FAIRFAX, Va. – Since taking over as president and CEO of Trailways Transportation System Inc. last summer, Eva M. Hotard has determined that “the sky is the limit” for the system as it prepares for a promising future.
“The magic of Trailways is that for over 80 years this transportation brand has been strong and consistent,” Hotard said.
Hotard, 56, knows the industry and its legendary brands well. Her family entered the business in 1935, a year before the Trailways system of independent carriers was founded by five cooperating lines.
She joined the family business, Hotard Coaches of New Orleans, in 1977 and was named general manager in 1984. She became president and CEO in 1993 and held that position until 2004.
During her tenure Hotard Coaches grew from three vehicles to more than 100. After leaving the family coach business, Hotard worked as a management consultant and executive coach. She merged her personal brand with the 80 members of Trailways last June.
“Gale Ellsworth, the former CEO of Trailways, approached me and said I would make a good fit because I did work in the bus industry for so long and my family was in the business,” Hotard said. “She thought that would translate well for Trailways.”
When Hotard came onboard at Trailways the system was undergoing a leadership vacuum.
Ellsworth had retired in 2015 after serving nearly two decades as president and CEO of Trailways, only to return as acting president when her replacement, Sheila D. Ryba, left the organization after fewer than two months on the job.
After a yearlong search for a new president and CEO, a committee composed of Trailways board members unanimously selected Hotard from more than 400 applicants.
Hotard has an obvious affection for the business and believes plenty of potential is waiting to be tapped within the coaches bearing the Trailways logo — more than 2,000 operating in all 48 continental states in the U.S.
The system also includes Great Canadian Trailways in Ontario and Quebec and two carriers in Europe: Elbo Trailways of the Netherlands and Seitz Reisen Trailways of Germany.
In the U.S., consumers can visit trailways.com and book interline tickets connecting about 2,000 depots across the country. The website is visited about 2.5 million times annually.
“Trailways is strong for charters and scheduled service and both of those aspects support each other,” Hotard said. “I love the strategic part of the business. It intrigued me that I could help all of our member companies market themselves to all of our customer segments.
It is a huge benefit for bus companies to have that kind of marketing leverage. “It is very difficult and it takes a lot of resources to market to all of the vertical segments,” she added. “We have schools, churches, colleges, corporate meetings, convention planners and sporting events. I believe we can play a very strong role for our company members in marketing to those. We are planning to attend a large number of trade shows in 2017 to reintroduce the brand to all of the customer bases.”
Trailways has expanded its member support beyond marketing and ticketing to address other major issues facing the industry — drivers and regulations.
“In many of my discussions with our members, I am told the number one challenge is driver management — recruiting, training and retaining,” Hotard said. “When you think about the cost of owning a bus every day, if you have to park it against the fence because you don’t have a driver, that is an expensive notion. I have had many bus sales people tell me they could sell more buses if the companies could get more drivers.
“We are going to help our companies recruit new drivers and help them go after a different sort of employee who may not have thought about driving as a career. We are developing customized training modules to elevate customer service and safety consciousness,” she said. “Training is essential. When people are trained to a higher level the outcome is always greater.
”Military retirees, job fairs and Millennials will be key targets for driver recruitment, Hotard said.
Trailways also strives to provide regulatory information and guidance to its members.
“Clearly the regulatory world is increasing its oversight,” Hotard said. “We are always making sure we forward information from the regulatory environment and making sure they are up to speed.
“Our members can access safety programs from Trailways. We schedule regular calls with all of our safety professionals so they can learn from each other.”
The Millennials who could become tomorrow’s bus drivers also hold the industry’s future, Hotard believes.
“The great thing about transportation is that people always have to move. When we can get to the person who is going to get in their car or take a flight but introduce them or reintroduce them to the bus, that can go a long way,” she said. “Buses are fantastic today. They have all of the Wi-Fi options, which bodes well for attracting Millennials. The entertainment options are endless. Even older workers who want to bring their computers can work the whole time they are riding.”
The lifestyles of today’s younger folks should lead them to buses and motorcoaches, she added.
“Look at the effects of Uber and driverless cars. If you live in a big city you won’t need to own a car in the next five years. You can spend $1,000 a year on rides — what is the cost of owning a car? That model is going to have great effects on transportation and is going to open new doors for us.”
Young consumers who are less likely to own cars also are more enthusiastic about travel and new experiences, Hotard said. “They are not afraid of anything.
They are going to take the scheduled bus or get a group together for a charter. We can serve that group as well as we can the Bob Hope generation. We are going to need more drivers to service the demands because I think it will be a while before we have driverless buses.”
Trailways needs more carriers to fill network gaps and meet customer demand, Hotard said. “We are looking to add 15 to 20 carriers that do schedules and charters. We are looking for more coverage of Texas, California and parts of the West. We are very concentrated in the Northeast. We want to have brand presence in the large markets that have tremendous amounts of business,” she said.
“We want to grow the coverage the brand currently offers. After getting acquainted with the brand over the last six months, it is clear to me that the sky is the limit. There are not a lot of companies that have had 80 years of consistent representation. It is surprising to me how strong the name still is.
“My goal is to make it 10 times stronger.”
