Theological Maintenance?

You might call it the “theological method” of maintaining coaches.

It was 1967, and our fleet consisted of 3 1947 Brills, a 1937 Brill, and a 1947 Aerocoach. All summer they did non-stop, back to back, trips between Baltimore and Colorado… transporting kids to camp. We dubbed the 1937 “Wind Wagon” because the floor had a gaping hole in it, and at 30 mph a gale blew through the bus.

All 5 were gasoline powered, and built by manufacturers by then long resting in bussy heaven.

Parts were hard to find, so our meager inventory traveled with us in the storage bays. Theology was critical. Every time a bus burped we prayed like hell that we had the needed part with us.

We operated ancient equipment because it was all we could afford, not as a spiritual exercise.

Older vehicles aren’t as efficient or safe as new ones. They burn more fuel, emit more C02, and have fewer safety features.

Motorcoaches are so expensive to build that they make economic sense only if they have a lengthy service life. The point being that there’s a balance between cost, “greenness” and safety.

Have we, as an industry, and the government as a regulating agent, tipped that balance too far?

Our industry went through a period when we seemed to tell the public to insist on newer equipment, (and by the way they didn’t need to pay extra for it). If you have newer coaches, that seems a good marketing strategy… until it’s time to trade them in.

If we’ve suggested that coaches are old at 5 years, who’s going to ride 5 year old buses (and what does that do to residual value)?

The regulatory side of the equation has a similar problem with unintended consequences. In the quest for clean, efficient, safe coaches, have they driven the price of new equipment so high that the nation’s fleet will necessarily age? Despite improvements in technology, fewer new coaches will be sold and we’ll be less safe and “green”?

AND… is some of the new mandated technology so unreliable that savvy companies find that some older buses are more reliable than new ones?

A third factor is the public’s desire for more amenities (and their reluctance to pay for them). That “stuff” is expensive to buy, and some of it doesn’t age too well… growing expensive to maintain as the bus matures.

In my opinion, if you can’t remember who you swiped an idea from… it is not plagiarism to use it. I can’t remember where I stole this, so consider it mine.

“It’s easy to manage in the short term, and easy to manage long term… doing both is incredibly difficult”.

It’s also easy for old fat retired columnists to take shots, when they have little at stake. Even so, it seems to me that we, as an industry have done far better at short term management than long term thinking.

We’ve been so busy eking out short term cash-flow that we’ve not managed to convince the public of the value of our service, so that we can charge appropriately. We give away goodies like videos and WiFi while airlines get away with charging passengers to carry their own bags on board.

We often speak with a fragmented voice, making it more difficult to make a cogent case to legislative and regulatory organizations. We sometimes lose the opportunity to point out instances where regulations may have an effect opposite what is intended.

As usual, I’m providing few answers. Heck, I’m even stealing my major premise. On the other hand, it seems clear that we need to do some serious long term thinking, and give thought to where we want to go together as an industry. If we don’t, we will continue to shrink, and are in danger of ending up like the private transit operators, sucked up by government agencies.

“Plans are worthless, but planning is everything” seems a good way to look at it.

I KNOW where I stole that concept, and it worked well for Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Strategies we develop may not work out as planned when they bump against reality, but the process of developing them makes think about our direction and priorities. Hoping (and praying) will not be enough.

“God helps those who help themselves” is NOT in the Bible, but has value. Hoping and praying someone else will make it happen is not a plan.

Oakie and I were rebuilding an 8V71 when I asked him if we should look at the manual. “The manual makes me nervous, don’t think… just work faster” he said. The engine lasted 20 miles. This is a hard working industry, but we need to work smart too.