A MINOR HIT

A few nights before Christmas, 2001, I believe it was Friday night, what did the Philadelphia TV stations lead with??  THERE ARE SNOWFLAKES in Chester County.

This is big news to local TV stations.  Last March, Channel 10 became infamous for weather reporting when the station broke into NBC-TV’s hit show “ER” to forecast the STORM OF THE CENTURY for the next week.  You remember the rest of that.  The storm would bring two to three feet of snow.  And it brought nada.  Despite changes in the day-to-day forecast, Channel l0 clung to the STORM OF THE CENTURY.

The viewing public, according to the TV focus groups, tune into the news for the weather.  Is that sad, or what?  That tells you of the significance of today’s local TV news, which concentrates on fender-benders that years ago were only the fodder of small market stations.

The weather forecast can be covered in 30 seconds or less, and the possibility of a storm three or four days hence deserves another 30 seconds.  But STORM OF THE CENTURY?  When nothing happens?

Well, the reason for mentioning this is that the same thing happened last week.  We were due to get a snowstorm Sunday night and Monday morning.  Supposedly.  The stations rushed to advise you that THEY were the ones to tune to for the school closing announcements.  Yet, on Saturday morning, Accu-Weather on KYW was giving the same forecast as the day before, rain Sunday afternoon into early Monday with the possibility of light snow.  Come Saturday morning, the Accu-Weather feller said Philadelphia would be getting “a minor hit”.

As people say nowadays, “HELLO!”

Into Saturday night and even Sunday morning, the TV stations still carried the big storm forecast, and spent nearly 10 minutes showing people preparing, such as the guy who bought a bunch of snow shovels.

What is NOT reported is the REASON for this coverage.  And also what is not reported are the negatives this reporting fosters.

First, the REASON for the coverage is that scaring the hell out of the people supposedly means they will tune into every newscast for weather updates, and the TV stations can show how many snowplows the City has, and how many tons of salt, and so on.  But what about Accu-Weather’s forecast of a “minor hit”?  Well, just ignore it, as the storm could switch directions and in no time we will be facing the STORM OF THE CENTURY.  So, the first reason is to attract viewers.

The “negatives” hurt alot of businesses affected by bad weather.  If you happen to operate bus trips, charter motorcoach day trips, for example, the people figuratively or actually frightened by the TV stations are afraid to travel on their scheduled trip date.  Especially senior citizens do not want to chance going out when a storm is a-comin’.  How can you blame them?  The TV newscasts would have you thinking that you will be marooned for a week.  And this serves to cancel trips, and this affects not only the bus company, but also the various attractions involved in the trip.

At the time of Channel 10′s STORM OF THE CENTURY, GSS TOURS lost four trips, even though there was no snow on the ground.  The people going on trips usually do not wait until the last day to decide NOT to go.  So, with the STORM OF THE CENTURY a-comin’, it’s best to go buy the snow shovels, stock up on food for at least a week, and pull the covers up to the neck.

For a minor hit????

OH, NO, NOT ANOTHER AC STOP??????

On Friday, December 28, 2001, the same bus (Panoramic #3) was stopped for the fourth time in two months.  C’mon, fellas!

ON THE PRIVATE PROPERTY AT THE SHOWBOAT CASINO. an NJDOT inspector stopped our driver just after arrival at the casino.

It was about 10:45 a.m.  There were three other buses on either side of P#3.  The NJDOT inspector asked our driver if he had been inspected before, and recently.

It meant nothing to the inspector that this was the fourth time in two months.

The inspector says the ICC and DOT numbers on the side of our bus do not match the NJDOT computer.  Our driver was ordered to drive to New Jersey Avenue for a safety inspection.

Upon arrival at the inspection site, now infamously well-known to our driver, there were two other buses already in line for another random inspection.  The NJDOT inspector boarded our P#3 to inspect the interior from 11:10 to 11:15 a.m. and then the undercarriage from 11:25 to 11:35.  The NJDOT inspector returned to our driver at 11:55 a.m. with paperwork.  We were allowed to leave after being given various citations.  There was one other bus being inspected at the time (11:55 a.m.) our driver departed.

The NJDOT inspector’s report states that the inspection started at 10:42 and ended at 11:42 a.m.

One citation was:  Drivers (sic) record of duty status not current/no record for 12/28/01 — and — Drivers (sic) record of duty status not current/no recorded (sic) for 12/24/01.  Our driver explained that as soon as he was approached, he started to complete his log for Christmas Eve day (when he did not work).  The inspector demanded to see the driver’s logs at that moment.  It used to be that state troopers and equivalent would allow a truck driver or bus driver 10 minutes to bring the logs up to date.  Things are getting tougher, apparently.