BAD BOYS OF NEW JERSEY

The following is a statement written by Bill Clark, former owner-operator of Ultra Club Coach in Philadelphia, who also served as a driver for GSS Tours and who suffered the fate of many drivers going into Atlantic City.   Alas, he was confronted by the “bad boys”, as he called them.    Here is his report:

AH, THE BAD BOYS OF NEW JERSEY       Just a play on words taken from the TV series “COPS”.  This story is not about the criminals in New Jersey but the so-called GOOD GUYS of the New Jersey Department of Transportation, inspectors of the Atlantic City bus inspection unit.  The following details are given as my opinions and observations as I certainly am entitled to my opinions and am somewhat qualified in my observations as being in a law enforcement position as a Police Officer for 23 years for the City of Philadelphia Police Department.

I also have 30 years experience as a motorcoach operator and seven years being an owner-operator.

Being in law enforcement, an officer develops his skills over a period of time in all aspects of what it takes to be a good officer.  What cannot be taught or learned with any amount of training is one aspect an officer learns with experience or what he develops on his own.  That aspect is what is known as “good common sense”.

Now I know I do not personally know any of the officers on the NJDOT bus inspection unit but I have been inspected enough times to “read” these guys somewhat.  Some of the inspectors sometimes do not want to write up questionable defects, not because they don’t know the law, but their “common sense” instinct is kicking in, but because of their by the book “no common sense” supervisor, they are ordered to write up all defects and issue summonses.  Today, however, these inspectors have now all taken on the (lack of) character of their supervisor, not as their choice but because they are paid to do their “job” (as defined by the supervisor).

A case in point:  August 17, 2001.

I arrive at the SHOWBOAT HOTEL AND CASINO at 7:50 p.m.  There was no other bus or vehicle in the bus arrivals/departure area.  My bus is greeted by SHOWBOAT personnel and my passengers are unloading.  After about 10 minutes, I am approached by a gentleman who identifies himself and points to his badge on his belt (identifying an NJDOT inspector).  He announces that he wants to inspect my bus and he asks me if I know where to go on New Jersey Avenue.  I assure him I know where to go and he warns me that if I don’t show up, a $1,000 fine will be issued.  I am driving a 57-passenger motorcoach which my company purchased new two years before.  The bus had been driven only about 100,000 miles, a mere song in the charter motorcoach industry.

I go to the inspection location and am now in line at 8:05 p.m. behind five buses, with the first bus on the ramps (in the air for under-the-coach inspection).  An inspection was in progress.  My paperwork is checked along with an exterior and interior inspection as I wait in line.  My bus undercarriage inspection starts at 8:55 p.m.  Then, at 9:25 p.m., I am instructed that my bus is being put out of service for a chafed air line hose on the left front wheel.  I am told I have three options:  1)  Call for a service truck and have the air line replaced, 2)  Call for a tow truck and have the bus towed out of Atlantic City, or 3)  if I don’t remove the bus in a timely matter, the NJDOT will have the bus towed.

I immediately call for a road service whose representative tells me the truck will be at the scene in 30 minutes.  I advise the DOT inspector of this and I am instructed to pull the now-”out of service” bus over onto a vacant lot and wait there for my paperwork and red tag.

The paperwork was returned to me at 9:45 p.m.  At this point, I am asked what arrangements I have made.  Again, I reply that I have called for road service at 9:25 p.m.  At this point, I am approached by another inspector whom I had not seen before who tells me he will have to call to have my bus towed.  I ask him why.  By this time, they have 11 additional buses in line to be inspected.  As we walks away without answering me, the service truck pulls up to replace my allegedly “chafed” air line.  My repair is completed by 11:00 p.m., and I leave.  America is now safe.

My observation is:  why all the harassment?  My opinion is:  is this operation by the BAD BOYS OF NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION bus inspection unit based on quality or quantity?  In a three-hour period, I saw 17 buses at this inspection post.  Is this supervisor nuts?  I never saw any of these guys take a break or eat lunch.  After I was told to pull my bus off the ramps, there were two buses behind me.  I heard the supervisor tell his inspectors:  “OK guys, let’s go get some more!”

Two things in the supervisor’s favor:  1)  I did see a water bucket on the back of the RV command vehicle and 2) he must have been in a good mood because he told his troops they wouldn’t write any summonses tonight because he said “we’ll give ‘em a break tonight”.

I have seen this operation being conducted in this manner for years.  Who oversees this operation other than the on-site supervisor?  Are numbers all that counts?  Fines paid to Atlantic City Municipal Court?  They are substantial.  Does the NJDOT care about the costs to the owners of the bus companies or the inconveniences to the people who ride the buses?  What happened to the blue tag that put your bus out of service but would allow you to drive the bus immediately to a repair facility to get repairs performed in time for you to return to pick up your group at the casino?  Why do the bus companies have to face and bear the costs of a red tag and on top of that have to receive summonses and require in-court appearances by the owner of the bus company?  Why the exorbitant fines which have been set up on a NJDOT scale?

My out-of-service violation was written up correctly, according to the federal regulation.  This 1 1/2″ rubber hose did have very minor chafing on it as a result of a broken bracket.  It probably would last another 15 years before it would actually give way.  Then, if it did break, no air would escape the system unless the brake was applied and you still could drive the bus long enough to get it to a repair facility.  And, in between time, no passenger would be in jeopardy because the bus still could be stopped as conditions would warrant, due to the other air lines that would simultaneously kick in to slow or stop the bus.

My point is that the law is a good guideline to be followed, but common sense goes a whole lot further.  My contacts with the NJDOT are numerous, sorry to say.  I can talk at length about each of them.

One incident I can recall that I know personally but was not directly involved in went like this:  on a Friday night some time ago, I escaped an NJDOT inspection after dropping off my passengers at SHOWBOAT, but I saw another company’s bus in line for an inspection near the casino.  I parked at the A. C. T. A. lot and a little while later saw the driver of the other company’s bus.  In conversation with him, he said his bus had been red-tagged and his company had made arrangements to have the bus towed.  He was told the tow fee would be $500.00.

As we talked outside the parking facility, we were amazed to see his bus being driven by an NJDOT inspector with a small Atlantic City police department tow truck in front of the bus (not towing it) and a NJDOT white van behind the bus.  We saw the bus driven onto the impound lot (maintained by AC).  I was told afterward that this company received a towing bill, as described above.

What is wrong with this picture?

Who is getting this money?

We have so many governing bodies that give us rules and regulations.  Federal.  State.  Local.  And then there’s the Atlantic County Transportation Authority.  Who watches over these authorities to make sure they are governing properly, fairly?  Oh, sure, according to the law, they are acting properly.  The number$ surely will back that up.

But where is the quality and where is the common sense?

Bill Clark.

8/21/01

A STATEMENT ABOUT THE NJDOT

September 4, 2001.

1.  The NJDOT for years has been known for its “tough” inspections twice yearly.  Bus owners registered in New Jersey basically did not oppose strict enforcement as the goal usually was realized:  safe equipment (motorcoaches) on the roads.

