Establish Clear Safety Worthiness Criteria and Require That It Is Consistently Communicated - License and Regulate Intermediaries

Realities of a rapidly changing, more sophisticated and highly demanding marketplace implicitly require a higher level of clarity and transparency of key factors consumers (chartering party) depend in their purchase decision of charter bus services. By addressing these two key issues the charter bus industry will be taking significant steps to help advance public safety, promote better understanding of the criteria for selecting charter bus services and will create higher perceived value of the services the industry provides. The two key factors are: 1. Clear, and consistently presented, information regarding the safety worthiness of the bus operator they will be using. 2. Requirement for intermediaries to be registered, operate their business using minimum uniform standards and truthfully represent the services they are providing. The charter bus industry has the opportunity to take important steps that can: 1. Help insure the public safety. 2. Lead to a higher level of perceived value among consumers for its core service. 3. Compel leaders in the travel and transportation community to assign greater relevance to the charter bus industry. These issues are critical to the industry?s future prospects. ?The service provided by the charter bus industry, while large in scope, is poorly understood by a majority of its potential consumers. The industry also lacks clearly articulated and consistently accessible information on its safety standards and service customs. While other factors will also impact the industry?s appeal and future prospects, these issues, represent significant potential limitations. ?More importantly, the absence of any federal requirements for all service providers to offer potential customers with available safety information on the charter bus operator they are considering, along with clear representation by the bus company, and/or intermediary, of the nature of the relationship of parties in the charter bus transaction has the potential to present a serious safety risk to the public.

Increasingly Complex Marketplace ?As our society continues to grow more sophisticated it will assume, and demand, that any industry making its services available to the public, and the governing agencies that oversee it, will also take steps to facilitate a more sophisticated and disciplined approach to how it represents base line assurances related to safety and service. In an instant media driven world and ubiquity of the internet those who do not take actions to establish a higher standard of care and service, do so at their own peril. ?Another critical issue the industry must face is the tacit requirement that representations and assurances made to the consumer prior to, and during, the purchase decision is what the bus operator and/or intermediary delivers upon. ?In particular, more sophisticated customers, such at those in business, academic institutions and government, will demand more clarity regarding safety related information as they seek assurances to mitigate their risk. These demands, along with instant mass media and growing government scrutiny, will challenge the status quo of how the charter bus industry does business. Busy & Demanding Consumer ?From the perspective of most buyers, the general nature of the charter bus industry is a mystery. Most potential customers use and/or purchase the service very infrequently, so they are not compelled to invest the time and resources to understand its permutations, options and risks. Also, they do not have a good understanding of where to secure good information. ?The busy nature of our society and demands on business has led to, and will compel, many individuals and companies to rely on intermediaries (a.k.a. consultants, brokers, value added resellers, business process outsourcers, etc.) to help them carry out tasks they are not familiar with, find difficult to do, and/or where they feel their time and resources could be better utilized elsewhere. Within the charter bus industry consumers continue to expand their use of intermediaries. ?While intermediaries are not new to the charter bus industry, the nature of the service they provide and the scope of their influence, especially in marketing and access to information, will grow. This, in turn, will attract new entrants, from in and outside the industry, which opens the risk for consumers to be misguided and, potentially, put in harm?s way. ?These are among factors that have led to, and will continue to fuel, increased demand for specialized intermediaries. These organizations will work on behalf of customers to provide the valuable services they seek. This may, for example, come in the form of purchasing, imparting information, clarifying processes, arranging, facilitating, etc. These factors, along with easy access via the internet, and other efficient means of information dissemination and product/supplier aggregation, will insure the continued expansion of this buyer behavior for seeking specialized intermediaries.Safety Standards and the Ability to Access Information Exists. ?State and federal regulators have established protocol to evaluate the relative safety worthiness of charter bus operators. Many of the results of the regulatory activity are publicly available to consumers, who may choose to deal direct with bus operators, and to brokers/intermediaries. The usage and representation of this data, however, is inconsistent and often confusing. ?Obviously, charter bus intermediaries and bus operators have different strengths and weaknesses in the services they represent and the free market will determine the winners and losers. Irrespective of these differences, however, the public is entitled to expect a clearly defined, effectively communicated and consistently administered set of safety standards which establish a ?base line? for standards of ?safety worthiness? within the charter bus industry. Industry Sub Contracting Practice Can Promote Unsafe Operating Environment. ?A long accepted practice in the charter bus industry has been to sub contract aka, ?farm? service from one operator to another. This custom, in which a primary operator represents to the customer that they are the bus company who will be providing the service, but, in fact, may not be able to ultimately fulfill the order, is clearly a flawed practice. ?This is analogous to an old practice carried out in the hotel industry. Here a hotel that was overbooked simply ?walked? the weary and frustrated traveler to a near-by hotel which had an available room. It is fair to observe that demanding consumers forced legitimate hotel operators to discontinue this practice, if they wanted to keep their business. ?The stakes for the industry and customer, however, are far more complicated than the inconvenience of not having a room in the hotel one were lead to believe they were purchasing. If we can presume that the customer?s decision to book with a specific bus operator involved consideration for safety and service representations of that operator, the practice of ?farming? does nothing to advance the industry?s reputation for safety and service. Given that the practice typically occurs without the understanding and/or acceptance by the customer, who does not know of the switch until the bus arrives, it should be considered unacceptable. ?This practice is, obviously, a very poor reflection on the charter bus industry. At the minimum, it clearly misrepresents the nature of the service agreement with the customer and is a form of consumer fraud. Critically important, however, is the lack of transparency of the safety worthiness of the operator who is fulfilling the charter service. This is information the customer should have access to. ?Given the fragmented nature of the industry?s bus operator network and predominance of a large number of relatively small independent operators, it is unreasonable to think the sub- contracting practice of ?farming? will be discontinued. It is, however, an untenable position for industry leadership to ignore the potential public concerns this practice represents. ?At the very least, steps should be taken to ensure customers know of a sub-contracting ?farming? situation, are provided with appropriate safety information on the alternative operator and have the choice to accept or reject the new option.

