "American Coach Lines"...
And co.'s like Golden Aisles Coach, a Coach USA company in Jacksonville, FL then became "Golden Aisles Coach, an American Coach Lines Company".
I don't know if Coach America is affiliated with American Coach Lines, they may be... but I didn't think so.
When Coach USA began falling apart, I got out shortly afterwards and now run for 2 seperate independantly owned and operated charter bus operations in upstate SC. One Co. has 13 coaches, and the other has 3. Both are very different companies.
The larger co. does alot of business with schools and colleges/universities.
There I also run a private coach periodically.
The smaller co. had 5 busses before Katrina, when we did many multi-day trips, after Katrina we lost multiple S.E. and Gulf trips due to devastations and fear (among trip organizers) of more hurricanes.
Katrina struck in late August, and by January he had given up 2 busses.
Creative thinking formed a repair shop,
a seperate company from the bus company.
There we repair local logging trucks, and do repair work on cars, trucks, and trailers of all kinds.
They also have a detail shop now as well.
He is going to keep 3 busses and the repair shop, and is considering on running containers from the ports to the upstate and Charlotte, NC area. The repair shop is very good, and pays for 3 mechanics, and the company's monthly utility bill.
So, Coach USA and the large bus co.'s will come and go... but the smaller more established co.'s seem to stick around and adapt to the changes.
As we all know on Expediters Online... the small business owner is still very much alive and well (most of the time).
Later, Bob.
This is interesting... However, I think Coach America and American Coach Lines may be 2 different companies.
I highly doubt that Grey Hound will ever be bought out. They don't seem like they're doing well sometimes, but they're not hurting.
They're still managing to put charter co.'s out of business in some area's of the country. They have contracts with many corporations and companies... not to mention the country's prison system, along with many sherrif/police departments. US Marshals and bounty hunters are still known to this day to use Greyhound "for transportation methods".
Some history... Coach USA, once a large bus co. in the US, which was owned by StageCoach Corporation in Europe, a few years ago more or less disentigrated when StageCoach decided to sell off most of Coach USA interests in North America. 2 of those fleets I worked for personally, in Jacksonville, FL and in the West Palm Beach area as well.
American Coach Lines was formed with 17 former fleets of Coach USA.
You still see "Coach USA" on some buses.
However, look behind the front tires...
Where it's not uncommon to see "DBA" meaning Doing Business As...
Why? Because it's easier and more importantly cheaper from a graphics and paint cost to replace tiny letters than big letters.
Over a period of 2 weeks, unknown to most customers at the time...
Coach USA became "American Coach Lines"...
And co.'s like Golden Aisles Coach, a Coach USA company in Jacksonville, FL then became "Golden Aisles Coach, an American Coach Lines Company".
I don't know if Coach America is affiliated with American Coach Lines, they may be... but I didn't think so.
When Coach USA began falling apart, I got out shortly afterwards and now run for 2 seperate independantly owned and operated charter bus operations in upstate SC. One Co. has 13 coaches, and the other has 3. Both are very different companies.
The larger co. does alot of business with schools and colleges/universities.
There I also run a private coach periodically.
The smaller co. had 5 busses before Katrina, when we did many multi-day trips, after Katrina we lost multiple S.E. and Gulf trips due to devastations and fear (among trip organizers) of more hurricanes.
Katrina struck in late August, and by January he had given up 2 busses.
Creative thinking formed a repair shop,
a seperate company from the bus company.
There we repair local logging trucks, and do repair work on cars, trucks, and trailers of all kinds.
They also have a detail shop now as well.
He is going to keep 3 busses and the repair shop, and is considering on running containers from the ports to the upstate and Charlotte, NC area. The repair shop is very good, and pays for 3 mechanics, and the company's monthly utility bill.
So, Coach USA and the large bus co.'s will come and go... but the smaller more established co.'s seem to stick around and adapt to the changes.
As we all know on Expediters Online... the small business owner is still very much alive and well (most of the time).
Later, Bob.
Just about all the Coach America companies are ex-Coach USA companies. Most all of our buses still have Coach USA on them, but they're gradually starting to change the decals over to Coach America. Yes American Coach was aquired last year by Coach America. Basically Coach USA sold out 4 divisions, the NE to Peter Pan, the South Central and Western to Coach America, and later the SE to American Coach Lines, which later went to Coach America. All that is left of Coach USA is their NY and PA divisons, and their divisions in IL and WI. They also have Coach Canada. You need a scorecard to keep up with all the changes anymore. I do agree we were a lot better off as a smaller company, things were a lot less complicated. Tom.
I am certainly not a bus expert but I was not impressed with the condition of the busses. From a distance they looked good but up close and especially in the engine compartments there was a lot of corrison and rust. They also wanted the drivers to change various belts if they broke on the road. The training room and the restrooms were filthy and all in all it looked like a losing operation. Apparently very few drivers lasted more then 6 months.
I was told that American Coach was owned by Coach America out of Dallas.
I was told that American Coach was owned by Coach America out of Dallas.
In response to the above replies... I was not aware that American Coach Lines had changed and is now "Coach America"... that almost sounds as if there's a tax advantage deal going to somebody somewhere... it's barely a name change. I'd really just consider that a gently-stirred name reversal.
