How to Select a Motorcoach Company

How to Safely and Securely Decide Before Your Next Ride!

Do you recall the saying — "You can't judge a book by its cover?" This famous adage is also true when it comes to selecting a motorcoach company! Just because the coach or the price is appealing from the outside — doesn't mean the company is offering the same on the inside!

So before you decide on a particular motorcoach company for your next trip or group's travel plans, make sure your decision is based on a few simple — but critically important — facts about what goes on inside the company; day-to-day and year-in, year-out!

Knowing what a for-hire passenger transport company looks like on the inside can make a huge difference in the quality, services, and more importantly, the safety and security of your or a group's next travel event.

Start by taking a look at the company's current and federally documented safety service records. This is available to all travelers seeking for-hire motorcoach transportation—whether you are planning to purchase a — single bus ticket; group charter; or, special tour-around-town event.

Where; How; and, What!

It's easy to obtain, through comparative government ratings, information to help you locate and review critical data about a for-hire passenger transport company's current as well as historical safety and management oversight practices.

Anyone can quickly and easily access specific information about every "legitimate" for-hire passenger transport company operating throughout North America.

Simply visit the United States’ Department of Transportation (USDOT) website: http://www.ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/Passenger/home.asp

This federally maintained website allows visitors to review data by searching for any legally registered company using any of the following searches:

  • Location (company's base of operation);
  • Type of Vehicle (passenger bus, limousine, taxicab, etc.); and/or,
  • Name (the transportation company's name)

After a search is completed, you can review all the data the USDOT has collected for that particular company.

How to Assess a Motorcoach Company's Current & Historical Safety Data

  1. The USDOT grades all "legitimate" (legally registered with federal agencies) for-hire passenger transportation companies by using a three-tiered Safety Ranking:
    • Satisfactory;
    • Conditional; and,
    • Unsatisfactory.
    Never select any for-hire passenger transport company that possesses anything less than a Satisfactory Safety Rating!
  2. Once your search is complete, place the PC's mouse over the company's name, click and then view its "Safety Scores," i.e., its key safety ratios, or travel incidents, driver training and ability, and its management oversight strengths or weaknesses, which are graded numerically; here, the lower the grading number assigned—The Better!
  3. On this same page there is another Link which takes visitors to a special section called "Safer." Safer provides a "snapshot" (a point-in-time) of the company's safety history as well as offering visitors another Link to review a company's "Insurance Coverage/History."

    Be sure to review the company's insurance records—both past and present: FYI: In-force and long-term coverage consistency may offer some indication of a company's operational stability;

What You Don't See But Should Know!

Each Trailways Motorcoach Company is required to maintain higher safety and security performance levels that are more strenuous than the levels required and preformed by the USDOT's Safety Review and Ranking processes.

All Trailways Motorcoach Companies are not only required to possess USDOT's highest safety ranking of "Satisfactory," but must also seek to maintain a Number One (#1) Safety Rating, certified by the United States Department of Defense (USDOD) as well.

For military, government, and troop-transportation needs, the US Department of Defense demands excellence in service, reliability, safety, and security; thus, uses only those for-hire passenger transport companies that are USDOD Certified!

Every USDOD Certified for-hire passenger transport company must undergo re-certification annually through an intense, rigorous safety and security audit, mandated by the USDOD.

In North America, only one of ten (1 of 10) motorcoach companies ever achieve this rigorous, USDOD Safety Certification designation. The entire network of Trailways for-hire passenger transport companies has acknowledged their increased commitment to passenger safety and vehicle security by maintaining the USDOD Safety Certification.

Security Partners

Partnering with the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Trailways continues to further its mission to safely transport passengers onboard its secured fleet of late-model motorcoaches. Team Trailways motorcoaches are now equipped with the latest GPS security tracking technology, which were federally funded by bus security grants awarded to Team Trailways for ongoing efforts to help deter and prevent terrorist and other acts of violence against Trailways Motorcoach Companies and their passengers.

Team Trailways

Team Trailways is committed to providing our travelers—both individuals and groups—reliable and quality motorcoach transportation that is both safe and secure!