12 < mETRO mAGAZINE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017 metro-magazine.com

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Keeping Driver’s Seats Filled,Increased Competition Key Concerns

Many operators report they have stepped up their efforts to find drivers andare offering improved pay, benefits, and training to keep them on board.

Meanwhile, the growth of transportation network companies,such as Uber and Lyft, is starting to compete for the industry’s business.

Top 50 Motorcoach Fleets

BY ALEX ROMAN, Managing Editor

Sponsored by

13JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017 mETRO mAGAZINE >

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Recruiting, hiring, and retaining driv-ers is the biggest challenge facing mo-torcoach operations today, according to 85% of respondents to METRO’s Top 50 Motorcoach Survey this year. Addi-tionally, when asked what their biggest expense other than equipment was, la-bor was the top answer as well as la-bor-related expenses, including health care/benefits and pay, with fuel costs coming in a distant second.

Overall, 23,831 vehicles were report-ed by this year’s Top 50, with 9,267, or 39%, of the vehicles reported motor-coaches — a slight decrease of about 200 coaches compared with last year.

A LOOK AT THE NUMBERSSixty-eight percent of this year’s re-spondents reported an increase in business, with 22% reporting that their business was down, and 10% reporting no change. The largest growth reported was 27%, with the largest decrease in business reported 15%.

Meanwhile, 84% of respondents plan on purchasing an estimated 554 new vehicles in 2017, with top suppli-er choices, including ABC Companies/Van Hool, Motor Coach Industries, Prevost and Temsa. Last year, 73% of operators reported that they were plan-ning on purchasing 591 new vehicles — a number that was also down from the previous year.

To help increase business, 66% of re-spondents reported they are contract-ing with private companies, followed by obtaining school contracts (56%); obtaining government contracts (46%); partnering with other providers (37%); and diversifying into other types of transportation business, such as para-transit and limousine (22%). Additional ways operators are trying to grow busi-ness included the acquisition of com-petitors, finding niche markets, and in-creasing marketing efforts.

While an overwhelming number of operators report that their biggest source of competition is other oper-ators (91%), taxis and transportation network companies (Uber, Lyft) are gaining traction (30% versus about 8% in 2016), followed by personal automo-biles (27%), and airlines (20%).

Word of mouth is still the preferred

method of marketing for 46% of respon-dents, followed by social media (17%) and internet advertising (15%). Mean-while, 50% of respondents report that they have increased their marketing ef-forts on social media, with an addition-al 34% saying they have increased their internet advertising efforts.

CHALLENGES, INNOVATIONS When asked what they are doing to combat the recruiting, hiring, and re-taining drivers issue, many operators say they are improving training, in-creasing their pay/benefits packages, and concentrating more financial and marketing resources on recruitment.

With 64% of respondents saying they increased driver training in 2016, the most popular topics covered includ-ed (in order) safety, customer service, ADA training, and familiarization with the technologies on board coaches, such as Electronic Logging Devices.

A total of 23,831 motorcoaches and buses are represented among the Top 50 operators in this survey. Non-motorcoach vehicles made up the majority with 61% — one percentage point higher than in the last three surveys.

Recruiting/hiring/retaining drivers remains the top challenge for motorcoach operators, with 85% reporting it as their top issue, versus 77% last year. On the bottom of the list, fewer operators are reporting issues with rogue carriers and inspections/governmental compliance.

Total Fleet Size

23,831

What is your greatest challenge in providing service?

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Motorcoaches

39%(9,267)

Non-motorcoaches

61%(14,563)

Recruiting/hiring/retaining drivers

Staying busy year-roundFinding maintenance personnel

Pricing

Costs

Competition

Engine technology/vehicles

Rogue carriers

Inspections/governmental compliance

85%31%29%29%26%26%24%7%7%

In addition to increasing its recruitment efforts, operators are also increasing training efforts to help maintain its driver workforce.

14 < mETRO mAGAZINE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017 metro-magazine.com

1 1 FirstGroup AmericaCincinnati 12,500 1,700 10,800 1,700 8,910 190 14

2 2 Coach USA Inc./Paramus, N.J.Coach Canada/Peterborough, Ontario 2,130 1,667 463 1,870 260 0 -320

