Greyhound losing Agencies/Depots

[roeco]

Well Greyhound Candada seems to loose an agency or 2 or 3 every month. Let me start with a list of Agencies that have closed or will! In Alberta; Cold Lake,Fox Creek,Westlock,Barrhead,Rycroft,Spirit River,Consort,Beaverlodge,Didsbury,Fort McLeod.

I'm not sure of too many in BC as of yet, Except One! And a pretty signifigant one at that. The Cache Creek,BC agency will Close at end of July and as of Aug.1 the bus will stop at the Petro Canada in Cache Creek however it will be a bus stop location only, No Tickets/Express.

[canuck600]

I don't think Cache Creek has been a signifigant agency ever since the Coquihalla opened up and the divison/driver change point was moved to Kamloops.

Greyhound no longer stops in Winfield BC so that agency is gone and to the best of my knowledge there is still no longer a agent in Enderby BC.

[roeco]

I don't think Cache Creek has been a signifigant agency ever since the Coquihalla opened up and the divison/driver change point was moved to Kamloops.

Greyhound no longer stops in Winfield BC so that agency is gone and to the best of my knowledge there is still no longer a agent in Enderby BC.

I wasn't aware the driver/division point was moved to Kamloops? However I believe the bus that runs Vancouver to Prince George through the Fraser Canyon would switch drivers in Cache Creek, But I guess that Vancouver driver would run to Cache Creek and then the Prince George driver would run from Cache Creek to Prince George. It may not be signifigant however it is still a Transfer point for some passengers coming to/from PG cause they would need to transfer at Cache Creek heading to/from Kamloops/Calgary/Okananagan.

I wasn't aware of Enderby closing, when did that occur?

[canuck600]

The driver change/division moved to Kamloops upon the opening of the Coquihalla. Some of the scheds from Prince George do transfer buses in Cache Creek but a lot of them do the transfer in Kamloops.

The Enderby agent shut it's doors about a year ago. Not sure if they have found anybody new yet. Buses still stop in Enderby though.

[airwolf]

The driver change/division moved to Kamloops upon the opening of the Coquihalla. Some of the scheds from Prince George do transfer buses in Cache Creek but a lot of them do the transfer in Kamloops.

The Enderby agent shut it's doors about a year ago. Not sure if they have found anybody new yet. Buses still stop in Enderby though.

Enderby is still just a bus stop at the old agency location. Sorrento went without an agent for a little over a year until someone picked up that agency about six months ago.

Cache Creek will be back up and running on Aug 16 as an agency at the Petro Can.

Princeton Changed hands on January 1st of 2009.

Squamish, Whistler, and Pemberton all changed hands in November of 2009.

Abbotsford changed hands three months ago (April of 2010)

Osoyoos only has a ticket agent at the visitor info centre, GCX goes to Oliver (Which changed hands last year)

Christina Lake is now just a bus stop. The agency closed in 2008.

Keremeos changed hands in April of 2010.

Oh and Eastgate has closed as an agency as of March 2010

Due to a fire, Hixon is temporarily closed. 70 Mile House suffered the same fate about a year and a half ago. I'm not too sure weather they have completed the rebuild and are back up and running yet or not.

[roeco]

Enderby is still just a bus stop at the old agency location. Sorrento went without an agent for a little over a year until someone picked up that agency about six months ago.

Cache Creek will be back up and running on Aug 16 as an agency at the Petro Can.

Princeton Changed hands on January 1st of 2009.

Squamish, Whistler, and Pemberton all changed hands in November of 2009.

Abbotsford changed hands three months ago (April of 2010)

Osoyoos only has a ticket agent at the visitor info centre, GCX goes to Oliver (Which changed hands last year)

Christina Lake is now just a bus stop. The agency closed in 2008.

Keremeos changed hands in April of 2010.

Oh and Eastgate has closed as an agency as of March 2010

Due to a fire, Hixon is temporarily closed. 70 Mile House suffered the same fate about a year and a half ago. I'm not too sure weather they have completed the rebuild and are back up and running yet or not.

the only one i didnt know about was Princeton and keremeos.,nor was I aware of Hixon/70 Mile. I knew Cache Creek was goin to petro can just wasnt sure of the opening date. Abbotsford is now run by the people that used to run I believe the Lethbridge and Banff agencies. Squamish/Whistler/Pemeberton i believe are run by a company that currently runs agancies in Alberta also, or theirs some kind of relationship i believe.

