 |
|
Your Association Monthly News & Industry Updates
|
|
GNJMA President Tim Stout Re-Elected to
the United
Motorcoach Association (UMA) Board of Directors
Congratulations to GNJMA President Tim Stout, of Stout's Transportation, on his re-election to the UMA Board of Directors.
Tim has been a member of the UMA since 1994 and has served on their Board for the last 3 years. He has been attending UMA EXPO for over 20 years, is a speaker at UMA meetings, and actively participates in the Legislative Fly-In event.
Congrats, Tim, and we thank you for your service and commitment to UMA, GNJMA and the overall industry.
|
David Thomas Trailways Drivers Honored for Bravery
When
David Thomas Trailways
buses came upon an overturned tour bus on Interstate 95 in Maryland, the buses pulled over right away to help. Inside the tour bus, they found more than 2 dozen children and their teachers on board. David T
homa
s
Trailways drivers Freddie Smith, Raymond Massey, and George
Zadjeika jumped into action
to help the students and teachers off the bus to safety
.
The drivers were honore
d by the FOB Lodge #5, the Mayor of Philadelphia, and the Chief of Police for their bravery during the incident.
|
Sad News Comes to Villani Bus
We regret to inform you of the passing of Linda Beirn Villani, Vice Preside
nt of
Villani Bus Company and current GNJMA Association member
.
Linda was a beloved wife and mother, and was
incredibly dedicated to the family business. Her husband, Diodato (known in the industry as Dee), and daughter, Courtney, will continue to run the business.
Please find her full obituary
here.
Memorial donations may be made to the Brain Aneurysm Foundation.
|
Peter Borowsky Named Vice President of Starr Transit
Peter Borow
sky has joined the team at Starr Transit as
Vice President of Operati
ons.
Prior to joining Starr, Peter was in the technology industry fo
r 20 years, with work
spanning
product management, operations, payments and fulfillment
, marketing, and development groups.
Celebrating 70 years in business from its humble beginnings in 1947, Starr continues into its third generation looking ahead to a long and bright future.
|
|
Board of Directors Update
Allan Doerr, the previously appointed Casino Partner Rep for the Board, announced his retirement from Caesar's Entertainment in late October. Allan has provided a letter to say good-bye to our members and partners of the Association. Thank you, Allan, for your commitment to the industry and support of our Association over the many years.
Auf Wiedersehen, Allan...y
ou will be missed!
Click here to read Allan's personal letter
.
The newly appointed Casino Partner Rep is
John Happersett
, Director of Marketing Operations and Bus Operations at Tropicana Casino. In addition to being a longtime supporter of the Association, John has worked in the casino industry for over 30 years, th
e past 28 with Tropicana. Please join us in welcoming John to the GNJMA Board of Directors!
|
|
Got News?
If you have news you'd like to share about your company, please
email us. We'd love to share your news with the rest of the Association!
|
|
Important Industry Information
|
|
US Dept. of Transportation (DOT) Drug Testing Panel Expansion To Go Into Effect January 1, 2018
Employers who are regulated by the DOT must revise their drug and alcohol testing policies to conform with new regulations that add 4 "semi-synthetic" opioid drugs to the DOT testing panel - hydrocodone, hydromorphone, oxycodone, and oxymorphone. The changes were made to harmonize with a recent revision to the US Department of Health and Human Services Mandatory Guidelines for Federal Workplace Drug Testing Programs which took effect October 1, 2017. Read the full published document
here.
|
|
Electronic Logging Device Enforcement to Begin April 1, 2018
While the deadline for ELD implementation is December 18th, law enforcement will begin applying out-of-service criteria for violations beginning on April 1st, 2018. To ensure that vendors and operators ELDs data file transmission is compliant and compatible, please visit the FMCSA portal
here.
|
|
National Terrorism Advisory
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a bulletin on November 9th in order to notify the public of continued threats from foreign terrorist organizations to the US homeland. These organizations adopt tools to target public places and events. The DHS urges citizens to report suspicious activity and anticipate delays and restrictions around populated places and at public events.
This marks the fifth iteration of the Bulletin on the terror threat to the U.S. homeland. The Bulletin has been reissued three times previously since its initial release in December 2015. R
ead the full bulletin
here.
|
|
Chicago Tourism Facing an Issue That Could Affect Us All
Our friends from the Midwest Bus & Motorcoach Association (MBMCA) reached out to us to help spread the word and help in the effort on this issue. We support their efforts and we ask you to please read the following, and support their efforts with us.
A City of Chicago ordinance passed earlier this Fall requires any vehicle of 15 passengers or more to have a security guard on board and be equipped with a passenger-facing camera if stopping at any location that serves alcohol or if any alcohol will be on board. Both the Illinois Limousine Association and MBMCA have attended Chicago City meetings opposing the ordinance, but their input has been largely ignored. Further, Chicago police and inspectors are now using the ordinance to randomly stop buses.
Brian Whitaker, Director of Bus Operations for Windy City Limos, a Chicago-based transportation provider, along with the MBMCA, is asking for our help. "The effort to modify this ordinance will not be easy and will require many in the tourism and transportation industries to stand side by side," he writes.
How can we at the GNJMA help?
- Write a letter or email to the City of Chicago's Public Vehicle Operations Division. Contact information can be found in the
original letter
from the MBMCA. To view a fact sheet regarding this ordinance,
click here
.
|
|
|
The GNJMA Spring Meetings are 3 Months Away!!
March 12th -
Sponsor Appreciation Dinner
March 13th -
Spring Association Meeting and Motorcoach Professional Awards Luncheon
The Tropicana is offering a discounted hotel rate of $55 for March 12th. Here is the link to reserve: https://tropac3.net/offercode/HGNJMA8. If calling to reserve, please call 609-340-4000 and reference code is HGNJMA8.
|
|
Fall Newsletter
Fall Newsletters were sent out in mid-November to Members.
Please let us know if you haven't received it and we can send you one. You may also access the digital version on the GNJMA website in the
Member Documents Section.
|
|
Special Thanks to Our 2017 Marketplace Sponsors!!
|
|
2017 NYC Holiday Motorcoach Information
The New York City Department of Transportation has released its list of seasonal restrictions in Midtown Manhattan which will be in effect through January 2, 2018. For a complete list of restrictions, please refer to the
NYC DOT 2017 Holiday Bus Information document.
|
|
* Member Alerts *
Member Alerts are sent out to our Members as needed. Since our November newsletter, we have sent one alert:
|
Warmest thoughts and best wishes for a wonderful holiday and a very happy year ahead.
Wishing you the gifts of the season - Peace, Joy and Hope.
|
|
Show your GNJMA pride and add our logo to your website! Simply right click on the logo above to save it as an image!
|
|
|
|
Contact: Pattie Cowley, Executive Director | Greater New Jersey Motorcoach Association
|
|
|
|
|
|