2.  The NJDOT over the years has camped at various tourist destinations (in New Jersey) to inspect buses during a several-hour stay at the attraction.  In recent years, there have been periodic reports of bus accidents, and therefore perception had it, to the casual observer, that inspection of buses would be a necessity to try to prevent these accidents.  Actually, few, if any at all, of the accidents were blamed on the equipment; all, or nearly all, of them were due to DRIVER ERROR.  (This writer IS NOT AWARE OF ANY BUS ACCIDENT blamed on equipment.)  In recent years, the bus inspections have been conducted almost weekly near casinos in Atlantic City.  Thousands of dollars in fines have been levied; thousands of passengers have been delayed in returning home, due to bus companies’ inability to “cover” a return trip; bus companies have spent untold thousands of dollars in repairs, fines and sub-chartering while the NJDOT picks nits.  Two inspections a year should be sufficient for charter buses.

3.  The State of New Jersey so far has ignored our request for fact-finding under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U. S. C. section 552.  It would seem that the State of New Jersey does not feel obligated to obey laws other than its own.  More than a dozen questions were posed in a letter by GSS Tours, Philadelphia, to Governor Whitman dated December 12, 2000.  The NJDOT has told GSS Tours that information regarding such inspections is available from the USDOT.  This appears to be a delaying tactic on the part of the NJDOT.

When is the Governor going to comply with the FOIA?

New Jersey does not wish to admit what it is doing.

4.  A bus inspector told one bus driver/owner (not this writer) who protested an inspection near a casino in Atlantic City:  “I can do whatever I wanna do!”

5.  GSS Tours was red-tagged Friday night, August 17, 2001, for a chafed air line hose on the left front wheel.  You should see the “chafing” that prompted the red tag!  When a bus is red-tagged, it is declared “out of service”.  If a bus company cannot get the problem repaired at once, it must contract for a replacement bus to come to Atlantic City to pick up the passengers at the end of their casino stay.  This adds to the cost (to the bus company) of the inspection saga.

6.  It is routine that bills for new legislation in a state be reviewed by the Attorney General’s office.  However, the State is a closed shop.  Once it has ruled that a bill meets the test of constitutionality, it ascribes to itself no obligation to re-test the law despite new rulings of the United States Supreme Court.  In this case, the Indianapolis suit (CITY OF INDIANAPOLIS v. EDMOND) strongly suggests that New Jersey bus inspections serve no more useful purpose than the random stopping of motorists to look for those who may be on illegal drugs.

7.  The New Jersey law provides that the Attorney General works solely for the Governor and the state legislature and “other instrumentalities of state government”.  Therefore, a private citizen cannot challenge a New Jersey law except by going to court.  The small business person must cough up his own funds to fight the state.  The average bus owner is not Big Tobacco.  Likewise, why should we accept a system in which the taxpayers fund the state legal system to the sometime detriment of the very people paying the bill and simultaneously serve the needs of elected officials who are fund-raising at the expense of the electorate?

Why must a mere citizen be compelled to hire a lawyer to fight what appears to be a valid challenge to a state law?  Should not the Attorney General also serve the taxpayers where potentially invalid laws are allowing for bully tactics on the part of a state department?  Should not a recent ruling of the U. S. Supreme Court strike validity into a citizen’s complaint, based on the new ruling?

8.  The first response to the original GSS Tours statement to Governor Whitman was finally answered more than two months later, and in effect referred the chickens (read this the bus owner protestors) to the Department of Transportation (read this the foxes).  Outrageous.

9.  Condescension on the part of the State of New Jersey illustrates that the (likely illegal) NJDOT inspections will continue to flourish in a bureaucracy.  When the writer tried to protest a random inspection in Atlantic City during the day June 7, 2001, Sue Kleinberg, Deputy Attorney General, though at her desk in her office, refused to get on the phone.  This is probably another “canons of ethics” situation lawyers hide behind when it satisfies their present predicament.

10.  GSS Tours is among the lesser-aggrieved bus companies involved in this.  Interviews with bus owners in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York will illustrate the kind of legal/illegal scam the NJDOT is fostering.

11.  The typical bus owner has so much to do to try to keep his/her buses running, he/she does not have the luxury of having the time to fight the bureaucracy.  So the NJDOT can play gotcha all day all week all year.

Three Tickets by NJDOT (year 2000 version)

On December 11, 2000, the following letter and enclosures (to follow) was sent to Governor Christine Todd Whitman, State of New Jersey, P. O. Box 001, Trenton, NJ 08625

Dear Governor Whitman:GSS Tours is scheduled for a municipal court “appearance” in Atlantic City Wednesday, December 20. Three tickets were issued Friday, December 1, for problems with our P#3 motorcoach.

This is the newest version of Big Brother hiding behind the disguise of flag-waving in the name of “safety”. Or, it may be said in the case of New Jersey, it is Big Sister.

This is totally unwarranted and unfair. I have enclosed my explanation.

Sincerely yours, John Pierron
.

RE: three tickets by NJDOT

DOT 000948
DOT 000949
DOT 000950

Perhaps a decade ago, the NJDOT “red-stickered” one of our new buses, and the action cost us more than $1,500.00 and no small collective amounts of aggravations. The next day, two representatives of the Newark (NJDOT) office re-inspected the bus (for allegedly faulty brakes). They admitted the inspection was 100% in error, and no repairs need be made. But they coyly implied that due to office politics, I would have to pursue a protest and request for reimbursement on my own. Subsequently, a state assistant attorney general, or somebody in similar position, advised me by letter that we could NOT recover any losses (two days of sub-chartering other buses plus attendant expenses).

About two years later, I was told that the first letter was in error. I COULD contest the NJDOT inspection. As is the case in most small businesses, I just didn’t have the time to devote to continuing the effort.

This is why public employees can bully the private citizens so easily and effectively. We just don’t have the legal staffs you have.

The file from perhaps a decade ago is now cold; I don’t know what basement shelf it’s on.

But Friday evening, December 1, 2000, I had new reason to protest to Trenton: the “random” inspection in Atlantic City of a dozen or more buses, including ours. The GSS Tours’ driver was issued three tickets and compelled to arrange for IMMEDIATE repairs (amounting to $160.00, an amount destined to be dwarfed by what the city court in Atlantic City apparently has in store for us and other bus companies.)

The situation ought to be viewed in its total implications between the State of New Jersey and GSS Tours and other small bus companies.

The problems are these:

Friday evening, December 1, in Atlantic City, our bus was among at least a dozen ordered to drive two blocks to New Jersey Avenue to be part of a NJDOT random inspection. Subsequently, our driver was given three tickets, two for inoperative brake tag axle, right and left, and one for a bald tire.

