Larry Pierce (left) has been at the helm of Pierce Coach Line for more than 60 years. His son Troy serves as operations director.
Other school bus contractors call
him “The Senior Authority,” and
for good reason: Larry Pierce has
been in the business for more than
60 years.
The president of Pierce Coach Line in
Roslyn, N.Y., was handed the reins of the
school bus operation by his father in the
1940s, around the end of World War II.
In addition to growing the family business,
Pierce has held key roles in contractor
associations and has shared his insight with
many colleagues throughout the years.
For his contributions to the school bus industry
at the local, state and national levels,
SCHOOL BUS FLEET named Pierce its 2008
Contractor of the Year. He became the 41st recipient
of the award at the National School
Transportation Association’s (NSTA) annual
meeting, which was held in Calgary, Alberta,
in July.
Industry-wide ties
Pierce is a longtime member of NSTA and
the New York State School Bus Contractors
Association (NYSBCA), and he has served as
president of both groups. He was instrumental
in launching New York’s first school bus
safety competition in 1972.
“Larry has been and continues to be a vital
part of the New York School Bus Contractors
Association,” says John Corr, president and
CEO of the Trans Group in Spring Valley,
N.Y., and an NYSBCA board member. “He
is influential in many of the state’s initiatives
for school bus safety and operator advances.
We lovingly call him ‘The Senior Authority’
for our industry.”
In 1987, Pierce was named the NYSBCA’s
own Contractor of the Year. In 1994, he was
inducted into the NSTA Hall of Fame.
One aspect of his company that Pierce
is particularly proud of, his son Troy says, is that it has been a stepping stone
for many people who have achieved
considerable success in their careers.
Several former Pierce Coach employees
have gone on to start their own
companies, including Bob Brown of
Brown Coach, which is based upstate
in Amsterdam, N.Y.
In the family
Today, Pierce Coach Line transports
about 1,800 students daily on 175
school buses on the north shore of Nassau
County, also known as the “Gold
Coast” of Long Island.
During the summer, the company
operates a children’s day camp in
Roslyn and a sleep-away camp in New
Hampshire.
Larry Pierce still serves as president
of the company. Troy, who has worked
full time for the family business for 15
years, is operations director. Larry’s
wife, Fran, also works for the company
as an administrative assistant.
The school bus operation initially
ran just in the summer to transport day
campers. Around 1948, Larry decided
that the buses should be used year-round,
and he landed contracts with
three Long Island school districts. The
company still maintains those three
contracts and one additional contract
with another local district.
One of the key challenges for Pierce
Coach is shared by school bus operations
throughout the nation: driver
turnover. To that end, the 140-employee
company has increased wages and
benefits, making them competitive
with larger companies in the region.
Still, Pierce Coach has a contingent
of longtime staff members. One driver
has been with the company for 30
years; a few others have at least 25
years of service.
When asked what has kept his father
in the school bus business so long, Troy
says that “it’s in his blood. It’s really the
only thing he’s ever known.”
Other attractions to the industry are
his relationships with other contractors
and the opportunities to work together
through the associations. Troy says that
his father is “miffed” if he’s ever not involved
in something.
“He was just at a luncheon with
the New York governor,” Troy says.
“They’re working on trying to exempt
contractors from the fuel tax.”
And Larry’s colleagues are certainly
glad to have him as a fellow member of
the industry. “They’ve always called him
up to pick his brain,” Troy says.