Trailways Transportation System (Trailways) added three members to its Board of Directors at its recent annual conference in Los Angeles, CA.

Donald Ferrone, president of Prairie Trailways Charter & Tour in Chicago; William W. (Bill) Gentry, president of Gentry Trailways Charter & Tour in Knoxville, TN; and Thomas V. McCaughey, president of Flagship Trailways in Johnston, RI have been elected to three-year terms.

Ferrone has been in the tourism industry most of his life. The family business, Chicago Sightseeing Company, celebrated a century of service in 2007. He became president of the company in 1955 upon the death of his father. His decades of experience and service to the industry have included terms on several boards, including The Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau; American Bus Association; the Illinois Tourism Alliance; and Travel Industry of America.

He said one of the Trailways' board's priorities is to keep the brand out front nationally as the premier motorcoach organization which has led the industry with innovation and service for nearly 80 years.

Also at the head of a family business that was founded fifty-five years ago by his father, Bill Gentry said the Trailways board has an ongoing task to encourage member companies to grow and prosper in the face of many today operational challenges.

"We must all learn how to not just survive in this industry, but to thrive in it," he said. "The only way any of us can do this is by being conscious of our true costs, so we can set a realistic margin for our services in the face of rising prices on fuel, insurance, and labor," he continued. "We face price competitors everywhere who think they can undercut and operate on a shoestring, but they don't stay around long. Educating our members to set the right pricing structure for good returns is part of the board's ongoing work."

McCaughey entered the motorcoach industry in the summer of 2001 following a 25-year career in the waste service industry company that belonged to his family. He acquired a local transportation company, garnered new business, and was ready to roll when the events of 9/11 occurred. "What business I had acquired just two months after that acquisition just evaporated," he recalls. During a determined recovery period, he renamed his company Flagship Bus, built up his coach fleet, and joined Team Trailways in 2006 as Flagship Trailways.

"One of our board priorities is to continue building our national brand with a uniform look to all our vehicles and staff clothing. We are also emphasizing driver recruitment and training because our primary objective is to make Trailways the consumer's first choice for ground transportation," he said.

Joshua N. (Jot) Bennett, president of Capitol Trailways of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg, PA, and Eugene J. Berardi, Jr. president/CEO of Adirondack, New York and Pine Hill Trailways in Hurley, NY are returning to the board for three-year terms as members-at-large.

For more information contact Gale Ellsworth at 703-691-3052; or visit Trailways website at www.trailways.com