- Details
- Category: Industry News
Adam Tortora from Bird Bus Sales with the catch of the day.
Commack, N.Y. — The Long Island Limousine Association (LILA) celebrated the summer with a series of fun events for their members. The association hosted a trio of get-togethers around the Long Island shore region.
“We wanted to emphasize what summer in Long Island is all about,” said LILA President Bill Goerl of Clique Limousines. “To us, it’s about the water, fishing, barbecues, and concerts; July and August on Long Island are about vacation with family and friends, so we wanted to make the association part of that as well.”
On July 26, LILA hosted their annual membership BBQ at Charlie’s Bar & Marina in Lindenhurst. More than 85 members were present, making it a record turnout for the event. The annual BBQ is hosted by LILA member Charlie Gandolfo of Dynasty Limousine, who also is the owner of the venue. Goerl was pleased with the attendance, and said that it’s the organization’s biggest event other than the Holiday Party in December.
Two weeks later on August 9, LILA members took to the sea for a mid-week fishing trip. A LILA tradition in the making, this is the third time the association has chartered a boat from the marina in Captree to fish for fluke and flounder. Roughly 20 LILA members were able to take some time away from the business and take part.
“This was a huge success,” said Goerl. “The members really liked the networking and ‘no business’ aspect of the trip.”
Every summer, Jimmy Buffett and His Coral Reefer Band come to Jones Beach in what is one of the hottest concerts of the season. On August 25, LILA decided to take part in the traditional tailgating that has become an essential part of the Buffett concert-going experience. Goerl and association members Doug Schwartz from Executive Limousine, Matt Silver from Ultimate Class Limousine, and Eddie Podlesny of Serenity Limousine parked stretch limos in the parking lots around the Nikon at Jones Beach Theatre in order to promote the industry to the roughly 67,000 people attending the show.
Limousine parked outside the Jimmy Buffett concert at the Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
“We got on line at 5 a.m. to be ready to park when the lot opened at 6,” said Goerl. “Arthur Messina from Create-A-Card made up some postcards with the FindaLimo.net branding, and we handed them out as a promotion. Findalimo.net directs consumers to our website to find companies in their area, and has been a huge success.”
Goerl is enthusiastic about how the summer LILA events were received. “It’s the first time we’ve bombarded our members with three activities, back-to-back, but the feedback from the members has been positive. They see fun stuff, and it helps add to the membership. We’re trying to make the association more of a networking group.”
Coming in September is LILA’s chauffeur training class, held on the 13th at the Hilton Garden Inn in Plainview, N.Y. A general membership meeting will follow two weeks later on September 27.
Visit nslali.com for more information.
[CD0916]
- Details
- Category: Industry News
Washington, D.C. — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced its intent to start a new rulemaking to revise its Lease and Interchange of Vehicles: Motor Carriers of Passengers rule issued in May 2015.
ABA President and CEO Peter Pantuso
UMA President and CEO Vic Parra
This is a major victory for the passenger motorcoach industry, as it confirms FMCSA’s recognition that the final rule was overly burdensome and had an unnecessary negative impact on the motorcoach, tour and travel industry, and would not advance safety. The American Bus Association (ABA) and United Motorcoach Association (UMA) have both petitioned and led lobbying efforts to encourage the FMCSA to reconsider the ruling, with both associations prioritizing its reexamination during their respective flyover days in Washington, D.C.
FMCSA published a final rule on May 27, 2015, on the lease and interchange of passenger vehicles, with the goal of stopping chameleon carriers from continuing to operate. This left the motorcoach industry with an unduly burdensome rule that took longstanding business practices of the both the charter and scheduled service motorcoach operators and turned them on their head. Further, it did not address FMCSA’s objective of stopping “bad actors.” In fact, by definition these offenders would be excluded from the rule, leading to further “masking” opportunities for bad carriers, as well as driving compliant operators to consider converting their business models to brokerage services (an industry FMCSA has no jurisdiction to regulate).
