BusCon Expo, the most extensive gathering of private and public-sector decision makers in the bus industry for more than 17 years, will switch locations in 2014 to the Indiana Convention Center, Halls F & G, in Indianapolis, Sept. 15 to 17, 2014. In 2013, the Expo will return to Chicago’s Navy Pier Sept. 10 to 11. [Reprinted from Metro Magazine]
Jerry A. Casser, Esq. (Fairfield NJ Transportation attorney) www.jcasser.com
When does a bus operator require NYS DOT Contract Carrier Authority and when is it exempt? This issue has come up a lot lately, as we assist operators after they have received NOV’s from NYS DOT.
Here’s the scoop. If your contract is with a company to transport its employees from the company’s offices to another local destination, you do not need Contact Carrier Authority. It is an exempt service. If your contract is with an apartment building to transport its residents to another local destination, then you are required to obtain an NYS DOT Permit for Contract Carrier Service.
It is difficult to confuse the two types of operations, and it is well worth your while to get the necessary Permit to avoid NOV’s for illegal operations and possibly Summonses for your drivers. Potential fines and penalties, plus legal fees, make this a no brainer.
Jerry A. Casser, Esq. (Fairfield NJ Transportation attorney) www.jcasser.com
Last May, the US DOT took the very serious step of shutting down 26 Aisian motor carriers who were considered to be “unsafe operators”, this following a series of well-publicized bus accidents in the Northeast. The companies were placed in 3 Groups and offered an ultimatum that the members of each Group consolidate into one company and present a Corrective Action Plan to explain how they would become compliant.
Unfortunately, or fortunately, however you wish to view the situation, the US DOT is not anxious to allow these companies to begin operating again because the entire matter has become a political hot potato. So, no matter what has been submitted, it has been rejected, and all the while, a good many of these companies have been forced to leave the industry because of it.
The US DOT, in trying to be careful, is operating at a sloth’s pace, and it remains to be seen whether any of the companies ever see the road again. Stay tuned for updates.
Jerry A. Casser, Esq. (Fairfield NJ Transportation attorney) www.jcasser.com
If your buses travel to NYC and you receive motor vehicle violations which require you to appear in NY Criminal Court to answer the Summonses, be aware of the fact that as corporations, you must be represented by Legal Counsel and may have to have a representative of your company appear in Court as well.
Our law firm specializes in all transportation matters for bus companies and we are admitted to practice in NJ and in NY. We can make the appearances for you, usually without a representative from your company appearing, and negotiate the best possible settlement of the violations charged against your company. If the violations are equipment related, i.e. brake lights, warning triangles,first aid kits, leaking oil or transmission fluid, etc., proof that the repairs have been done within 24 hrs. is generally accepted to permit a dismissal and waiver of penalties.
Please call our firm for legal respresentation if you receive any Summonses in NYC (all 5 Boroughs). Additionally, we can handle all of your NJ Municipal Court appearances in North Jersey.
Jerry A. Casser, Esq. (Fairfield NJ Transportation attorney) www.jcasser.com
If your buses travel to NJ or NYC and you receive motor vehicle violations which require you to appear in NJ Municipal Courts or NYC Criminal Court to answer the Summonses, be aware of the fact that as corporations, you must be represented by Legal Counsel and may have to have a representative of your company appear in Court as well.
Our law firm specializes in all transportation matters for bus companies and we are admitted to practice in NJ and in NY. We can make the appearances for you, usually without a representative from your company appearing, and negotiate the best possible settlement of the violations charged against your company. If the violations are equipment related, i.e. brake lights, warning triangles,first aid kits, leaking oil or transmission fluid, etc., proof that the repairs have been done within 24 hrs. is generally accepted to permit a dismissal and waiver of penalties.
Please call our firm for legal respresentation if you receive any Summonses in NJ or NYC.
Jerry A. Casser, Esq. (Fairfield NJ Transportation attorney) www.jcasser.com
If your buses travel to NJ or NYC and you receive motor vehicle violations which require you to appear in NJ Municipal Courts or NY Criminal Courts to answer the Summonses, be aware of the fact that as corporations, you must be represented by Legal Counsel and may have to have a representative of your company appear in Court as well.
Our law firm specializes in all transportation matters for bus companies and we are admitted to practice in NJ and in NY. We can make the appearances for you, usually without a representative from your company appearing, and negotiate the best possible settlement of the violations charged against your company. If the violations are equipment related, i.e. brake lights, warning triangles,first aid kits, leaking oil or transmission fluid, etc., proof that the repairs have been done within 24 hrs. is generally accepted to permit a dismissal and waiver of penalties.
Please call our firm for legal respresentation if you receive any Summonses in NJ or NYC.
Jerry A. Casser, Esq. (Fairfield NJ Transportation attorney) www.jcasser.com
In today’s economic environment, a bus or limousine company’s ability to recover the cost of repair for damage to its vehicles is more important than ever. Insurance companies are not voluntarily making payments and they have to be pushed very hard to do so. When your claim is being handled by an attorney, they realize that you mean business, and the insurance companies’ costs will rise if the matter goes into litigation. Therefore, they will take the claim more seriously.
Our law firm specializes in first party property damage claims for buses (coaches, school buses, minibuses, vans) and for limousines (sedans and stretches). We are known in the bus industry as subrogation or property damage recovery attorneys. We work on a contingent fee basis, so no recovery, no fee. However, please understand that we do not take cases where it is clear that your driver is at fault. As a consequence, we recover for the damage in virtually all cases, and frequently recover for loss of use of the vehicle.
