Greyhound seats and fleet questions

[Swadian Hardcore]

Still worse than a hotel room. I do agree a Kenworth W900 with a flat-screen TV has got to be nice.

 

[railiner]

You haven't driven some of the nicer products coming out of Volvo or Paccar, Railiner.

Nice, yes. But a truck is still a truck. Its wheelbase is is shorter than a bus, and its suspension, even with airbags, has to be calibrated to handle a much heavier GCW....

 

[railiner]

Yeah that doesn't seem like a good idea. The "co-driver" really can't be expected to get really restful sleep by kicking back in the front row. I guess if there was a real sleeping berth somewhere... it could work.

There is a real sleeper berth on the La Cubana buses....look at that link, in the fifth slide....it is located just ahead of the restroom. It is a FHA-legal sleeper berth, just like on a tractor-trailer, that permits two driver's to go cross-country. No, I wouldn't like to drive that way, thankyou....but the ride is still better than in any truck on the road.....

I just don't see the point of this. Why waste revenue seats for a sleeping berth when the driver is better off sleeping in a cheaper, more comfortable hotel room? And in a hotel room, he can get a shower, shave, and good food before and after each drive.

Oh, I agree....I would never drive a bus (or truck) with a sleeper-berth operation. In La Cuban's case, it might make sense economically. The length of their run would require two driver changes. And they would have to establish a driver base either in NY or somewhere in NC, in additon to their home in Miami. And that would require addtional expense as well....

 

[Green Maned Lion]

I'm not sure the combined cab and toungue weight would exceed that of a bus, actually.

Besides some of the newer trucks have suspended cabs. I've never slept in a truck, but a cabover with a suspended seat has an excellent ride, except when it pogos on occasion (the oscillation of the truck reaches the natural frequency of the air ride seats and so they magnify instead of canceling for a moment)

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Interesting, I heard that a cab-over truck always rides worse than a conventional. There was a big group of CR England truckers on the Prevost from Denver until SLC, where they got off for Monday's driver training session.

Personally, I love the look of the Peterbilt 362 truck with its nice "loco nose": http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/pix/trucks/alberta_big_rig_show/2013/day02/20130817_dsc_3202.jpg.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

They might. I wouldn't know. I've never owned a conventional. I'm just saying that the ride was generally smooth and comfy. I had no problem doing special markets in Ohio on a straight shot from Jersey with a stop for a meal in the middle.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

You're a trucker? Railiner is another trucker.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

I am a retailer. I started out in the flea market and over the course of that went from a sedan to a Ford Econoline van to a 14' Isuzu NPR to a 24' GMC T6500 before getting fully sick of doing outdoor flea markets and opening a retail store and selling the truck.

Oh, and by the way, that Isuzu NPR? I would say that driving it was similar to driving a jackhammer.

 

[railiner]

Swadian, what made you think I was a trucker? I still maintain my CDL class 'A', but the fact is, I haven't driven a truck since 1968! And then I only drove for a brief period, before getting into the bus industry...

As for COE vs conventional....The main purpose of the COE is to allow a longer trailer in the maximum combination length. The COE will have a shorter wheelbase than a conventional, and as a result, a choppier ride. The COE is easier to handle in tight quarter's, especially in backing. The conventional affords better crash-protection.

Anyway, COE's seem to have all but disappeared in recent years, except for some low-cab-forward's, and 'yard' tractor's. I really have not been following the truck scene in a long time to offer better insight....

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

I thought you were a trucker, with all those endorsements.....

But anyway, Greyhound PR appears to be indeed working overtime: http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/greyhound-bus-fleet-revamps-100-year-dog-learn/story?id=24719475.

http://www.freep.com/article/20140727/FEATURES07/307270013/greyhound-bus-improvements.

Check out the comments on the first link, HILARIOUS! "Free air fresheners", yeah right, Greyhound already has a "Tough Guy" air freshener on every bus. Man, ignorance!

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Also, while riding the G4500, I noticed the real problem with the red handles for window escape, instead of having a window bar. The red handles are only placed on one side of each window, in the G4500, that is the rear end. There is no way to open the window from the front end. So if your seat is lined up with the front half of a window, you cannot escape out the window unless the guy behind you open the window, and if that seat is empty, you are screwed, especially with the high-backed seats.

See the attached photo and you'll understand what I'll talking about.

 

[rickycourtney]

Those red handles are pretty much the standard on transit buses. I agree they're not the best... but I'm not sure they're deficient. There must be a reason why bus builders prefer these red handles.

I'm not sure how to improve the situation. Maybe better labels on buses or emergency instruction cards? Safety spiels?

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Some of our Greyhound drivers on this trip did make safety announcements, besides insisting, "No smoking on this bus, and that means ANYWHERE on this bus!"

You have to remember, transit buses do not have high-backed seats or parcel racks, so passengers in them can easily reach a red handle. Not in Greyhound.

