On the night of February 14, 2010, Champion Bus, Inc. of Imlay City, Michigan experienced a fire which destroyed one of their main assembly and manufacturing buildings. While the building was completely destroyed, there was no loss of life or injury as a result. The fire took out their phones, fax, and computer networks, and destroyed several buses which were in the building. Champion has been cleaning up and moving into a new building since that night, and expects to resume operations on Monday, February 15, 2010. Everyone awaiting delivery of a bus, who is affected by this fire, will receive individual notification within the next few days. Champion expects to recover quickly, and we merely ask for patience as they recover from this.

Approximately 300 people are employed by Champion Bus, and they are all eager to return to work, building the best buses for our customers in the State of Florida.  State Contract Customers please feel free to call David Morris for more details, or an update as we proceed.

With the discontinuation of the GMC/Chevy 4500/5500 chassis, a huge gap has opened up in the bus market for a comparable transportation vehicle.  Glaval Bus has stepped up to fill that slot with its brand new Entourage F-550, the perfect substitute for their C4500/5500-based Titan.

The Entourage seats 33 passengers and is built on a Ford F-550 19,500 GVWR chassis with a 6.8 liter V-10 gas or 6.4 liter V-8 diesel engine.  It features a TorqueShift transmission, full front suspension system, and a  tighter turning radius than on an E-450 with the same wheelbase.  The Entourage’s sleek, aerodynamic styling is sure to make it a favorite with operators and agencies that hasve relied on the GMC/Chevy C4500/5500 chassis or Glaval Titan in the past.

Transit Plus is a proud representative of Glaval products, and we urge you to consider their new Entourage for your transportation needs.

This week, we wanted to take the time to tell you about a really exciting and interesting client of ours, The National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia.  We recently sold them an ADA-compliant 2009 Glaval Concorde II bus for their facility tour.

The Observatory is the home of the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT), which is the largest fully-steerable and most technically advanced single-dish telescope in the world.  Its 110-meter by 100-meter dish boasts more than two acres of area for collecting faint radio waves from the Universe.  Weighing 17 million pounds, the GBT is also one of the world’s largest moving structures on land.

If you are in the Green Bank, West Virginia area, we highly recommend a visit to this amazing place.  They are open to the public all year long, and can be contacted through The Science Center At Green Bank (304-456-2150).  Or, visit their website at http://www.gb.nrao.edu/.  It’s sure to be a trip your whole family will remember.  Look for more information and pictures in our next email newsletter.

Does your organization, company or facility have the need to transport more wheelchairs on one day, and more ambulatory passengers on another?  Do your needs change from day to day?  We have solutions for you!

Transit Plus specializes in flexible floor plans for vans and buses.  We can custom design a van or bus to give you options, depending on your daily needs.  With flip and fold away seating installed over existing wheelchair positions, the possibilities are endless.  In one bus, you can accomodate 12 passengers and 2 wheelchairs, 10 passengers and 3 wheelchairs, 8 passengers and 4 wheelchairs, etc.

Please ask your salesperson to show you some of the different plans that are available to you.  As always, we’ll do what it takes to build you the vehicle that best meets your needs and make the process easier than you could imagine!

With the economy being what it is these days, many people are turning to repairing and maintaining the things they have rather than paying higher prices to buy new equipment.  The transportation industry is no exception.

Buses are a long-term investment, so it makes sense to maintain and repair them to maximize their useful lifespan.

At Transit Plus, we can get the parts you need, whether you bought your bus from us or not.  We represent the following bus manufacturers:  Champion, Glaval and Starcraft.

We also represent the following bus accessory suppliers:  Ricon Wheelchair Lifts, Braun Wheelchair Lifts, Maxon Wheelchair Lifts, ACC Industries, Carrier A/C, Thermo King, Transportation Safety Technology, Intermotive Vehicle Controls, Mor/Ryde, REI (Radio Engineering), Q’Straint, Sur-Lok, Stryker and A & M Systems.

FVPP (Florida Vehicle Procurement Program) customers can call  904-241-6004 or 1-800-373-2143 and speak with Nicole MacIntosh.  Non-FVPP customers can call the same phone numbers and ask for Lowell Nelsen. They will be happy to assist you.

So, think of Transit Plus the next time you need parts for your buses!

Last week, we highlighted our rebate programs for government-funded facilities and businesses.  This week, we have something special for facilities and businesses that are privately funded.

Did you know that if you are a facility or business that has licensed medical staff (Doctor, LPN, RN, etc.), you may qualify for not only fleet pricing on handicapped-equipped vehicles, but also group discounts on the rest of your medical supplies?

If you are already a member of a group purchasing plan, we may be able to qualify you for fleet pricing through your existing group.

There are many programs available to help make your purchase of a new handicapped-equipped van or bus even more affordable.  Be sure to ask your Transit Plus salesman to show you how you can save money on your next vehicle purchase.

Greetings from Transit Plus!

This week, we are on a mission to save you money!  Did you know that if you are a transportation company or a facility that provides its own transportation, and you derive more than 50% of your revenue from a government source (Medicaid, Medicare, Veterans Administration, etc.), you may qualify for extra rebates?

Transit Plus, Inc., in cooperation with the government and our manufacturers, can provide you with a quote for new vehicles which includes these rebates.  The amount of the rebate varies from state-to-state.

So, be sure to ask your salesperson about how you can qualify for this great rebate program.  We will be happy to give you all the information necessary to save big on your next vehicle purchase.

Welcome to the Transit Plus blog!  We hope everyone had wonderful holidays.  Now, it’s a new year, and in business as in our personal lives, it’s time to make some resolutions.

Transit Plus’s resolution for this year is to rededicate ourselves to providing the best products and the best customer service in the industry.  We have looked at what we’ve done in the past and retained the things that enhance our product line and our customer’s buying experiences.  We also will be changing some things that maybe haven’t worked as well for us, and finding new and different ways to attain our goal of 100% customer satisfaction.

To that end, we are creating this blog to bring you the latest information on issues important to the transportation industry, special product features and news of interest.  This is a new and exciting venture for us and we look forward to providing you with information you can really use.

Look for weekly blog updates (on Fridays) as well as special posts from time-to-time as a situation or topic warrants.  If you have any comments, questions or suggestions, please email them to us at blog@transitplus.com.  We would love your input.

Also, we will soon be establishing a bi-weekly newsletter, which will have more in-depth information and features.  If you are interested in receiving our newsletter, please visit our website at http://www.transitplus.com and sign up to be added to our distribution list.

Happy, Safe and Prosperous New Year to all from the staff at Transit Plus!

Welcome to the new Transit Plus blog.  Here we will provide the latest news from our company as well as the industry. Check back often for details on new arrivals, new legislation that may save you money when making a Bus or Van purchase, ADA transportation news and more.