Klein Transportation, also known as Klein’s Bus Service, Inc. is one of the few bus companies in the region that has been family-owned and and operated for over 60 years.
The Klein family started in passenger transportation in 1957 when John Klein became the school bus contractor for Daniel Boone School District. William (Bill) Klein, John's son, took over the operation in the early 1960's until his death in 2000. In 1979, authority from Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission was granted to operate as a Public Carrier. At that time, Bill's wife, Mary started to plan tours for friends and family, which started Klein Tours.
Bill’s son, Wayne, started working at Klein Transportation in the 1970s when he got out of school. “I did pretty much everything,” Wayne says, “cleaning buses, working in the shop, driving buses, anything that was needed.”
Wayne, who took over as president in 1999, drove buses for 25 years, including long tours to places like Walt Disney World and Nashville with his wife, Adele, serving as tour guide. “I drove until my back couldn’t handle it anymore,” he says.
His daughter, Alison Klein Sherman, took an interest in the business, answering phones and helping with paperwork as a teen and then working there on and off for years before settling in as president, with her dad serving as CEO.
“She’s in charge of the day-to-day operations,” Wayne says. “I’m available to her but I don’t get in her way. I did some things differently than my father, and I’m sure she will, too. I’m very proud of her.”
Sherman, who studied business administration, marketing, and travel and tourism in college, says the motorcoach industry “kind of gets in your blood a little bit. It was not something I was forced into. My parents made it clear it was my own decision. I love people, I love talking to people, making them happy, helping them plan their vacations. It’s very gratifying.”
Sherman has three children, but she doesn’t know at this point if any of them will want to join the business. “You never know,” she says. “I want my kids to figure it out for themselves. If it continues on as a fifth-generation company, I would love that.”
