Passenger Bus, Rail and Motorcoach Industry News

Advanced Ventures operates a small fleet of motorcoaches and mini-buses providing charter services throughout the mid-Atlantic region.

The action is part of FMCSA's "Operation Quick Strike," an intensified investigation of high-risk passenger carriers that began last April.

Destiny Tours falsified an inspection document and failed to regularly inspect, repair or maintain its single motorcoach as required by federal safety regulations. Meanwhile, following a passenger fatality, an inspection of the vehicle involved found that Kansas-based Midnight Express realigned seating, blocking all four emergency exit windows.

Carbo Limo is a for-hire passenger carrier consisting of 10 passenger vans/minibuses and one stretch limousine used for its intrastate operations, principally shuttle service in and around Oxford, Miss.

The owner of Illini Tours, Robert L. Frazier, is also the owner of Lex Express Inc./Lincolnland Express, a passenger carrier ordered to shut down by FMCSA in December 2012 for multiple violations, including making false entries on vehicle maintenance records.

Safety investigators found that Autobuses Zacatecanos failed to ensure that its vehicles were systematically and properly inspected, repaired and maintained. Onsite inspections of the carrier’s four buses revealed such numerous and serious safety violations that all four vehicles were immediately declared out of service.

Investigators found that Salt Lake Shuttles failed to monitor and ensure that its drivers complied with federal hours-of-service regulations. Drivers frequently made round-trip journeys from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas, a distance of approximately 840 miles, without rest, in violation of hours-of-service rules.

Coach USA Tour Inc. operates a small fleet of tour buses and primarily provides sightseeing tours in the northeastern U.S. The company is “NOT affiliated in any way with Paramus, N.J.-based Coach USA Inc.,” according to the FMCSA.

A review of company records by FMCSA investigators found that Destiny Tours had, on five occasions, operated in interstate commerce without obtaining proper federal authority and beyond the scope of its registration.

This is the second shutdown of a passenger carrier following the deployment earlier this month of more than 50 specially trained safety investigators targeting high-risk passenger carriers.