Virginia Overland Transportation
Encyclopedia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
which operated new and used bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
dealerships and a number of intrastate urban-suburban bus lines for about 30 years in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Beginning as a school bus management consulting service in 1973, beginning in 1976 and throughout the 1980s, Virginia Overland acquired and consolidated a number of other privately-owned Virginia public service companies
Public service company
A public service company is a corporation or other non-governmental business entity which delivers public services - certain services considered essential to the public interest...
, some dating back to streetcar and interurban operations in the early 20th century. Based primarily in the Richmond-Petersburg
Richmond-Petersburg
The Greater Richmond Region is a region located in a central part of the state of Virginia in the United States. As of 2010, it had a population of 1,258,251, making it the 43rd largest MSA in the country...
region, at one time or another, the company also operated local bus services in Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia consists of several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia, in a widespread region generally radiating southerly and westward from Washington, D.C...
and the Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
areas of the state. By 1984, it was operating the second largest privately-managed fleet of school bus
School bus
A school bus is a type of bus designed and manufactured for student transport: carrying children and teenagers to and from school and school events...
es in Virginia, a school bus contractor
School bus contractor
A school bus contractor is a private company or proprietorship that provides student transport services to a school district or non-public school. Of the 450,000 school buses operating in the United States, it is estimated that approximately 39% are operated by school bus contractors...
second in size only to Laidlaw Transit. The company also represented Wayne Corporation
Wayne Corporation
Wayne Corporation was a large manufacturer of buses and other vehicles branded with the trade name "Wayne." The corporate headquarters were in Richmond, Indiana, in Wayne County, Indiana, in the United States...
and several other franchised product lines of buses and related products. It sold approximately 3000 new and used buses between 1976 and 2004.
Itself a consolidator
Consolidation (business)
Consolidation or amalgamation is the act of merging many things into one. In business, it often refers to the mergers and acquisitions of many smaller companies into much larger ones. In the context of financial accounting, consolidation refers to the aggregation of financial statements of a group...
of mostly smaller companies and operations, VOTC combined forces with a larger woman-owned business based in Hampton, Virginia
Hampton, Virginia
Hampton is an independent city that is not part of any county in Southeast Virginia. Its population is 137,436. As one of the seven major cities that compose the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, it is on the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula. Located on the Hampton Roads Beltway, it hosts...
in the early 1990s, and the larger company assumed some of the former VOTC subsidiaries and new operations developed jointly after several years. Meanwhile, although Wayne Corporation closed and was liquidated in 1992, VOTC saw its other former franchise manufacturers also acquired by bigger companies. As a result of the dwindling number of bus dealership opportunities among a smaller number of manufacturers, their consolidations forced VOTC and many other bus dealers into what one VOTC principal described wryly as "a corporate version of musical chairs
Musical chairs
Musical chairs is a game played by a group of people , often in an informal setting purely for entertainment such as a birthday party...
."
As the principals aged, and its dealership opportunities and volume waned, VOTC downsized and ultimately closed its then-sole Richmond location in 2004. However, as of 2010, some of the former VOTC employees and operations in eastern Virginia continued under the ownership of Serco Group
Serco Group
Serco Group plc is a government services company based in Hook, North Hampshire in the United Kingdom. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.-History:...
, an operator of over 600 contract locations internationally.
History, growth through acquisitions
Virginia Overland's parent company was formed in 1973 as a small school busSchool bus
A school bus is a type of bus designed and manufactured for student transport: carrying children and teenagers to and from school and school events...
management and consulting company. In 1975, it expanded into operating a cooperative school bus system serving 5 independent schools in the Richmond area. The following year, the service had grown to 13 schools and the company began to acquire all or controlling portions of a number of other older Virginia public service transportation companies
Public service company
A public service company is a corporation or other non-governmental business entity which delivers public services - certain services considered essential to the public interest...
