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Chauffeur Driven Director of Events Jess Pavlow (left) and Senior Business Development Manager Diane Druss with TEMSA CEO Hasan Yildirim Fort Lauderdale, Fla. — Nearly 2,000 members of the chauffeured ground transportation industry came together at the 2019 United Motorcoach Association (UMA) Motorcoach EXPO, including Chauffeur Driven Publisher Chris Weiss, Director of Events Jess Pavlow, and Senior Business Development Manager Diane Druss. The event ran from January 6-10, and brought together the industry’s many operators, vendors, supporters, and associations so they could innovate, educate, and celebrate.
Meetings brought together like-minded individuals, education was found in a variety of seminars and sessions, awards and the driver and mechanics competitions honored an array of industry members’ dedication and skills, while the expo floor hosted education of its own among the sprawling showcase of the latest and greatest services, products, and vehicles available to attendees.
The luxury ground transportation scene was well-represented, with 30 representatives of our industry segment coming together for a photo op organized by Chauffeur Driven outside the expo hall.
No industry event would be complete without some great nightlife, and UMA attendees took full advantage of the Floridian warmth during the beach party following a sneak-peek preview of the show floor.
Check out the February issue of Chauffeur Driven for in-depth coverage of the event and pages of photos.
Thirty members of the luxury chauffeured transportation industry met up for a group photo during the 2019 UMA EXPO Next up for UMA is its annual legislative fly-in, scheduled for April 2 and 3 in Washington, D.C. A record attendance is expected for the event, which unites hundreds of individual representatives from a variety of bus and motorcoach industry groups with the common goal of speaking to members of Congress about how critical it is to protect the industry. UMA’s goal is to have educated these legislators about the value of the bus and motorcoach industry, its concerns and envisioned solutions.
“I am pleased with the growing energy and collaboration transpiring between a wide variety of industry leaders who will be coming together with a single agenda for this important event. We are excited to expand the invitation list this year to include all industry leaders, both regional and national to unite and provide input for this year’s legislative agenda,” said UMA President and CEO Stacy Tetschner.
Attendees will have the opportunity to network with fellow industry members from major associations and organizations from around the country in order to create a unified vision that will be communicated with their elected leaders. Expected participants in this year’s legislative fly in are active leaders, owners, operators from within the bus and motorcoach industry and the many organizations that make it up.
Visit uma.org for more information.
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President Johnny Donohoe of Sterling Limousine Philadelphia — The Philadelphia Regional Limousine Association (PRLA) recently saw the biggest change in its board in years, as Outgoing President Steve Rhoads of Rhodes Limousine said “it’s time to make room for new blood.”
PRLA’s 2019 board is:
President: Johnny Donohoe of Sterling Limousine
Vice President: Tony Viscusi of Global Limousine
Treasurer: Bob Euler Jr of Kings Limousine
Secretary: Tracy Salinger of Unique Limousine
Directors: Michael Barreto of Eagle Chauffeured Services and Jordan Sanders of Hollowsands Luxury Limousine
Vendor Director: John Arone of HUB International
Donohoe said that he is committed to infusing more education, more unity, and more forward-thinking into an association that he feels could use a little optimism after 2018 saw a number of near-wins at the legislative level unravel at the 11th hour. He believes that taking some inspiration from the TNC playbook is just the way to stage a comeback.
Vice President Tony Viscusi of Global Limousine “Every good operator has embraced the technology that TNCs forced us to utilize per our customers’ demands—and, for as much as we all complain about Uber and Lyft, they have increased our chauffeur pools,” he said. “Maybe one out of 20 applicants that comes to us from driving for a TNC is qualified to become a chauffeur, but the interest in there for those who want to make this a career.”
The PRLA already secured an augmented educational component for its first meeting of 2019, as Katharine Batista from the law firm Offit Kurman spoke about the timely topic of labor-law with her presentation Payday: Hot Wage Payment Issues in the Chauffeurs For-Hire Industry during the association’s January 9 meeting at the Philadelphia Airport’s Holiday Inn Express.
The next PRLA meeting will be March 13.
Visit prlainc.com for more information.
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Royal Star Hawaii-branded MCI motorcoach
Des Plaines, Ill. — Motor Coach Industries (MCI) announced that Royal Star Hawaii, a tourism and entertainment leader in Hawaii, has taken delivery of six MCI coaches in November with the remainder of the 12-bus order planned for the first quarter of 2019.
The first delivery includes two 2019 MCI J4500 coaches with 60-passenger seating capacity, wheelchair lifts, enhanced sound systems, and an on board lavatory. The other four coaches are 2019 D4505 coaches in the 63-passenger seating configuration with one wheelchair lift. All vehicles are equipped the Cummins/Allison B500 powertrain. Royal Star uses the J4500 for its deluxe gold service and the D4505 to offer "smart money” silver service to provide choice to all Hawaii market segments. The gold and silver service is distinguished through the distinctively different interior and exterior coach colors, including its custom Amaya seats, made-to-order fabric selections, as well as driver uniforms; for its gold service, they offer guaranteed lavatory on board, mints, and hand towels.
As a subsidiary of Stars of Paradise Tours & Attractions, Royal Star is the leading transportation provider to its parent’s popular tour and entertainment venues including the Star of Honolulu, a 1,500-passenger excursion and sunset dinner cruise vessel, far and away the leader in the Hawaii cruise industry.
“We serve global tourism markets on Oahu with a fleet utilized around the clock,” explains Ron Howard, president. “We’ve worked with MCI for more than 20 years because they have a focus on comfort, reliability, and service equal to ours. From our first motorcoach to now over 45 coaches in our fleet, MCI has been an important key in our quality of service and phenomenal growth since 1996.”
Royal Star has recently constructed a modern $2 million maintenance facility at its new Honolulu complex, where MCI provides expert technical assistance and training, keeping Royal Star’s maintenance technicians up-to-date to meet Royal Star’s safety and reliability goals.
“At MCI, we’re lucky to have many customers whose brands are synonymous with the territories we serve,” said Patricia Ziska, MCI vice president of sales. “Royal Star is an affiliate of one of America’s most innovative tourism companies, and MCI is proud to have our coaches be a part of their tour experience.”
Known for its Aloha on Wheels slogan, Royal Star has served Hawaii since 1996 from its headquarters in Honolulu. It claims many firsts, including the state’s first 100-percent seat-belted fleet, 100-percent drive cam fleet, wheelchair lift services, and guaranteed equipment booking by category with 1 hour minimums and clear pricing.
Visit mcicoach.com or royalstarhawaii.com for more information.
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