Shock, in the form of a BREAKDOWN,,,out in the middle of ,you guess it, NO WHERE !! And what a huge waste of TIME that might be,,,for You ? Don't forget to get this IN WRITING, such as " Yes , we do preventative maintenance on all our charter buses,,,and for instance replace the engine belts and fuel filters every six months(/year), regardless of waiting for total failure of the part,,,so that you might avoid a preventable breakdown."
That way you have grounds to sue in the USA,,,if you do breakdown,,, and find the bus was not maintained,,, and the fuel filter is 3 years old,,,and the main engine belt is,oops, original ! From reading the bus industry magazines, this is a very low priority for the industry and individual bus companies, who tout new buses, when the Canadian Prevost is the bus you want for all long over the road trips,,,not the canadian new-ish mci,,,maybe a Van Hool from Holland ,,, maybe a Volvo bus,,,new Setra's from Germany come with a roof leak right over the driver and lots of other mechanical frailties ,,,
Also recommend you ask about the number of CHP citations the drivers in the company ,,,and especially Your driver has had ,,, in the last 3-5 years or ever. Any drunk driving citations? Any health problems for my driver? How old is my driver and how healthy is he/she and how long have they been driving for you,on this run?,,,are all smart questions. Can they read a map? Some limo and bus drivers currently can not. Can they speak and read English? I have worked with some safe Mexicans who can not read English,,,
Does the driver have a nicotine addiction,and constantly is trying to sneak a foul-smelling smoke, while driving or while loading ? Here is a good one: "What if we do breakdown, for more than an hour, for something preventable like tires less than 1/4inch of tread, are we going to get a refund, and how much,,,and will you put that in writing, signed by the manager or owner ?"
A company that says we have had no accidents or tickets ever, nor breakdowns over the road ever,,,is either lying,,,or doing the job right. Probably lying. Many bus companies are cutting overhead by cutting most maintenance,,,and all preventative maintenance. Yeah, shocking, i know,,,especially as we have to drive this un-safe bus accident-waiting-to-happen !! And don't expect the CHP to make sure all California buses are safe,,, or i'll have a San Francisco bridge to sell you!
Just going by the posed-pretty website can get you in a lot of trouble. Ask for a everyday ,real picture of the yard and current photos of all buses, showing all the body damage, especially the front windshields with multiple cracks for months,,,and months. Does the bus have a ladder and Windex and paper towels to keep the front windows clean in this bug season ? A broom and a mop and a bucket to clean the floor daily when the driver goes to refuel ?? Also pictures of drivers, as some are truly scary ones, even before they meet you at the airport !! If you see a lot of broken glass and broken parts all over the yard, plus piles of dog poop,,,you can imagine how often the seats get steam cleaned of drinking drunk's vomit,etc.
Happy trails !!
