2013 Crossmen Protest Tour
Day 29, Friday July 12th
Show Day- Veterans Memorial Sports Complex, UW-LaCrosse, WI
Housing- Sparta HS, Sparta, WI
The ride to Sparta HS was thankfully uneventful. The convoy rolled in together and the 200 mile journey was complete. Rehearsal proceeded as has become normal. After ensemble we loaded everything up and were ready to roll 5 minutes early.
The event at LaCrosse is known for a scheduled DOT inspection of all corps motor coaches our fleet is ready for the inspections. After a 30 minute delayed arrival by three of the buses we are back on schedule for warm ups. The coaches get in the inspection line in order to satisfy the DOT. I wonder if they are using this event as a training exercise for new DOT officers as this is a very unusual experience for me and I owned trucks for 30 years in our previous business life. I did have a level of concern as this looks like a witch hunt of sorts. One of another corps coaches was put out of service for an oil leak and tagged until repairs were made and signed off by a mechanic. We had a minor citing on one and we were good to go. Except the brass bus was sighted for a low air warning buzzer that worked but it was debatable if it sounded at the proper pressure. Our friend, Bernard, at Gotta Go in Fort Worth jumped on the situation and dispatched a mechanic to do any work that might be needed and get us back on the road. We had the staff and brass switch buses, sent the convoy minus most of the staff with Joe. Then the rest of the convoy headed to Amery, WI. The plan was to have everyone rendezvous at the housing site. The ride should have taken a little over three hours. Sometime during the night we made a wrong turn and things got more complicated as we went. We rectified our mistake but in the process the convoy encountered a low bridge. The buses could go but not the RV and tractors. We figured a way around for the trucks and RV and got back on track. The buses lost an hour and a half. The RV and trucks lost two and a half hours. The irony of it all is that Joe and most of the staff beat everyone to the housing site as they only lost an hour with the DOT fiasco. The mechanic said that the citing was done by an overzealous officer. The coach was legal as is and the low pressure alarm worked as designed! All this mess created by an inspection!
Protest arrives at LaCrosse!
Posted by Fred Morrison on 12th July, 2013 | Comments | Trackbacks
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