John Tobin Jr. is being remembered for growing his Upstate New York motorcoach business, Yankee Trails, into one of the largest in the Northeast by working harder than anyone else.
Tobin, who died Feb. 2 at age 84, had two passions in life: his business and his family. He and his wife, Mary, had seven children—four daughters and three sons—all of whom have taken on roles at Yankee Trails, which now boasts a workforce of 110 employees and a fleet of 52 buses.
“He was always working, always thinking about the business and always talking about the business. Family and business were the only two subjects that he ever really wanted to talk about,” said his oldest son, Steve Tobin, CEO of Yankee Trails.
Tobin decided to go into the bus business after working with his uncle, who owned a bus company in the city of Rensselaer. In 1957, Tobin acquired Wager’s Bus Line in Vermont when the owner retired and launched Yankee Trails. He grew the business by working seven days a week.
While shuttle service between Albany and Vermont put the company on the map, most of its business was derived from charter services. Tobin believed the business was ideally situated near the state capital of Albany, a two-and-half drive to both New York City and Boston, and three-and-a-half hours to Montreal.
In 2017, Yankee Trails marked its 60th anniversary with a rebranding campaign, unveiling a new logo and the “Let’s Go” slogan.
Tobin was an avid fan of Siena College basketball, Notre Dame football and any sporting event or activity his grandchildren participated in. He also was the “classic prototype of the best of the industry, as demonstrated by the fact that his kids are a huge success both in business and in life,” says Dave Millhouser, a longtime friend and a Bus & Motorcoach News columnist.
Millhouser remembers meeting Tobin for the first time in 1976 while he was selling bus parts.
“I stumbled into his garage at lunchtime, and no one was around, but I heard noises under a bus sitting on the pit. Someone was adjusting the brakes. We talked buses for a while, and then I said, ‘This is nice, but I need to find the guy who buys parts.’
“Tobin responded: ‘I AM the guy. I own the company.’” Millhouser was impressed that no job was too small or dirty for Tobin. “If brakes needed adjusting … that wasn’t beneath him.”
