How Do I Know if a Bus Operator is Safe

There are a lot of options to pick from when looking to rent a charter bus for group travel. In addition to the most obvious prerequisites a company must meet to earn your business: seating, restroom, luggage storage… You also have to keep in mind what matters most—and that’s the safety of you and your passengers.

Bus Company Safety is a serious matter in the motorcoach industry. The bus operators listed within the BusRates.com charter bus operator directory agree—it’s a number one priority for their businesses. In fact, travel by bus is one of the safest forms of travel. The Bureau of Transportation reports that buses are twice as safe as flying and—forty-six times safer than driving a car! That’s a big wow! Find other reasons for renting a bus in our Travel Tips.

Bus Company Safety: No Joking Matter!

Regulating Bus Company Safety

It’s not surprising that there are a lot of checks and balances to get safety ratings for bus travel this good in the United States and abroad. In addition to personal credos in safety from bus owner/operators, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which gives authority to these bus operators to operate and carry passengers state-side, has its own stringent stratagems for grading and enforcing ever-increasing safety measures.

All of this inspection information and history is available for each bus operator profile you find on BusRates.com. Underneath each company name and address, you’ll find a link to the company’s United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) number. It gives you a preview of all the publicly available information for a motorcoach operator registered and compliant with FMCSA.

An example posting on the USDOT and Licensing & Insurance links highlighted

Learning More about Bus Safety

BusRates.com is glad to provide access to federal safety information and is also thrilled to help new or novice planners learn the ins and outs of the data. To this end, we’ve written a tutorial for planners to reference when examining the information found on FMCSA.org that walks planners through company registration, accident history, and insurance requirements for bus operators. We call it our Understanding Operator Authority Guide and recommend it as a valuable resource for any group planner. Take a look when browsing bus operators to find the best bus company for your group.

We wish all travelers safe journeys and hope your next trip includes a charter bus for your group travel.