Our driver was approached while in the “lanes” of SHOWBOAT HOTEL AND CASINO, dropping off his passengers from Philadelphia, who were just arriving for a six-hour casino stay. I did not understand that NJDOT inspectors could come onto private property to initiate their “random” inspections. I subsequently was advised that this has occurred on a regular basis, although an official of the NJDOT responsible for these random inspections told me they only approach drivers on “public” property. Obviously, his statement is untrue.

Earlier this year, bus drivers were being stopped at Hansen’s (Atlantic City bus parking), and their buses inspected right at Hansen’s. There was a protest; the on-site inspections were stopped, and subsequently, confronting drivers at Hansen’s was resumed. An NJDOT rep told me Hansen’s is “public property”. Huh?

I do not protest the accuracy of the citations. If one wants to, he or she can find violations on just about any bus at just about any time. I protest the methods employed by New Jersey to arrive at the gross ticketings and subsequent huge fines. I do not say they were inaccurate, although I’m well aware, in my own right, that they DO make mistakes. However, this protest centers on the quantity of the ticketing, not the quality.

I protest the methods employed, the alleged need for immediate repair, and the procedures surrounding random inspections. Although I am not a lawyer, I have put on the shark’s cloak to cite, below, certain legal rulings pertinent to random inspections and sudden searches. The mere fact that I do not have a lawyer should not, it is hollered, compromise my rights and the rights of other bus companies to see a full protest and contest of the random inspections, both inside New Jersey law and in light of federal rulings that say that you cannot set up random inspections willy-nilly. Before presenting an appropriate and recent case, I have to emphasize that New Jersey attempts to answer the random situation by finding something wrong with a great majority of the buses (such appeared to be the case December 1-2, according to our driver). I do not question the ethics of the investigators; I need only point out that facts are facts. The facts speak clearly. Yet we cannot find out certain facts that would show how bus companies are confronted with inspections without ammunition to answer the protests. And the NJDOT has a lengthy history as a bully (under the guise of safety).

Let’s go back to my original complaint. You have to recognize my complaint; it is valid, and, contrary to the treatment we received a decade ago, we have every reason to be granted a reprieve, for several reasons. My concern for New Jersey as a bully should not prejudice my contest.

Although bullies just LOVE to be bullies.

Years ago, one of our buses was red-stickered at Liberty State Park while our passengers were going by ferry (from the NJ side) to Ellis Island.

The NJDOT inspector abruptly told our driver our bus was not going to move another inch; it would have to be towed, due to faulty brakes. The inspector said we had no option, and he would see to it that we did not move off the parking area or we would face further ticketing.

From Philadelphia, I phoned the Newark office and explained that I had a new bus and I could not conceive of a situation in which brakes would be red-stickered. I finally was told I could “ride shotgun” in following the bus (in my car) as it was driven, that same afternoon, from Liberty State Park to Burlington, where our bus was garaged at the time (where Academy Bus now keeps some of its fleet, close to Exit 5 of the NJ tpk).

Frantically, that day, we had to charter a bus from Coachways (Atlantic Express) to go up and pick up our group after their return from Ellis Island, and return them to the Philadelphia area. We had to get ANOTHER bus to cover work the next day, since the red sticker still was on the bus when it was “re-inspected” the next morning. I wish I could find the file on this, as it was a lulu. Some day I will.

I more or less insisted that the NJDOT re-inspect the bus; this took place at 8:00 a.m. (the day after). The two inspectors, in concert with the Coachways mechanics, agreed that the brakes were in perfect shape, and they only could conclude that any grease that allegedly had been viewed as on or around the brakes was unrelated to the condition of our bus brakes and, in any case, of no significance to the inspection.

I was forced to pursue my further protest without any help from the NJDOT, whose supervisors apparently didn’t want to open up an intra-departmental squabble over the competency or lack thereof of its inspectors.

This clearly was an improper use of state power . . . . . Big Brother doing too much to protect the public, victim of all these bad bus companies and their bad buses.

Let me interject here that New Jersey’s hand-inside-vest pontificating on behalf of safety, if you’d ever have the guts to test it, would find that safe/unsafe buses have far less to do with mechanical shortcomings, mechanical violations; they have quite a bit more to do with the bus DRIVER. I know New Jersey has sustained several major bus accidents in recent years (the one at Christmastime was a major example of this). You may feel free to include the fatal accidents in your study; I have no fear that you will find that bus accidents, by and large, are caused by the DRIVER, not his equipment. Yet you continue the bully tactics, week after week, your nose in the air, under this guise of safety.

If I ever find it, I will produce a letter from a Trenton (state) lawyer who advised me there was no state vehicle open to a citizen (i.e., GSS Tours) to contest the mistakes of state employees. I did continue to protest this in one circle or another for several months, as the inspection cost us more than $1,500.00. I guess I should now say $4,300.00, as I should be allowed to add MY hourly cost of (six hours at) $500.00 per hour, which happens to suddenly coincide with the fee levels of those lawyers and consultants engaged in Bush-Gore legal activities in Florida during the past five weeks.

We graciously will waive this $500.00 per hour fee, however.

But the incident from years ago has annoyed me ever since.

It was prime annoyance Friday night, December 1, 2000.

Your NJDOT inspectors, according to information given me last week, are not allowed to go onto casino or other private property and order bus drivers to drive to a random inspection site where more than a half-dozen inspectors, along with state troopers, wait. However, this was precisely what was done Friday night, December 1.

I spoke with Vince Schultz, Chief of Commercial Bus Inspection and Investigation, NJDOT, Trenton. He said he is not the “Vince” who formerly inspected our buses (this was Vince Bartalone), when we were garaged in New Jersey.

I don’t dislike Vince Schultz, and while I never met him, I found the other Vince to be fair and a good guy. If he found a violation, he advised me by phone, and gave me time to take care of the problem without losing any work (and without losing any money in lost work).

Vince Schultz would not give me a list of bus companies ticketed Friday night; he said he was “not at liberty to give that out”. I asked whether such state action is a public record; he did not answer, but he gave me an address for the USDOT in Washington to request the information in writing. I am guessing but I bet the USDOT would not reply to me, or if they would, not by December 20, 2000, the date of our “COURT APPEARANCE REQUIRED”.

Why can’t New Jersey provide me with a list of bus companies stopped on December 1? You should not stand in the courthouse door preventing me from preparing a more complete defense, and concurrent indictment of NJ bully tactics. Likewise, you cannot prejudice my protest because I call the NJDOT a bully. After all, in the first place, that is the truth.

To assist me and other bus companies in this formal protest, should we be denied a list of all random bus inspections in New Jersey, companies stopped, companies ticketed, companies fined, amounts of fines? You will learn that it is a crock.

In fact, this is part of the problem for a small bus company just as similar Big Brother bullshit (sic) is for many small businesses. We do not have the cash to hire a lawyer (not even at LESS THAN $500 per hour), and so, in this case, the NJDOT has us and other bus companies forever in its sights, always over a barrel, always coughing up the fines money. So does the Municipal Court in Atlantic City.

You have all the lawyers and you have the Judges.

Who is representing the bus companies against the state legislature, the courts, et al?

