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| Its not everyday my truck gets parked by a fountain . |
A few weeks ago, I participated in an event in Orlando, Florida. I stayed at a hotel over the four day period and parked my tractor/trailer behind the hotel in a lot full of motor coach buses . Needless to say, I was the only semi truck and therefore, I got a lot of attention from the bus drivers. Every morning and evening, I had conversation with several bus drivers during my stay. I learned that most of these gentlemen used to drive tractor trailers for a living. Today, many of them are retired and have chosen to drive a tour bus. It was fun talking with these men from a different segment of transportation. We enjoyed some good laughs as they shared their experiences from years ago. The week in Orlando happened to be during the annual road check safety blitz. I asked each of them how this affects the bus industry? I learned that their roadside inspections take place not on the road however at their destination when they finally unload all of their passengers.
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| The mornings began in the coach lot . |
In speaking with the men I had met, I also learned that they generally keep the busses about fifteen years at which time they would have approximately eight to nine hundred thousand miles. I thought to myself, wow that’s only 50,000-60,000 miles per year. This is surely much different than our segment of the industry. Upon further discussion, they informed me that their industry is not interested in miles, however they’re focus is on billable hours. Two of the drivers that I spoke with were from the same tour company and they had passengers at the Disney parks for the week. They explained to me that each bus would only put on 30-40 miles per day that week and yet the bus company is able to charge due to tying up the bus and driver for the whole day.
I found it interesting that their billing structure is so different than that of the trucking industry. I also was surprised to learn that their inspection is not done roadside. I wondered to myself how it would be received if our truck inspections were done while we were at the shipper or receivers. In regards to time, this would be an advantage as our truck would be sitting still vs an inconvenient delay during transit time. Personally, I don’t think this would be received too well in our industry. After a few weeks went by, I had pretty much filed this encounter away until something reminded me of my talks with these motor coach drivers. I have just read a story in the LA Times which spoke of drivers being paid by the hour instead of by the mile. The article mentioned many disadvantages of drivers being paid by the mile. Some included safety, driver retention, wasted time for the driver at the dock or in traffic and driver fatigue.
Click here on the LA Times if you would like to read this interesting article.