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MCI J4500 motorcoach
New Orleans — Louisiana Motor Coach, one of the Crescent City’s fastest growing tour and charter companies, recently took delivery of 10 new MCI J4500 motorcoaches.
This growing regional operator serving conventions, sports events, charters, and tours is known for a safe and luxurious experience for its customers. They wanted to add a new class of vehicles with next-generation passenger amenities to its 30-vehicle fleet. MCI was pleased to win their business for the first time.
Louisiana Motor Coach’s new J4500 coaches feature best-in-class interiors and legroom, proven reliability, fuel-saving features and low total cost of operation with the latest safety features.
“Everything about the purchases of these new coaches fell into place,” said Louisiana Motor Coach Vice President and General Manager Louis Sanders, who with his wife Mary Sanders, the company’s president, and eldest son and partner Jeffrey Celeste, launched the business 10 years ago. “The MCI team came through with the quality and coach amenities we were looking for. We like the new interior design including the lavatory and new digital driver dash on the J4500.”
The leadership team brings more than 25 years of tour and charter experience to their operation, which has grown to become one of New Orleans’ largest, local family-owned operators.
“We’re persistent and already have a second generation in place,” said Sanders, who noted son Ryan Sanders and daughter Caitlin Sanders Schultz are also part of the business’ hard-working team. “We take a lot of pride in the style and young age of the equipment we offer and how we serve our community.”
Travel & Leisure magazine ranks New Orleans, a bus mecca, as the third most popular destination in the United States. Louisiana Motor Coach is distinguished by its newer fleet, commitment to service and unique excursions. In addition to traditional charter services, Louisiana Motor Coach helps travelers with customized tours of New Orleans, fishing adventures, and scheduled coach travel to away games for the city’s professional sports teams.
High-profile assignments have included the 17-day U.S. tour for Australian members of the Sweet Adelines, an international women’s barbershop harmony group, following the organization’s 2019 annual meeting held in New Orleans in September.
Sanders also said the company is benefiting from its recent association with FlixBus, a German-based digital transportation company that launched routes in March from New Orleans to Houston and San Antonio, Texas with scheduled stops in Baton Rouge, Lafayette, La., And other cities in route. Founded in Germany in 2013, FlixBus launched U.S. service in 2018 and manages the technology, marketing, and route system logistics for locally based carrier partners who transport FlixBus passengers.
Giving back to the community is also important to Louisiana Motor Coach. The company is active with local sports teams, “Stuff the Bus” charity events, and is a very proud sponsor of the Young Life organization, supporting its annual summer trips and golf outing.
Visit louisianamotorcoach.com for more information.
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Prevost Vice President, North American New Coach Sales Brad Wiese
St. Claire, Quebec — Prevost is pleased to announce important organizational changes designed to further enhance customer relationships and expand the brand.
Brad Wiese joins the team as vice president, North American new coach sales, bringing more than 25 years’ experience in managing sales teams to the role. New coach regional sales managers and sales directors will report to Wiese.
“We are excited about Brad coming in to lead our sales team,” says Prevost General Manager Francois Tremblay. “His excellent business acumen and entrepreneurial spirit are going to be great assets in our partnerships with our customers.”
Prevost Senior Director, Strategic Planning & Brand Management Jean Berube
Jean Berube will hold the position of senior director, strategic planning & brand management. Berube has more than 23 years’ experience in the development of corporate strategies and business plans.
“Jean is another excellent addition to Prevost,” Tremblay states. “His expertise in the development and introduction of new products will be essential in the plans we have for our product offerings in the coming years.”
Prevost veteran Jack Forbes takes his experience and customer relationship management skills to a new role where he will be responsible for corporate accounts and continuing to manage public sector sales.
“We believe these changes will allow us to be more responsive to our customers’ needs, which is always our first and most important priority,” states Tremblay.
In other news, the Prevost Factory Training program was held late last year in Quebec and included 44 technicians from over 26 different companies throughout the United States and Canada. The training program is a 5-day training course where technicians can choose from a variety of training classes including: Allison Transmission, Pneumatic Braking Systems, Volvo Drive Train, Prevost Electrical, Prevost HVAC systems, and Pneumatic Accessories.
The highlights of the program in Quebec are the factory tour where technicians are able to see where Prevost coaches are manufactured and the tour of the Prevost Museum. These behind the scenes tours are unique in allowing those who work closely with Prevost coaches to see firsthand the parts they routinely work on— before becoming part of the finished bus.
Technicians at Prevost’s Factory Training program
“While all of our training courses are focused on helping our customers immediately benefit from what they’ve learned, the tour of the factory where Prevost’s are manufactured really shows the product from the ground up,” said Director of Aftermarket Training, North America Robert Hitt. This training marked the 19th year of hosting customers at the Prevost factory in Ste-Claire.
Marc Reilly of Great Canadian Coach said of the training program, “we are part of a community. If I have a problem or need advice, I know there is a whole network of people I’ve met here at the Prevost training to help me out.”
Prevost’s goal of these training programs is for technicians to obtain an extensive amount of product knowledge so they may quickly and accurately answer customer questions and make any necessary repairs to get customers’ coaches back on the road in a timely manner.
Marathon Coach Service Manager Chris Welch said of the training program, “I’ve known the folks who do the trainings for a long time and I trust them. The training is outstanding. I’ve never felt like I am on my own with Prevost because I have great relationships with them both here and throughout the country.”
The Prevost Technical Institute (PTI) training team is the strongest training team in the industry with a combined 302 years of bus experience and numerous experts on all Prevost models and the Volvo 9700. PTI also supports Parts, Distribution and the many needs of Prevost’s ever-expanding network
Visit prevostcar.com for more information.
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GCLA President Mo Garkani of The COTS Group
Hayward, Calif. — The Greater California Livery Association (GCLA) reports a solid turnout for its first meeting of the year, held January 28 at the Northern California MCI Sales & Service Center. The evening meeting was sponsored by BMW, as well as Century Business Solutions, Chosen Payments, and MCCOY Auto Brokers.
The evening meeting delivered an array of educational opportunities, from a tour of MCI’s Hayward facility to state- and association-specific updates to a lecture on how labor laws affect the chauffeured ground transportation industry.
An up-close look at MCI’s motorcoach service center allowed the group to get a peek at the builder’s luxury coaches and learn more about the company itself before everyone reconvened for dinner.
After opening remarks from GCLA President Mo Garkani of The COTS Group, attendees also heard from the association’s lobbyist Gregg Cook of Government Affairs Consulting and Legislative Co-Chair David Kinney of API Global Transportation. The two provided updates from California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) as well as reminded everyone of the importance of participating in and supporting GCLA’s Day on the Hill in Sacramento, which is scheduled for March 11 this year.
With the passage of Assembly Bill 5 (AB5)—itself a testament to the statewide reform that’s possible when the industry uses its voice and unifies behind a dedicated cause—underscoring the need for additional conversations about labor laws and practices, GCLA hosted a lawyer-facilitated discussion about not only AB5 but also wage and hour, gratuities, and workers’ compensation. Joseph Lordan of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith was on hand to lend his clarifying remarks to the various topics.
GCLA’s next event will be its March 11 Day on the Hill in Sacramento. All California operators are invited to walk the halls to advocate for the state’s luxury ground transportation industry.
Visit gcla.org for more information.
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