The recoveries that we may obtain on your behalf go straight to your bottom line – very important today. So, if you need a subrogation attorney to recover for your company’s damages arising from motor vehicle accidents in NJ, contact us through the website address noted below. A majority of our cases are in Essex, Passaic, Bergen, Hudson, Union and Morris Counties, but we are not limited geographically in NJ unless the case arises in South Jersey and involves too small a sum of money to justify litigating, i.e. $2,500.00 or less.
Jerry A. Casser, Esq. (Fairfield NJ Transportation attorney) www.jcasser.com
Charter bus operators in the U.S. and Canada have been spared from having to purchase apportioned license plates after a proposal requiring the action failed to pass.
The United Motorcoach Association (UMA), along with the National Tour Association (NTA) and Motor Coach Canada (MCC), partnered in a campaign to speak out against the International Registration Plan (IRP) proposal to eliminate the exemption granted to charter bus operators and force most of them to buy apportioned license plates.
In a pre-ballot survey, 50 of the U.S. states and Canadian provinces that are members of IRP — the organization governing vehicle registration of out-of-jurisdiction buses and trucks — approved the change to the exemption, thus prompting an official vote. The elimination proposal needed the support of 75 percent of IRP members to be approved; however, the vote failed to reach the support benchmark and was not passed.
Collaborative letters were sent out to voting members from Victor Parra, UMA president/CEO and Lisa Simon, NTA president, urging members to vote against the proposal citing the negative impact to travel and tourism and the higher costs that would have to be endured by motorcoach operators to obtain apportioned license plates.
A second letter was also sent by Parra outlining safety statistics of the motorcoach industry and asking members to put their confidence in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s CSA program to monitor and enforce motorcoach safety and vote “no” to IRP’s proposal.
“Based on the pre-ballot survey, this proposal was expected to pass easily, but for the past month, we’ve lobbied hard on this issue with our partners from the MCC and NTA,” said Parra. “IRP was hoping to get states searching for new sources of revenue to support the elimination of the exemption without thinking about the overall consequences of their decision.”
The partners reacted quickly and sent communications to state/provincial directors of tourism, governors and directly to the voting IRP members, according to Parra. “Both NTA and MCC helped greatly in this effort. Thankfully we were able to turn this around and the result was enough “no” votes to kill the proposal,” he said. Reprinted from Metro Magazine.
Jerry A. Casser, Esq. – NJ Transportation Law Attorney (www.jcasser.com)
May 25th, 2011 - The Greater New Jersey Motorcoach Association announced its Board of Directors and Officers for 2011-2012 at its Annual Meeting held at Resorts International in Atlantic City, NJ. Serving as President is Tim Stout, Stout’s Transportation, Trenton, NJ; Vice President is Mark R. Waterhouse, Classic Tours, Lakewood, NJ; Secretary is Mitchell Sussman, Starr Tours, Trenton, NJ; Treasurer is Joseph P. Fernandez, CPA, West Islip, NY; Other Board members are; David Benedict, David Tours & Travel, Philadelphia, PA; Thomas Dugan, Safety Bus, Pennsauken, NJ; Scott E. Henry, Martz Lines, Wilkes-Barre, PA; Nate Karp, Greyhound Lines, New York, NY; Wayne Klein, Klein’s Bus Service, Inc., Douglasville, PA; James Murphy, Saddle River Tours, Wallington, NJ; Thomas JeBran, Trans-Bridge Lines, Bethlehem, PA.; Tom Taylor, Lakeland Bus Lines, Dover, NJ;. Executive Director is Andrea C. Malamut, Cherry Hill, NJ and Legal Counsel is Jerry Casser, Esq., Fairfield, NJ.
Jerry A. Casser – Transportation Law Attorney (Fairfield, NJ) www.jcasser.com
Note: This was proposed in December 2009 – apparently nothing has happened and the Agency is awaiting comment from the industry and other interested persons.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) plans to propose rulemaking early next year to require seat belts on motorcoaches.
The DOT has released its Motorcoach Safety Action Plan, which lays out concrete steps for improving motorcoach safety issues such as driver fatigue and inattention, vehicle rollover, occupant ejections and oversight of unsafe carriers.
The comprehensive action plan proposes enhanced regulatory oversight of new and high risk motorcoach operators, as well as the increased use of new technologies. To address driver distraction, it proposes to initiate rulemaking to prohibit texting and limit the use of cell phones and other devices by motorcoach drivers.
It also discusses requiring electronic on-board recording devices on all motorcoaches to better monitor drivers’ duty hours to address fatigue, and enhanced oversight of unsafe carriers.
In addition, the action plan proposes to better protect motorcoach occupants by requiring the installation of seat belts and discusses additional measures such as the establishment of performance requirements for enhanced roof strength, fire safety and emergency egress. It also calls for safety improvements using technologies such as electronic stability control to prevent rollovers.
We’ll keep on top of these issues and let you know as soon as something has been approved. In the meantime, if you have specific questions on safety issues, please feel free to contact our firm. There is a Contact Me link for my Website to the right of this Article and you can email your questions.
Jerry A. Casser – Fairfield, NJ Transportation Law Attorney - www.jcasser.com