, some with roots back to interurban
Interurban
An interurban, also called a radial railway in parts of Canada, is a type of electric passenger railroad; in short a hybrid between tram and train. Interurbans enjoyed widespread popularity in the first three decades of the twentieth century in North America. Until the early 1920s, most roads were...
streetcar operations as early as 1915, and urban-suburban bus line bus operations dating from 1928. (Under Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
law, an "urban-suburban bus line" is defined as a bus service "the majority of whose passengers use the buses for traveling a distance no more than forty miles, measured one way, on the same day, between their residences and their places of employment, stores, or schools.")
Transportation services
As an innovative and versatile provider of privatizationPrivatization
Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency or public service from the public sector to the private sector or to private non-profit organizations...
services, Virginia Overland Transportation contracted school bus
School bus contractor
A school bus contractor is a private company or proprietorship that provides student transport services to a school district or non-public school. Of the 450,000 school buses operating in the United States, it is estimated that approximately 39% are operated by school bus contractors...
transportation, commuter transportation, paratransit
Paratransit
Paratransit is an alternative mode of flexible passenger transportation that does not follow fixed routes or schedules. Typically mini-buses are used to provide paratransit service, but also share taxis and jitneys are important providers....
services, university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
inter-campus transportation, shuttle bus services, special event operations, and chartered bus services for federal, state, and local government agencies as well as non-profit organizations, businesses and companies.
Virginia Overland's largest long-term contracts included the yellow school bus systems for Petersburg City Public Schools
Petersburg Public Schools
The following are schools in the Petersburg, Virginia school division.Petersburg City Public SchoolsElementary Schools* A. P. Hill Elementary School* J. E. B. Stuart Elementary School* Robert E...
from 1981-1989, Hopewell City Public Schools
Hopewell, Virginia
Hopewell is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 22,591 at the 2010 Census . It is in Tri-Cities area of the Richmond-Petersburg region and is a portion of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area...
from 1984-1996, and Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University is a public university located in Richmond, Virginia. It comprises two campuses in the Downtown Richmond area, the product of a merger between the Richmond Professional Institute and the Medical College of Virginia in 1968...
's campus transit services from 1989-2004. The company also transported the Richmond Jewish Community Center's summer day camp program for 27 years, and operated the shuttle bus system at Richmond International Raceway
Richmond International Raceway
Richmond International Raceway is a 3/4-mile , D-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in Henrico County. It hosts the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series...
from 1989 to 2004. The company operated an FTA award-winning welfare-to-work van service in the Richmond under contract to Greater Richmond Transit Company
Greater Richmond Transit Company
The Greater Richmond Transit Company, known locally as GRTC, is a local government-owned public service company which operates an urban-suburban bus line based in Richmond, Virginia, USA....
from 2001-2004.
Emergency services
Virginia Overland staff utilized the company's resources to assist in emergency situations in its communities on several instances.On the morning of February 24, 1977, the Benjamin Harrison Memorial Bridge
Benjamin Harrison Memorial Bridge
The Benjamin Harrison Memorial Bridge is a vertical-lift bridge that spans the James River between Jordan's Point in Prince George County and Charles City County near Hopewell, Virginia. The bridge carries vehicle traffic of State Route 156, and is owned by the Virginia Department of Transportation...
on the James River
James River
The James River may refer to:Rivers in the United States and their namesakes* James River * James River , North Dakota, South Dakota* James River * James River * James River...
near Hopewell was struck by an ocean-going tanker ship
Ship
Since the end of the age of sail a ship has been any large buoyant marine vessel. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on size and cargo or passenger capacity. Ships are used on lakes, seas, and rivers for a variety of activities, such as the transport of people or goods, fishing,...
, severing State Route 156, a major commuter artery between Charles City County
Charles City County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 6,926 people, 2,670 households, and 1,975 families residing in the county. The population density was 38 people per square mile . There were 2,895 housing units at an average density of 16 per square mile...
and Prince George County
Prince George County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 33,047 people, 10,159 households, and 8,096 families residing in the county. The population density was 124 people per square mile . There were 10,726 housing units at an average density of 40 per square mile...
. Later on the day of the accident, state officials called upon local bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
, taxicab
Taxicab
A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...