In response to the dirty restrooms and rust on the busses... I believe he's talking specifically about the Jacksonville facility.
Those restrooms are used mostly by shop and the bus servicing (cleaning crews)... I've rarely seen a restroom that mechanics use "clean".
The changing of the belt? Well, I look at this way...
In the case of driving for a bus co., if it's a seated passenger coach co., I've got a white shirt and tie on. If I can change a belt myself, that means 30 to 50 plus people are less stressed - and on their way to their destination quicker. I'll take my shirt and tie off to change a belt if it saves me and my group a delay of 2 to 3 hours. if the group is happy, most of the time the driver is too.
if I'm on a private coach... if I'm able to, I'll still change the belt myself. If I can't... I'll quickly call somebody - because in the private coach world - Usually, money is no object.
The old saying is Very true... The Show must go on.
The rust and corrosion comes from where those busses run... they're close to the salt and salty air/spray of the Atlantic Ocean almost Constantly, along with running mountains and snowy area's and wintery destinations... their equipment almost constantly dealing with salt from either the Atlantic or the winter road trips. I'm not totally defending them though, because their equipment probably needs updating. Having run in the past for that Jacksonville bus fleet that Rich is speaking of, I will add that I don't think it would hurt their image if they improved their bus washing methods and wash schedules.
I ran for their sister fleet in south Florida as well, and it's location wasn't bad, we ran the coast regularly. While we ran up north, we didn't run up north nearly as much as that Jacksonville, Florida fleet did. In South FL they also washed all 32 busses atleast every other run, often times it was 1 to 3 day trips (so it meant every bus was getting multiple scrubs of soap and water a week), with occasional 5 day trips.
Running for smaller bus fleets, I've found the busses get cleaned up far better. The trick is finding a small co. that takes care of their busses mechanical/electrical/cosmetic issues. Smaller bus co.'s are just like small truck co.'s... that means smaller budgets.
In my opinion, and this follows bus and trucking companies...
The quality of runs you get in a smaller co. are better, with more multi-day trips, meaning more dollars in the drivers pockets.
BigBusBob.
In response to the dirty restrooms and rust on the busses... I believe he's talking specifically about the Jacksonville facility.
Those restrooms are used mostly by shop and the bus servicing (cleaning crews)... I've rarely seen a restroom that mechanics use "clean".
The changing of the belt? Well, I look at this way...
In the case of driving for a bus co., if it's a seated passenger coach co., I've got a white shirt and tie on. If I can change a belt myself, that means 30 to 50 plus people are less stressed - and on their way to their destination quicker. I'll take my shirt and tie off to change a belt if it saves me and my group a delay of 2 to 3 hours. if the group is happy, most of the time the driver is too.
if I'm on a private coach... if I'm able to, I'll still change the belt myself. If I can't... I'll quickly call somebody - because in the private coach world - Usually, money is no object.
The old saying is Very true... The Show must go on.
The rust and corrosion comes from where those busses run... they're close to the salt and salty air/spray of the Atlantic Ocean almost Constantly, along with running mountains and snowy area's and wintery destinations... their equipment almost constantly dealing with salt from either the Atlantic or the winter road trips. I'm not totally defending them though, because their equipment probably needs updating. Having run in the past for that Jacksonville bus fleet that Rich is speaking of, I will add that I don't think it would hurt their image if they improved their bus washing methods and wash schedules.
I ran for their sister fleet in south Florida as well, and it's location wasn't bad, we ran the coast regularly. While we ran up north, we didn't run up north nearly as much as that Jacksonville, Florida fleet did. In South FL they also washed all 32 busses atleast every other run, often times it was 1 to 3 day trips (so it meant every bus was getting multiple scrubs of soap and water a week), with occasional 5 day trips.
Running for smaller bus fleets, I've found the busses get cleaned up far better. The trick is finding a small co. that takes care of their busses mechanical/electrical/cosmetic issues. Smaller bus co.'s are just like small truck co.'s... that means smaller budgets.
In my opinion, and this follows bus and trucking companies...
The quality of runs you get in a smaller co. are better, with more multi-day trips, meaning more dollars in the drivers pockets.
BigBusBob.
Greyhound was bought out 5 yrs ago by the big Canadian
bus co Laidlaw who allowed them to keep the greyhound name in the Us and Canada.
There is one company that will never be bought and from what I have seen have the nicest and most mordern buses and thats Academy bus lines out of Nj/NY Maybe being owned by the Tedesco family who has strong mob ties might have something to do with it.
bus co Laidlaw who allowed them to keep the greyhound name in the Us and Canada.
There is one company that will never be bought and from what I have seen have the nicest and most mordern buses and thats Academy bus lines out of Nj/NY Maybe being owned by the Tedesco family who has strong mob ties might have something to do with it.
Running the NorthEast and east coast regularly, I can say Academy does have it's share of beaters. Take a closer look, they're not all that in my opinion... the winner up there is Peter Pan Lines, with a snazzy paint scheme on most of their fleet - their coaches and drivers are for the most part very nice.