| Author |
Message |
Ron Leiferman (Ron_In_Sd) (12.111.217.5)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 01, 2004 - 12:35 pm: | |
My church is thinking about buying a coach for use with our trips. We normally have 2 to 3 extended weekend trips a month and then a couple 10 day trips a year.
I was asked about coaches. We have the funds to cover the purchase of the coach but the main problems that I can see is the mantaince, insurance, and certifired drivers.
The local Detrot Dealer does bus work but their part supply is very low. ABC Bus is only 225 miles away.
Insurance can be a issue but not that bad. We do have people from outside our church ride on the bus to help fill the seats on some of the trips.
The main issue I can see is drivers. I wondering if we could lease/rent drivers from a local charter company.
What have other people run into with Church owned coaches? |
TWO DOGS (63.185.97.187)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 01, 2004 - 1:05 pm: | |
go to your schools....talk to the bus drivers...maybe you can get them to even join your church.. |
Steve padgett (12.44.48.45)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 01, 2004 - 2:13 pm: | |
Ron,
This is Steve Padgett from Sika Corporation.
I drive kids from Detroit to Upper Peninsula Bible Camp in the summers. We have a MCI9, 2 4107's and access to a Blue Bird School Bus.
Making sure that the buses are mechanically sound is the most important priority. Our rides go through plenty of wilderness, so breakdowns can be a real difficult experience. Over the years, we've been blessed by limited breakdowns and great help when they did occur.
We always make a point to get 4 speed trannies. That keeps people from asking to borrow the bus.
I would recommend having one person who is passionate about buses direct your program and help train drivers. Make him the go-to guy. Make sure that your insurance and drivers DOT physicals are up to speed. I think that you get much better rates if you are not for hire, but are driving as part of a ministry.
Rather than paying charter drivers, you may consider "borrowing" drivers from other churches.
If you're running with multiple drivers, make sure one of them has some mechanical aptitude.
Make sure you count kids after every stop.
Steve |
Ron Leiferman (Ron_In_Sd) (12.111.217.5)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 01, 2004 - 3:06 pm: | |
Most of our monthly trip are for our senior members. Most of the people on our trips are members of our church but we open up the seats to other churchs to make sure we have a full coach.
Drivers can be a issue because we had a old school bus about 8 years ago that was used for mainly youth trips. It was always hard to find a driver with a up to date CDL, with passanger endorsements and med card. I know I got a couple calls for trips because they needed a driver. I have a class A with passanger endorsements.
I know that I could take a couple trips but I could not be the primary driver because of my work/personal schedule. I am most likly going to be lead on the team to get this up and going but hand off the day to day management. Our building manager currently takes care of our vans and did drive the old school bus in the past. So the day to day most likely end up in his area. He is the one that started talking with me about it.
Most of our trips are with in a days drive but we do have at least one 2000 to 3000 mile trip once a year and may need multiple drivers.
I am telling them that there are really cheap coaches out there for sale but as we all know you get what you pay for... I want to make sure that we have a plan to make sure the coach is mechanically sound for every trip and everything is ready to go.
I know we do "inventory" after each stop. |
Dale MC8 (66.81.143.109)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 01, 2004 - 4:36 pm: | |
Two Dogs has the right idea, maybe you could enroll some of your church members in the School Bus Driver Training sessions. Some of them may even get a job at the school. |
TWO DOGS (65.179.208.205)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 01, 2004 - 5:39 pm: | |
school bus drivers have a chaffers license&physical,and usually are custodians,willing to make a buck or two |
ChuckMC9 (Chucks) (66.167.143.66)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 01, 2004 - 7:53 pm: | |
Just don't buy the bus from another church! Several have stated that those coaches are frequently wore out and put up wet with not much care and feeding. |
mclough (63.235.52.168)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 01, 2004 - 9:42 pm: | |
ron,
you are on the right track with the drivers, they MUST be cdl liscence and passenger endorsment . Here in TN they have places that rent drivers , you may also contact local limousine companys, as many have extended strechs that need cdl's also.
happy hunting & God bless
morgan
outreachacrossamerica.com |
Buswarrior (Buswarrior) (64.229.210.24)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 01, 2004 - 9:55 pm: | |
Hello Ron.
I would be inclined to look into a relationship with a local charter company.
The economics of owning a coach that MUST be maintained to proper roadgoing standards, insured properly, and qualified drivers sourced closes the gap mighty quickly between owning and charter rates.
Add up all the volunteer time that will be consumed keeping the bus and drivers available, and how much better that volunteer time could be applied to other pursuits.
Pretty hard to make a business case for owning your own.
And there's a good reason you will have trouble getting qualified drivers: Qualified driver's don't trust that the church bus has been properly maintained, and won't put themselves in the position of enforcment exposure, or worse.
Don't get me wrong, many a church have done a good job, but many have bankrupted themselves with their buses.
Do a proper business analysis and you'll know which way is better for your situation.
happy coaching!
buswarrior |
niles (4.4.112.82)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, June 02, 2004 - 1:01 am: | |
you most certainly can find a local tour company that will contract with you at a reasonable price for that type of regular use - they provide the bus,maintenance,trained drivers (with replacements when necessary),fuel,insurance,repairs (they know where to get repairs done at a reasonable price or have their own mechanics) at a fixed price and suffer the loss from depreciation and non insured losses. You get to keep your capital for the new sanctuary ! |
BrianMCI96A3 (65.40.247.120)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, June 02, 2004 - 8:37 am: | |
I agree with Niles and buswarrior, try to establish a relationship with a charter company, most church buses do not recieve the proper maintenance and over time end up becoming more of a liability than an asset.
Brian |
David & Lorna Schinske (Davidschinske) (67.216.147.249)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, June 03, 2004 - 11:29 am: | |
Or you could end up doing what the Cherokee Boys Club did to finance their bus (Early 70's). They hired it out. They had 1 full time driver (Two-Legged Snake... he was in our CB club in NC, I don't know his real name) that had the CDL. Then they hired out as a charter bus. That bus went all over. Last I knew they had at least 3 buses (with "Cherokee Boys Club" emblazoned across the sides) running all the time. A few years back, my sister's high school band went to DC and hired the CBC buses for the trip (Would you believe Two-Legged Snake was one of the drivers!). They make quite a bit of $$ from their buses. |
Patrick young (202.78.97.13)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 - 11:10 pm: | |
I can help you
Give me a call (I'm overseas until August 8th, however)
I have helped several churches get buses
Pat Young
Wheelchair Project
Fresno, Ca
559 251-3814 |