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LGE Coachworks came into 2020 celebrating 15 years in the industry as a limobus and coach builder. In the previous two years, LGE continued to see a growing trend in their line of custom and private builds including a mobile meditation studio, mobile offices, and the new JetBus model, which was created to replicate the interior of client’s private aircraft.
Members of the Las Vegas Police Protection Association with Pennsylvania State Police at LGE headquarters in North East, Pa.
“It was nice to see the diversity in our production schedule with a mix of our traditional builds and the unique and creative ideas our private clients were requesting,” says LGE Owner & President David Sacco.
Unfortunately, two weeks after returning from the CD/NLA Show in Las Vegas show in February, 90 percent of LGE’s scheduled production was delayed with operators already seeing the decline in travel and preparing for the rough times ahead. The company got lucky when some private owners were still moving forward with their builds while other businesses were looking to provide travel to employees that were considered essential but were unable to travel in the same manner before the pandemic.
“Our ability to build mobile offices equipped with the technology to keep those workers on the road also kept our team in the shop doing what they do best,” says Sacco.
LVPAA’s new mobile command center
A call from the Las Vegas Police Protection Association (LVPPA) for a mobile command center got the LGE team back to work once again. This build required seating for 18 passengers with space of 24 inches per person as well as a kitchen area with large storage, lavatory with full size sink and storage, large power awning, and a secure private office with locking door and desk area. The vehicle is not for transporting passengers or law enforcement, but is used for obtaining eyewitness reports, debriefing officers, and providing an area to cool down when the officers are out in the Vegas heat for extended periods. The next week the LVPPA 40’ Freightliner was pulled into production and was complete within six weeks.
Officers representing the LVPPA traveled to the LGE headquarters and were joined by members of the Pennsylvania State Police. During the build process, LGE also gained another contract for a second vehicle for another agency with similar requirements. This vehicle is scheduled to be completed by the end of October. The production schedule is full through the end of the year with LGE building vehicles for the commercial transportation industry, medical units, and private vehicles.
“To say this year has been difficult is an understatement,” says Sacco.
“But on the positive side we have seen this team be able to go from stock limo builds, to full custom private vehicles, PPE equipment manufacturing and back again, which gives us the confidence in knowing we have done our best to weather this storm,” adds Sales Manager Alexa Sacco.
Visit lgecoachworks.com for more information.
[10.05.20]
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The U.S. private motorcoach, school bus, and domestic passenger vessel industries have collectively furloughed or laid off an estimated 308,000 employee jobs over the last eight months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The American Bus Association (ABA), United Motorcoach Association (UMA), National School Transportation Association (NSTA), and Passenger Vessel Association (PVA) continues to urge Congress to include the bipartisan CERTS Act (S.4150/H.R. 7642) as part of any COVID-19 stimulus package.
Despite being critical industries, they have suffered unprecedented and catastrophic economic losses over the past eight months due to the drastic declines in job commuting, group travel, and school closures. Unlike other modes of transportation, such as airlines, rail and public transit, bus and vessel industries have not received direct economic relief to date. Many companies have already shuttered and many more are on the brink of closing their doors forever.
According to the associations:
Prior to COVID, the three industries collectively employed more than 460,000 trained and experienced employees to deliver their passengers safely to and from their destinations. The 308,000 drivers, captains, deck hands and mechanics that have been furloughed deserve relief as much as pilots, flight attendants, airplane mechanics, rail engineers and public transit workers that have already received at least some form of direct support enabling them to keep their jobs over the same time period.
The CERTS Act would create a much needed $10 billion grant and loan program administered by the Department of Treasury to prioritize relief for these employees and assist with expenses related to debt service on vehicles, vessels, insurance, rent, utilities and equipment in order to operate safely for these capital-intensive companies. With 56 bipartisan cosponsors in the Senate and 235 in the House (as of October 2, 2020), the CERTS Act has more support than ANY pandemic relief bill that has been introduced.
The U.S. motorcoach industry provides nearly 600 million passenger trips per year, just under annual passenger trips made by airlines, ensuring vital intercity connections, charter and tour operations supporting critical military and emergency evacuation work along with the travel and tourism industry. The US private school bus industry provides nearly 40 percent of the nation’s school bus service in 200,000 yellow school buses to 26 million children every day that rely on the school bus as the only way to get and from school in the safest way possible. The U.S. domestic passenger vessel industry carries more than 200 million passengers annually and includes ferries, dinner boats, sightseeing and excursion vessels, whale watch and wildlife tour boats, sailing vessels, and small U.S. overnight cruise ships.
ABA, UMA, NSTA, and PVA urge Congress to swiftly enact the CERTS Act to preserve jobs and these critical industries.
[10.05.20]
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Chosen Payments team
Xplorex IT Enterprise Technology Magazine has selected Chosen Payments for its 2020 Top 10 Retail Solution Providers list. The positioning is based on evaluation of Chosen Payments offerings for unique applications specializing in Retail technology.
The annual list of companies is selected by a panel of experts and members of Xplorex IT’s editorial board to recognize and to promote technology entrepreneurship.
“The companies selected for our Top 10 Retail Solution Providers 2020 list are an elite group of companies whose products and solutions are changing their respective industries,” said Xplorex IT Managing Editor Adam Goldstein. “We are proud to feature Chosen Payments in this edition for its effort in helping Retail and other major industries to easily and quickly adopt technology as a core part of their business. Chosen Payments’s solutions continued to break new ground within the past year benefiting its customers worldwide.”
In other news, CEO Jeff Brodsly recently interviewed Brett Barenholtz of Above All Transportation/Boston Car/ETS for his video series Chosen Scoop. The two chatted about their pandemic experience, both professionally and personally. Barenholtz shared his business tips for working with affiliates as well as the importance of networking. They also shared their ideas about work-life balance, staying fit, and eating well. This and previous episodes can be viewed here.
Visit chosenpayments.com for more information.
[10.02.20]