By Linda Morris

Im a Baby Boomer and as such grew up reading fairy tales.

One of my favorites was The Emperor Has No Clothes, and I dont think I fully understood the "real" meaning of the fairy tale until my adult life.

Fairy tales usually have a hidden life lesson. If you have not read or are not familiar with this tale, you should seek it out and read it.

The emperors tailor made him very special attire to wear in a parade. Convinced he was wearing the finest clothing of the day and the envy of all, the emperor actually didnt have anything on. Only one child was brave enough to scream out: "The Emperor has no clothes!"

In life, we often find ourselves accepting what is given to us without screaming that it is not a good thing. We simply accept it.

Some things we cannot scream about, or if we scream, it will absolutely have no effect. Our congressmen and state legislators do it to us all the time.

Sometimes we can affect change by helping elect others to take the place of those who forgot who voted for them, and sometimes we cant.

Theres a difference in legislative mandates and what others push on us without real authority. Its time we scream that the Transportation Safety Exchange, known as TSX, has no clothes!

I do not know an operator who does not believe in and strive for safety. Sure, there are unfit, noncompliant operators who somehow stay under the radar of Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration enforcement. Im not talking about those operators.

Im talking about operators that protect their investment in their companies by complying with safety rules and regulations. Many go the "extra mile" to assure, insofar as possible, they have done everything they can to provide their customers a safe journey.

Many participate in seminars, workshops, online education and the like to stay up to date. Even the operator that goes beyond what is required can experience an accident; that does not make that operator "unsafe."

Safety is good. We can all agree to that. What frustrates me is that the Transportation Safety Exchange is being pushed on the industry and will in reality create no safer environment than already exists.

How can you trust a program that is, in reality, designed to put operators that cannot pay the fees to participate in the program at risk of losing business, and these are operators who have safe operations.

How can you trust a program that is willing to "discount" to certain operators and not others.

How can you trust a program that will "guarantee" 10 times the fee paid in business?

There are no guarantees in life except death and taxes. But, yet, there will be operators who will buy the TSX line and be "sucked" into the program only to realize they have been mislead when the fee is increased at renewal time.

How can you trust a program that has misrepresented the truth?

How can you trust a program that says": "We plan to put 20 percent of the operators out of service." Which operators? Will it be the noncompliant operators? I suspect not.

This program is just a way of moving the motorcoach industry in the direction that the trucking has already gone - broker driven. It has been proven that brokers have not been good for the motorcoach industry, and I would guess it has negatively affected the trucking industry.

Not only is the TSX program moving the industry in that direction, it is moving it into one program and one broker who I suspect is counting on controlling the industry through TSX.

I have listened to the presentation of TSX no less than three times. Every time I hear it I am totally amazed the program is being promoted to an industry already struggling, with tours declining and school budgets cut, eliminating or greatly decreasing student travel.

I am amazed it is being promoted to operators that are searching for diversity to bring back lost tour income, to operators dealing with the recessed economy and higher prices for fuel, equipment and products and services that support their operations.

Why would an operator agree to "sign up" for a program that cannot yet say what it will do to enhance safety to justify paying thousands of dollars for participation?

In reality, the program, I suspect, will do nothing of substance beyond what is held as the standard for Department of Defense certification.

It is time that someone screamed that TSX has no clothes!

It is being clothed only with a threat of loss of business if operators do not participate. If operators will see the program for what it is, they will not participate.

If operators do not participate, the program will not survive.

TSX is a substitute for PTSP, Pupil Transportation Safety Program, a program the investors in TSX admit cannot sustain itself and, in fact, has lost revenue.

Investors in TSX would have you believe that operators are signing up to the point that they are backlogged in inspections. I have yet to see a list of TSX-certified operators.

I have traveled across the southeast and the south central states this year, managing annual meetings for seven associations from Chesapeake, Va., to Hollywood, Fla., to Fort Worth, Texas, and I have heard of only a few operators who have signed up for the program.

Those few, in my opinion, were coerced by the threat of losing NCAA transportation.

I have had more operators say, "I will not participate." Those operators have an understanding of what TSX is really all about.

Operators were not involved in creating TSX. If they had been, we may be looking at a viable program, a program that operators could accept.

With no industry participation, TSX is being pushed upon operators.

Oh, operators will be told they dont have to participate but, if they dont, they risk loss of business. But, let me tell you, if operators do not sign up there will be no program.

I have decided it is time that someone must rewrite this fairy tale.

TSX has been invited to meet with a group of operators to discuss how a new inspections program can work at a reasonable cost, if a new inspection program is really needed.

Operators do not object to safety inspections. On the contrary, reputable operators welcome inspections. But is another inspections program needed?

If the current rules and regulations were truly enforced by USDOT, would another program make the industry safer? I maintain that if FMCSA enforcement personnel inspected as they should, including finding the noncompliant operators, another inspection program would not be needed.

As long as the inspectors only go to the easily found, easily inspected companies, the noncompliant are going to continue, and it is the illegal operators that are responsible for the increased safety focus by Congress.

The noncompliant operators violate the safety rules and regulations and when they cause an accident, the industry gets another black eye. Then Congress cranks up the safety focus another notch.

Every operator must do what they deem good for their operation. I encourage every operator to make their decisions based on facts, not a fairy tale.

Linda Morris is executive director of seven state and regional motorcoach associations. Her article reflects the opinions and concerns of the Southeastern Coalition, an affiliation of state motorcoach associations in the southeastern and south central U.S. While her article was approved by the presidents of the state associations, it may not reflect the opinion of every individual operator that is a member of those associations. Contact her at (800) 376-1660.