OPERATOR: Next year Glynn Ross will mark his 50th work anniversary in the bus and coach industry. We chat with the veteran operator and driver about his successful business, Coolum Coaches, and how he found his true calling behind the wheel and never looked back - adapting to a new life and new business on the Sunshine Coast, far away from his roots in Toowoomba, Queensland.
Coolum Coaches’ CEO Glynn Ross was a school teacher for 17 years before shifting gear to run a bus and coach company. While continuing to teach, Ross also drove buses for his father, Glynn Ross (whom he was obviously named after), who operated a school bus service in Toowoomba in the 1980s.
Driving Leylands, Tiger Cubs and Comits for 12 years, as well as running the business with his father, Ross became so attached to the industry that he decided to quit teaching and run the company by himself. While he enjoyed working in the education sector, he realised that he loved to talk and to be on the road more than anything. Driving buses was the right combination of those two passions.
The first few years he drove buses, worked as a mechanic, washed the fleet and helped in the office – working 12 hours per day, seven days per week. He bought out his father’s share of the business and ran it successfully before moving to the Sunshine Coast in 1999.
“I saw the opportunity to buy Coolum Coaches and so I decided to sell my Toowoomba business. I took a chance and moved my family to the Sunshine Coast. My kids often had asthma and we disliked the cold of Toowoomba. We made a new life in Mooloolaba. All five of my children went to school on the Sunshine Coast,” Ross said.
Coolum Coaches is today one of Australia’s most well-respected bus and coach service providers. In 2010, Ross purchased North Stradbroke Island (NSI) buses in beautiful Straddie at Moreton Bay. Since then, the business has operated school bus services on Stradbroke Island and Sunshine Coast, a QConnect contract on Stradbroke Island, corporate and private event hire, and cultural tours in South Queensland via its new outpost, Out & About Travel. There is a depot each in Coolum and Stradbroke Island and a workshop in Coolum.
OPERATIONS
Coolum Coaches started with two IBCs, a Bedford and two Volgrens. Now, Ross really loves his five Denning Phoenix coaches, he says.
“They are absolutely indestructible. I can send them anywhere, for any job without worry,” he said.
The fleet also includes two each of Bustech, Scania, Iveco and Bonluck buses, three Higer, a Daewoo, a Toyota HiAce and a Mitsubishi Rosa.
A fleet of 19 buses provides morning and afternoon coach transfer services for around 20 schools in the areas covering Lake Weyba, Peregian Springs, Cooloolabin, Coolum Hinterland, Kiamba, Mt Ninderry, North Arm, Parklands, Valdora and Yandina.
The team also offers local and interstate coach tours, group tours including social clubs, probus groups, senior citizen groups, airport and wedding transfers, and corporate event charters. A range of vehicles from 24- to 65-seaters manage the charter side of operations.
The current team includes Ross, who is MD of the group of companies; 20 drivers; an operations manager at each depot; two mechanics; and an admin manager.
“I thank my staff profusely for all they’ve done for me and carried my business when I’ve been sick. I do appreciate it. Lavish praise when praise is due,” Ross said.
COVID INTERRUPTION
Although things are slowly picking up, Ross believes it could take up to six months before things get back to normal after the disruptions caused by Covid-19.
“During the restrictions, all private tours, charter and weddings were on hold. We continued with most school excursions and sport days and our school bus routes remained the same, but they were not as busy. Our employees qualified for JobKeeper payments, which was very appreciated to be able to sustain their income while our charter work was non-existent,” he said.
However, Ross’s team did not sit idle during that down time. They used that time to research and implement new tour itineraries, update marketing strategies and restructure the group of companies.
“My team also worked on upgrading our three websites and remapping our school routes with Translink’s Optimisation team. I believe we are the only school bus company to have interactive school bus maps on our website,” said Ross.
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A JOB WELL LOVED
“Running your own business means you can be autonomous and flexible with your time,” Ross explained.
“When I was a school teacher, I was governed by the clock, which I found stressful. Bus driving is stress-free and, since most of our customers are on holidays, it is a more relaxed environment. When I first started out, we had four buses on the sunshine coast and six buses on Stradbroke. The entire Sunshine Coast has grown and so has my staff.
“Now that I am retired, I enjoy coming in and having a conversation with the drivers and the staff and show them some support and interest in what they are achieving every day.
“I’ve been involved in the bus industry for 49 years. I’ve seen many changes over the years – changes for the best and changes for the worst, but there is one basic thing the government can’t forget and that is what school bus transport is all about: providing safe and reliable transport of children to school. If the government loses sight of this, the industry will collapse.”
The 12 buses in Coolum and seven on Stradbroke Island move around 1,200 kids to and from school every day. As the next step, the team is looking to grow its school routes further and cater its private charters and tours to a broader international market.
Photography: courtesy Coolum Coaches