Look at my photo, look at the two people in seats 11-12, how are they supposed to reach a red handle in the event of an emergency? Now I'm glad the G4500 doesn't have a front fuel tank, but a bus with a front fuel tank would explode or burn easily in a collision, rendering escape out the front entrance impossible.

 

[rickycourtney]

Some of our Greyhound drivers on this trip did make safety announcements, besides insisting, "No smoking on this bus, and that means ANYWHERE on this bus!"

Same announcement my Greyhound driver gave after every. single. stop. I'm guessing it's an ongoing problem. But no safety announcements.

You have to remember, transit buses do not have high-backed seats or parcel racks, so passengers in them can easily reach a red handle. Not in Greyhound.

Except the transit buses in Seattle that have high-backed seats and parcel racks. Haha.
I guess what I want to know is why manufacturers use this type of emergency escape over the other kind?

Also, the government must think these windows are satisfactory since they're still being installed on new buses.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

A few of my drivers did give the safety ammouncements, but it's inconsistent. I don't think Kit did it, but Dale, Cynthia, and maybe one of the others did it IIRC.

I personally don't think it's a good idea unless there are red handles on both ends of the window. Also, transit buses in general, do not have high-backed seats or parcel racks, and in general, they do not operate at highway speeds. That is, in general.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Blue G interior: https://www.flickr.com/photos/95851032@N07/14798081385/in/photostream/.

More photos to come in here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/95851032@N07/.

Updated Blue G list: 6998 7027 7028 7029 7033 7035 7043 7049 7072 7075 7091 7094 7104 7111 7125 7134 7137 7146 7151 7155 7159 7171 7191 7193 7199 7202 7203 7212 7213 7216 7221 7265 7273 30515

 

[Green Maned Lion]

What's with the cruddy vinyl seats? I remember the Dog having beautiful cloth seats!

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

What's with the cruddy vinyl seats? I remember the Dog having beautiful cloth seats!

They're Mexican seats. Anyway, the vinyl doesn't stain like the cloth did. The G4500 interior used to look like this: https://www.flickr.com/photos/labanex/1030008138/in/faves-95851032@N07/.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

I don't care if it's vinyl from the finest plastics factory in Timbuktu. It's still vinyl rather than a good cloth velour (which can be both stain proof and durable).

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Personally, I don't like sitting on cloth velour. Too soft and thick. Same reason why I don't like carpet, and same reason why I hate driving my frigging car.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

Then buy a car with a different interior.

I personally do not like hard seats, BOEs excepted. And I hate cheap vinyl. The only decent vinyl I've ever seen is MBTEX.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Why would I buy another car when I have a useable car for my needs? All my intercity travels are done by Greyhound anyway.

 

[rickycourtney]

I prefer Greyhound's leather seats over cloth seats. The ones I've seen haven't been stained and had no smells to them. I can't say that for other buses I've travelled on or pictures I've seen of older Greyhound buses. Plus it gives a "premium" feel for passengers. It's the same reason why most airlines have switched to leather, seems like a no brainier to me.

For the record... I think it's leather in some sense of the word. It's not high quality single hide leather... but it's not straight up vinyl either.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

I prefer Greyhound's leather seats over cloth seats. The ones I've seen haven't been stained and had no smells to them. I can't say that for other buses I've travelled on or pictures I've seen of older Greyhound buses. Plus it gives a "premium" feel for passengers. It's the same reason why most airlines have switched to leather, seems like a no brainier to me.

For the record... I think it's leather in some sense of the word. It's not high quality single hide leather... but it's not straight up vinyl either.

Here's a close-up of the seats: https://www.flickr.com/photos/95851032@N07/14616932479/in/photostream/.

Let's just forget about seat covers for a second and remember that these seats don't sag, have footrests, and have a lot of legroom and recline. Especially a lot of legroom. And let's also remember that the Blue G does not smell like plastic or burning plastic. Lastly, I would like to say that the passengers on this bus were the among most civilized I have seen on Greyhound.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

It's vinyl, trust me. Top grain or full grain (which is never used in this kind of application by the by because it is too thick) leather is far too expensive and it does not, generally speaking, tear. It patinas and it cracks which leads to what looks like tears.

Bonded leather, leather scraps bonded to a vinyl backing, is not at all durable. It's use in a vehicle such as an intercity bus would be moronic. It has all of the disadvantages of leather ( heat conduction, scent retention, stainability), all of the disadvantages of vinyl (nonbreathing, heat retention, glue scent), none of leathers advantages (scent, durability, patination, tear strength, abrasion resistance) and none of vinyls advantages (indestructible, flame retardence, non staining, water proof).

Bonded leather is used on garbage products solely to allow that product to advertise itself as leather. Like the stuff you'd find at Sofa King. It's Sofa King bad. It's Sofa King awful. And Sofa King cheap.

Greyhound, who seems to operate on the basis of buying the cheapest, most simplified equipmemt available, and them maintaining it as cheaply as possible, would not buy something that garbage. They'd buy vinyl, which is basically indestructible.