UPDATE
ABA creates African American Motorcoach Council , seeks additional industry leaders to step forward
The American Bus Association ( ABA ) – the industry leader advancing North American motorcoach travel and tourism – announced the creation of the African American Motorcoach Council ( AAMC ), which joins the other networking and business Councils that are a part of ABA . “ ABA created the African American Motorcoach Council after identifying a need among our black-owned motorcoach operator members to have a concentrated , unified voice and lobby on behalf of their businesses ,” said Peter Pantuso , president & CEO of the ABA . “ While the entire motorcoach industry has been devastated by the COVID pandemic , some sectors and businesses have been hit harder than others . We wanted to give these companies another opportunity to come together within the ABA member community like we have with the Women in Buses and Hispanic Motorcoach Councils and present a united front to help secure additional funding for other motorcoach operators and for the industry .” The main priority of the AAMC , which is being led by Clarence Cox of Georgia Coach Lines in Fayetteville , Georgia , will be to help ABA in lobbying for more federal government funding for the motorcoach industry , especially on behalf of small , family-owned , minority businesses . Members of the AAMC are already up and running contacting members of the Congressional Black Caucus in support of the industry ’ s grassroots initiatives and educating them about the motorcoach industry . The first official meeting of the AAMC will be held virtually at a future date and in person at ABA ’ s Marketplace in Grapevine , Texas , Jan . 8-11 , 2022 . Anyone interested in participating in the AAMC should reach out to ABA ’ s Membership Team as
membership @ buses . org or call 202-218-7234 . Visit
www . buses . org for more information and future updates on AAMC activities .
Complete Coach Works announces its transition to a 100 percent employee stock ownership plan
Complete Coach Works ( CCW ) announced its plan to transition to a 100 percent employee-owned company . The announcement was made during a special lunch celebration on Friday , August 20 , 2021 , to the entire employee base at its headquarters in Riverside , California . The meeting was simultaneously broadcast to all remote employees via video conference . Dale E . Carson , president and owner of Complete Coach Works , and his wife , Terri , started CCW over 34 years ago and worked tirelessly to build it into the industry-leading organization that it has become . Throughout the company ’ s history , Dale and Terri have been proud to employ such a talented and diverse team , and have always tried to show their sincere appreciation to each and every employee . During the announcement , Dale expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the staff , and said that turning CCW into an ESOP was his and Terri ’ s way of giving back to the people who helped the company be successful – their employees . He further explained that the ESOP retirement benefit would be in addition to the Company ’ s existing 401 ( k ) Plan retirement vehicle .
An ESOP , facilitated through a trust , provides company stock to employees as part of their retirement benefits . When Congress established the ESOP employee benefit plan in the 1970 ’ s , the governing legislation was written that “ the ESOP is required to be operated for the ‘ exclusive benefit ’ of participating employees ( and their beneficiaries ).” Once the transition to an employee-owned company is finalized , employees will benefit from contributions made to their account . CCW projects greatly benefit transit agencies and the communities they serve . Now more than ever , transit agencies are looking to partner with companies that are also aligned with those goals . CCW prides itself on providing a great product and taking care of its employees . Becoming an employee-owned company demonstrates further commitment to its employees , and future success of the company and its customers .
Lightning eMotors enters the electric school bus space with multiyear agreement with REV Group ’ s Collins Bus
Collins Bus , an industry leader in manufacturing Type A School Buses and a subsidiary of REV Group , Inc ., and Lightning eMotors , a leading provider of all-electric powertrains and commercial vehicles , today announced a strategic partnership to manufacture and deploy zero-emission , all-electric Type A school buses . Collins Bus is a market leader in the Type A school bus space and has deployed more than 70,000 buses over the last 50 years across the United States and Canada . “ School districts across the U . S . and Canada are eager to introduce zero-emission electric buses ,” said Brian Perry , president , REV Commercial Segment . “ In addition to being clean , green , and sustainable , electric school buses are quiet , efficient , and much less expensive to maintain . We ’ re pleased to be working with Lightning eMotors to provide districts with the all-electric buses their students , drivers , and communities want .” The all-electric Type A school buses each will have a gross vehicle weight of 14,500 pounds and will feature state-of-the-art NMC batteries using industry-leading battery thermal management and safety systems . The buses will support both Level 2 AC charging and Level 3 DC Fast Charging , with integrated vehicle-to-grid ( V2G ) capabilities . Other features will include a modern digitaldash display , hill-hold functionality for safety , advanced telematics , analytics , and a mobile app for drivers and fleet managers . “ Collins has decades of bus manufacturing experience and is a long-standing leader in Class A school buses , with a wellestablished and loyal dealer network and customer base ,” said Tim Reeser , CEO of Lightning eMotors . “ We are thrilled that they have
8 | BUSRIDE . COM | OCTOBER 2021