Effective today (1-26-10), the US Department of Transportation has announced a ban on texting for commercial drivers. Below is the text of the news release.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood Announces Federal Ban on Texting for Commercial Truck Drivers

U.S Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today announced federal guidance to expressly prohibit texting by drivers of commercial [...]

With the downturn in the economy, states across the country are experiencing budget crises, and looking for ways to cut expenses anywhere they can. And many are looking for quick fixes — short term savings regardless of the long term consequences. One of those shortsighted “fixes” affects all of us who travel, drivers and passengers: [...]

Have you chartered a motorcoach for your group’s trip? Great — smart move! Here are eight tips for you, the group leader, from my perspective as your driver for your charter trip.
1. Introduce yourself, as the person in charge, to your driver.
You’d be amazed how often we have to guess or ask around [...]

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has an excellent website with driving tips for commercial drivers. Although they’re written from the viewpoint of a truck driver, they apply as well to motorcoach drivers and even passenger car drivers for the most part. It’s certainly worth spending some time here:
CMV Web-Based Driving Tips
Included are video clips [...]

That’s the title of an article yesterday in USA Today. It’s an interesting summary of low cost travel on some of the newer carriers providing very inexpensive rides between major cities in the east, midwest, and western us, including Megabus (CoachUSA) and BoltBus (Greyhound).
Are Buses the New Way to Go?

No, we’re not talking about traffic signals here … to a motorcoach driver, the dreaded red light is the red light on the DriveCam — the tiny red light barely visible at the bottom right of the rear-facing lens on the video black box mounted on the windshield of most motorcoaches these days. But [...]

The FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration) will be implementing an “Operation Safe Student” initiative May 8-21, 2009, according to Elaine Farrell, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Bus Association in Harrisburg, PA. Since many students ride motorcoaches during this period of time, FMCSA will be stepping up inspections of motorcoaches nationwide. Expect destinations you are [...]

To most motorcoach charter and tour bus drivers who have the “good fortune” of driving trips to New York City, this parking sign seems an endangered species. In the last several months we’ve lost a couple of drivers’ favorite parking spots — 59th Street (between 11th and 12th Avenues), and 62nd Street by Lincoln Center. [...]

These five rules for safe driving are adapted from the Smith System, trainers for safe driving.

Aim high in steering.
Look 15 seconds into your future. Don’t just watch the vehicle in front of you.
Get the big picture.
Use the four second rule to avoid following too closely.
Keep your eyes moving.
Avoid fixed stares.
Leave yourself an out.
There’s [...]