The Motorcoach Insider

  Prevost: Why Operators, Drivers and Mechanics Still Have Opinions About This Coach The Coaches That Built the American Charter Industry — Part II By Dhinel “Danny” Biyanwela There are certain conversations you can start around motorcoach people without even trying very hard. MCI or Prevost? H3 or X3? Which one rides better? Which one is easier to work on? Which one holds its value? Which one would your drivers rather take on a five-day tour? Prevost is one of those brands where everybody seems to have an opinion, and after looking through the industry conversation surrounding the company over the last decade, I think that is a much more interesting story than simply going back through 100 years of company history. Because the people looking at the same coach are often looking at completely different things. The driver is thinking about the cockpit, visibility and how the coach handles after eight hours behind the wheel. The mechanic is thinking about how difficult it will be to r...

  Who Owns the Trip? The Money, Insurance and Liability Behind the Charter Bus Broker The operator owns the coach, pays the driver, buys the diesel and carries the insurance. The broker may control the customer, negotiate the rate and collect the money. As brokers take a larger role in charter sales, the financial question is getting harder to ignore: who is actually carrying the risk? By Dhinel “Danny” Biyanwela I keep seeing the same conversation in this industry. A broker sends a trip to an operator. The operator prices it based on the coach, driver, mileage, fuel, deadhead, tolls and everything else that goes into actually providing the transportation. Then the email comes back: the customer is on a budget. Can you come down another $300? Another company is cheaper. Can you sharpen the pencil? I recently saw another operator respond publicly to that exact argument. His point was simple: the customer may be on a budget, but the bus company is on one too. That stuck with me beca...

  Your Biggest Customer Might Not Be Your Best Customer Motorcoach operators know what a customer spends. But after discounts, deadhead, driver time, fuel, itinerary changes, slow payments and the coach days that account consumes, do we know what the customer actually makes us? By Dhinel “Danny” Biyanwela I came across a LinkedIn post recently that got me thinking about something we probably don't talk about enough in the motorcoach business. The basic idea was simple. A customer promises a lot of volume. You give them a better rate because of that volume. The volume never really materializes. But somehow the discount does. I read that and immediately started thinking about charter buses. Because how many times have we heard some version of this? “Take care of us on the rate. We're going to give you a lot of business.” Maybe it's a university. Maybe a hotel. Maybe a tour company, DMC, broker, school, sports organization or corporate account. And sometimes they ab...

The MCI: How the Workhorse of the Charter Industry Keeps Earning Its Keep The J4500 gets the attention. The D-Series gets overlooked. But in today's used-coach market, the year, powertrain, condition and history may matter more than the badge on the front. By Dhinel “Danny” Biyanwela If you've spent any real amount of time in the American charter bus industry, you've probably dealt with an MCI. You've driven one, owned one, fixed one, bought one used or spent half the night trying to figure out why one wasn't leaving the yard the next morning. They're everywhere. And looking at the used market lately got me thinking about how differently we value these buses. A 2007 J4500, a 2010 D4505 and a 2013 J4500 may all say MCI on the front, but they're completely different buying decisions. That's becoming more important because operators appear to be looking harder at used equipment. Recent industry reporting showed pre-owned motorcoach sales rising sharply year...