The driver change/division moved to Kamloops upon the opening of the Coquihalla. Some of the scheds from Prince George do transfer buses in Cache Creek but a lot of them do the transfer in Kamloops.

The Enderby agent shut it's doors about a year ago. Not sure if they have found anybody new yet. Buses still stop in Enderby though.

The schedules to/from Cache Creek that go through the Fraser Canyon have a bus in Cache Creek that meets it to take people to the Okanagan, Kamloops/Penticton,etc. Does anyone know on this run how the drivers work, I would assume the Vancouver driver takes it to Cache Creek and the Prince George driver takes it to PG. Otherwise all the other schedules would run one driver PG-Kamloops and then one from Kamloops to Van.

[canuck600]

If we're counting agencies that have changed owners, the Salmon Arm agency changed about 13-14 months ago, not sure of the exact date as I learned of it well after the fact.

[airwolf]

the only one i didnt know about was Princeton and keremeos.,nor was I aware of Hixon/70 Mile. I knew Cache Creek was goin to petro can just wasnt sure of the opening date. Abbotsford is now run by the people that used to run I believe the Lethbridge and Banff agencies. Squamish/Whistler/Pemeberton i believe are run by a company that currently runs agancies in Alberta also, or theirs some kind of relationship i believe.

The schedules to/from Cache Creek that go through the Fraser Canyon have a bus in Cache Creek that meets it to take people to the Okanagan, Kamloops/Penticton,etc. Does anyone know on this run how the drivers work, I would assume the Vancouver driver takes it to Cache Creek and the Prince George driver takes it to PG. Otherwise all the other schedules would run one driver PG-Kamloops and then one from Kamloops to Van.

Currently the Squamish, Whistler, and Pemberton agencies are operated by the same company that operates South Edmonton, Sherwood Park, St. Albert, Spruce Grove, Ft. Saskatchewan, West Edmonton GCX, and I believe Ft. Mcmurray.

As for the drivers @ Cache Creek: Usually the Vancouver driver brings the bus to Cache Creek and the PG driver takes over to PG. There is also a bus that comes from Penticton via Kelowna, Vernon, Falkland, and Kamloops and they transfer to the bus from Vancouver. Which bus does the transferring though depends on how many are on each coach. This is how it works for the morning departure north bound, two buses arrive in Cache Creek and one continues. There is one evening departure from Penticton that routes via Kelowna, Vernon, Salmon Arm to Kamloops where a PG driver takes over and takes the trip to Cache Creek and hands to another PG driver. The first PG driver will then sleep until the morning departures start arriving. The reason for this is because this driver is the one that brings a south bound to Kamloops from PG that arrives in Kamloops at 23:45. I'll start with more clarification later.

[roeco]

Currently the Squamish, Whistler, and Pemberton agencies are operated by the same company that operates South Edmonton, Sherwood Park, St. Albert, Spruce Grove, Ft. Saskatchewan, West Edmonton GCX, and I believe Ft. Mcmurray.

As for the drivers @ Cache Creek: Usually the Vancouver driver brings the bus to Cache Creek and the PG driver takes over to PG. There is also a bus that comes from Penticton via Kelowna, Vernon, Falkland, and Kamloops and they transfer to the bus from Vancouver. Which bus does the transferring though depends on how many are on each coach. This is how it works for the morning departure north bound, two buses arrive in Cache Creek and one continues. There is one evening departure from Penticton that routes via Kelowna, Vernon, Salmon Arm to Kamloops where a PG driver takes over and takes the trip to Cache Creek and hands to another PG driver. The first PG driver will then sleep until the morning departures start arriving. The reason for this is because this driver is the one that brings a south bound to Kamloops from PG that arrives in Kamloops at 23:45. I'll start with more clarification later.

Are their not any Kamloops based drivers?? Thats kind of a weird way to do it. But anyways, I know about the above agencies however I wasnt aware of Fort Saskatcewan?? I know they also opertate Leduc too, And yes they do operate Ft McMurray, however I'm not sure if these are all permanent deals or if their doing it just until Greyhound can find someone else to take over some?? Cause I know they ran Ft.McMurray for a bit then someone else ran it now their back running it. Cause I know Greyhound does have a hard time finding operators for some of their Agencies.