I cannot trust your court system, frankly. One month after (1999) we obtained our newest bus, it was parked on the city lot in Wildwood on a Sunday afternoon. A 13-year-old (kid) threw a rock at the windshield, cracking it. The boy was apprehended, and I appeared for his juvenile court hearing in Cape May. The judge did not believe my statement, in writing from ABC Bus, that the repair would cost $2,002.00. He found in our favor to the tune of $1,000.00. That in itself is arrogance on the part of the New Jersey judiciary. That Cape May judge is incompetent. So far, through the court, we have been reimbursed one time, for $30.00. So, as far as GSS is concerned, we are still in arrears on this court appearance to the tune of $1,972.00, plus incidental costs, inconveniences and aggravations. Again, unfair treatment in New Jersey.

Bill Clark, of Ultra Club Coach, Philadelphia, received two tickets earlier this fall and was found guilty and fined $1,000.00 and $500.00. For a small company, you simply cannot afford to be so grandiose in funneling big bucks into the coffers of New Jersey courts and state budgets.

But this is how New Jersey conducts fund-raisers.

You may think this is just “tough” on your, GSS. Too bad.

The NJDOT has struck fear into the bus companies of New Jersey and environs for many years. I recognize some of the personnel are nice guys and are only “doing their job”. It is, however, the measure of the inspections and the subsequent huge fines that are abhorrent.

We have been stopped in New Jersey in the past, but only given a pink sheet ordering us to have our mechanic effect repairs within, I think, seven days. And then we would send the pink sheet to Trenton, having complied with repairing the cause of the violation.

Not all violations require atomic bomb reaction by the NJDOT.

This is precisely where you, Governor Whitman, and the NJDOT stand beside the American flag and the quest for safety. No offense to the American flag, of course. However, this is part of the problem: safety in many of the instances is NOT at risk. Come into the 21st century.

In the case of our bus, two tickets were issued for “inoperative” brakes on the right and left tag axles. In fact, your state trooper could have “tested” the ability of the driver to stop this coach, according to code, as he still was able to successfully depress the brake pedal AS WELL AS implement the Telma Retarder, which slows the coach for maximum passenger comfort, AS WELL AS PASSENGER SAFETY. Had the NJDOT conducted the random inspection and given us a pink sheet, we would have (immediately) adjusted the brakes, and NOBODY would have been able to notice the difference, before or after.

The bald tire also is a peculiar citation, inasmuch as the tire, although due for replacements, was serving its peculiar role in bus support. While “bald tire” would sound, to the non-bus person as the end of the world, it also is a controllable situation. No competent bus company would be driving with a bald tire on a drive wheel, or the front, and we weren’t, either.

In the past, “violations” such as the above were treated of no greater moment than non-burning marker lights and such, and the NJDOT merely directed us to correct the problem, and send the form to Trenton to confirm that we had performed the needed correction. Again, it was not the end of the world. I’m sure most bus company owners would agree that this kind of inspection was welcomed, as it actually was a cost-saving assist.

What you are doing with these weekly “random” checks is to red sticker and ticket just about every violation you can find. We are required to have each bus inspected twice a year. Yet, you are adding MORE inspections to the requirements by your sudden searches. At first glance, admirable. Upon reflection, overkill, Governor Whitman. Overkill in the hand-inside-vest guise of safety. Check whether other states are camping at popular tourist spots, lying in wait for the unsuspecting bus companies concentrating on showing their passengers a good time. We never have experienced any such sandbag by another state, and we can speak from 15 years with buses.

While we were given the right December 1 to have the problems corrected on the spot, our bus did not depart from the SHOWBOAT unti 2 1/2 hours AFTER the scheduled “out” time. Coastal Coach had four mechanics on hand to accommodate the infractions, but they didn’t get around to us until well after midnight. Our passengers were extremely upset, and frankly did not blame us; they blame YOU. The bus departure showroom area at SHOWBOAT was a madhouse all night, with many bus passengers protesting loudly without any measurable relief.

We do not share the blame with you. This was completely your pox. But you want us to foot the bill. It’s a New Jersey and Atlantic City fund-raiser.

Our passengers had ridden Philadelphia-Atlantic City on a luxury motorcoach, enjoying maximum comfort, with no suggestion that they were riding on an unsafe bus. The passengers told our driver of the personal problems they faced due to the delay, such as baby sitters and the like. In its own context, is not the passenger disruption a safety problem itself, as people due to return home at 2:30 a.m. arrive instead at 5:00?

Of course.

These “random” inspections, which may be in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the U. S. Constitution (citations below), are enormous cost for most bus companies. For example, many bus companies perform “doubles”, i.e., they take one group to AC, and then go back and get a SECOND group for later arrival. In fact, only those companies doing “doubles” are “making ANY money” with the AC trips, and even these require a lot of driver-driving to accomplish. They are priced entirely too cheaply and after you pay for fuel, the driver and the exorbitatn parking fee, you have little left for “profit”, especially considering the ever-increasing cost of bus insurance year after year.

If a company is taken out of service in the midst of a double, the bus owner frantically must locate another bus company, often late at night, or even after midnight, to pick up the passengers, if the timings even can be met. I wonder how many times passengers’ plans had to be canceled, due to the above little happenstances.

Why does a bus company “take” the work? There are several reasons. Yet some companies have stopped going to AC, due to the random searches. When we go to Myrtle Beach or Pigeon Forge, we don’t have to worry about a bus inspector. This doesn’t mean the other states are lenient; it simply means New Jersey is a crock. A bully. And don’t be offended; WE are the ones offended, by Big Brother, Big Sister, the bully.

I don’t know what the position of the casinos is, regarding these unannounced, sudden searches, but they have the New Jersey Casino Control Commission to worry about, so perhaps they have enough regulation, as it is.

Speaking of regulation, you, as a Republican, ought to be ashamed of yourself, fostering these weekly and sometimes even daily inspections. In the mid-1980′s, according to the General Accounting Office, the Code of Federal Regulations contained 50,000 “pages”!!! Fifty-thousand pages. Certainly, that was a huge amount, thanks to the sharks of this nation. (The sharks overrun the Congress, the state legislatures and the City Councils of America, creating new laws and generating new and additional fees for themselves.)

While this, in itself, is an out-of-control disgrace to the people of the United States, seemingly powerless to quell the ever-increasing trends, it is representative of the random searches of the NJDOT that the Code of Federal Regulations has grown, today, to more than 135,000 pages of words, words, words, laws, laws, laws, regulations, regulations, regulations.

That’s nearly three times as many lines of regulations as 15 years ago.

C’mon, people, you gotta stop this. Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal, for God’s sake, and ours, you gotta stop this.

That cited above is federal, of course; however, I would imagine similar comment is due at the state level.

And you gotta stop these random searches. Even if they are not un-Constitutional, they stick out as unfair to small business, especially, and secondly, unfair to the “little people”, the people who jump at the chance to ride a bus to Atlantic City, and receive, from the casino, not infrequently MORE in coin and other bonuses than the cost of the trip itself. I imagine that more people arrive in Atlantic City by bus than by limousine. They say some of those arriving by limousine go home in a bus, but that’s another story.