3 3 Academy Bus CompaniesHoboken, N.J. 1,139 844 295 967 166 6 26

4 4 Pacific Western Group of CompaniesToronto 868 581 287 722 112 0 62

5 5 Easton Coach Co.Easton, Pa. 434 29 405 33 27 0 29

6 7 All Aboard America HoldingsNew Orleans 338 299 39 291 47 0 33

7 21 Silverado Stages Inc.San Luis Obispo, Calif. 336 259 77 329 7 0 180

8 6 Royal Hyway Tours Inc.Fairbanks, Alaska 327 308 19 308 0 0 —

9 13 Arrow Stage LinesOmaha, Neb. 275 222 53 206 16 0 60

10 9 Mears Motor CoachesOrlando, Fla. 253 179 74 185 68 6 16

11 11 DATTCO Inc.New Britain, Conn. 240 105 135 125 9 0 16

12 8 Peter Pan Bus Lines Inc.Springfield, Mass. 232 229 3 228 4 0 -27

13 — Birnie Bus Service Inc.Rome, NY. 222 39 183 131 91 0 —

14 12 Cyr Bus LinesOld Town, Maine 221 21 200 216 5 0 —

15 14 Fullington TrailwaysState College, Pa. 211 64 146 62 2 0 —

16 15 Paul Revere Transportation LLCChelsea, Mass. 205 21 184 117 34 32 14

17 10 Martz GroupWilkes-Barre, Pa. 192 188 4 188 2 0 -39

18 16 AFC TransportationHouston 180 71 109 92 17 0 —

19 29 Charter Bus Lines of British ColumbiaVancouver, B.C. 176 173 3 170 2 0 64

20 17 Lamers Bus Lines Inc.Green Bay, Wis. 170 117 53 105 65 0 -9

21 20 Gray Line of MinnesotaLakeville, Minn. 161 16 145 16 145 0 —

22 — Polynesian Adventure ToursHonolulu 157 109 48 109 0 0 —

23 22 Gray Line of TennesseeNashville, Tenn. 155 67 88 117 38 0 —

24 19 Cline Tours Inc.Ridgeland, Miss. 154 116 38 116 24 0 -11

25 23 Bauer’s Intelligent TransportationSan Francisco 147 61 86 63 84 0 —

26 24 TourCoach Charter & ToursLos Angeles 139 74 65 67 7 0 —

20162017 Company Name/

Location Total Buses and

CoachesMotorcoaches

Non-Motorcoach

Buses Total 40/45-Foot

Buses and Coaches

Total 30/35 Ft. Total Longer Than

45 Ft. Plus/Minus 2016

Top 50 Motorcoach Fleets Sponsored by

16 < mETRO mAGAZINE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017 metro-magazine.com

27 25 Krapf’s Coaches Inc.West Chester, Pa. 136 12 124 25 11 0 4

28 27 Le BusSalt Lake City 128 128 0 122 6 0 4

29 26 Trailways of New YorkHurley, N.Y. 125 125 0 0 0 125 —

30 — Sunway ChartersCharlotte, N.C. 115 98 17 96 2 0 —

31 31 Windstar Lines Inc.Carroll, Iowa 110 98 12 98 0 0 17

31 — Roadrunner Charters Inc.Irving, Texas 110 85 25 75 10 0 —

31 — Cavallo Bus LinesGillespie, Ill. 110 110 0 108 2 0 —

34 30 Lorenz Bus ServiceMinneapolis 103 28 75 88 15 0 2

35 32 Premier Alaska Tours Inc.Anchorage, Alaska 94 94 0 94 0 0 5

36 28 California Wine ToursNapa, Calif. 87 24 63 22 2 0 -32

36 33 Village Tours LLCWichita, Kan. 87 86 1 84 1 0 —

38 — Autocar ExcellenceLevis, Quebec, Canada 85 70 15 70 6 0 —

39 34 Jefferson LinesMinneapolis 83 78 5 74 4 0 3

40 — Brewster Travel CanadaBanff, Alberta, Canada 80 68 12 3 12 65 —

41 40 Indian Trails Inc.Owosso, Mich. 79 51 28 71 8 0 7

42 36 Black Diamond TransportationTulsa, Okla. 78 78 0 78 0 0 —

43 34 Escot Bus LinesLargo, Fla. 77 47 30 74 3 0 -3

44 46 Anchor Tours Inc.Nashville, Tenn. 76 60 16 60 0 0 8

45 37 Lewis StagesSalt Lake City 75 41 34 41 34 0 —

46 38 Pure Luxury TransportationPetaluma, Calif. 74 26 48 26 48 0 —

46 38 Lakeland Bus LinesDover, N.J. 74 74 0 74 0 0 —

46 40 Premier Coach Co. Inc.Milton, Vt. 74 70 4 60 10 0 2

49 48 Amador Stage LinesSacramento, Calif. 73 55 18 51 4 0 8

50 44 Holiday CompaniesRandleman, N.C. 68 62 6 62 6 0 -2

50 46 Ambassatours Gray Line/Absolute Charters Inc.Halifax, N.S. 68 40 28 40 3 7 —

20162017 Company Name/

Location Total Buses and

CoachesMotorcoaches

Non-Motorcoach

Buses Total 40/45-Foot

Buses and Coaches

Total 30/35 Ft. Total Longer Than

45 Ft. Plus/Minus 2016

Top 50 Motorcoach Fleets

Some of the most popular innova-tions implemented by motorcoach op-erators in 2016 include Wi-Fi and 110-volt outlets, online reservation systems and paperless tickets, GPS tracking, and sales and recruitment bonuses.

Finally, while the federal govern-ment continues its focus on improved motorcoach safety and customer awareness, METRO asked if operators are concerned with the approach being taken, with 55% saying yes, which was the same as 2016.

“By and large, we do support most of the regulations that are being im-plemented,” said one operator. “There are regulations that are proposed from time to time that we do question. The most recent is the leasing regulation, which is being proposed. While its in-tent is to go after companies that are not safe, it will adversely affect the law abiding companies and make it virtual-ly impossible to manage.”

“Too often they implement new regulations under the guise of safety, which do nothing to improve safety, while ignoring simple steps they could take that could actually have an im-pact,” added another operator.

Additional concerns raised, involved FMCSA’s CSA scoring system, inconsis-tent guidelines in regards to roadside inspection of coaches, and imposing

regulations without providing any fi-nancial assistance for implementation. METRO would like to thank all of the

motorcoach operators around the U.S. and Canada who responded to this year’s survey. If your operation would like to receive next year’s survey, or you have suggestions how to improve it, please contact us at info@metro-magazine.com.

17JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017 mETRO mAGAZINE >

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13

Do you own refurbished coaches?

If no, are you considering buying refurbished coaches in 2017?

Have you considered refurbishing coaches instead of purchasing new vehicles?

Yes

37%

Yes

11%

Yes

74%

No

63%

No

89%

No

26%

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