California’s Best Tours & Travel reopens strong after a tireless 2020 keeping customers, lawmakers and a changing traveling public close to its business Best Tours & Travel’s recent reopening saw sellout tours and a continuing recovery in their private charter operations thanks to nonstop outreach throughout 2020s shut-down months that continues today. With COVID-19, the Fresno, California motorcoach company faced the rockiest road ever in its 43-year history. A successful community outreach program has rebuilt customer confidence, and a brand relaunch featuring safe leisure tour pack ..read more

Think about changing diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) in vehicles that have been idle for a prolonged period. You should also protect DEF from extreme cold to keep Diesel-powered vehicles running smoothly. With recent months being dominated by challenges caused by COVID-19, some diesel-powered vehicles have likely been out of service for a long period of time. This includes buses, motorcoaches, trucks and other fleet vehicles that have been idle for many months due to school closures, the cancelation of events and reduced road travel. As operators of various fleets manage the maintenance needs of v ..read more

In the U.S., COVID vaccines have been available to every individual age 16 and older since April, and vaccines have been available to those who are age 12 and older since May. In August 2021, the Pfizer vaccine was the first COVID-19 vaccine to receive full approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration,1 which just recently formally authorized a booster dose of the Pfizer vaccine for individuals 65 years of age and older, and other vulnerable Americans.2 Now, with both public confidence and vaccination rates on the rise, coupled with full FDA approval of a vaccine, vaccine mandates for ..read more

Bill was ticked. He had just taken delivery of a new coach, and the factory had refused his request to set the governor at 77 m.p.h. Bill ran a single bus, offering luxury tours, and felt he needed the extra speed to get a “run” at the hills on one route. The bus he traded in had an 8V-92 with 400 horsepower (and was governed at 77 m.p.h.), while the new one was equipped with a 400 horsepower Series 60. It would “only” do 71 m.p.h. After his first trip, he called, laughing. “The new bus got us there an hour sooner. It did not go as fast down hill, but climbed every grade at the speed limit ..read more

Peter Pan Bus Lines, a popular transportation company serving the northeastern United States, has recently adopted an innovative solution for their fleet washing needs: Bitimec’s Wash-Bots machines. With two machines at their disposal, a 101-ST in Hartford and a newly added 626-EZ model in Providence, Peter Pan Bus Lines now has the wash muscle of a 4-person wash-crew with just a single operator per machine. With a fleet of over 200 buses and serving more than 100 destinations, Peter Pan Bus Lines understands the importance of maintaining a clean and well-maintained fleet. The company’s inves ..read more

FlixMobility (the company), global mobility provider of the FlixBus and FlixTrain brands, announced on October 21 it has acquired Greyhound Lines, Inc. (Grey-hound), the largest provider of long-distance bus transportation in the United States, from FirstGroup plc. This acquisition marks another important step in FlixMobility’s vision to provide easy-to-use, affordable and environmentally-friendly travel for consumers across the globe. The purchase brings together FlixBus’ innovative global technology and shared mobility expertise with Greyhound’s iconic nationwide presence and experience, cre ..read more

NFI Group Inc. (NFI or the company), a leading independent bus and coach manufacturer and a leader in electric mass mobility solutions, on October 25 announced that the New Jersey Transit Corporation (NJ Transit) has exercised options for 118 D4500 clean diesel commuter coaches, in its final year of an existing six-year contract (orig-nally announced in 2015) with NFI subsidiary Motor Coach Industries (MCI). The order was converted from NFI’s backlog. Earlier this year, NJ Transit also exercised and received delivery of additional options for 30 MCI D4500 commuter coaches and 25 clean-diesel ..read more

Be it in terms of design, comfort, technology, safety features, individuality or economics, the new Mercedes-Benz Tourrider represents a milestone moment for motor-coaches in North America. It was specifically tailored for the region with the unique inter-national know-how of Mercedes-Benz – the inventory of the bus. The new Tourrider is truly the Mercedes-Benz of motorcoaches. Mercedes-Benz Tourrider Group Mercedes-Benz Tourrider Group The new Tourrider is precisely tailored to North America. It is a three-axle, high-deck coach with a length of 45 feet/13.72 meters (including energy-absorbing ..read more

Since many buses have been sitting lately, this information may be of some interest. There was a recent situation at the bus museum annex in Hershey, Pennsylvania where a bus had been sitting in the same position for a substantial time. When the museum people went to move it, they discovered that a front tire was flat. As it turned out, it was not a slow leak, but the tire had blown violently just sitting there. Since so many buses are sitting right now, we looked for an answer. The following information comes from Marco Rabe, the head of research and development for truck tires in the Americ ..read more

Having included North America into its priority growth markets upon the Sabancı Holding – PPF Group (Skoda Transportation) partnership, Temsa has come together with its customers and associates in the region at the Open House event held at its office in Florida on April 21, 2021. The TS 30, TS 35, and TS 45 model vehicles developed specifically for the North American market by Temsa were exhibited at the event. Immediately after entering into the partnership of Sabanci Holding – PPF Group (Skoda Transportation) in October 2020, Temsa has made North America one of the priority growth markets w ..read more