Wouldn’t it be nice if the bus company enjoyed some of the “riches” of the poor bus patrons, the ones not arriving by limousine? The word “poor” is used simply to emphasize the fact that the bus charter industry primarily is made up of small bus companies, none of whom is listed among the Fortune 500, generally serving people who do not ride in limousines.

Now, the one thing I never have done in life and 20 years in this business is pay for a shark.

I won’t do it in this case, either. So, please, Atlantic City judge, don’t tell me to get a lawyer. The American public should not be forced to be so beholden to the sharks.

I recognize this leaves me at a distinct disadvantage, inasmuch as the courts and legal system just love to have situations that are fee-generating.

In other words, I am raw meat for the Judge in Atlantic City.

Perhaps, however, the Judge ought to consider a recent ruling of the United States Supreme Court.

No, I don’t mean Bush vs. Gore.

I mean CITY OF INDIANAPOLIS et at v. EDMOND et al.

God love Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. She wrote the majority opinion, released November 28 (2000).

I recognize it does not bear DIRECTLY on the bus charter industry. However, it DOES bear INDIRECTLY, and strongly so. And this is why you should initiate an inquiry. Does a critical challenge of CITY OF INDIANAPOLIS v. EDMOND say that the New Jersey law you signed is, in fact, invalid, and never should have been enacted, or applied?

Are you bus profiling?

How many church buses have you red-stickered this year, due to random searches? How many school buses are subjected to random searches? How many of them are red-stickered? How many church parishinoers are forced to wait for another bus to come and pick them up hours after the scheduled departure? How many school children are stranded for a while until another school bus can be obtained to cover the work of the (ho ho) red-stickered school bus? (Ho ho because I only can wonder how many and how often the NJDOT hammers church buses and school buses.)

When I spoke last week with Vince Schultz, NJDOT chief (supervisor), he told me random searches are provided for in a bill you signed into law in 1995 (NJSA 48:4-2.1 C, or something like that). I searched on the Internet for such a law, or regulation, and only could find NJ laws dating to 1997. The prior years seemed to be closed off, or, perhaps, never entered in the NJ state database. You don’t want small business owners checking on NJ laws, eh?

So, even though I am not a shark, and unable to consult law books to check on good ole NJ 48:4, I can submit to you that your random searches carry with them both harm and consumer inconveniences, and need for reform, and violation of the U. S. Constitution as per CITY OF INDIANAPOLIS v. EDMOND.

The Indianapolis case the Supremes ruled on the midst of Bush-Gore had to do with drugs.

One could say that drugs are as compelling, or more compelling, an issue as charter buses.

By a 6-3 vote, the Supremes ruled AGAINST police departments setting up roadblocks and detaining drivers at random to search for drugs.

The facts indicated, and the Supremes recognized, an “unacceptably” large number of innocent citizens were being detained and searched at random, a violation of the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures.

Of the 1,161 motorists stopped over a four-month period, 55 were found with illegal drugs.

The Supremes thought the successes did not justify the inconveniences.

The Philadelphia Daily News, in a December 2, 2000, editorial ironically one day after the “Friday night NJDOT random inspections in Atlantic City”, said it was clear that the war on drugs has become an overzealous assault on innocent people’s rights.

GSS Tours et al: “innocents”.

I consider Darrell Tyrone Argro an innocent. As driver of our 1995 motorcoach that night, he stood ready to demonstrate to your state trooper that his bus was in no imminent danger. I submit that our motorcoach was in no greater danger to the driver and his passengers than the personal cars of your state troopers, which, if subjected to random inspections in-between annual or semi-annual official inspection times, are as bound to have mechanical difficulties as our buses.

Thus, the resulting danger to the state trooper and his or her passengers in his/her personal automobiles theoretically is as great as that for our bus passengers. I cringe at the thought that I might be driving my car in New Jersey and be on the same highway as a state trooper in his private car.

You may say that we, bus owners, have a right to sue to challenge the laws and regulations that allow for these random inspections.

First, a pox on you for even thinking this. (I’ll forget the idea that you might have thought this.)

A lawsuit by bus owners simply would be further fodder for the sharks, and would take years to resolve.

In the Indianapolis case, the Supremes ruled AGAINST the police even though the police operated during daylight hours and identified their checkpoints with lighted signs reading: “NARCOTICS CHECKPOINT _______ MILE AHEAD, NARCOTICS K-9 IN USE. BE PREPARED TO STOP.”

In New Jersey, there is no such “warning” for drivers, including bus drivers. Under the random nature of the NJDOT search, and the method of approaching bus drivers right inside the casino, I don’t suppose a warning would be that “helpful” (so as to evade the inspection, however unjustifiable that inspection may be).

The searches are conducted under the cover of darkness sometimes; that is apparent. Are we not entitled to the same “warning” as motorists in Indianapolis (even before the random searches were found to be improper) and would a warning do any good, because you’re likely to find something wrong, regardless?
The “random” nature in Indianapolis was to the effect that once a group of cars had been stopped by the police, other traffic was allowed to proceed unheeded, without interruption, until all the stopped cars had been processed or diverted for further processing. Thus, some cars were stopped; others were able to drive right by the inspection point, already swollen with inspectors and their prey.

Justice O’Connor held last month that since the Fourth Amendment requires that searches and seizures be reasonable, a search or seizure is ordinarily unreasonable if there is an absence of wrongdoing.

She cited CHANDLER v. MILLER (520, U. S. 305, 308 {1997}), which should mean something to the sharks.

She recognizes special cases. I would not know if the NJDOT is one, but drugs are just as much a scare word as safety.

I submit that the typical bus taking casino passengers to Atlantic City is not guilty of “wrongdoing”. I submit that generally speaking, the typical bus is a safe bus. Even at the moment of the NJDOT inspection.

I submit that generally speaking, the typical bus is driven by a safe driver.

Certainly, it may have mechanical shortcomings, but they are not compelling. You have to apply reason. Officials in some states, New Jersey included, apparently cannot abide this.

In this regard, I recall the (private) comment of a major airline supervisor of mechanics, who had no axe to grind. He said nearly every airplane he worked on went into the sky on a daily basis requiring some kind of required (unfulfilled) maintenance. However, he assured me the pilot could still fly the plane, and land it, despite the inherent bruises. Thank goodness the passengers didn’t know.

Governor Whitman, New Jersey must recognize that you have an obligation to the public to make sure the buses are “safe” but you do not have a right to stop everything on wheels for, frankly, non-”fatal” shortcomings.

This is Big Sister at its most gross.

Your (apparently) WEEKLY inspections are further confirmation that, when all is said and done, down through the years, the NJDOT has been a bully.

