The majority of our business is conducted on major roads, interstates and state or county maintained roadways. From time to time, I am challenged with looking at a private site directed by our clients by using Google Maps or Google Earth. Oftentimes I can tell a great deal from the topography and layout that this is something that we can work with. Sometimes not. When I am unable to get a feel for the location, a site inspection is necessary. This is for several reasons. First, we don't want to compromise the safety of the passengers. If I had a nickel for every time I have been told "we have tractor trailers in here all the time", I'd be a rich man. Someday I'm going to say, "great idea, let's bring your guests in by tractor trailer!" To date, I haven't had the courage. However, our vehicles are wrapped in glass and susceptible to limbs breaking the windows or worse. The safety of your guests should be your number one concern. Second, we don't want to tear up your property. A 25 ton vehicle stuck on private property makes a mess getting it out. It's not pretty. It also usually prevents the group from getting back on time or not getting back by way of our vehicle at all. You don't want this and neither do we. Third, we don't want to tear up our vehicles or have them damaged in any way. Not only does it usually take them out of service for the short term, the client ends up with the bill if a site inspection hasn't been done and fixing these vehicles is not cheap. A small bit of damage will usually cost $2000 or more. Finally, it's just embarrassing and inconvenient for everyone involved including us. We want things to go smoothly and preparation is key. If it's not going to work, you want to know up front. If it can work, you want to know how so that you can make it happen. Site inspections do that for you. Site inspections are a cheap insurance policy against embarrassment or much worse. We can always take the group to the street address of the location and drop on the street, but going onto a property is at the driver's discretion without a site inspection and drivers will rarely risk it. This leaves you with a bus load of guests having to walk (sometimes in the rain) to get to where they need to be. They also have to get out to the bus at the end of the evening. The example I am about to tell you IS 100% true and it is a worst case scenario. The names have been changed to avoid further embarrassment, but it illustrates what can happen when site inspections aren't done. We were contracted to provide transportation for guests attending a dinner party at a beautiful home out in the country. The hosts (we will call them Bob and Betty) were showcasing their home and property for about 30 dinner guests (mostly couples). They wanted to make an impression on their guests. We told them that they could pay for a site inspection and plan ahead of time as their home did not appear to be accessible by motorcoach. Bob and Betty were not interested in investing in a site inspection and said "we have trucks out here all of the time, your driver will see that he can get in and out with no problem." Despite our best advice, they flat out refused the site inspection. We told them that we would guarantee to get their guests to the entrance off of the state maintained road and ONLY if the way was clear the driver would proceed further...they were sure of their opinion and agreed. The evening of the dinner party there was a slight drizzle. When we arrived with the group, sure enough the driveway had a large hump just inside the entrance which would cause the bottom of a bus to get stuck, but a truck would have the ground clearance to proceed. The driver informed their guests that it was as far as he could safely go. The guests would have to walk the remaining 150 yards to the home on a wet gravel and dirt drive. Bob and Betty used their car to shuttle a few of the guests and the remainder had to get their nice shoes and pants a little wet and a little muddy. At the end of the evening, the rain had increased dramatically and their guests could not walk in the downpour, so Bob began shuttling guests in their car from the house to the motorcoach 2-3 at a time. That was the only solution for the first 3-4 trips until Bob's car slid into the ditch next to the driveway and got stuck. Bob abandoned his car and ran in the pouring rain to get Betty's car and began shuttling again. Because of the stuck car, Bob could not turn around at the end of the drive, so he had to back all the way up the drive in the rain to go back for guests each time. The loading time for departure took almost an hour because of the shuttling and mishaps. This also resulted in additional time charges. Bob and Betty ended up paying for overtime vehicles charges, a tow truck and a landscaping crew to repair the beautifully manicured driveway. They inconvenienced their guests and embarrassed themselves, but they did save the cost of a site inspection. Don't be Bob and Betty.

ANY school can save money on their trip. They just have to be flexible and they have to ask. What we mean when we say this is the school needs to keep an open mind about changing the details of their travel to save what may be a considerable amount of money. We will give you a common example. In our area, we do a great many school field trips. In most cases the teachers who call in for the quotations are requesting trips almost exclusively for Fridays. Friday is always our busiest day of the week and the date seemingly every other school wants to go as well. Despite the fact that availability is already limited, there is no room to discount rates because we have other clients who will pay full rate just to be able to travel on that busy day. Beside the fact that Fridays are generally marked up anyway. When a teacher can move a field trip from a Friday to a Monday for example, we have more leeway to consider a discount. The bonus is that the venue is usually less crowded as well. In some cases, this adjustment can net as much as 25% off of normal rates! Another consideration for money savings is to pay for the driver's room on a multi-day trip. Typically the bus company will build this cost into the charter, but the group is always able to pay for this themselves. In some cases the hotel will provide the driver's room for free. In other cases the group can at least get the same discounted rate for the driver. This is typically not a huge savings, but every little bit helps. There are many other ways to save, but the point we are trying to make is that it never hurts to ask. Don't be afraid to ask your representative or the person quoting the trip for you if there is a way that you can save money on the charter bus portion of the trip. A great company will always look for ways to help their clients (even if they're not getting the business). After all, if they get you the best deal or solve your problem, they can retain your business at the same time. It's a WINN-WINN for everyone!

With our larger cities getting busier and busier, too often groups don't take the local travel into consideration once they've arrived. Every city is different, but using New York City and Washington DC as two examples... it is often more efficient to plan your visit to areas that can be walked during your time in the city. The time spent waiting for the bus to arrive (because they can't park and wait), the loading time and the tedious crawl through red lights and backups is often longer than time it would have taken to simply walk. Walking affords you the opportunity to stop along the way if you see something interesting, is great exercise and becomes a real time-saver. It is for this reason that we now see more groups who will plan their days accordingly. On a recent trip to New York, a group travelling with us planned their first day in New York sticking to the midtown area. They were dropped at Rockefeller Center for lunch and tour followed by walking to Radio City Music Hall and Times Square. They had dinner at The Hard Rock Cafe and all were within walking distance. They were able to keep their own schedule and not rely on the limitations and confines of the motorcoach. The same is true in Washington DC. The mall area is a very walkable part of the city and you will actually pass by things that you wouldn't normally see from a motor vehicle. Of course the icing on the cake of doing some of the travelling by two feet is the cost savings. Motorcoach companies will always have to add for the driver's extra time, fuel and parking, but when they can park and pickup at the end of the day, sometimes it could save a couple hundred dollars or more. So the next time you are planning a trip in a heavily populated metropolitan area. Try the smart thing, to get where you are going in a timely manner, get your exercise and save yourself a few dollars in the process!