Private Coach Placard

[Jamie Bradford]

Where can you get a " Private Coach " placard??

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Come to a rally. While the folks are sneaking around at night putting blow up dolls and sheep on other folks coaches, steal their Private Coach plackards.

Why do you need them?

[Orren Zook]

Come to a rally. While the folks are sneaking around at night putting blow up dolls and sheep on other folks coaches, steal their Private Coach plackards. Why do you need them?

Probably so he won't have to argue with the chick in the toll booth on the WV turnpike (or another toll road) about whether his coach is commercial or private... double the price in WV for a commercial/tour bus!

[Jon Wehrenberg]

I solved that in NH once. When the gal insisted I was a commercial bus despite the fact she was eye level with the Private Coach sign, I pulled on the parking brake, and told her I was going back into the living room to read a book until she decided we were not a commercial vehicle.

With traffic already backed up 1/4 mile behind us and building fast she still called her supervisor and was told to charge us the private rate. The signs didn't do anything to convince her, or she was illiterate.

In NY state on the Thruway we were given the commercial ticket on more than one occasion. Having been burned enough to know what class ticket we should have been given I also pulled up the parking brake every time. I have to tell you that the hiss of air brakes being applied has significantly more impact than signs. Especially if it is rush hour and traffic is building behind you. Getting out of your seat really gets their attention. Ironically, every single incident, from NH to NY, to other states that charge by private versus commercial rather than on number of axles or weight happened when we had NY plates and they were displayed on the front as well as the rear and private plates are unlike commercial plates and impossible to confuse for commercial.

[truk4u]

Jamie,

What happened to the one on the bus? Did Debbie rip it off thinking it said Private Toilet...:D

[PLSNTVLE2]

Great story Jon. I'm still laughing while typing this post. I hope you don't mind if I use the same method next time they try this on me..

[Jamie Bradford]

I did not think this would be so difficult................

Mine has lost it's luster ------ I guess I have washed it too much?

Or too many "sheep" visits have caused it to become dull.:rolleyes:

I just need a new placard .

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Terry,

When we lived in NY it seemed like everywhere we travelled there were toll roads. I was oblivious to the different classes in those states that did not charge by weight or number of axles uniformly for commercial and private vehicles initially. From IL, to IN, to OH, to NY,to NH, to WV we paid tolls. It dawned on me when I made the same trip only days apart and I paid two different tolls. I asked for the toll schedule and realized there was a huge difference between what was charged commercial vehicles and private vehicles.

So from that time on I asked for the fee schedule when I pulled into the toll booth to get a ticket. We collected them for every toll road we went on. On the very first time I compared the class I was listed as and realized we had been classed as a commercial vehicle. That's when I found out that trying to correct the problem at the toll booth where you have to pay is a whole lot harder than making them give you the correct ticket up front. Even making them give you a ticket for the right class after they punched one seemed like an effort.

So from then on we would pull out the toll schedule before we picked up the toll road ticket, and I would sit in the toll booth with the ticket in my hand and make sure it was correct before I would move the bus.

It seems petty but if we were taking the NYS Thruway from Buffalo to the Albany area the difference was around $30 if my memory is correct. Back then we had the 8V92, the exhaust blew out the driver's side, and since ours was a DDEC I version a snap throttle application would roll out the black smoke. You can guess what I did to toll booth folks that gave us a hard time when they made the mistake. I smoked them.

[hhoppe]

Jon: You need to spend more time in California. I pulled up to a bridge toll booth with my bus, the guy looked down the side of the bus and then at me and said you can go. So I stepped on it. Evidently in our Welfare State commercial busses don't pay tolls. It only worked once, the rest of the times it was $9.00.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

NY or CA? Ed, you need to get out more.

There are a lot of places where there are toll roads. If they are like the NY Thruway the tolls were supposed to be gone when it was paid for. When if was paid for the state said it needed tolls to pay for improvements. At least now they no longer lie. They stick the money in the general fund so they can support more people on welfare.

We just went down to the Keys using the Florida turnpike. As we went south on the turnpike I watched a $100 bill evaporate. Heading across the Chicago Area on our way to Spearfish we must have spent a dollar a mile in tolls.

Next time I intend to spend that money on fuel to avoid the Chicago area.

I guess its expensive building roads when the contractors have to pay the "prevailing wage" and the inspectors.

[Victor Dimera]

Hopefully you will find your answer Jamie when all the chit chat is finished:D

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Hey Jamie....if that private coach sign is cast aluminum it will take almost no effort to shine it back up.

If your letters are like mine they are polished aluminum and the background is the coach body color. Use a sanding block with about 1000 or 1500 sandpaper, and then use a buffing wheel with white rouge. It will shine like new.

Or bring it and a new bundle of $100s up to my house and I will show you how.

[Kenneth Brewer]

"I was oblivious to the different classes in those states that did not charge by weight or number of axles uniformly for commercial and private vehicles initially."

Anecdotally, in Pa. the charge is/was by weight, which established classes, on the turnpike. I have many times gotten on at one entrance and beed issued a ticket automatically (which also established the class weight because the vehicle was automatically weighed), gotten to exit I wanted to get off at, and been weighed again and somehow majically picked up enough weight that it kicked me into the next higher class. I balked and sat until they took care of it somehow in office building next to the booths.

On the CB I happened to mention this (complained) by questioning if anyone else (truckers) had encounted this and was bombarded by everyone in range that hell yes this happens all the time, nothing was done to calibrate all the scales together so that they agreed (but if you were sitting right on edge of the threshhold between one class and the next ......). Going from one class the other way, where the weight dropped to the lower class, would not get you a refund (less toll due to being a class lower). Imagine that.

One place to be careful is the Chesapeake Bay Bridge tunnel, where the toll is horrendous in any case (but not assessed by weight, I think).

Finally, some of you may have entered toll tunnels that prohibit propane gas bottles (not an issue for most of us in Prevost conversions). In some cases, Maryland, if you had a saddle tank rather than the barbecue type gas bottle used on trailers on the tongue, you were permitted to use the tunnel. In others, you had to get out and prove your shut-off valves were closed.

[phorner]

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge tunnel is "thrilling" enough without having to pay premium tolls :eek:

[Orren Zook]

You're right about variations in scales on some toll roads, I can get on one class lower with the same fuel and water levels by driving to the next exit west of here. I've had the class increase once in PA when I had a flat on the trailer I was towing and just pulled the tire off and limped to the next exit to buy a new tire - I scaled over on one axle of the trailer. I also think you could burn enough fuel between entry and exit on some toll roads to maybe drop a class.