I can recall, when we got our first bus in 1986, listening to a bus mechanic/executive (who, by the way, still performs this work IN Atlantic City!), warning us that the NJDOT inspectors were “tough”. We did not have a problem with that, as we had a new bus. We soon learned that new bus, smooooooooo bus, if the NJDOT inspector wants to find something, he WILL find something.

I do not mean to be unfair. Only the NJDOT, up till now, has been allowed to be so. On many occasions, the violations are accurate (although usually classic overkill). I protest the “extent” or severity of the typical violation as being paramount in its red-stickering. Our experience at Liberty State Park was a cruel exception, never assuaged by the great Garden State.

Justice O’Connor wrote: “Securing the border and apprehending drunken drivers are law enforcement activities, and authorities employ arrests and criminal prosecutions to pursue these goals. But if this case were to rest at such a high level of generality, there would be little check on the authorities’ ability to construct roadblocks for almost any conceivable law enforcement purpose. The checkpoint program is also not justified by the severe and intractable nature of the drug problem.”

Admittedly, I am not a lawyer. But I can read. And I have every reason to conclude that there is “little check” on what you and the NJDOT are doing “randomly” all over the state.

There are definite similarities between the drug case and the NJDOT random inspections for safety, etc.

The ruling has enough weight in it to suggest that the New Jersey statute you signed in 1995 runs safety to the wall.

The average and typical bus owner does not run his or her buses to constitute a danger to the passengers and the society at large.

Oh, surely, there are junkers out there.

Ticket them!

But you also should include the church and school buses at a proportionate rate.

Save some of your red stickers for THEM!

In my discussion with Vince Schultz, I asked why there are no “random searches” to sideline the many church buses that operate, especially on weekends, with myriad mechanical grease. He claimed that not only does the NJDOT ticket church buses but sees these buses coming to Atlantic City casinos, especially on the weekends. Huh???

I have no greater love for the Supremes than I do the sharks. Our society is overrun by legalities and regulations. We have too many. You have run amok.

Return to the pink sheets. Give bus operators a chance to keep their equipment in top shape.

Stop the exorbitant fines you have fostered. Stop these state fund raisers!

Are you aware of the amounts of the fines imposed?

They are just outrageous.

Do you think bus owners are wealthy? On the contrary, it frankly is a tough, tough, tough business, made even tougher by the constant need to have repairs performed. There are so many “parts” to a bus that once they age even a little bit, it is an almost constant problem of repair, repair, repair. Fortunately, it primarily is a periodic thing, but nevertheless, it is expensive in its own right. You, as Governor of New Jersey, should be sensitive to the costs you are, unnecessarily, inflicting on the small business owner.

A bus owner cannot afford to be paying huge fines to a municipal court for what, frankly, often are not-at-risk situations, not safety catastrophes. Just because a bus has brakes in need of adjustment does not mean the driver cannot stop the bus any time he wants, as effectively as conditions warrant. Granted, you cannot allow the situation to exacerbate, but neither can that airline mechanic I spoke about. So, he keeps his planes in the air. And we keep our buses on the road. And safe.

Safe.

Except in New Jersey.

So where does New Jersey stand on this? I’ll answer for you: you are over-regulating.

The public at large does not realize that Washington has more than doubled the Federal Code since the mid-’80′s. Much of the public doesn’t give a damn; still more of the public, otherwise educated, does not realize how much the regulators are costing them. An organization called the Competitive Enterprise Institute has estimated that the total federal regulatory burden is $700,000,000,000 (as in $700 BILLION). That’s bigger than Canada’s entire economy, and equal to a hidden fee of about $7,500 a year for the typical two-earner family. And a great share goes to the sharks, who easily can afford the $7,500 share THEY have to pay. The rest of us cannot.

These regulations, right and left, are, in fact, additional taxes.

It is simple to promulgate under the safe haven of “safety”.

You charge us for this, and you charge us for that. So much of it is unnecessary. You are just finding new ways to collect taxes. A state fund raiser. And at some point, a shark made money from it. And a Judge feels he or she is protecting the public from the unsafe buses.

So, hand down the fines and the huge fines.

And, of course, that’s the important thing. Especially . . . enriching the sharks.

As I understand it, last month you and the Attorney General released 91,000 pages of state documents on racial profiling in New Jersey.

Now, was that 91 pages, far more than thishere plea?

No. That was 91,000 pages!!!!!!!!!!

More than half the Federal Code.

Please answer the following questions.

1. How many buses were ticketed Friday night, December 1, 2000? Please list them, and their addresses.

2. How many buses that night were placed out of service? Please list the infractions that led to the red-stickering.

3. How many buses that night were inspected and, because of this, detained so that their passengers were delayed in returning home?

4. How many inspectors were engaged in the Atlantic City inspection that Friday night (and of course I also include early Saturday to conclusion)?

5. How many state troopers were engaged in the same inspection?

6. What was the payroll in gross wages for the inspectors, supervisors and troopers? Please itemize by job category.

7. How many inspections of this kind were conducted in New Jersey in 1999? This year so far? Please itemize by location, not those just in Atlantic City.

8. What fines amounts have been assessed this year? For what infractions? How many fines?

9. Does New Jersey provide any “warning” of CHECKPOINT ________ MILE AHEAD”? This would be moot if you didn’t randomly inspect.

10. What legal tests have been made of the pertinent NJ law? Were such “tests” made before CITY OF INDIANAPOLIS v. EDMOND (which would be logical)? Have there been any other challenges by bus companies to these random inspections? What are they, or were they?

11. According to the U. S. Supreme Court, is a drug inspection of lesser concern than one for drunk driving? Is drunk driving a greater concern than allegedly unsafe buses? These are mentioned in CITY OF INDIANAPOLIS v. EDMOND.

12. Is NJ operating with “individualized suspicion” (see same ruling)?

13. Unless you have a payroll to meet (need to handle the expense of, say, eight inspectors and however many state troopers) and the safe haven of safety enforcement, would you consider the average charter bus as evidence of ordinary criminal wrongdoing? If so, your law, in this additional instance, is violative.

14. Is it not appropriate to have the State of New Jersey review its random inspections? A reading of CITY OF INDIANAPOLIS et al. v. EDMOND et al. is powerful in its multi-implied “indictment” of your New Jersey law, the aforementioned NJ 48:4-2.1 C or whatever Vince Schultz was stating.

Should not bus companies be granted the facts in this matter? Should small businesses, including bus companies, most of which have just a few coaches, be compelled to “sue” for relief? And, if successful in this challenge, should they not see their cases expunged and their fine money returned to them.

I believe I can speak for many of the bus owners of the northeastern United States: you can resolve bus profiling with one sheet of paper.

Governor Whitman, just say STOP.

Please.

Above was mailed to Governor Whitman December 12, 2000. For response(s), see other documents in the GSS Tours website. Thank you.

Lawyers are ruining our society

On the Internet, somebody once said, there are 10,000 jokes about lawyers.

But the lawyers are no joke.

While some of them do essential work (example:  public prosecutors who put the bad guys in prison), lawyers, in general, are ruining our society by running our society.  And lining their own pockets simultaneously.  They are in control of your lives.  Perhaps you don’t realize it, but YOU are the ones doing the lining.

