Coach America has obtained a commitment for $30 million of debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing from a steering committee of its existing senior lenders. This financing, subject to approval by the Bankruptcy Court, will support the Company’s fleet investment and help ensure the continuation of normal operations
Coach America is continuing accelerated discussions with its Lenders on a restructuring that will position it for future growth and competitive success. George Maney, President and Chief Executive Officer of Coach America, said, “Coach America has, for too long, been constrained by our capital structure, and today’s decision will ensure a stronger Company focused on delivering critical transportation services to our customers across the country. I want to emphasize that it is business as usual for Coach America throughout the Chapter 11 process, and we look forward to a right-sized capital structure that will enhance our competitiveness and ability to serve our customers going forward.”
Coach America has filed motions with the Court seeking interim relief that will ensure the Company’s continued ability to conduct normal operations.

“It was a very productive meeting,” said NTA/UMA 2013 Task Force Chairman Michael Neustadt of Coach Tours Ltd. in Brookfield, Conn. “We discussed the nuances of each association’s membership very thoughtfully and were able to firm up many of the key details to make sure our NTA-UMA event is useful, relevant and fun for everyone.”

Besides Neustadt, whose company is a member of both UMA and NTA, the task force is made up of members from each association. Meeting regularly by phone or in person, the group has collaborated on the combined activities of the event to ensure members of both associations get the maximum benefit.

At the meeting in Providencethe grouprecommended for the associations to combine their evening events—UMA’s Vision Awards and NTA’s Gala Reception—to create a comingled networking opportunity for both the motorcoach operator and tour operator attendees.

“Not only will the business and networking events be great for all attendees, but we’ll have a chance to learn more, too,” said NTA’s Chairman and CEO Cathy Greteman of Star Destinations in Iowa. “The task force recommended opening all education sessions to both NTA and UMA members so we can build a better understanding of the unique dynamics of the tour and motorcoach businesses.”

“A lot of progress was made toward creating an overall event benefitting every attendee, while ensuring that the core values and essence of NTA’s and UMA’s respective events is maintained,” said UMA’s Chairman of the Board Tom Ready of Ready Bus Lines in Minnesota.

Members of the joint task force who met in Providence were Chairman Michael Nuestadt; UMA members Larry Hundt, Tom Ready and Tim Wayland; NTA members Audrey Bialas, Cathy Greteman and Jim Reddekopp Jr.; UMA staff Victor Parra and Maggie Masterson; and NTA staff Lisa Simon and Lee Carter.  The convention is scheduled for Jan. 19–23 in Orlando, Florida.

The task force will continue to meet regularly, and more details about the 2013 event will be announced at NTA’s Convention ’11 in December and UMA’s Motorcoach EXPO in February.

 About NTA:

Now celebrating its 60th year, NTA is the leading business-building association for travel professionals interested in the North American market—inbound, outbound and within the continent. Our buyer members are tour operators who buy and package travel product from around the world. Our seller members are destination marketing organizations and tour suppliers from the U.S., Canada and more than 40 countries. For more information, see www.NTAonline.com.

 About UMA:

The United Motorcoach Association (UMA) is North America’s largest association for operators of motorcoach companies providing charter, tour and regular route services. Founded in 1971, UMA is comprised of over 900 professional bus and motorcoach companies who provide transportation services in all 50 states, Canada and Mexico, and more than 250 supplier, manufacturer, and travel partner members. Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, UMA is dedicated to protecting and promoting the interests of the entire motorcoach industry and providing its members with programs and services to enhance the success of their operations. More information can be obtained by visiting www.uma.org.

The area, which is popular with bus drivers traveling to and from Downtown San Francisco to the popular destination of Fisherman’s Wharf, has been marked off with signs that read No Commercial Vehicles Grater Than 8 Passengers.

“We are always suspect of laws or ordinances like this that restrict access to popular destinations,” said ABA President and CEO Peter Pantuso. “Tour buses bring a lot of money to San Francisco, and it seems like a bad idea to ban them from an entire section of the city during these troubling economic times.

“Buses observed in the area will likely be photographed and reported to local authorities.

The driver of the tractor trailer was killed. The driver of the coach was charged with third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, a misdemeanor, because his license, though valid in Canada, was not valid in New York.

The accident was the second fatal crash involving a tour bus and the third heavy casualty crash in the New York region in less than a week. Two people died and 35 were injured in an accident involving a tour bus on Sunday, July 17, on its way to Niagara Falls.

Friday’s crash closely follows an announcement by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that the Obama Administration is cracking down on motorcoach and trucking companies. The FMCSA, a division of the Department of Transportation, claims to have issued as many imminent hazard orders placing carriers out-of-service in the past two years as it had in the previous 10 years combined. The agency has cracked down on unsafe carriers through surprise inspections, full compliance reviews and enforcement actions.Between 2000 and 2009, FMCSA issued a total of 14 imminent hazard orders. In the last two years, FMCSA has issued another 14 imminent hazard orders to take carriers that pose an immediate risk to passengers off the road. For example, last month the Department of Transportation issued an imminent hazard order to a Michigan company found to be transporting passengers in luggage compartments, at great risk to passengers.“From Day One, I have pledged to put public safety above all else, and we will continue to take action when we see carriers placing passengers at risk,” said U.S Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “We have seen the tragic consequences of unsafe practices — whether it’s ignoring fatigue regulations, providing inadequate driver training, or failing to conduct the proper maintenance of a bus or motorcoach. We continue using all of the tools at our disposal to get unsafe carriers off the road and hope that Congress will act on our proposal to provide us with the necessary authority to expand our safety oversight.”

