SALEM, Ohio — Groups are traveling with better safety and increased confidence thanks to the work of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and its outreach efforts to educate travel planners that charter motorcoaches.
The FMCSA is reaching out to group leaders coast to coast at group travel conferences and a series of 35 TravelTalks meetings with an audience that charters thousands of motorcoaches annually. The Group Travel Family, operator of TravelTalks, recently conducted a poll of group travel leaders to gauge the effects the FMCSA message has had on how it charters vehicles.
The Group Travel Family survey was an ongoing research tool that looked into the charter habits of travel groups that attended TravelTalks meetings. The most interesting trend discovered by the survey is that 28 percent of groups had an increased awareness of the importance of checking the safety records of prospective motorcoach suppliers.
“FMCSA is making a real impact with the people responsible for chartering motorcoaches that take millions of people on tour,” said Charlie Presley of The Group Travel Family. “The information distributed at TravelTalks meetings is designed to create awareness of the one element of a group tour that every leader deals with: the transportation needed to take people on a trip.”
FMCSA is working with The Group Travel Family in a national campaign to raise awareness of this subject. It is the first such awareness program, and the results of the polls taken by TravelTalks are indicating positive results.
Group travel leaders charter thousands of motorcoaches a year, and the FMCSA oversees the general safety regulation of motorcoach travel in the United States. The awareness and education of those responsible for chartering transportation is a key goal of the administration.
Travel planners can learn more about motorcoach safety by attending their area TravelTalks meetings or downloading the FMCSA information at:
