Harlan Bus Lines, charter coaches and school routes, Richmond Missouri

What a charter costs, itemised

Nobody publishes this, so every quote feels like a number somebody made up. Here is a real one worked through: a high school band, Richmond to Branson and back over two days.

Quote illustrative · 47 passengers · 2 days · 1 overnight

Placeholder figures shown to demonstrate the format.
Coach and driver, day oneNine hours, includes loading and the wait at the venue	$980.00
Coach and driver, day twoSeven hours	$760.00
Road miles, 486 at $2.15Measured yard to yard, not town to town	$1,044.90
Driver lodging, one nightBilled at cost, receipt attached to the invoice	$118.00
Tolls and parkingBranson venue coach lot	$40.00
Total, all in	$2,942.90

That is $62.61 a head. Split across a band that has been fundraising since September, it is the part of the trip nobody argues about.

What is already in that number

Fuel. There is no surcharge line and never has been.
The driver's hours, including the ones spent sitting in a parking lot waiting for you.
Insurance at the full commercial passenger limit.
Cleaning the coach afterwards, however the trip went.

What is not

A second driver, required by federal hours rules once a day runs past ten hours of driving. Roughly $340 when it applies, and we tell you before you book, not after.
Anything the venue charges for a coach to sit in its lot beyond what is quoted above.

Deposits. A quarter down holds the date. The balance is due the week of the trip, and a cancellation more than fourteen days out is refunded in full.

Church groups, senior centres, class reunions, wedding shuttles and ball clubs are priced the same way. Nobody gets a different rate card.

The fleet, seat by seat

The two questions on every first phone call are how many will it hold and does it have a lift. Both are here so you do not have to ask.

Placeholder fleet shown to demonstrate the format.
Vehicle	Seats	Belts	Lift	Luggage	Best for
Coach 12	56	All seats	Yes	Underfloor bays	Overnight trips, instruments, ski bags
Coach 14	56	All seats	No	Underfloor bays	Day trips and casino runs
Mid-size 21	33	All seats	Yes	Rear rack	Senior centres, small congregations
Activity bus 30	47	Lap belts	No	Rear rack	Ball games, in-county field trips
Activity bus 31	47	Lap belts	No	Rear rack	Ball games, in-county field trips
Route buses, 9 of them	65 to 71	Varies	Two are equipped	None	Contract school routes only

Seat counts are for adults. A bench that seats three eleven-year-olds seats two seniors with coats, and we size on the honest number, not the sticker.

The things a group leader is quietly checking

Operating authority: USDOT 1234567, MC 123456. Both are placeholders here, and both are public records you can look up before you book anybody, us included.
Drivers: Commercial licence with passenger and school bus endorsements, DOT physical every two years, random testing pool, and a background check rerun annually.
Inspections: Every vehicle inspected annually by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, plus our own pre-trip walkaround before it leaves the yard.
If a coach breaks down: A spare leaves the yard while you are still on the phone. In thirty-one years no group has finished a trip in a rental van.

(816) 555-0104

School routes are a different conversation

Contract transportation is not a charter with a longer date range. It is a bid, a route study, a driver roster the district has to be comfortable with, and a September that has to go smoothly for a board that has heard from parents all August.

Route study in the spring, with turnaround points and ride times mapped before a price is quoted.
Fixed per-route pricing for the school year, with fuel movement shared rather than passed straight through.
Drivers assigned to a route and kept on it, because a route driver who knows which house the kindergartener actually lives at is worth more than a spare.
Activity trips billed separately at the rate card above, so athletics is not hiding inside the route budget.

Districts wanting to talk about the next bid year should call in February. By June the driver hiring window has closed.

Photograph to shoot A coach and an activity bus parked nose out in the yard on a clear morning, shot low from about twenty feet so both front ends fill the frame. Doors open, driver standing beside the first one. This is the shot that does the most work on the page and it takes ten minutes on any weekday before six.

Booking a date

Call with the date, the headcount and both addresses.
You get a written quote the same day, itemised the way the sheet above is.
A quarter down holds the coach. Nothing else is due until the week of the trip.
The driver's mobile number goes to your group leader two days before you travel.