, and water transportation providers, including both Greyhound Lines
Greyhound Lines
Greyhound Lines, Inc., based in Dallas, Texas, is an intercity common carrier of passengers by bus serving over 3,700 destinations in the United States, Canada and Mexico, operating under the well-known logo of a leaping greyhound. It was founded in Hibbing, Minnesota, USA, in 1914 and...
and Trailways, to offer potential solutions for the commuters. Virginia Governor Mills E. Godwin Jr.
Mills E. Godwin Jr.
Mills Edwin Godwin, Jr. of Chuckatuck, Virginia, was an American politician who was the 60th and 62nd Governor of Virginia for two non-consecutive terms, from 1966 to 1970 and from 1974 to 1978....
's Office of Emergency Services selected Virginia Overland to operate the land portion of what became an innovative solution, a hybrid combination of land and water services to comprise a unique system for commuters, which was in operation within 3 days, essentially operating from dawn to dusk. Virginia Overland used two-way radio-equipped vans and school bus
School bus
A school bus is a type of bus designed and manufactured for student transport: carrying children and teenagers to and from school and school events...
es based on each side of the river to coordinate with the passenger ferries. Expanded parking was provided by VDOT
Virginia Department of Transportation
The Virginia Department of Transportation is the agency of state government responsible for transportation in the state of Virginia in the United States. Headquartered in Downtown Richmond, VDOT is responsible for building, maintaining, and operating the roads, bridges and tunnels in the...
at both docks. During this operation, commuters would drive to the ferry dock area on the side of their residence and literally "Park, Ride, and Ride." The van and bus service on the south shore ran between the dock at Jordan's Point
Jordan Point, Virginia
Jordan Point is a small unincorporated community on the south bank of the James River in the northern portion of Prince George County, Virginia, United States.- Early history :...
and various schools and places of employment, including many businesses in Prince George County, Hopewell and notably Fort Lee, a large base of the U.S. Army located nearby.
In the opposite situation, some workers who lived on the south side of the river, parked and rode the ferry, and then vans or buses transported them to employment, mostly at Charles City County Public Schools and other governmental offices. Services continued for 20 months until the bridge was reopened.
In 1984, during a large cold weather industrial fire, the company was commended by the Richmond Bureau of Fire for taking the initiative of sending a transit bus
Transit bus
A transit bus , also known as a commuter bus, city bus, or public bus, is a bus used for short-distance public transport purposes...
to the scene and operating it all night to provide shelter for fire fighters. The company also won praise from the Hopewell Fire Department for its response during the August 6, 1993 Virginia tornado outbreak in the Tri-Cities
Tri-Cities, Virginia
The Tri-Cities of Virginia is an area in the Greater Richmond Region which includes the three independent cities of Petersburg, Colonial Heights, and Hopewell and portions of the adjoining counties of Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, and Prince George in south-central Virginia...
area which killed 4 people and caused $50 million in property damage. The company sent staff and school bus
School bus
A school bus is a type of bus designed and manufactured for student transport: carrying children and teenagers to and from school and school events...
es from its Richmond terminal to provide shelter from the rain and shuttle services for displaced elderly residents from a large heavily-damaged apartment complex.
Bus dealerships
Wayne Corporation
Wayne Corporation was a large manufacturer of buses and other vehicles branded with the trade name "Wayne." The corporate headquarters were in Richmond, Indiana, in Wayne County, Indiana, in the United States...
which delivered over 2,000 new school and commercial buses between 1976 and 1990. More than a few of Wayne's dealerships were operated by school bus contractor
School bus contractor
A school bus contractor is a private company or proprietorship that provides student transport services to a school district or non-public school. Of the 450,000 school buses operating in the United States, it is estimated that approximately 39% are operated by school bus contractors...
s. ARA Transportation and Laidlaw
Laidlaw
Laidlaw, organized as Laidlaw International, Inc. , was a predecessor corporation of First Student , a US subsidiary of the Scottish transport firm FirstGroup plc...
were the largest. Others included Bus and Bodies of Plaistow, New Hampshire
Plaistow, New Hampshire
- External links :* * * * * * * *...
, Town & Country Transportation of Warren, Rhode Island
Warren, Rhode Island
Warren is a town in Bristol County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 10,611 at the 2010 census.-History:Warren was the site of the Indian village of Sowams on the peninsula called Pokanoket , and was first explored by Europeans in 1621, by Edward Winslow and Stephen Hopkins...