In the past four months, FMCSA has issued eight out-of-service orders following safety investigations that found the carriers and/or the drivers to be in such substantial non-compliance with federal safety regulations as to pose an imminent hazard to public safety. The orders in 2011 have been issued to seven interstate motorcoach companies — two each based in Georgia and Pennsylvania, and one each in Michigan, Mississippi and North Carolina. One order was issued to a Tennessee-based truck driver.

via DOT Steps Up Enforcement of Safety Regulations for Motorcoaches.

The US Travel Insurance Association, through its TRIP web site, offers the following tips to lessen the chance that your clients’ bags will do a disappearing act:

•        Use hard-sided luggage.

•        Pack valuables in your carry-on

•        Avoid luggage that looks expensive.

•        Pack only items that are easily replaced or those you can live without.

•        Use a TSA-approved lock or plastic cable ties to secure your bags.

•        Make your bags conspicuous by choosing eye-catching colors or distinctively colored straps.

For more tips, visit www.trip.ustia.org.

In a move that recalls the glamor of the unveiling of the streamlined 20th Century Limited express train in 1938, The Greenbrier Presidential Express will bring the resort’s signature decor and service to Washington, D.C.’s Union Station. Guests will board for a six-hour, non-stop trip to White Sulphur Springs, the 15-car train accommodating up to 240 passengers and featuring a board room car, salon car and an open-air car for admiring views and photography.

“We want to bring back the glamor of rail travel,” says Jim Justice, chairman and owner of The Greenbrier. “Everything from the decor to the food will make you feel as if you are already at the resort.”

The resort’s curator, world-renowned decorator Carleton Varney, president of the Dorothy Draper & Company, and his associate, Brinsley Matthews, have taken The Greenbrier’s signature Dorothy Draper decor and applied it to the train’s interiors and exterior. A team of 40 skilled craftsmen in Pottstown, Pa., are refurbishing all 15 cars with the finest woods and fabrics. The cars, originally built in the 1950s, served as the long distance trains for the Union Pacific and Santa Fe railroads.

The project is being designed, built and operated by a new West Virginia company, The Greenbrier Express Company, Inc., co-founded by Jim Justice, Paul Nichini and Ross Rowland.

For more information about The Greenbrier, visit www.greenbrier.com.

From June 2008 until June 2011, the STIF launched a test run of the water shuttles through Paris, and have since decided to move forward with the project due to an initial success. The boats, which will be part of the Paris metro system, will run every 15 to 20 minutes daily, accommodating 100 people per vehicle on lines 1 and 3, and 250 people on line 2. Thirty different stops are planned along the banks of the Seine, each of which will be equipped with the schedule of upcoming arrivals, prices, and route maps including bus and metro transfers. During the summer, the boats will accommodate bike access and storage. Fares may be included in the price of a Navigo transit pass (for weekly, monthly or yearly metro passes) and one-way tickets can be purchased for 7 euros each.

Routes:

Line 1: Southeast Route
Route: École Vétérinaire de Maisons-Alfort / Écluse du Port à l’Anglais de Vitry-sur-Seine – Invalides
Stops include: Gare de Lyon, St-Michel-Notre-Dame, Musée d’Orsay
Hours: 7am – 9pm

Line 2: Center City Route
Route: Tour Eiffel Bir Hakeim – Gare de Austerlitz
Stops include: Louvre, Hotel de Ville
Hours: 7am – 11pm

Line 3: Northwest route
Route: Point de Suresnes Longchamp – Musée d’Orsay
Stops include: Bois de Bologne, Issy Val de Seine, Tour Eiffel
Hours: 7am – 9pm

“It started with a blowout on a rear tire on the driver’s side,” Nutting said. “By the time I got out the bus was on fire.”

A fire extinguisher didn’t help. So Nutting, owner of the one-man, one-bus company, watched for about 20 minutes as he waited for a fire truck and the 1995 Prevost bus he had put $80,000 into “went up in flames.”

“I bought it a few years ago and gave it a new paint job and redid all the interior and now it’s gone,” Nutting said.

via Naples tour bus driver watches as bus goes up in flames on I-4 | The News-Press | news-press.com.

After huddling with city officials, they disclosed details of a proposed crackdown that would dramatically reduce the legions of charter buses expected to descend on Ground Zero on the 10th anniversary of the attacks.The local lawmakers want bus owners to pay for parking privileges, permits and other fees – including steep fines for any violations – and intend to use at least some of that cash to pay for stepped-up enforcement.

via New York politicians push to keep tour buses away from 9/11 Memorial area.