This time of year, college graduates file in by the hundreds, pick up their degrees to the tune of pomp and circumstance, but 2020 is no ordinary year.
Covid-19 has essentially put the travel industry at a standstill.however, motorcoach companies are putting their wheels back in motion seeking financial support.fox 55's jeremy masukevich tells us how one local company and over one thousand others are making their voices heard.
Nat deb o man, we all just kind of looked at each other and thought this ends our industry real quick.bus drivers across the country have seen covid-19 eliminate travel.the american bus association estimates a six point seven billion dollar loss with over fifty-four thousand drivers out of work.
Sot diane we received an email about a month ago of the thought of doing this and initially they were hoping for 100 buses to show up.the laotto motorcoach company american heritage trails caught wind of the rolling awareness campaign an initiative to send a fleet of buses to washington d.c.
In search of economic relief.sot diane it had just snowballed through the industry that this was going on.
They definitely got their 100 buses, in fact, we are rolling with just over 1000 buses right now.american heritage trails employees were excited for the opportunity to have their voices or in this case, their horns heard.sot deb it's hard.
I've been doing this for 17 years full time.
To sit at home and not have anywhere to go, or have anything to do is kind of life- changing.both airline and railroad companies have received economic support during covid-19 but motorcoach and bus companies have been overlooked.sot diane a lot of us companies are smaller companies.
There is this sense of family, and we are all going through the same thing right now.according to the aba of the 3,000 bus and motorcoach companies in the u.s. ninety percent are small family owned businesses.
Sot deb it not like its one big company.
There are thousands of mom and pop shops that own these bus companies.
The american heritage staff recognizes that going back to work will depend on people's willingness to travel moving forward.they hope rolling through the nation's capital will not only lead to economic support, but also show the country how eager they are to get back on the road.sot deb we are more than happy to do it, to show support for our owners and hopefully get the money to help us get back to work and help us do our job that we had before all this started.in fort wayne, jeremy masukevich, fox 55 news
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