When Bob Crescenzo came into the bus and motorcoach industry nearly four decades ago with Lancer Insurance Company, he never imagined the integral role he would play in promoting safety by helping companies reduce their risk, become compliant, and adopt best practices.
“I came to this industry as a complete stranger, and anything I learned that I know about this industry I learned from every one of you out here, and all your predecessors,” Crescenzo said in accepting the inaugural UMA Safety Professional Lifetime Achievement Award from the United Motorcoach Association. It was presented during the UMA Awards Gala on Feb. 6.
Crescenzo said he was humbled by the honor. He described his contribution as “simply listening and learning from others, which provided me the opportunity to use my abilities to assist others.”
The bus and motorcoach industry is much safer and more regulatory-compliant because of Crescenzo’s leadership and dedication, said Matt Dance, UMA Board Member and Chairman of the Safety Risk Management Committee, who presented the award.
Dance said the eligibility requirements are:
- Being involved in the industry for 10 years or more.
- Having extensive knowledge on safety compliance.
- Working with federal, state and local stakeholders to improve the safety of motorcoach travel.
- Actively participating in industry organizations.
- Demonstrating leadership within their company, organization or the industry .
- Making a lasting impact on the motorcoach industry and its members.
- Being a resource for industry members and stakeholders
- Representing safety compliance and what progress should look like in the motorcoach industry.
At the beginning of his career, it would have been hard to predict Crescenzo’s path into the bus and motorcoach industry.
After completing graduate school at Columbia University in New York City, he migrated to Harrisonburg, Virginia, where he taught at James Madison University for four years. Wanting more of a challenge and a clinical mental health practice, Crescenzo moved back to New York, where he worked at Bellevue Hospital Center as an administrator of patient care services until the end of 1988.
Career change
He joined Lancer Insurance at the invitation of his longtime friends Dave and Tim Delaney. The brothers, who started the company in 1985, wanted Crescenzo’s help addressing government issues. They asked him to start a division, named Lancer Compliance Services, and start the drug-testing consortium.
By 1997, Crescenzo began reorganizing Lancer’s Safety and Loss Control Division. He presented at dozens of state, regional and national associations, and is a perennial presenter at the UMA Motorcoach EXPO. Crescenzo has written dozens of articles for various industry publications.
“Occasionally, circumstances can become a little overwhelming and solutions evasive, and that’s when someone always says, ‘I know, let’s call Bob,’” Dance said in presenting the award to Crescenzo, who received a standing ovation.
Crescenzo says the appreciation is mutual, and that he values his longtime relationship with UMA.
“UMA has always been a friend,” he said. “I think I’ve learned that you can never leave this industry. I understand from my previous careers that you could leave them, but you cannot leave this industry. So I’m happy to be here. I want to thank you very much, everyone who has built a fellowship and a family and a sense of connection for me. You’ve gotten me to where I am today.
