Minority Misfortunes by Dave Millhouser The burden of regulatory compliance as well as problems relating to the pandemic fall more heavily on smaller companies. Larger companies have a substantial advantage based on economies of scale. This means that minority-owned companies are being driven from the bus business in greater numbers. Shown here are some Temsa coaches at their facility in Orlando. TEMSA.
27833 – nearly 50 years later the part number for an improved wheel still rattles around my brain. The company I worked for sold pallet loads of them.
Circa 1974 a package of new regulations influencing motorcoach design went into effect and some of the results were, to say the least, unexpected. Intended to improve braking, handling and noise levels, instead we got steering axle wheel cracking, baked alternators, failed HVACs and air brakes that sometimes applied suddenly when CB mikes were keyed.
Good intentions can create unintended consequences that are worse than the problem they are addressing.
In order to meet new braking specs, Eagle went with larger tires, which then pounded the HVAC ducts that passed over them into submission. Our biggest competitor suffered even more. To keep the tag from bouncing when the more powerful brakes were applied, they cranked up the weight it carried. The drive wheels acted as a fulcrum – 32 • National Bus Trader / December, 2021
extra weight went onto the steer axle – and front wheels began to crack.
Adding insult to injury, the air-cooled alternator that had worked fine for years began failing. Eliminating vents, to reduce noise reaching the street, raised the engine compartment’s ambient temperature just enough to give the alternators heat stroke. It was a great time to be a parts salesman.
According to several sources, there are less than half as many private sector motorcoach companies now than there were in 2019. The bulk of the casualties were small operators, and in most cases it was the pandemic that pushed them over the edge. That said, if they had been stronger financially at Covid’s outset, they might have survived. There are two points to be made here.
One is that the burden of compliance falls far more heavily on small companies than large. The big guys have a serious advantage when it comes to the economies of scale. As a result as the weight of regulations
increases, it is the little guys who are squeezed out. Fewer coaches on the road means more travelers are forced into less safe modes of transportation.
Second, and clearly unintended, is that minority-owned companies are being driven from the business in far larger proportions than their white competitors. For many historical reasons they started with a disadvantage and have been playing catch-up for decades. As a result, many lack the size and fiscal depth to hang on.
I am not into “political correctness,” but thoughtful folks are aware that in addition to the discredited historical laws and regulations that constituted de-jure racism, there is an element of de-facto racism that still needs to be addressed. Sometimes intentional, but often just insensitive or thoughtless, the playing field remains measurably tilted, at least in the motorcoach business.
The new administration seems committed to restoring regulations and adding new ones. It is ironic that the same folks who are com-
