The disastrous Gulf Coast hurricanes that claimed hundreds of lives during August and September are now threatening the lives of scores of small, independent motorcoach companies.

Coach operators by the dozen who responded to pleas for help in moving thousands of people in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Alabama out of the path or aftermath of two killer storms havent been paid for their work, and many say they are at financial wits end. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita torment them daily, devastating their businesses.

Irate and worried operators are burning up telephone lines and cranking out e-mails and faxes, and the message is always the same: The emergency transportation operation organized by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and run by several private subcontractors is the biggest fiasco they have been involved with in their lives.

Many of these operators are frantic, their financial situations desperate. They are clawing to stay afloat and save their businesses. And the outlook remains dire because those responsible for paying cant or wont say when the payments will be made.

"Weve gotten all types of complaints from operators from all over the country," said Norm Littler, senior vice president of government and industry relations at the United Motorcoach Association. "The situation is not good and it is really hurting the little guys."

Coach company owners say they are owed hundreds of thousands of dollars and the long wait for payment is strangling their cash-strapped businesses.

"Ive paid my drivers, my fuel and my insurance. Now, I want to be paid," pleaded the manager of a small company that had three buses involved in the rescue operation for more than three weeks.

In addition to the wait for money, operators say they have been overwhelmed by complicated paperwork required by the subcontractors, including repeated and last-minute requests for additional documentation to support invoices.

"It has been just unbelievable," emphasized another operator.

One owner said two of his drivers shared a hotel room during the operation to save money, but even that effort has come back to haunt him. He said the single lodging bill the drivers received from the hotel was filed as an expense under one of the drivers names. However, it was rejected with instructions that each driver had to list his own hotel costs. "We did that, but then we did not have any documentation for the second driver," he said. "Its been like that since the beginning."

Another operator complains that the contractors changed the daily rate the carriers were to be paid without notice, and when he sought an explanation, he was told that one had been faxed to him earlier. The operator, a meticulous manager and former accountant, said he never received such a fax.

Many operators are leery even fearful -- about going public with their complaints or criticism of the debacle because they worry it will result in their payments being delayed even longer.

"The talk, too, is that if we threaten to sue, theyll put our money in trust and let the lawyers work it out, and we could get our money in five years or so," said one operator.

Another long-time East Coast operator is convinced the contractors are purposely dragging their feet because they know hard-pressed small operators will get to the point theyll be willing to settle for 50 cents on the dollar or some worse financial arrangement. This operator also thinks that scores of small operators were purposely picked for the evacuation operation for that exact reason. They wouldnt be able to withstand the financial pressure of not being paid on a timely basis, making it easier for the contractors to sharp-shoot them, this operator says.

One owner who is not afraid to speak out Pat Wessinger of Get A Way Charters in Woodland, Wash. has spent hours on the telephone calling everyone she can think of from the owners of the companies who are ran the rescue operation, to federal agencies, to members of Congress. "They ticked off the wrong woman," says the feisty 71-year-old.

Wessinger, who had eight buses involved in the operation five of them are still working in the storm-struck areas said she is owed about $500,000 and has received only about $20,000. "And every payment Ive received came only after I contacted them," she asserted.

She said she was forced to use $50,000 of her savings and sell equipment to pay bills, and shes unsure how much longer she can last. "My creditors are going to force me into bankruptcy if I dont get paid soon," she maintains. "Were not there yet, but it is getting close."

Wessinger said her work in the operation is expected to end in the next week or two but now she doesnt know if shell be able to afford to bring back her remaining five buses and drivers.

In addition to FEMA, other central figures involve in the operation include Landstar Systems, a trucking logistic company contracted by the federal government to handle all phases of the transportation operation, and Carey Limousine, which Landstar hired to direct the motorcoach portion of the work.

Carey directly employed some motorcoach companies itself, but also contracted with Transportation Management Systems and Bus Bank, both experienced in the motorcoach industry, to round up the majority of the coach companies.

It is not known how much money Landstar has already received or how much of it has trickled down through Carey, TMS and Bus Bank to motorcoach companies.

Landstar, which has been handling federal government transportation needs for years, had a $100 million contract for transportation services this year, but negotiated that up to $400 million shortly after the hurricanes struck. Although the actual contract was with the Federal Aviation Administration, the money was to be used to for all types of transportation services, including motorcoach operations.

Wire services reported last month that the $400 million Landstar contract was being investigated, possibly by the Inspector General Office of the U.S. Department of Transportation and others.

Donna Mellion, vice president of corporate communications at Landstar, indicated her company is not to blame for the hold up of payments to motorcoach companies. "I just checked and we have paid every invoice we have received up until last night," she said in a phone interview earlier this month.

Carey, which is handling invoices from the bus companies it hired, as well as those received from operators by TMS and Bus Bank, claims it is working diligently to process payments as quickly as possible.

"Our goal is to pay everybody as quickly as possible in accordance with their contract," said Gary Kessler, vice president of operations.

Kessler cited the magnitude of the operation organizing more than 1,000 buses from throughout the country in less than a week as possibly leading to some of the problems facing operators. "There has never been an effort of this magnitude, requiring massive and expeditious logistics planning, mobilization and contract and billing management," he stressed. "So where we are today is greatly dictated by the size of this undertaking in which so many people are working tireless to get done."

He said Carey is aiming to get all of the required documentation from the bus operators as quickly as possible so it can process the invoices it receives correctly and accurately for Landstar and the federal government. However, he was unable to say how long it will be before all of the bus operators are paid.

Officials of TMS and Bus Bank have maintained they have been working hard to help the carriers get their money. The two companies have been receiving invoices from individual bus companies and then passing them on to Carey for payment.

Earlier, they cited the governments decision to hire companies like Landstar and Carey -- that did not have extensive experience in the motorcoach industry, and the rush to get buses to the scene, as contributing to the problems of getting carriers paid.

Kessler disagreed with that assertion, noting that the effort required significant and expeditious logistics planning, plus contract and billing expertise that both Carey and Landstar have.

Meantime, the federal government has put together a special task force to track the billions of dollars that have been and are being spent on hurricane relief and recovery efforts, and to look for possible cases of storm relief fraud, waste and abuse.

Federal authorities also have set up hot lines to report suspected incidents. Anyone, including motorcoach operators, can pass on information to investigators by calling (866) 720-5721, faxing (703) 604-8567, e-mailing katrinafraud@dodig.mil or writing to Hurricane Relief Hotline, Washington D.C. 20301-1900. The Federal Bureau of Investigation also has created a hotline: (800) CALL-FBI or (800) 225-5324.