Growing up in rural Louisville , KY , Melissa ’ s father , uncle and grandfather all had side jobs as school bus drivers to supplement their primary source of income derived from farming hay and soybeans . In the early 70 ’ s the brothers , Tom and Emmett Miller , saw an opportunity to bid on an additional school route . This meant they would need to buy another bus , hire a driver and so was the birth of Miller Transportation ! By the late 70 ’ s the family farm housed not only horses and cows but a dozen school buses . With the growing complexities of accounts receivable , payroll , fuel bills , licenses etc . it was time for Miller Transportation to hire office staff to handle the paperwork side of a bus company . This is when 14 year old Melissa Miller took on the challenge of helping to figure out how to run the office of a school bus company that evolved to include motorcoach tours !
In 1982 there was regional focus on tourism as the World ’ s Fair was hosted nearby in Knoxville , TN . This was the company ’ s first tour offering on a shiny , new to them , GM Buffalo acquired from Greyhound . To work the kinks out on this new type of bus the entire
family loaded up for a trip to Florida where the brothers smoothed out the gears and learned how to put the bus in reverse , so the family did not have to get out and push it backwards . From then on Melissa had a passion for motorcoach tours . While working to receive her BS in Business Management at the University of Louisville Melissa developed custom group tours with a love for school group tours . As Miller Transportation expanded to include facilities in Indianapolis , IN and Columbus , OH so did the Miller Tour department . Pre COVID , Melissa ’ s student tour bookings dominated the motorcoach schedule but now the pandemic has decimated the industry .
Melissa is married , mother to a stepson and twin teenage daughters and continues to help manage the day to day operations of Miller Transportation . Melissa is actively involved in marketplace at ABA and both values and rewards the connections she makes there . She is excited to see the industry bounce back stronger than ever and bring business back to her travel partners .
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