, Rohrer of Duncannon, Pennsylvania
Duncannon, Pennsylvania
Duncannon is a borough in Perry County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,508 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area. The center of population of Pennsylvania is located in Duncannon. It is named after the coastal town of...
, and School Bus Services of Shawnee Mission, Kansas
Shawnee Mission, Kansas
Shawnee Mission, Kansas is a name created by the United States Postal Service to describe an area of Johnson County, Kansas that contains numerous towns. Parts of southern Overland Park are not part of Shawnee Mission as they were annexed from unincorporated Stanley and use zip code 66085...
. These school bus contractors, several of whom were also involved in contracting paratransit
Paratransit
Paratransit is an alternative mode of flexible passenger transportation that does not follow fixed routes or schedules. Typically mini-buses are used to provide paratransit service, but also share taxis and jitneys are important providers....
services, found having a dealership provided both a source and an input to product design at Wayne, as well as a natural outlet for sale of surplus equipment at the end of contract periods.
Wayne Corporation and Virginia Overland each enjoyed some especial profitable years in the late 1970s, buoyed by sales of Wayne's revolutionary Busette
Busette
The Wayne Busette was the first small school bus designed on a cutaway van chassis. A product of Wayne Corporation of Richmond, Indiana, first developed in 1972, the Busette utilized a van chassis equipped with dual rear wheels...
, a small school bus based upon the then-new cutaway van chassis
Cutaway van chassis
Cutaway van chassis are used by second stage manufacturers for a wide range of completed motor vehicles. Especially popular in the United States, they are usually based upon incomplete vans made by manufacturers such as Chrysler Corporation, Ford Motor Company, and General Motors which are...
which since have become a staple of the small school bus, recreational vehicle, and smaller delivery truck markets in the U.S. A higher-headroom version of the Busette, named Transette, also did very well in both the Virginia and national markets during this time.
In the 1980s, U.S. school bus body manufacturers faced a serious decline in sales of conventional school buses as both the bubble in school populations resulting from the baby boom generation and the era of court-ordered desegregation school busing
Desegregation busing
Desegregation busing in the United States is the practice of assigning and transporting students to schools in such a manner as to redress prior racial segregation of schools, or to overcome the effects of residential segregation on local school demographics.In 1954, the U.S...
each passed.
As did many other school bus body dealers in the U.S., in the early 1980s, Virginia Overland diversified its products lines from handling only Wayne products to representing additional franchised product lines, including small school buses by Mid Bus
Mid Bus
Mid Bus was a corporation which specialized in manufacturing customized school buses. Formed in 1981 by former employees of Superior Coach Company in Lima, Ohio, it grew from a dozen employees working in a small facility in Lima to become one of the country's largest manufacturers of smaller school...
, based in Lima, Ohio
Lima, Ohio
Lima is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in northwestern Ohio along Interstate 75 approximately north of Dayton and south-southwest of Toledo....
, and smaller and mid-sized commercial buses produced by Champion Bus Incorporated
Champion Bus Incorporated
Champion Bus Incorporated is the brand name of buses made by Thor Industries of Imlay City, Michigan, United States.Buses made under the Champion name include:* Challenger - mid-size bus using a Ford E-series , GM GMT or C4500 truck chassis...
of Imlay City, Michigan
Imlay City, Michigan
Imlay City is a city in Lapeer County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 3,869 at the 2000 census and 3,597 at the 2010 census.-Education:Imlay City has five public schools and one private school...
, as well as adding dealerships for several manufacturers of wheelchair lifts and accessories. However, by the late 1980s, despite major concessions by its labor union, the future business outlook at Wayne Corporation, Virginia Overland's primary franchiser, had become bleak. The company operating the factory was forced to declare bankruptcy and was liquidated in 1992.
Including the new buses from Wayne, Virginia Overland sold approximately 3,000 new and used buses and vans to its customers between 1976 and 2004 from its dealership locations in Henrico County, Petersburg, Hopewell and Richmond.