Faced with mounting pressure, the FMCSA postponed the original compliance date of the rule last March; however, this was not enough, and the bus and motorcoach industries continued their efforts to ensure that the Lease and Interchange ruling would not be enforced. FMCSA’s announcement that it will revise the mandate is the action that the industry had sought to stop the final rule. The administration can now address the concerns of the motorcoach, tour, and travel industries raised through their petitions, paving the way for key changes to be made to the rule.
In brief, the FMCSA’s announcement ensures:
—The agency is taking action in response to the numerous petitions it received;
—It determined amendments to the rule are in order;
—That to advance the new rulemaking effort, the agency will hold a public roundtable discussion; and
—The agency will be considering four specific changes to the rule:
1. excluding “chartering” or “subcontracting” from the leasing definition;
2. changing CMV marking requirements to locate temporary markings;
3. changing the requirement that carriers notify customers within 24 hours to when they subcontract; and
4. expanding the 48-hour delay for preparing a lease to include emergencies when passengers are not aboard a bus.
FMCSA clearly listened to the concerns of industry and is taking action. Now it is our turn to step up and work with the agency to ensure these areas of concern are properly addressed in the new rulemaking effort.
Visit fmcsa.dot.gov for more information about FMCSA, buses.org for more information about ABA, and uma.org for more information about UMA.
[CD0916]
- Details
- Category: Industry News
Loretta Bitner and Chris Rotondo of FMSCA
Atlantic City, N.J. — The National Association of Motorcoach Operators (NAMO) held its 16th Annual Conference from August 17-21 in the same New Jersey resort town where it began in 2000, which Executive Administrator Mary Presley said was an apt homecoming for a successful show.
“This was our best show ever,” she said, adding that the event saw a turnout of more than 130. “This conference was born from a UMA (United Motorcoach Association) event in Atlantic City. Being back here for our Sweet 16 and what was probably our best-attended show really was huge for us.”
The multi-day event primarily stuck to the Trump Taj Mahal and Resorts Casino—plus a few off-site events that took attendees around the seaside city—and featured an array of seminars, vendor highlights, networking receptions, and demonstrations.
Chauffer Driven’s Editor Madeleine Maccar was on hand for the conference’s packed Friday schedule, which offered a great deal of crossover information beneficial to the chauffeured ground transportation industry, especially as it gravitates more toward high-occupancy vehicles. Members of the state police and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Division Administrator Christopher Rotondo led an in-depth Level I FMCSA Inspection Demonstration, walking all in attendance through the roadside inspection of a bus and what the process entails, highlighting key areas of passenger safety throughout.
One of the conference’s educational sessions was a live demonstration of an FMCSA Level I inspection
A familiar face to chauffeured ground transportation operators also spoke at the conference: Bob Crescenzo of Lancer Insurance Company—a frequent speaker at CD’s shows—discussed “Motorcoach Fires: Why They Happen and How to Avoid Them.” The hourlong session drew on audience participation while citing real-life examples of on-the-job bus fires to stress the importance of safety, preparedness, and making sure that everyone from the driver to the passengers have a clear understanding of how to respond to emergency scenarios.
One of the most well-received moments from the conference was an address from FMCSA Administrator Scott Darling, which he delivered to a rapt audience on Saturday.
“It was his first official speaking engagement as administrator of FMCSA,” Presley said. “I think that was one of the highlights, that he took time out of his busy schedule to come and talk to the group. They were just in awe of him.”
All in all, Presley declared NAMO’s 2016 event as yet another hit for the organization.
“Feedback has just been fantastic,” she said. “I’ve gotten some really great reactions and no negative comments. I tried a new tactic and gave everyone more free time because they really appreciate being able to sit around and commiserate, to meet with their peers, and they responded very well to that.”
Visit namocoaches.org for more information about NAMO.
[CD0916]