Thread: Do not use US Coachways
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Unread 22-04-2015, 11:26
Conor Ryan Conor Ryan is offline
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Re: Do not use US Coachways
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gary Dillard View Post
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
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
Quote:
  • 29 states have laws or regulations that prohibit the use of vans for transporting public school students to and from school and school-related activities.
  • 12 states have laws and regulations that prohibit the use of vans for transporting public school students to and from school, but allow the use of vans for school activity trips. [Note: One state has passed legislation that prohibits the use of vans for activity trips.]
  • 9 states allow the use of vans for transporting public school students to and from school and school-related activities. [Note: One of these nine states has passed legislation that will not allow the use of vans to transport students after June 1, 2008. Another state has a statewide, self-insurance pool that will not insure vans used to transport students.] In many states, the laws and regulations that apply to public schools may not apply to private and church-sponsored schools
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!
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