Lawyers will be the last people on earth to admit this.  And, of course, you KNOW they are costing “people” alot of money, but you probably haven’t realized how much effect they are having on your life.  But, you figure, what can you do about it?

In our Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson et al complained that the King of Great Britain had “erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.”

Alas, the King of Great Britain has been replaced by thousands of “lawmakers” who spend their days in the Congress and state and local legislatures of this land, mostly, it appears, finding new ways to generate lawyer fees, often due to more and more governmental regulations. They do this through the swarms of new laws and expanded government.  Is it un-American to ask whether this nation has become “a multitude of New Offices”?

The Declaration of Independence was signed by 56 men.  Fewer than half (24) were lawyers.  We should have stopped there.

On a national basis, and on the state and local scene, we have far too many legislators (read that:  lawmakers).  In Philadelphia, for example, can you tell me what logic there is in having 17 members of City Council?  In Philadelphia, there are 10 “district” council members and seven “at-large” members of Council.  The “routine” is just that, and should be handled by fewer than 10, effectively seven or five.

In Pennsylvania, there are 203 state representatives and 50 state senators.  Will somebody tell me why we shouldn’t operate with, say, 50 state representatives and 20 state senators?

And Congress??  Heaven forbid!  We have 435 members of the House of Representatives and 100 United States Senators.  And each one of ‘em is working like the devil to write a bill that becomes law with THEIR NAME on it!  Think of how many bills are written into law!  Many tax and regulate and cause us no end of bureaucratic obligations.  Knock off alot of those state representatives and state senators, and city council members, and most of the 535 birds in Congress, use the saved office budgets and hire the fewer persons needed to implement the fewer laws that are needed to run this nation.

Alot of them are lawyers.

And they pass laws to tax and regulate you and me.  And this not only causes unwieldy big government but also hits you and me in the pocketbook.  And we have to spend alot more of our time complying with the regulations and filling out and filing the many tax forms that hit the average individual and business.

Did I hear somewhere that the paper for the printing of the tax code weighs 80 pounds?  And did I hear somewhere that something like 36,000 laws tell the American public what to do?

Pardon me, but is this not ridiculous?

Lawyers in America’s legislatures have spent the past 200 years drowning us in regulations and taxes (and tax returns).  We broke from the Mother Country to escape taxation without representation.  Now, we have taxation WITH representation, with the representation overwhelmingly in the form of sharks from the legal profession.  The major firms have HUNDREDS of lawyers.  There have to be grievances and violations right and left, all over the place, to generate work for all these attorneys. and fees, and more fees, and still more fees.  Even the law departments of our governmental agencies justify their employment by suing seemingly anybody with a big company and big buckos to be had.  Example, Bill Gates and Microsoft, a pathetic effort by our United States Justice Department.  Microsoft was forced to spend millions to defend itself from what primarily is a bogus federal lawsuit.  And the tobacco industry!  It does not matter whether you smoke or not.  The lawsuit against the tobacco industry really impressed the anti-smoking lobby.  But the lobby was a pawn.  It was all about fees for lawyers, and delayed, albeit unworthy, tax revenue for states.  It was all about money.  And that’s what lawyers are about.

Oh, sure, they “love” the law.  They keep society on a law-abiding course.  But the cost is prohibitive.

Many of the laws regulate without corresponding proper, effective enforcement.  The lawmakers whose name is on the bill signed into law can have back pain from patting themselves on the back for their acumen.  The rest of us must accept provincialism throughout our society.  And, without a lull, the lawyers keep collecting more and more fees.

Inside these NEWS items from GSS Tours is a report on how New Jersey regulates the motorcoaches that operate in the Garden State.  Just attacking the overbearing laws is a huge task.  This is why so many laws not only survive, but multiply in their applications.  The average small business owner does not have the time to fight the laws and regulations that so effectively pin him/her down.  And states pass laws that probably or in fact do violate the U. S. Constitution.  Included here, we contend, is the New Jersey law calling for unannounced bus inspections.

But here’s the rub:  you have to GET A LAWYER to fight the improper law.  You cannot ask the state lawyers to help you!  They only serve the Governor and the state legislature.  IMAGINE THAT!  Our taxes pay the salaries of all governmental employees, yet they do not really “work” for us, if they are lawyers.  Does anybody know this???

While this has practical application, it nevertheless unfairly hamstrings the private citizen who has a legitimate grievance.  Should not the public lawyers have the additional responsibility of evaluating and testing the rulings they previously had “approved”.  The governmental law departments have no “Customer Service Window” to help the public.

So, these bus inspections are conducted often almost daily in Atlantic City, and they likely are in violation of the Fourth Amendment to the U. S. Constitution.  But the Governor and the state legislature, who approved the state law(s) applicable, will not initiate a review of their skullduggery.  Why should they?  Admit they may be wrong?  Admit they are over-regulating?  And why should the New Jersey Attorney General test whether he, or his predecessor, made a mistake originally by declaring the legislation constitutional which ultimately is used in such a dictatorial fashion.  Yeah, in a letter to the Governor, it was suggested that the procedure reminds one of the stories from 60 years ago (read this  “Gestapo”).   It is unbelievable.

The situation certainly is no joke.  It’s the lawyers.

In Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, the cost of malpractice insurance is becoming prohibitive for the average family practitioner.  Costs have mushroomed in recent years, increasing into the many thousands of dollars.  The typical family doctor cannot keep up with the premiums.

Of course, you can blame the insurance companies, as they are partly to blame.  But primarily, it’s the lawyers.  The lawyers file their huge claims for anything from improper surgery to hot coffee in the lap.  Juries, especially those in Philadelphia, are generous to the poor plaintiffs.  The financial awards turn into huge rewards.  And the lawyers get one-third to one-half of the money.

Lawyers know their annual income is directly affected by how aggressive they pursue lawsuits.  It doesn’t matter if they are chasing ambulances or hammering doctors, the goal is the fee.  And the greater the fee, the bigger their home, the snazzier their car.  While lawyers cannot stand to hear the criticism, and hide behind a holier-than-thou attitude, lawyers are perhaps the greediest profession of all (and that even includes the sports pro athletes).  Greed fires malpractice claims.

The situation is getting worse, America.  You ought to recognize and realize that YOU are allowing this to happen.  Just keep on giving plaintiffs 1,000 times more than they may deserve.  And, pray tell, just WHO do you think, ultimately, is paying the bill for the greed?

NJ & You, Not Perfect Together

For nearly one year, GSS Tours has been confronted with bus inspections in Atlantic City.  These are conducted by state troopers and the inspection unit of the NJDOT.  Buses are stopped after they have dropped off casino bus passengers at the various casinos.  Some bus companies have suffered severely from these unannounced and probably illegal searches.