[airwolf]

Are their not any Kamloops based drivers?? Thats kind of a weird way to do it. But anyways, I know about the above agencies however I wasnt aware of Fort Saskatcewan?? I know they also opertate Leduc too, And yes they do operate Ft McMurray, however I'm not sure if these are all permanent deals or if their doing it just until Greyhound can find someone else to take over some?? Cause I know they ran Ft.McMurray for a bit then someone else ran it now their back running it. Cause I know Greyhound does have a hard time finding operators for some of their Agencies.

Right now the only trip from PG to Van that involves a Kamloops driver is that trip arriving in Kamloops at 23:45. The Kamloops driver leaves for Vancouver at 00:45. The dinner trips to Edmonton and Calgary bring PG transfers to Kamloops for that evening departure out of Penticton. I guess that involves a Kamloops driver since Kamloops drives that Edmonton bus. The PG bound bus leaving Van at 20:30 is driven by a Vancouver driver to Kamloops and a PG driver from Kamloops to PG. This Vancouver driver goes back to Van on the 03:20 departure from Kamloops (which arrives from Calgary).

[airwolf]

Maple Ridge has been closed for almost two years now. Rumours keep surfacing that someone is going to re open there but so far that hasn't happened.

Have they got a new agent in St. Paul or Athabasca yet?

[roeco]

Maple Ridge has been closed for almost two years now. Rumours keep surfacing that someone is going to re open there but so far that hasn't happened.

Have they got a new agent in St. Paul or Athabasca yet?

St.Paul yes,that agency wasn't closed too long A laundromat picked it up. However Athabasca went without one for quite some time and now its run by the Grand Union Hotel. Westlock just closed July 1 I believe, It was at the petro can bulk plant this was due to a personal matter.

In terms of agencies changing, Whitecourt Changed from The Quality Inn(aka Rivers hotel) after close to 30 yrs to Dynamic Esso on June 1. Chetwynd changed owners the preivous owners took over Nelson,Castelgar and I believe Creston. As for Mapler Ridge I think they only get one bus a day through their now, And I dont know how well it actually did their, I would think pretty good as their is no agency close.

[airwolf]

Yes Maple Ridge gets one bus each direction each day. But they almost always put at least a dozen passengers on each bus. In addition to that, the GCX is where the money was at that agency. The east bound trip would bring at least two and a half luggage tanks full of freight into Maple Ridge and leave with at least two tanks full. The west bound was no different. And yet with the ammount of freight that was passing through this agency, they still couldn't pay their bills, hense the closure. With the opening of the new Golden Ears Bridge, however, Langley is now only 15 minutes away.

[roeco]

Yes Maple Ridge gets one bus each direction each day. But they almost always put at least a dozen passengers on each bus. In addition to that, the GCX is where the money was at that agency. The east bound trip would bring at least two and a half luggage tanks full of freight into Maple Ridge and leave with at least two tanks full. The west bound was no different. And yet with the ammount of freight that was passing through this agency, they still couldn't pay their bills, hense the closure. With the opening of the new Golden Ears Bridge, however, Langley is now only 15 minutes away.

Yes I know Langley is quite close, However the Langley depot runs very crappy hours 10am-7pm Mon to Fri and Im not sure even if theyre open on sat, I know their closed sundays. Wow...if Maple Ridge was doing that well on freight volumes then their must have been mismanagement or too high of rent on the location, cause why else would it close. Plus the P&D is where $$ is made too.

[airwolf]

Yes I know Langley is quite close, However the Langley depot runs very crappy hours 10am-7pm Mon to Fri and Im not sure even if theyre open on sat, I know their closed sundays. Wow...if Maple Ridge was doing that well on freight volumes then their must have been mismanagement or too high of rent on the location, cause why else would it close. Plus the P&D is where $$ is made too.

P&D was taken from Maple Ridge at least a year before they closed. The reason they weren't able to stay afloat was becasue of the P&D being taken from them and them across the board commissions cuts of up to 50%, which is why Greyhound is loosing agencies everywhere. BTW Langley has returned to the old hours opening at 7am for the arrival of the 7:30am Calgary bus.

[roeco]

P&D was taken from Maple Ridge at least a year before they closed. The reason they weren't able to stay afloat was becasue of the P&D being taken from them and them across the board commissions cuts of up to 50%, which is why Greyhound is loosing agencies everywhere. BTW Langley has returned to the old hours opening at 7am for the arrival of the 7:30am Calgary bus.

I would assume that Maple Ridge P&D is done by Langley? I know the people that run Langley also run Chilliwack and Vernon and they have cut the hours at both chilli and vernon also.

Some smaller agencies complain they only make $20 plus a day,well thats like 600 or so a month, if ur a convenience store or somethin then thats ok $$ cause that could pay ur power bill or ur gas bill,etc. And it costs u know more to print out a ticket or send express than to say have someone buy groceries, u make less of gas if u have a gas bar, but every dollar counts these days.

I myself am thinking of looking at getting into a Greyhound Depot, as I do have experience in working at one and I have been following Greyhound like a book since the early 80's.

[canuck600]

You also need to figure the cost of your lease or mortgage into those costs along with staff wages

[airwolf]

I would assume that Maple Ridge P&D is done by Langley? I know the people that run Langley also run Chilliwack and Vernon and they have cut the hours at both chilli and vernon also.

Some smaller agencies complain they only make $20 plus a day,well thats like 600 or so a month, if ur a convenience store or somethin then thats ok $$ cause that could pay ur power bill or ur gas bill,etc. And it costs u know more to print out a ticket or send express than to say have someone buy groceries, u make less of gas if u have a gas bar, but every dollar counts these days.

I myself am thinking of looking at getting into a Greyhound Depot, as I do have experience in working at one and I have been following Greyhound like a book since the early 80's.

Maple Ridge P&D as well as Langley, Surrey, Delta, North Vancouver, and Vancouver are all handled by Coquitlam.

Yes The hours did get cut at both Langley and Chilliwack almost as soon as the agents in Vernon took them over. However Greyhound did issue some directive to increase the hours and both are now restored to almost where they were before Vernon took them over.

[roeco]

Maple Ridge P&D as well as Langley, Surrey, Delta, North Vancouver, and Vancouver are all handled by Coquitlam.

Yes The hours did get cut at both Langley and Chilliwack almost as soon as the agents in Vernon took them over. However Greyhound did issue some directive to increase the hours and both are now restored to almost where they were before Vernon took them over.

I'm quite surprised that if Langley P&D is handled by Coquitlam, how they are making it,their ticket and express volume are they really that good?

So I guess that means Abbotsford and Chilliwack are the agencies that must do quite well, since they both do P&D for quite large areas especially Abbotsford(which was just taken over by the people who used to run Lethbridge and Banff and some others that escape me.)

[airwolf]

I'm quite surprised that if Langley P&D is handled by Coquitlam, how they are making it,their ticket and express volume are they really that good?

So I guess that means Abbotsford and Chilliwack are the agencies that must do quite well, since they both do P&D for quite large areas especially Abbotsford(which was just taken over by the people who used to run Lethbridge and Banff and some others that escape me.)

Tickets wise Langley the one place that always causes headaches for dispatch. On my recent stint running the 12:30trip to Salmon Arm, there wasn't one trip that I didn't need to call the Calgary overload in to pick up Calgary passengers that I usually take to Merritt for transfer. Similar problems arise with both the morning and dinner Calgary trips and the late morning Kelowna. The one Prince George trip that rolls through is a hit or miss trip. Sometimes it's quite busy, other times it's dead. As for the express, they have a tendency to fill the tanks on every bus that comes through, no matter which way it's going. They also have a small truck from Coquitlam that pays them a visit to assist with the freight volume too.

Yes, Abbotsford and Chilliwack both do quite well. But their former agents both got out because of Greyhounds cuts to agnets commissions.

[roeco]

Tickets wise Langley the one place that always causes headaches for dispatch. On my recent stint running the 12:30trip to Salmon Arm, there wasn't one trip that I didn't need to call the Calgary overload in to pick up Calgary passengers that I usually take to Merritt for transfer. Similar problems arise with both the morning and dinner Calgary trips and the late morning Kelowna. The one Prince George trip that rolls through is a hit or miss trip. Sometimes it's quite busy, other times it's dead. As for the express, they have a tendency to fill the tanks on every bus that comes through, no matter which way it's going. They also have a small truck from Coquitlam that pays them a visit to assist with the freight volume too.

Yes, Abbotsford and Chilliwack both do quite well. But their former agents both got out because of Greyhounds cuts to agnets commissions.

In terms of Agencies Im possibly interested in getting into one myself in the near future,Im not 100% sure how they work but I think for the Commission agents to get into one they pay a security deposit and a bond and then they get a commission for the total tickets and express revenue that goes through the agency.And for those that have P&D they are responsible for their own P&D but they also get all the revenue for that. And I know the agents pay all the staff wages, Not sure about utilities,rent,phone,etc. And I know alot of the major agencies Greyhound has the lease or they own the building and I dont know if thats paid by Greyhound or if the agent pays it. In terms of security deposit Im not totally sure if its a flat rate or if its based on volume? Any info on this by anyone would be appreciated. Also I would assume you need to run certain hours and cant just run whatever u want too.!

[airwolf]

In terms of Agencies Im possibly interested in getting into one myself in the near future,Im not 100% sure how they work but I think for the Commission agents to get into one they pay a security deposit and a bond and then they get a commission for the total tickets and express revenue that goes through the agency.And for those that have P&D they are responsible for their own P&D but they also get all the revenue for that. And I know the agents pay all the staff wages, Not sure about utilities,rent,phone,etc. And I know alot of the major agencies Greyhound has the lease or they own the building and I dont know if thats paid by Greyhound or if the agent pays it. In terms of security deposit Im not totally sure if its a flat rate or if its based on volume? Any info on this by anyone would be appreciated. Also I would assume you need to run certain hours and cant just run whatever u want too.!

For a while agents were able to run their own hours. After Commissions were cut many of them cut back their hours to the point of really being ridiculous. I know a number of agencies were instructed to increase their hours. In Terms of Chilliwack, they were given 48 hours to fix their business hours. Most agenst I talk to say that unless you have a business on the side or have more than one agency, you can't make it. You might want to think about that before picking one up. I personally think the best way to do things is to look at taking up all agencies on an entire cooridor like the Sea-to-sky agencies are.

[roeco]

Tickets wise Langley the one place that always causes headaches for dispatch. On my recent stint running the 12:30trip to Salmon Arm, there wasn't one trip that I didn't need to call the Calgary overload in to pick up Calgary passengers that I usually take to Merritt for transfer. Similar problems arise with both the morning and dinner Calgary trips and the late morning Kelowna. The one Prince George trip that rolls through is a hit or miss trip. Sometimes it's quite busy, other times it's dead. As for the express, they have a tendency to fill the tanks on every bus that comes through, no matter which way it's going. They also have a small truck from Coquitlam that pays them a visit to assist with the freight volume too.

Yes, Abbotsford and Chilliwack both do quite well. But their former agents both got out because of Greyhounds cuts to agnets commissions.

I lived around vancouver for alot of years and I know when Cascade was still running the valley service it was alot better than with Greyhound doin it all, I think the reason Langley has issues is cause they have so few buses that pick up their and too many that just drop off. Whatever happened to the Valley connector,i know it provided a pretty vital service for Greyhound's Fraser Valley connections. Do you know when Greyhound's restrictions were lifted about not carrying local passengers between Vancouver and Chilliwack and points between, was it after Fraser Valley gave up the route?

[roeco]

You also need to figure the cost of your lease or mortgage into those costs along with staff wages

I was talking about a depot leased/owned by Greyhound and run by a Commission Agent. Such as Red Deer/Langley,Abbotsford,etc ones like that. Does anyone know how the C.A. works like what % they get and what expenses they are responsible for,etc?

For a while agents were able to run their own hours. After Commissions were cut many of them cut back their hours to the point of really being ridiculous. I know a number of agencies were instructed to increase their hours. In Terms of Chilliwack, they were given 48 hours to fix their business hours. Most agenst I talk to say that unless you have a business on the side or have more than one agency, you can't make it. You might want to think about that before picking one up. I personally think the best way to do things is to look at taking up all agencies on an entire cooridor like the Sea-to-sky agencies are.

Any idea what the cost is to get into an agency? Or what expenses C.A. are responsible for?

Well Greyhound Candada seems to loose an agency or 2 or 3 every month. Let me start with a list of Agencies that have closed or will! In Alberta; Cold Lake,Fox Creek,Westlock,Barrhead,Rycroft,Spirit River,Consort,Beaverlodge,Didsbury,Fort McLeod.

I'm not sure of too many in BC as of yet, Except One! And a pretty signifigant one at that. The Cache Creek,BC agency will Close at end of July and as of Aug.1 the bus will stop at the Petro Canada in Cache Creek however it will be a bus stop location only, No Tickets/Express.

The Greyhound Agency at The Petro Can in Cache Creek I believe is Now operating. I think they open around 6 and close around 11.

[roeco]

Stettler and Innisfail are now closed.