Glenn P. Orloff
President & CEO
Metropolitan Shuttle

Much has been written in this publication about bus brokers and the problems encountered by bus operators in working with them.

As a major broker, and one that has been occasionally mentioned in this publication, I would like to take this opportunity to offer our perspective.

I cannot speak on behalf of the broker industry, nor do I wish to. I only wish to counter some of the misinformation that has been published here and elsewhere.

For the record, I want to be very clear that in choosing a vendor for a given job, yes, price is important. However, first and foremost, a vendor providing services for Metropolitan Shuttle must meet the requirements of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (ratings below 75 in all three categories) and/or be listed as an approved carrier on the Web site of Surface Deployment and Distribution Command of the U.S. military.

Furthermore, the vendor in question must have valid insurance coverage as required by law and be able to produce evidence of such.

Metropolitan Shuttle had to forego a great number of potentially profitable charters in 2006 due to the fact that the only available vendor(s) either did not have satisfactory ratings with the FMCSA or could not satisfactorily produce an appropriate insurance form with Metropolitan Shuttle and/or the client listed as an "additional insured."

Meeting standards

Adherence to these standards has also meant that Metropolitan Shuttle usually does not choose the lowest bidder for a given charter, but rather the bidder that meets the standards above, has a competitive price, and has demonstrated an ability to perform well and allow for the greatest possibility of the client becoming a repeat client.

Suggesting that our only criterion for choosing a vendor is price implies a certain stupidity that would never allow for the possibility of repeat clients. Those of us who are successful in this industry know that without repeat business, we would never survive.

Clients who work with Metropolitan Shuttle can rest assured that the bus they ride will meet the above standards. We state this in our "terms and conditions." We are, therefore, bound to deliver on this pledge. This obviously angers some vendors who would like to get our business, yet it provides an invaluable service to the client community.

The upstanding bus operators in the bus charter industry might be surprised at how very many operators do not meet the standards of the FMCSA.

Another important point to mention, and this also may irritate some as this publication is targeted specifically to bus operators, is that not all operators are honorable or upstanding. I found it highly ironic that the article of July 15 would quote Kraftours of Tulsa, Okla., a company that dropped a big job from us on a moment's notice when a better booking came in later, after confirming that the job was all set.

They seem to be notorious for such practices in the Oklahoma/Arkansas area, as other companies we spoke with in the area did not seem to be surprised that Kraftours did such a thing.

About BusRates.com

The ultimate irony, however, comes in the form of the self-proclaimed "consumer advocate," BusRates.com.

BusRates.com promotes itself as protecting the interests of both bus charter operators and the general consumer wishing to purchase bus charter services. BusRates.com does neither of these.

In its apparent zeal to bring in advertising dollars, BusRates.com apparently applies no eligibility requirements for advertisers on its site whatsoever. Operators that have been put out of service by the USDOT and operators with SEA rankings well above 75 are listed side by side on this site with upstanding and legitimate carriers.

Clearly, legitimate carriers would not want to be lumped together with those operating illegally and/or beyond the criteria of the USDOT and FMCSA.

Unfortunately, many who advertise and/or list on BusRates.com are not aware that they are being lumped together with the outcasts of the industry. It seems that BusRates.com will take money from anyone, legitimate or illegitimate. That can't be a good thing for the serious and upstanding operators.

On the consumer side, it's even worse. Imagine a potential purchaser, not knowing much about the bus charter industry, consulting BusRates.com and then choosing a carrier like Bates Tours and Charter of Woodbridge, Va.

Bates Tours is a company with a vehicle safety rating of 98, just about the worst rating a company could possibly have and still operate.

Imagine the potential legal liability for that unfortunate purchaser if something were to happen to the 50 or so passengers on that bus -- and all because they trusted BusRates.com, the "consumer advocate," for their bus information.

Plenty of bad apples

Shady operators abound all over the BusRates.com site, from Bates Tours, to Duncan Bus in the Washington D.C., area which has been put out of service by the USDOT.

It is a true disservice to the bus charter industry that BusRates.com would pose as a protector of the consumer while at the same time directing those very consumers toward the outcasts of the industry in exchange for the outcasts' blood money.

Further hypocrisy by BusRates.com includes taking payments from Google to list brokers of bus charter services, which Busrates.com claims to be the bane of the bus charter industry's existence. If Busrates.com really and truly believed that bus charter brokers are parasites and harmful for the industry, why would they then list them on their site?

Either their claim is simply disingenuous and motivated by greed and self-interest, or those advertising dollars are just too hard for BusRates.com to resist.

Unfortunately, too much discussion here has centered on a premise of us versus them when discussing operators and brokers. However, the truth is that there are legitimate and illegitimate companies among both operators and brokers.

Value in cooperation

The legitimate and upstanding operators have nothing to fear and more to gain by cooperating with a legitimate and upstanding broker providing national coverage. Our typical client profile is an enterprise that charters buses in various markets all over the country. This type of client simply will not maintain a rolodex of vendors and deal with all the headaches of background checks and verifications if there is a single national service like ours that will handle that for them.

On the other hand, most bus companies provide service only regionally, so it would only make sense that the two types of services would collaborate and share the mutual benefit.

We enjoy such mutually beneficial relationships with dozens and dozens, if not hundreds, of operators all over the country. It is unfortunate that there are, indeed, a number of unsavory brokers willing to cut corners and deceive for financial gain, just as there are those types of operators, not to mention the self-proclaimed white knights like BusRates.com.

The key is for the upstanding players in the industry to recognize each other and continue to develop the mutually beneficial relationships that will only serve to benefit our industry as a whole.

Contact Orloff at (866) 556-3545, or by e-mail at glenn@metropolitanshuttle.com. His company Web site is www.metropolitanshuttle.com.