How to quote a multi-day charter bus trip without losing money

A one-way transfer is easy to price. A four-day group tour with a changing number of coaches, a night in Jasper and an early departure on day three is where quotes go wrong. The quote looks fine on paper, then the trip runs and the margin is gone.

Quotes that lose money usually miss the same few costs. Here's an order of work that catches them.

1. Write the itinerary day by day

Start with each day on its own line, not the trip as a whole. For every day write down:

• the first pickup time and place, and the last drop-off
• every stop in between, with how long the group stays
• how many passengers ride that day, and how many coaches that needs
• whether the coach and driver stay with the group overnight or return to the yard

Bus counts change during a trip more often than planners say up front: two coaches on arrival day, three for the excursion, two for departures. Quoting the whole trip at the highest count overprices you; quoting at the lowest leaves you short a bus on the day that matters.

2. Count every kilometre, starting at your yard

The customer's itinerary starts at the hotel. Your costs start at the garage. Add the drive from your yard to the first pickup and from the last drop-off back to the yard, every day the bus returns home. On a trip into the mountains, those deadhead kilometres can be a large share of the total distance.

If the group is staying away overnight, compare two options: send the bus and driver home each night, or keep them with the group and pay a hotel. Beyond a certain distance the hotel is cheaper, and it's usually better for the driver's hours too.

3. Check driver hours before you promise a schedule

A schedule that's legal for the group isn't always legal for the driver. Under Canada's hours-of-service rules, summarized in Ontario's bus handbook, a driver can't drive more than 13 hours or drive after 14 hours on duty in a day, needs 10 hours off duty a day, and is limited to 70 hours on duty in 7 days on the seven-day cycle. For US trips, the FMCSA rules for passenger carriers allow 10 hours of driving after 8 hours off, and no driving after 15 hours on duty.

Look at three things for each day:

1. Total driving time including deadhead. If it's near the limit, quote a second driver or a relay.
2. The gap between the last drop-off and the next morning's first pickup. An 11 p.m. return and a 6 a.m. departure doesn't leave enough off-duty time.
3. The driver's cycle. A driver who has already worked a heavy week may not have the hours for a four-day tour.

This is the most common reason a "cheap" quote ends up needing an extra driver flown or driven in at your cost.

4. Price the driver's hotel and meals

If the driver stays overnight, the room and meal allowance belong on the quote. Book the room when the group confirms, not the week before, especially in tourist towns in summer.

5. Price the days the bus can't be sold

A coach committed to a five-day tour can't take the wedding or the airport run on day three. If the trip includes a free day where the group stays put, decide whether that day is billed. Many operators charge a reduced standby rate rather than nothing.

6. Put the terms in the contract

Before you send the quote, make sure the contract covers:

• the deposit due at signing, and when the balance is due
• what happens if the passenger count or bus count changes
• cancellation charges by date, tied to the days you've turned away other work
• extras that are billed after the trip: extra hours, extra kilometres, cleaning, parking and tolls

A quote the group can sign and pay on their phone gets confirmed faster than one that needs a printer.

A worked example

A planner asks for a four-day incentive trip for 140 guests: airport pickup and dinner run on day one, Banff on day two, the Icefields Parkway to Jasper on day three, and Jasper back to the airport on day four.

• Day one needs two coaches, day two and three need three, day four needs two.
• Days three and four keep the drivers with the group, so add two driver hotel nights per coach in Jasper.
• Day four's drive back is long enough that you check each driver's hours from day three's finish before assigning.
• Garage-out and return kilometres are added on days one and two, when the buses come home each night.

Priced that way, every cost the trip will actually have is on the quote, and the group sees one total with a clear deposit.

Doing this in software

You can run this method in a spreadsheet. We built it into RouteOn's charter quoting because our own spreadsheets kept breaking: each day carries its own stops, passengers and bus count, garage and deadhead kilometres are added from your nearest yard, driver hotels are suggested for trips far from home, and the hours-of-service check flags days that need a second driver. The contract and deposit go out on the same link.