Employees, labor problems
Virginia Overland Transportation was staffed by many employees with prior public service expertise, including current and former GRTC and Richmond Public SchoolsRichmond Public Schools
This school division contains public schools serving the independent city of Richmond, Virginia. It is occasionally described locally as Richmond City Public Schools to emphasize its connection to the independent city rather than the Richmond-Petersburg region at large or the rural Richmond County...
employees, as well as some from other local public school division
School division
-Canada:In Canada the term is used to the area controlled by a school board and is used interchangeably with school district, including in the formal name of the board. For example, see List of Alberta school boards.-United States:...
s and retirees from military service and other organizations. The wide range of services and bus equipment combined to attract bus enthusiasts as employees. At its peak in 1984, the company was operating 135 revenue vehicles, and had over 175 employees.
In October 1986, some of the employees at the largest operation in the Tri-Cities
Tri-Cities, Virginia
The Tri-Cities of Virginia is an area in the Greater Richmond Region which includes the three independent cities of Petersburg, Colonial Heights, and Hopewell and portions of the adjoining counties of Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, and Prince George in south-central Virginia...
area and the Amalgamated Transit Union
Amalgamated Transit Union
The Amalgamated Transit Union is a labor union in the United States and The Amalgamated Transit Union Canadian Council in Canada, representing workers in the transit system and other industries...
(ATU) petitioned the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for labor union elections. The company management felt that a unionized operation could not compete with the advantages of school district self-operation of school buses because public employee unions of school bus employees are generally not recognized by local and state government in Virginia, a right-to-work state. (In 1976, a similar unionization attempt of school bus drivers working for ARA Transportation, another school bus contractor
School bus contractor
A school bus contractor is a private company or proprietorship that provides student transport services to a school district or non-public school. Of the 450,000 school buses operating in the United States, it is estimated that approximately 39% are operated by school bus contractors...
, by the Teamsters Union in Norfolk
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
, had resulted in considerable violence and several almost new Wayne Lifeguard buses were burned by protesters. The unionization attempt there essentially failed after the Virginia State Police assisted in ensuring that the Norfolk City Public Schools bus operations were not interrupted by the protesters).
In an attempt to avoid an election, Virginia Overland management appealed the request for election. NLRB hearings were held on several issues in the fall of 1986 and early 1987 in Richmond and Petersburg. However, the company was unsuccessful in blocking an election. Following an NLRB determination that an election be held, approximately 75 of Virginia Overland's hourly transportation and maintenance employees voted at the Petersburg terminal in May 1987. The election results were to remain non-union.
Reverse privatization
Virginia Overland's labor problems and NLRB hearings were closely watched by the public school officials from Petersburg and Hopewell. Two years after winning the election and remaining non-unionized, at the expiration of the current contract period in 1989, the largest portion of its services were assumed by self-operation by Petersburg Public SchoolsPetersburg, Virginia
Petersburg is an independent city in Virginia, United States located on the Appomattox River and south of the state capital city of Richmond. The city's population was 32,420 as of 2010, predominantly of African-American ethnicity...
in 1989. Another smaller contract operation for nearby Hopewell Public Schools
Hopewell, Virginia
Hopewell is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 22,591 at the 2010 Census . It is in Tri-Cities area of the Richmond-Petersburg region and is a portion of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area...
also converted to self-operation in 1996. The only other public school bus contract in Virginia at Norfolk (operated by Laidlaw Transit) had also converted to self-operation in 1991.
The 3 school division conversions, at Petersburg, Norfolk and Hopewell, were urged by Virginia Department of Education officials as "cost-saving". The contracting companies unsuccessfully disputed the state's financial calculations and cost allocations for the reverse privatizations, which effectively ended all public school bus contracting
School bus contractor
A school bus contractor is a private company or proprietorship that provides student transport services to a school district or non-public school. Of the 450,000 school buses operating in the United States, it is estimated that approximately 39% are operated by school bus contractors...
in Virginia at the time.
