Bus lines shut down.

[5B Steve]

  I was just reading that the Feds just shut down 52 bus companys for various violations.


   Steve 5B........

[Dreamscape]

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/12/12/feds-shut-down-52-unsafe-bus-companies/

[luvrbus]

I am glad the fed shut down River City Shuttle here that was a accident looking for place to happen but they did not have but 1 intercity coach a older Van Hool that they bought from Laughlin which the scrap dealers would not buy

[scanzel]

It looks like the government finally go their head together. I feel bad for some that may loose their job if the companies shut down completely but if they knowingly drove a defective vehicle then they only helped make it worse.

[luvrbus]

Just stand back and watch this bleed over to converted buses  it will happen sooner or later

[Boomer]

As a retired bus company owner I am really glad to see this.  A lot of those companies are owned by immigrants who flat out just don't care about our laws and regulations and cater to their own.  It's very easy for a consumer to check a carriers record and operating profile on line through the goverment SAFER system website, but few do it, they only care about price.  We tried to educate prospective clients about safety records, insurance levels, maintenance, etc. but usually they were only interested in the $.  I call it the WalMart syndrome, cheap is the only thing that matters.  Until the bus crashes and burns that is.

[luvrbus]

I did notice the ones in Texas were Mexican owners Mark

[Len Silva]

I agree completely that all motor carriers should be subject to the same requirements or suffer severe consequences.  That, at least, would put every carrier on an even field as well as saving lives.

The same should apply to railroads and any other public transport.  The recent train accident in New York is appalling.  How is it possible in this day and age for a train to overspeed?  Hell, one could write a cellphone app to alarm if the train (or truck, or bus) is exceeding the speed limit.

[Scott & Heather]

I agree, this will bleed over into us private owners. Some of it is a good thing...but weigh stations and random DOT stops are not on my list of fun things to do while full-timing.

[Iceni John]

Looking through that list of operators, there's two that surprise me there:
   Indiana  -  Rotel
   NY  -  Coach USA
I thought those two are well-established "reputable" operators.   Isn't Rotel the German company with those red sleeping-compartment buses, and isn't Coach USA one of the biggest national operators?   Wow, if those two companies (or at least their subsidiaries) have deficiences that's not good.

John 

[bobofthenorth]

You can inspect any vehicle on any day John and if you look hard enough you'll find something to write up.  All it takes is a driver who's a little chippy or an inspector whose wife yelled at him that morning.  That's the risk when we willingly submit to more onerous regulation.  Eventually it comes down to some dweeb with a ticket book.

[luvrbus]

I know how that works Bob the Dot in Kansas red flagged a new PeterBuilt haul truck of mine with only 380 miles on the truck I was riding with the driver and the DOT guy pissed me off with his attitude well I had to go open my mouth 

I told him to write till his damn arm fell off and he did just that then I spent 3 hrs in jail till the secretary could get there with the $ 3800.00 cash to pay the fines a lesson was learn 

[B_K]

Looking through that list of operators, there's two that surprise me there:
   Indiana  -  Rotel
   NY  -  Coach USA
I thought those two are well-established "reputable" operators.   Isn't Rotel the German company with those red sleeping-compartment buses, and isn't Coach USA one of the biggest national operators?   Wow, if those two companies (or at least their subsidiaries) have deficiences that's not good.

John 

John I have no insight on Rotel. I've only seen there buses in pictures or newspaper articles.
But from what I've read about the way they work the operation I can very easily see where there could have been hrs of service violations and also when keeping a driver/bus out away from the "barn" for extended periods of time I can imagine a lack of maintenance. (however I have no proof of either as I've had no personal experiences with the company in anyway)

Now about COACH USA it doesn't surprise me in the least bit as COACH USA went around and bought out a bunch of little companies and merged everything under one corporation and then went bankrupt.
However some of the fleets survived and are still operating in various scattered locations and from what I see out on the road the buses are run hard and put away wet for the most part.
I see them broken down or needing emergency repairs while on trips quite often.
I had 4 different Coach USA buses through our little shop in the middle of nowhere this past summer for different problems.

That's not to say ALL of the surviving COACH USA operations are bad but a few bad apples sure make the whole bushel smell funny!
  BK 

[Jon]

I would be opposed to DOT roadside inspections. From what I have seen and read most think they are set up to generate revenue anyway. But........I think the coach and the driver need some form of inspection and validation before they get on the road. I read the posts on this site and others and from time to time I read about coaches being driven home that shouldn't even be on public highways. We all have read about owners driving on 10 year old tires with sidewall cracks or brake systems that will hardly air up. We have all watched "drivers" that can't hardly back into a campsite. I don't know how the rest feel, but I don't want to share the highway with buses or cars or trucks or drivers that are not fit to operate safely.

[CrabbyMilton]

Nobody wants the feds nosing around and imposing often silly regulations and taxes just for the sake of makeing people miserable and benefiting the anti business types and IRS. But, how does a business benefit from operating bad equipment? They may able to get away with it for a short time but sooner or later, it will come back and kick you in the butt. How can a shuddered business make any money? Play by the rules or lobby to make them more reasonable.