Do not use US Coachways
 

To all fellow teams: Please do not use US Coachways for any busing needs. They are a broker company that tries to pull buses from other businesses. They'll take your order, tell you they have a bus, and then try to find you a bus at the quote that they gave you, but if they can not find a place that will take the quote they will wait until the day before your trip then cancel at the last minute because no one took the job. They simply schedule with another company and then take a cut. Team 56 is frantically working on finding a new bus for our trip today to St. Louis but chances are slim. We have heard from a multitude of other teams about bad experiences with this bus company. So please, don't book from them.

Thank you

Re: Do not use US Coachways
 

So sorry to hear of this team 56! Our team had the exact same thing happen to us last year on the Tuesday morning we departed for the Championship that sent us into a mad scramble.

We worked with our school district and got approval to drive out to St. Louis in rented 12 passenger vans with no more than 10 people in them. Your results may vary with your school district but in the end it was cheaper to drive with an overnight stay over using a bus.

Re: Do not use US Coachways
 

If I could suggest a company. Try Hagey Tours in Colmar PA.
They are complete professionals and very reasonable. 341 has used them for years. We are not affiliated with this company in any way, but have absolutely loved their service and flexibility. Availability might be tough with short notice, but give them a call.

Re: Do not use US Coachways
 

Team 56 - Your fellow MAR friends from 3974 are having the same issues with the same company. Unprofessional service, final prices thousands of dollars more than the original quote, and general frustration all week. (We were in the same boat as you, until we ponied up an extra $3k for them to miraculously "recover" a bus, now they are trying to refuse to arrive at the time quoted on the invoice.) I'm holding my breath until our bus arrives late tonight.

OZ - Your suggestion of Hagey is a fantastic one. I've ridden on Hagey buses at least a dozen times and I've had nothing but great experiences. (Our bus with US Coachways was reserved by someone else, or Hagey would have been my very first choice.)

See you in St. Louis... fingers crossed for all of us.

Re: Do not use US Coachways
 

Good News! We got a bus! We went with a company called Triple D and they are sending us a bus as we speak. We are so grateful to all of the teams who helped us! If we can help anyone else we are more than willing to do so. Thank you all so much!

Re: Do not use US Coachways
 

I agree 100% with the OP about US coachways. Their prices are low but watch out for last minute fees and cancellations.

You are much better off finding a local Bus charter company near your area.

Re: Do not use US Coachways
 

Glad to hear it!

Re: Do not use US Coachways
 

If you could pass along that company's contact information as a backup-backup-backup plan, it'd be most helpful. We are still waiting on our confirmation.

Good to hear that you were able to get help so quickly!

Re: Do not use US Coachways
 

We are required to use companies on the school systems approved list. While occasionally a hassell & less competitive price, they are vetted & will be dropped from the list if they don't keep their commitments

Re: Do not use US Coachways
 

U.S. Coachways is an awful company. We had a hellacious ordeal with them 2 years ago that has actually dissuaded us from bussing anywhere for the forseeable future(self-driven vans or flying).

Sorry to hear you guys fell hostage to their ridiculous business tactics. Good luck, I'm sure the FIRST community will do our best to help you out.

-Brando

Re: Do not use US Coachways
 

Glad to see that 56 found a bus quickly. 3974, any update on your situation?

Re: Do not use US Coachways
 

Looking good. Waiting on final-final-final "finally I can exhale after 6 days" confirmation. Thanks for the positive vibes!

Re: Do not use US Coachways
 

This company did the exact same thing to 384 last year. They ended up splitting the team up to get out to World's on other team's buses. They are a ridiculous group.

Re: Do not use US Coachways
 

In general, our team's experience has been that the cheapest bus is not the best value. The previous poster who suggested using a school district vendor, if one is available, is a good one. They have a reputation to protect.

Re: Do not use US Coachways
 

In Alabama it's against state law to transport school students in 12 passenger vans, rental companies ask if you are transporting students and will not rent to you. I think this is state law in several states, I didn't realize it until I started checking into it this year.

Re: Do not use US Coachways
 

Any idea why? Seems like a random law to have.

Re: Do not use US Coachways
 

According to the government, 12 passenger vans qualify as a "school bus" since they seat more than 10 people, and they don't meet school bus roll-over regulations.

Re: Do not use US Coachways
 

We (FTC 5070) had the same issue with US Coachways going to the South Superregional this year. They canceled on us on Friday (after hassling them a bit for confirmation) when we had to leave the next Monday. Luckily we got a bus from Pegasus in time, but that put us in quite a panic.

So when we were reserving a bus for Championships for our FRC team 4013, we made sure to avoid US Coachways.

Completely agree with OP to avoid booking with them.

Re: Do not use US Coachways
 

It is actually another one of those mis-targeted rules. Current models are quite safe, but in most states the rules are written based on capacity. A new 15 passenger van is much less likely to roll over than, say, a 1983 8 passenger.

Re: Do not use US Coachways
 

This is what our school had been telling us for years that it was a law (which it is in several states) until the incident with our bus came up last year when we were then told that 15 passenger vans were definitely illegal and 12 passenger vehicles were the max capacity vehicle as long as there were no more than 10 people. They just preferred all school groups utilize buses so it was easier to stand behind a blanket rule but at the end of the day it was the preference of our school keeping us from using them.

Your results will vary but we were told for four years it was illegal and when the rubber met the road it wasn't.

Re: Do not use US Coachways
 

I had checked our state law and unfortunately found this one to be true; I don't just take someone's word for it. Our rookie year when I started the team and got ready to place a big AndyMark order on my credit card, I got nailed with the you-can't-order-stuff-without-an-approved-PO speech and was told that was state law. At week 3 of build season and still no PO's approved, I checked and it wasn't the case - the school board was very sympathetic to understanding our needs during build season and waived their "local policy" for us.

Here is a copy of the current policy on vans in Alabama

Re: Do not use US Coachways
 

That might be a local school system rule, it is not a state law in GA. The government is big place. Rules vary and are often contradictory. Especially when it comes to full size passenger vans.

Re: Do not use US Coachways
 

Actually its quite a common policy.

Here is a research survey from 2008 (its likely still relevant) on 12 and 15 passenger vans and students.
http://www.safercar.gov/staticfiles/...vap2008ap1.pdf
In states where it is allowed, frequently the institutional insurance policy you are under will not cover instances where you have 11+ people in a 15 passenger van. When I was in Ohio, we were permitted to get a 15 passenger van for the additional space for the robot and bags, however we could only have 10 passengers in it, due to the university insurance policy. So do your homework and you'll have a little more space!

Re: Do not use US Coachways
 

I felt your pain and was happy to see that it worked out later. Can you do all of the next years teams a favor and requote your first post? It was a little sad to hear that teams got burned this year and last year by US Coachways. So a reminder in Jan, Feb and March will keep this in the eyes of the travel coordination mentors.

Thanks!

Re: Do not use US Coachways
 

Just wanted to bump this thread so those who might not have seen it last year can use this information when booking coaches this year.

Re: Do not use US Coachways
 

Glad someone bumped this post. I read all the way through it not knowing it was a year old. As commented earlier, I think this is a good thread to put out there every January or so for teams to read through. We use a local bus company for all of our trips of which we have 4 this year.