Teaming with JL Associates
In late 1990, the Virginia Overland staff joined forces with JL Associates, Inc. (JLA), a woman-owned Hampton, VirginiaHampton, Virginia
Hampton is an independent city that is not part of any county in Southeast Virginia. Its population is 137,436. As one of the seven major cities that compose the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, it is on the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula. Located on the Hampton Roads Beltway, it hosts...
provider of federal, state and municipal contractor services which had been founded in 1978. With the larger JLA as the lead company, the principals of JLA and VOTC worked together for several years. They successfully developed and added a number of services and contract locations ranging across the United States, notably in areas of parking enforcement operations and school transportation. In 1998, JLA was acquired by U.K. based, Serco Group
Serco Group
Serco Group plc is a government services company based in Hook, North Hampshire in the United Kingdom. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.-History:...
as it expanded its North American operations.
Two expansions in the Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
region which were undertaken during the 1990-1993 time period when staff from VOTC and JL Associates, Inc. of Hampton were continuing to operate as of April 2010. Initially based upon a former operation of Laidlaw Transit (Virginia), Transquest provides bus contract operations transporting students to independent schools in multiple South Hampton Roads
South Hampton Roads
South Hampton Roads is a region located in the extreme southeastern portion of Virginia in the United States, and is part of the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC MSA with a population about 1.7 million....
localities from its base in Norfolk
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
. Another local services section also operated by the Serco Group is the maintenance portion of the school bus operations of Portsmouth City Public Schools
Portsmouth, Virginia
Portsmouth is located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2010, the city had a total population of 95,535.The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, often called the Norfolk Navy Yard, is a historic and active U.S...
.
Richmond operations 1993-2004
Following completion of the projects working with JLA, VOTC consolidated its two locations in Richmond for dealership and transportation services into a single site in 1993. Following closure and liquidation of Wayne CorporationWayne Corporation
Wayne Corporation was a large manufacturer of buses and other vehicles branded with the trade name "Wayne." The corporate headquarters were in Richmond, Indiana, in Wayne County, Indiana, in the United States...
in 1992, and sale of Champion
Champion Bus Incorporated
Champion Bus Incorporated is the brand name of buses made by Thor Industries of Imlay City, Michigan, United States.Buses made under the Champion name include:* Challenger - mid-size bus using a Ford E-series , GM GMT or C4500 truck chassis...
's bus manufacturing operations to a competing company several years later, VOTC never regained its former volume of new school bus sales. Its franchise dealership with Mid Bus
Mid Bus
Mid Bus was a corporation which specialized in manufacturing customized school buses. Formed in 1981 by former employees of Superior Coach Company in Lima, Ohio, it grew from a dozen employees working in a small facility in Lima to become one of the country's largest manufacturers of smaller school...
ended in 1997. In 1998, Mid Bus operations were acquired by a larger competitor. Mid Bus operations in Bluffton, Ohio
Bluffton, Ohio
Bluffton is a village in Allen and Hancock counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. It had a population of 3,896 at the 2000 census. Bluffton is home to Bluffton University, a four-year educational institution affiliated with Mennonite Church USA. Bluffton is served by the Bluffton general aviation...
were closed completely by its new owners a few years later.
Overland Bus Sales operating as VOTC continued to operate passenger services based in Richmond until 2004. A contractual relationship with Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University is a public university located in Richmond, Virginia. It comprises two campuses in the Downtown Richmond area, the product of a merger between the Richmond Professional Institute and the Medical College of Virginia in 1968...
(VCU) for a wide range of passenger transportation services, first begun in 1989, continued after winning several competitive contracts and renewals, notably in 1993, 1995, and 2001. Also later in 2001, the company won a new competitive contract to operate CARE, an award-winning welfare-to-work van program serving the region provided by Greater Richmond Transit Company (GRTC), the local public transit
Public transport
Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...
agency in Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
jointly-owned by the City of Richmond and Chesterfield County
Chesterfield County, Virginia
Chesterfield County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state of the United States. In 2010, its population was estimated to be 316,236. Chesterfield County is now the fourth-largest municipality in Virginia . Its county seat is Chesterfield...
. Each contract ended in June 2004, when GRTC assumed self-operation of both the CARE program and assumed provision of the VCU Campus Transit system using Federal Transit Administration
Federal Transit Administration
The Federal Transit Administration is an agency within the United States Department of Transportation that provides financial and technical assistance to local public transit systems. The FTA is one of ten modal administrations within the DOT...
