Northwestern Stage Lines Spokane, Washington

Northwestern Stage Lines/Trailways has taken delivery of its eighth MCI E4500 coach. Northwestern provides both scheduled and tour-and-charter services, and maintains offices and maintenance facilities in Spokane and Boise, Idaho.

Founded in the 1930s, Northwestern Stage Lines was purchased by the late AJ Achabal in 1952. Son Cleto Achabal joined the company after college in 1981.

Northwestern, which bought its first MCI coach in 1968, has grown to a fleet of 29 MCIs and a staff of 67 employees -- many of whom have been with the company for 15 years or more.

The company transports more than 400,000 passengers annually, with nearly 60 percent of its business coming from charters and tours and about 40 percent from daily scheduled-route service.

"We've been a fan of the MCI E4500," said Cleto Achabal, president of Northwestern. "Business is looking better, and we thought it was a good time to purchase another coach. We like to keep our E4500 coaches for tours, but we will put them on scheduled runs during our busy holiday and summer seasons."

Northwestern Stage Lines' new E4500 coach is equipped with a Ricon-S&S wheelchair lift, a Caterpillar C13 engine and ZF AS-Tronic transmission, Amaya passenger seating, and an entertainment system by REI.

More information about the company can be found at www.NorthwesternTrailways.com.

Tri-City Charter Longview, Texas & Bossier, La.

Tri-City Charter has added three more Van Hool C2045s to its fleet, bring to nine the number of C2045s the company has added in the past six months.

Tri-City was formed about a dozen years ago in east Texas and eventually expanded into Louisiana. Six years ago, Jim Pitstick purchased the Louisiana operation. He maintained the name Tri-City Charter and later picked up the Texas operation that also was continuing to use the Tri-City name.

Because Van Hools were part of the initial purchase, Pitstick says he cut his teeth on them, and has "just stayed with them and have never had any reason to change. I like the continuity it gives my fleet, plus our new coaches are just a magnet for attracting business."

The company's major business is charter runs primarily in the Southeast. But the company also operates throughout the U.S. and Canada. Bookings include senior groups, church affiliations and youth camps, athletic teams from colleges and public schools, as well as military transport and airport runs.

The company has grown to 30 employees and 16 Van Hool coaches, 8 at each location.

Pitstick attributes company growth to providing the best overall value to his customers. "We are not selling price, we are selling service. The overall value is the most important consideration, not the price. The key to our growth has been providing reliable, safe and dependable transportation with our exceptional personal service at a fair price. We have repeat customers that don't even bid their trips; they know they'll get the best service at the right price from us," said Pitstick.

The company's newest Van Hools are equipped with Caterpillar C13 engines, Allison B500 transmissions, Jake Brakes, and Firestone tires. Other specifications include Amaya Brasil seats, roller-type shades, Monogram recirculating flush-type toilets with supplemental restroom tanks, REI A/V systems with four CRT monitors, radios and DVD players. The six coaches delivered earlier were equipped with Cummins ISM engines and Allison B500 transmissions.

Tri-City is a member of the Louisiana Motorcoach Association.

VIP Tours Los Angeles

Since its founding 15 years ago, VIP Tours and Charters has grown to be one the largest independent coach operators in Southern California.

The full-service tour operator has locations in both Los Angeles and Anaheim, serving all of Southern California and the western U.S. The company fleet has grown to 42 vehicles and the number of employees now totals 65.

VIP Tours' driver-guides provide tours in eight foreign languages -- Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.

The latest additions to the company fleet are two Prevost H3-45s and two H3-41s. The coaches are equipped with Series 60 Detroit Diesel engines, Allison B500 transmissions, and five-monitor REI A/V systems with DVD, CD and video cassette players, plus wireless microphones. The passenger seats are Prevost brand. The coaches also were spec'd with passenger window blinds, Xenon front headlines and Michelin tires.

"We are a fairly new Prevost customer, and we only own six of their motorcoaches. But customers seem to like them the most," says company President Marco Khorasani. "A lot of it has to do with the styling. There is something about the look that really stands out."