BusTalk

N4 Jamaica · Joined: 16 Apr 2007 Posts: 864 Location: Long Island

In April, 2015, we enjoyed a Tauck tour from Jekyll Island, Georgia, to Savannah, Hilton Head, and Charleston. How surprised I was to see that the motorcoach was supplied by a firm in Easton, Pennsylvania, a city I first visited in the days of the interurban trolley known as the Easton Limited!

The Jekyll Island Resort Hotel was busy with motorcoach tours on one-night stays. We were on Tauck's 955th tour in the lowcountry of Georgia and Savannah. The tours skip the insect and heat seasons from late May to September.

What does WMATC mean?

This 45-foot coach with fifty seats was very comfortable. Right-hand turns into narrow two-way streets of Charleston and Savannah got problematic, when facing traffic did not allow turning space.

What does IFTA mean on the Pennsylvania decal?

That's Easton Van Hool 138 behind 136. I heard Tauck has seven coaches from Easton. I wonder whether the Tauck decals come off between seasons. The Easton Coach website claims more than four hundred vehicles, but many of them appear to be vans.

The Tauck tour director and Easton driver did a flawless job. It was a great trip.
Joe McMahon

JimmiB · Posted: Sun May 10, 2015 9:33 pm Post subject:

Wow, and I thought the company I drove for went a long distance to do lease work!

John, the IFTA sticker (International Fuel Tax Agreement) includes most states. The carrier has to file quarterly fuel tax returns. You have to report the mileage traveled in each state and fuel purchases in each state. The main advantage is that you do not need a fuel sticker for every state you go through. Your home state then collects the taxes due for all member states.

Jimbo · Posted: Mon May 11, 2015 6:05 am Post subject:

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Commission (WMATC)

GojiMet86 · Age: 31 Joined: 12 Jul 2013 Posts: 141

I see Easton quite often around Midtown.

DSC05244 by GojiMet86, on Flickr

IMG_6069 by GojiMet86, on Flickr

traildriver · Joined: 26 Mar 2011 Posts: 2515 Location: South Florida

Easton Coach also had a contract with the American Queen Voyages Company, an operator of the American Queen and other river cruise boats. When I rode the American Queen, they had 5 Van Hool coaches, wrapped for AQV providing "hop on, hop off" tours all along the way. The driver's spent the whole season following the boats, driving to the next port, and staying in a hotel while the boat cruised the night. They went from Minneapolis to New Orleans, then up to Pittsburgh, or Nashville on various cruises.

Unfortunately, AQV just went bankrupt and out of business.

And speaking of bankrupt....
https://www.busandmotorcoachnews.com/van-hool-reorganization-wont-impact-2024-bus-production-says-abc-companies/