When charter business is slow, many motorcoach operators think they have few options to take up the slack and sustain their revenue.

Thats why industry experts have for years been sounding off about the need for them to diversify.

While the idea hasnt caught on with everyone -- yet, more and more coach operators around the country appear to be finding new ways to bolster their revenue stream.

Many are adding shuttle services. Some are marketing their coaches to other carriers that might need extra equipment from time-to-time. Others are opening their maintenance facilities to visiting carriers, or actually promoting repair services to other operators. And a few are even testing modified line-run or transit opportunities.

In New York, Paradise Trailways has redesigned its business plan to include several new ventures that not only help bring in cash when its mainstay charter business is down, but also produce a steady flow of revenue when things are going well.

The latest one introduced by the Nassau County motorcoach operator is the marketing of its maintenance facility to other coach companies in the New York City area and visiting carriers that might need emergency repairs or other services for their buses.

"As an operator, we have a real understanding of how critical it is to have help, sometimes in a hurry," said Godfrey LeBron, company vice president.

The Paradise shop is equipped to handle everything from bus washing, to lavatory fixes, to major engine repairs. It also has a service truck available to respond quickly to road breakdowns and other emergencies. And, as an added bonus, it offers replacement coaches and drivers if theyre needed.

LeBron said the maintenance shop is being upgraded to a state-of-the-art facility, technicians are undergoing regular training and a new maintenance director Vic Araujo has been hired to run the operation. Araujo has been in coach maintenance for 18 years.

"Will it all work out for us? Well see," says LeBron.

Shift to shuttles

Paradise has diversified in other areas, too, including hooking up with the Long Island Railroad to shuttle commuters between stations when a train breaks down, track is being repaired or other problems develop that stop the trains. It recently ran 38 buses a day between several stations during a major track repair project and 30 during a period rails were being tested.

Additionally, the company added several other shuttles, including regularly scheduled daily runs to nearby casinos and parking lot shuttles to New York Giants and Jets football games.

Escot Bus Lines of Largo, Fla., turned to transit buses to give it an extra edge, adding 11 of them to its fleet of luxury motorcoaches and then contracting for work with Tampa International Airport and a large resort in Orlando.

"Its contract work and it helps take the spike or seasonality out of the charter market," said company vice president Brian Scott. "And, thats a very good thing."

Both contract jobs run seven days a week with the airport shuttle moving airport workers between parking lots and various locations at the airport, and the resort operation transporting visitors to and from Disney World on a regular transit-like schedule.

Scott said the company now markets shuttle services as a part of its regular offerings, emphasizing the experience it has gained while operating the airport and resort shuttles. "It looks good on our resume," he notes.

Small operator opportunities

Diversification isnt just for big companies. Small ones can profit from it, too.

Among those doing just that is Destiny Tours of Alexandria, Va., a five-coach carrier that regularly runs charters to Atlantic City, New York, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and many other eastern cities.

Owner Eddie Soto, a full-time Washington D. C. police officer who drives police escorts for the president, vice president and visiting dignitaries, said hes keenly aware that motorcoach operators cant make money if their coaches are sitting idle.

"And I just dont like to sit around and wait for charter work," he said.

To avoid such a problem, hes partnered with DC2NY, a recent entry into the busy Washington D.C.-to-New York City line-run service. Soto provides and manages the coaches and drivers for the seven-day operation, while DC2NY handles the marketing, ticket sales and other business matters.

Because the service runs multiple trips on weekends and Soto doesnt have enough coaches to fill the need, hes linked up with a second company, Access Limousine Services of Alexandria, Va., that provides the additional coaches.

Soto said he could add more buses to his own fleet - he just bought a new Van Hool C2045E coach - but he doesnt care to take the chance that some coaches might be sitting during the slow season. By teaming up with other companies, he said, he can still grow his business without taking on additional debt.

Charter rule helps, too

Although many companies may not yet be trying out new ventures, some are diversifying to an extent by taking advantage of business opportunities the new federal charter rule has given them.

Since the rule went into effect in April, carriers of all sizes and from all areas of the country have been picking up a mixture of charter and shuttle work that public transit agencies routinely handled in the past. Theyve worked parking lot shuttles for special events, weddings, business meetings, school trips, church charters and many others.

Typical among them is Miller Transportation in Louisville, Ky., which shared some major work with transit agencies this summer that was generated by the Kentucky Derby, Indianapolis 500 and three other major races.

Next year, according to company president John Miller, public transit will be out of all of the parking lot and group shuttles for the races and he expects to be in the running to take over much of them.

Just about everyone can get involved in the new charter business even if they dont have enough coaches to handle a particular job, according to Steve Klika, president of International Motor Coach Group Inc.

He has been advocating for some time that instead of passing up a job because it is too large to do alone, operators should work with each other by pooling their equipment and drivers so the job can be done by private operators and not revert back to public transit agencies.

It is good work, he and others stress, and it can give charter operators a big boost when their regular business slows down.