Yesterday, November 1, 2001, one of our buses was flagged on Route 40 after our casino dropoff.  A state trooper ordered our driver to drive the bus around to an inspection road site not far from the new minor league baseball park in Atlantic City.  Our buses once were registered in New Jersey, as they were, at the time, garaged in New Jersey.  Once we moved to a Philadelphia bus terminal site, we changed the registration of each bus to Pennsylvania.  Both Pennyslvania and New Jersey conduct twice-yearly equipment inspections.  Just as with cars, the buses have an inspection sticker, evidencing their approval as of a certain date.  This does not mean anything to New Jersey.  They just keep inspecting and inspecting the buses throughout the year.  Do they conduct the same inspections of church and school buses?   I will wait until the laughter dies down.  In other words, the Atlantic City inspections are uniquely aimed at motorcoaches, often the so-called casino buses.

In August, our P#4 nearly brand new 57-passenger coach was placed out of service (given a red sticker DO NOT DRIVE THIS) due to an alleged chafed brake lining.  I still have this air hose next to my office desk, and I show the alleged chafing to anybody who will listen to me about this New Jersey imperfection.  The chafing would not have affected the performance of the coach for years, if ever.  Nonetheless, we had to go to several hundred dollars’ expense because one of the eight identical brake lines was chafed.  When the driver brought me the air hose, I was the one chafed.

Yesterday, a state trooper named Choborda declared the bus out of service until one of the two TV monitors was moved away from an emergency exit.  This bus formerly was REGISTERED in New Jersey.  When new, all of its equipment was inspected by a NJDOT inspector Vince Bartalone, who subsequently inspected our bus at three different bus terminals in New Jersey over the course of a half-dozen years.  At no time did he declare the TV in the middle of the coach as blocking an emergency exit.   In fact, he explained that the bus was entirely in compliance because New Jersey only requires 40% emergency exit space throughout the coach, and he agreed that we have 100% throughout the coach EXCEPT for the few feet taken up by the TV monitor, which happens to be situated on top of the bus lavatory in the middle of the coach, right side of bus.  Even where the TV is, the handle to use the emergency window is clearly free of the TV set.  In other words, it is easily accessible.  And, there are ample exit windows throughout the coach, both sides of the aisle.
We were ticketed (SPZ 960383) for “PASS SIDE EMERGENCY EXIT WINDOW BLOCKED BY TV”.  Before our LAG motorcoaches were placed in service, the head of the NJDOT (Newark office) traveled to Belgium to inspect the factory where the LAG’s were being built.  He consulted with the manufacturer to make sure that the bus would be in NJ compliance.  As delivered to this country, the bus only required one installation unrelated to the TV monitor  (this was the necessity to have a plastic partition separating the driver from the passengers in the first seat behind the driver).  In the first place, why is it necessary to conduct these weekly (sometimes daily) inspections in Atlantic City?

A few years ago, the NJDOT said these inspections were set up due to the several bus accidents in the state and elsewhere.  In a formal request for information last Winter, GSS Tours asked the State of New Jersey whether the NJDOT or the state legislature could point to ANY accident, in the state or elsewhere, that they could blame on equipment failure.  We are still waiting for the answer.  The fact is that all the accidents were due to driver error.

We have no problem with periodic re-testing of drivers, but the incessant equipment inspection has to stop.  It is excessive and probably violates the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution, as reviewed in “City of Indianapolis”, ruling handed down near the end of November of last year.

Yesterday, Trooper Choborda ordered that we not carry passengers until the TV set is removed.  We have to remove the TV set, which has been in place for more than a decade, and having passed numerous NJ and PA inspections.  Now, we face a mandatory appearance in municipal court in Atlantic City December 3 at 1:30 p.m.

As part of the November 1 inspection by the state troopers, our bus was cited for “brake-out of adjustment AXLE 3 RT”.  The readings are listed on the DRIVER VEHICLE EXAMINATION REPORT handed to our driver from a computer printout at the inspection site.  Modern technology.  I don’t want to say here that the troopers are nutty as a fruitcake.  However, I have Work Invoice #22501 for the same bus  (VIN 391) which shows billing for one set of tag brakes  0102038.1   cost 267.92 and the corresponding labor  six hours  R & R L & R side tag brake lining  labor $390.00.  Date of this work was 9/19/01.

Do you believe that, of all the brakes on the bus, the tag axle brake on the right side was out of adjustment slightly more than one month after new brakes were installed?

Tell me the odds on that happening.

In our letters to the Governor’s office, we have mentioned how these inspections are unfair on several counts.  As a small business operator, a small (or even large) motorcoach company does not have the time or the staff to research and fight these situations.  They take the time of our driver (the one Thursday required 2 1/2 hours of our driver’s time), they take the time of our office staff and not infrequently they inconvenience the casino bus passengers, who often have to wait for another bus to pick them up.  And, not insignificantly, they cost us alot of money, thus enriching the coffers of the New Jersey court system and the Trenton moneydatabase.  It is, in fact, totally unfair and must be investigated by the Governor of New Jersey.

There is something fishy going on in the Garden State.  NJ and You??? I suggest you watch out.  Sooner or later, you also will find out you and NJ are not perfect together.

Blogger Talks to French Cousin

There is a man in France who has almost the same name as I.  He is Jean Charles Pierron. “Jean” is French for John.  Alas, I am John Pierron of the Philadelphia USA Pierrons.  My sister has spent nearly 40 years tracing the Pierron family tree.  In the process, she located Jean Charles Pierron, who, it turns out rather amazingly, is, if I recall it correctly, our fourth cousin, once removed.  I never have understood that “once removed” stuff, but that is not the reason for this message.

The commentary here has to do with the Twin Towers bombings 9/11/01.  And essentially, this is a direct message to Jean Charles. As you know, I am no fan of Bill Clinton.  For years, I have complained that the people of the United States are foolish to accept such a no-talent.  Take any 10-million lawyers in the U. S. and I will point to 10,000,000 people who are glib and possessors of the gift of gab.  So, Clinton is certainly not rare.

Before Clinton became President, I had surfaced my great concerns for his acumen.  One of the great myths of his Presidency was the bizarre though widely-held conclusion that Clinton was exceptional or brilliant, or something like that.  Any of those 10,000,000 could bluff their way through in the fashion of Clinton.  Many of these legal sharks can lie almost like the “expert” of fabrication.  Therefore, it should be noted that this less-than-super President should be viewed by history as a wimp when it came to responding to international crises, including terroristic bombings.  We must wait for the books from his key staff assistants who know what really was going on when Clinton responded to terrorism or even foreign provincial wars, such as the one in Bosnia.

Clinton did not understand the basic premise that “there are casualties in every war”.  There were casualties in Clinton’s wars, but the dying was not as public as the necessity of absolute 100% survival of American forces, performing what became “safe” response.  This Clintonesque defense policy, unfortunately, has carried over to the terrorism war, at least as perceived by some in the media and public.  Unfortunate.  As for his Presidency, and the manner in which he has sought to re-capture the stage in the wake of the World Trade Center bombings, that will come in a subsequent writing in these spaces.   9/14/01