KANSAS CITY, Mo. — John Goodbrake watched bus after bus roll through Kansas City during the World Cup, each with the name of a different operator.
What stood out wasn’t just the number of buses. It was how well the operators worked together.
“I didn’t see a lot of friction or competition when it came to completing the mission. The mission is the most important, and they were facilitating it extremely well,” says Goodbrake, CEO of Master’s Transportation.
That teamwork helped cities move thousands of World Cup visitors. It also showed how operators can handle a big jump in demand without keeping extra buses year-round.
Goodbrake says some operators keep 25% to 30% of their buses as spares so they don’t have to turn away business. Those buses still cost money when they aren’t being used.
The World Cup showed another option.
Master’s Transportation supplied about 500 extra vehicles in Southern California, Texas, Kansas City and Atlanta. Operators and cities rented the vehicles from Master’s, while operators provided the drivers.
“We’re vehicles only, so we’re here to support the operators. We’re not competing with the operators. So if they get a booking that needs more fleet than what they have available, that’s where we can help out,” Goodbrake says.
That allowed operators to take on more business without buying buses they might not need later.
Vehicles when you need them
Master’s has about 2,500 vehicles available for lease or rent. The company considers anything rented for less than a year a rental.
Vehicles range from 15-passenger models that don’t require a commercial driver’s license to 40-passenger shuttle buses and larger school buses.
Operators can add buses when business picks up and return them when demand drops.
“With that, you can never have enough buses during peak times, and so they’re renting during their peak times, and of course they have too many buses during the downtime. So rental works out really well – we can grow their fleet when they need to, drop it when they don’t,” Goodbrake says.
Goodbrake says operators often use a mix of ownership, leasing and rentals.
Some contracts require vehicles to be no more than three, four or five years old. Leasing can help operators meet those requirements. Rentals can cover busy periods, while used buses offer another option for operators ready to buy.
Master’s rotates enough vehicles through its fleet to put about 650 to 700 used buses on the market each year, generally with 50,000 to 60,000 miles.
Renting also lets operators test new business before making a larger investment.
“They can not take all the risk, rent while they’re doing some of their growth, and then purchase right out of that fleet,” Goodbrake says.
Master’s relationship with college athletics began more than two decades ago with a lease to Missouri Valley College. The company has since become a longtime shuttle bus sales and leasing provider for the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.
Small colleges face many of the same transportation questions as commercial operators. Budgets are tight. Teams can be too large for a 15-passenger vehicle. But moving into a larger vehicle brings another challenge: finding a driver with the required CDL, which has become more difficult because of increased testing requirements.
Master’s has responded in two ways. It offers CDL testing to help get more drivers qualified and has expanded its non-CDL offerings. The company has about 200 Mercedes vehicles in its rental program.
The company also manufactures midsize shuttle vehicles that can help fill the gap between smaller passenger vehicles and larger buses.
Options give colleges and the operators serving them more ways to match a vehicle to a team without buying equipment that it would need only part of the year.
Olympic-sized prospect
Another big opportunity is coming.
Goodbrake says Los Angeles-area operators have contacted Master’s Transportation about vehicles for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The Paralympics will also require accessible transportation. Master’s works with operators to customize vehicles for passengers with disabilities, including wheelchair-accessible designs.
The company has a location in Ontario, California, and 12 locations across the country.
Goodbrake says Los Angeles will bring different challenges than Kansas City did during the World Cup. Los Angeles has heavy traffic and limited parking. Kansas City has more space, but some teams stayed up to an hour from venues.
Each World Cup city required a different approach. Goodbrake says local operators played an important role because they knew how their cities worked.
“These operators, they knew their cities. The cities were able to lay out some good street mapping as well, and made it very successful,” Goodbrake says.
That knowledge even changed how FIFA approached transportation. Goodbrake says there was some friction early on between FIFA’s plans and what cities and local operators recommended. FIFA eventually changed its approach.
“FIFA changed their way to match what the operators in the city had suggested, and the rest of the World Cup went super smooth,” Goodbrake says.
Operators also found ways to share resources. Some brought additional drivers into World Cup cities and secured hotel rooms for them, but didn’t have enough vehicles waiting there.
“They had extra drivers that they were able to ship in, get hotels, rooms, but didn’t have enough vehicle assets in place,” Goodbrake says, “and we were able to add that” through rentals.
Focus on customers’ needs
Master’s Transportation began about 30 years ago as a used school bus dealer.
Goodbrake bought the company in 2000. It later added new bus lines and commercial vehicles, started its leasing and rental business in 2003, and moved into manufacturing in 2017.
The company grew by listening to operators and finding ways to meet their needs, he says.
One concern was the number of extra buses operators kept in case business picked up. Some kept 25% to 30% of their fleet as spares. Those buses still cost money when they are not being used, but operators had to have enough vehicles to serve customers during busy times.
The World Cup showed how operators can add buses when they need them. Operators brought drivers. Suppliers brought additional vehicles. Cities changed traffic patterns and created pickup and drop-off locations. Companies that normally compete worked together.
Goodbrake came away impressed with what the industry accomplished.
“These operators, they know how to get around. They know how to navigate really well. They’re good at their jobs, and FIFA even recognized that we can do this really effectively. And when they let the experts kind of take over, the industry really made us proud.”
Photos courtesy of Master’s Transportation
