Our new Life on the Road series is intended to give Bus & Motorcoach News readers a glimpse into what the industry’s frontline workers experience as they take passengers on their journeys, whether it’s transporting college athletes to games, taking passengers to events, or keeping people safe during emergencies. These trips are filled with many special moments.
The spectacular Super Bowl photo was captured by driver Brian “Mr. B.” Bellamy moments before the game. The backstory is that Astro Travel & Tours in Tallahassee, Florida, was assisting in shuttle/transportation systems for Super Bowl LV in Tampa.
Bellamy snapped the photo with his phone just a few minutes prior to kick-off.
When he could see and hear the stealth bombers cruising toward Raymond James Stadium for the fly-over, Bellamy jumped at the opportunity and seized a great photo-op, said Kurt Woodward, director of operations at Astro Travel.
Woodward added that Astro’s drivers were incentivized for this particular job with a contest to capture great photos that could be used for the company’s website and other marketing. Obviously, Bellamy’s picture-perfect photo won.
In Austin last week, Roadrunner Charters and Clark Charters &Travel rotated 21 buses outside of apartment complexes to give residents a place to warm up after much of Texas experienced historic record-low temperatures that brought snow and ice that shut down roads and power grids. Thanks to the buses, residents were able to warm up, charge their phones, use the facilities, and watch DVDs. Some tenants brought along a blanket and pillow and slept in the comfort of the coaches.
“One tenant was sleeping on the bus and the driver noticed something was wrong. EMS was called, she had a stroke. If she had been alone in her apartment, help would have been delayed to an undetermined amount of time,” said Grace Couch, with the Taylor-based Clark Charters & Travel.
In Tennessee, Todlow Coach warms up buses for a 5-hour trip to Louisville, with a small local Christian college. That college travel work is the only thing that has kept the Gray, Tennessee-based charter operator from closing its doors, according to Jackie Denny, who owns Todlow Coach with his wife, Joni.
“Through a friend of mine that retired as Women’s Basketball Head Coach this past season, this college was how we started our business in 2009 and they continue to be our lifeblood,” Denny said.
Brian Creswell snapped this photo of his bus on Jan. 30 while on a trip with the Southern Wesleyan University men’s and women’s basketball teams. The South Carolina college’s teams played in an arena on the campus of the University of Mount Olive, located in Mount Olive, North Carolina, across the street from a pickle factory, said Creswell, a driver with Champion Coach in Greenville, South Carolina.
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