Establish Clear Safety Worthiness Criteria; Require That It Is Consistently Communicated ?Use available regulatory processes, definitions and information to create a more consumer friendly ?Safety Worthiness? Profile (SWP) for each operator. ? Require that this SWP be provided to every customer at time of booking. oThis would be required of bus operators and intermediaries. oLink compliance of this SWP to an operator?s safety rating, along the lines of how road side inspections are incorporated into maintaining a rating status. oOperators and intermediaries must be compliant to keep their operating authority/license current. 2. License and Regulate Intermediaries ?Require that all parties acting as an intermediary between the bus operator and end user (chartering party) have a state and/or federal permit to conduct business as an intermediary. oDefinition of Intermediary ? Any person(s) and/or company that arranges charter bus services for the end user and does not own and operate the buses used in the transaction. ?At a minimum, require any intermediary to do the following: o1. Represent that they do not own the bus or buses that the customer will be chartering. Require any intermediary to have the financial and organizational wherewithal to access, review and effectively present safety information to the customer on the bus operator they are about to use. o2. Require that the company, and/or individual(s), that is acting to arrange the charter services and interacting with the consumer (chartering party) has taken the necessary steps to confirm that the operator, at a minimum, (potential Safety Worthiness Profile) has the proper operating authority, required levels of insurance in force and maintains a level of safety compliance as determined acceptable to the FMCSA, and/or, when appropriate, the state authority. o3. Provide the customer with certification that the bus or buses to be used to fulfill their charter contract will be provided by the bus operator represented in the SWP provided at time of booking and will not be ?farmed/sub-contracted? to another operator, without the customer?s approval. ?If the operator and/or intermediary must accept a ?farming? option, the customer must be presented with new operator, along with its SWP, and given the option to accept or decline it without penalty.