(FTA) funded equipment. Virginia Overland Transportation's parent corporation and its Richmond operating subsidiary were dissolved in 2005, although several of the former subsidiary had been consolidated in JLA and, therefore, later became part of Serco Group's North American operations. As of 2010, Serco listed over 600 contract operations world-wide, including some of the former JLA and VOTC operations and employees.
Founders: retirements and deaths
Marvin and Ruth Fisher each retired from their major roles and directorships of VOTC in 1996. Another key person, Sigvart Sande, was essatntially the number 2 person at JLA answering to Linda G. Watkins, principal-owner. As JLA and VOTC joined forces on a number of projects, Mr. Sande became involved with the bus companies during the period they worked together to expand and add new business in the early 1990s, and had a major influence in uniting the cultures of the two organizations, as he was known for his willingness to listen to others, and was highy respected by all.In the early 1990s, both Sig Sande and Marvin Fisher battled personal cancers while still working. Even as their personal health declined, they each contributed to the future well-being of the various business activities. They died within weeks of each of other in March 1997.
Sigvart Sande
A native of NorwayNorway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, "Sig" Sande was graduate of Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, and a retired Lt. Colonel with the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
. A long-time JLA principal, he become involved with the bus operations in 1991. Mr. Sande served as an officer of the former Virginia Overland portion of JLA, working closely with VOTC principals and managers. He had long been the chief operating officer of the entire JLA Organization when he died at the age of 63 on March 12, 1997.
Mark, Marvin and Ruth Fisher
Former VOTC Chairman, Marvin H. Fisher, succumbed to cancer and died March 24, 1997 at the age of 79. Several years later, his widow, Ruth E. Fisher, developed early stages of dementiaDementia
Dementia is a serious loss of cognitive ability in a previously unimpaired person, beyond what might be expected from normal aging...
. As her needs became greater, their son, Mark D. Fisher, retired in 2004 after a career of over 30 years in Virginia, and became his mother's full-time caregiver. They moved to their retirement home near the quiet and historic community of Williamsburg, Virginia
Williamsburg, Virginia
Williamsburg is an independent city located on the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, USA. As of the 2010 Census, the city had an estimated population of 14,068. It is bordered by James City County and York County, and is an independent city...
(located about 55 miles east of the former VOTC home base city of Richmond, and 30 miles west of Hampton). After a brief hospitalization, Ruth Fisher died peacefully at the age of 89 on September 15, 2007.
Mark D. Fisher passed away on April 30, 2011 in Williamsburg at the age of 59.
Listing of Virginia Overland's predecessor organizations, dates formed
- Petersburg and Appomattox Railway (founded 1915)
- Hopewell and City Point Railway (founded 1915)
- Petersburg, Hopewell, and City Point Railway (founded 1916)
- Richmond Ashland Railway (founded 1918) successor to Richmond and Chesapeake Bay RR
- Petersburg, Hopewell, and City Point Transportation Co. (founded 1928)
- Petersburg-Hopewell Bus Lines (name change 1939)
- Bon Air Transit Company (founded 1946)
- Tri-City Coaches, Inc. (founded 1958)
- Hopewell Bus Company (founded 1965)
- VRH Corporation (founded 1973)
- Virginia Overland Transportation Co. (name change 1975)
- Virginia Overland Charter Service (trade name 1976)
- Virginia Overland Bus Sales (trade name 1976)
- Virginia Overland Tri-City Coaches, Inc. (acquisition 1-1-1981)
- Dominion Coach Company (founded 1983)
- Virginia Overland Bus Lines (trade name 1983)
- Laidlaw Transit VA (Norfolk) (partial acquisition 1985) (Note: an eastern VA subsidiary of Laidlaw Transit only)
- Mechanicsville Bus Line (founded 1988) successor to Capital City Coaches affiliate of Roane Bus Lines
- Virginia Overland Transportation Services, Inc. (aka VOTS) (1990) (name change)
- Overland Bus Sales (trade name 1990)
- Virginia Public Service Transportation (trade name 1992)