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The Los Angeles Rams arrive in Atlanta with Champion Coach’s MCI J4500s waiting
Des Plaines, Ill. — Motor Coach Industries (MCI) was pleased to be a part of this year’s biggest sporting event through its relationship with Greenville, S.C.-based Champion Coach, a transportation provider to professional and college athletic teams in the Southeast and throughout the United States. Champion Coach earned one of the highest-profile assignments in professional sports February 3—the exclusive right to transport both contenders to the Super Bowl.
Champion Coach supplied 12 MCI J4500s, each specially appointed for staff and players of the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams. Champion Owner and CEO Craig Dance praised his new MCI J4500 coaches for standout reliability and style.
In his presentation to Atlanta’s team transportation selection committee earlier last year, Dance put his newest 2018 and 2019 MCI’s J4500’s best-in-class features on full display, from industry-leading legroom and luxurious seating options to optional programmable lighting bringing MCI’s newest “wow Factor” to each organization’s colors and branding.
“We lined up our new J4500 coaches and showed each lit with a different color interior,” said Dance. “It made quite an impression. We stood apart from anyone else and that, with all the Champion Coach brand represents, gave us the leading edge.”
Champion Coach made quite a splash, too. The motorcoaches were featured on national broadcasts from the teams’ arrival in Atlanta to their delivery to the Mercedes-Benz Stadium on game day.
“It was spontaneous coverage all week long, and a proud moment for Champion Coach,” said Dance. “I’m grateful to our staff and our assistance from MCI to assure the flawlessness of each coach move.”
Soon-to-Be Super Bowl LIII Champions New England Patriots greeted by MCI J4500 coaches
It was a particularly proud moment for MCI for its relationship with Champion Coach as well as with many more customers and their J4500s taking people to the big game flawlessly and in style.
“It was an exciting moment to catch glimpses of Champion Coach’s fleet and other MCI coaches moving thousands of people including teams, media, and spectators throughout the weekend as they enjoyed pre-game events and Sunday’s big game,” said MCI President Ian Smart. “Enhancing the travel experience is what makes this industry great.”
“Champion Coach exemplifies MCI at our best,” said MCI Vice President of New Coach Sales Pat Ziska. “There are many things that contribute to the J4500 being the industry bestseller, its reliability, durability, passenger comfort, and in this case the modern curb appeal, best-in-class legroom, and new interior lighting really made a difference. And our behind the scenes support is always on call 24/7 to help keep MCIs rolling.The Super Bowl deserves a super coach, and MCI shares Champion Coach’s enthusiasm, appreciates their business, and it’s our honor to help them reach the spotlight they’ve worked so hard to achieve.”
Dance, who co-founded Champion Coach in 1998 with his wife and Executive Vice President Hazel Dance, began his career in sports broadcasting but later took a job in team transportation. His career choices and sports knowledge have driven Champion Coach to its prestige position as regional transportation provider for the Dallas Cowboys, L.A. Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, and college giants, including University of Georgia, Clemson University, Duke University, and other leading teams throughout the SEC and ACC.
On the corporate side, Champion Coach serves such major accounts as BMW North America, Sealed Air and Delta Airlines.
It’s been a big year of wins for Champion Coach. In January, the company also received the 2019 United Motor Association (UMA) Safety Leader of the Year Award at UMA Expo 2019 in Fort Lauderdale.
Visit championcoach.com for more information.
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WLA Secretary/Treasurer Karen Lotts of A Knight Rider Limousine Madison, Wis. — The Wisconsin Limousine Association (WLA) will be holding its first in-person meeting of the year on March 6 at Cambria Hotel in Madison, and all are welcome to attend.
While the association holds monthly conference calls, its board decided it was time to have a face-to-face meeting, which also promises to attract operators from neighboring states like Minnesota, Illinois, and Indiana.
“Our main focus and goal is to focus on the future of the association,” said WLA Secretary/Treasurer Karen Lotts of A Knight Rider Limousine. “We want to bring everybody—including new and potential members—together.”
On the agenda are a variety of topics like WLA’s new structure and updates from the National Limousine Association (NLA), as well as presentations from Maren Graham of Hudson Group about Best Practices for Marketing in a Digital Age and Master Inspector Teresa Burchard of the Wisconsin State Patrol.
“We want our members to know that the NLA is supporting us,” Lotts said. “We also wanted to give them updates that will help them with their companies. We always have the State Patrol come: The main topic is explaining what happens during a random inspection at a sporting event or concert so our members are prepared for that—they’re doing patrols at every Packers game now. And Maren’s going to tell us what key words our websites need, how to do digital marketing, and what to put on social media.”
The meeting will also include a hot breakfast and plenty of networking opportunities, plus a few vehicles will be on display for operators to explore inside and out.
A block of rooms has been reserved for those who wish to arrive March 5, as the meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m. Reservations must be booked with the Cambria Hotel by February 15, and can be made by visiting choicehotels.com/reservations/groups/EZ51Y3 or calling 608.241.7070 and either asking for the Wisconsin Limousine Association block or using code EZ51Y3.
Visit wisconsinlimo.org for more information.
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Pevost service van on the road
St. Claire, Q.C. — Planning to be in Atlanta this weekend for the big game? Get your coach game day ready with help from the Prevost service vans available on-site.
The NFL Super Bowl easily ranks as one of the biggest motorcoach events of the year and a tremendous opportunity for operators in the industry. As hundreds of coaches arrive this week in Atlanta, Ga., for Super Bowl LIII, and begin maneuvering from hotels to Mercedes-Benz Stadium and the various parking and staging areas miles away, customers breathe easily knowing the Prevost Customer Support team has their back in the event of a breakdown.
Prevost will be standing by and on-call within the vicinity of the Super Bowl venue throughout this week, January 30-February 4, with three specially-stocked service vans and technicians on-hand for light repairs and emergency assistance, as needed.
“We have anticipated our customers’ most typical needs in such occasions,” says Prevost Customer Support Manager, Southeast Region Eric DeGeorge, who is based in Winter Garden, Fla. “We will have enough parts and tools on hand to get an operator up and running and out of the way in an emergency.”
DeGeorge and his team also have a plan for backup techs if necessary, and can rely on help from several Volvo Truck Service Centers in the greater-Atlanta area, if situations requiring heavier maintenance arise. Additionally, he says that Southeastern Coach Lines is partnering with Prevost throughout Super Bowl week to store the pre-shipped cache of spare parts and offer a temporary base for the service vans.
Prevost Customer Support advises customers requesting emergency service to first contact Prevost Action Service System PASS at 1-800-463-7738 to reach DeGeorge to dispatch a van and technician.
“We invite coach companies with service programs of their own to go through Prevost Pass as well,” says DeGeorge. “We are asking everyone not to try to contact our technicians in Atlanta directly.”
Service Network Director, Randy Castillo, says this assistance is in conjunction with the mission of Prevost’s specially-branded fleet of more than 55 service vans strategically dispersed throughout the network of 15 Prevost Parts & Service Centers across the US and Canada.
“Prevost regards this mobile service component as vital to our commitment to provide customers excellent and expedient service where it’s needed most,” says Prevost Business Development Manager Craig Heaton. “Having our mobile service fleet always at the ready allows us to greatly expand the coverage of our service network.”
Visit prevostcar.com for more information.
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