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Transportation of Scouts


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Can I just vent for a minute?

Of course, if anybody has any suggestions, I would be thrilled to hear them.

 

I am planning to take a group of boys to Sacramento on the Coast Starlight in the spring. We can hike from the Amtrak station to Camp Pollock, where we'll stay for a couple of nights. The problem I have is, in order to catch the train back home, we need to get back to the train station at around 11:00 PM.

 

We will probably send a parent down with a pickup-truck and a small trailer to take the majority of the camping gear. Since it is inadvisable to walk around in downtown Sacramento after dark, I was planning to rent a van to get the kids from the camp to the train station... maybe even rent it for the whole final day so we could go visit Big Trees or something.

 

Now, the problem...

 

The only place that rents anything larger than a 7-passenger mini-van in Sacramento is Enterprise.

 

Enterprise requires that anybody renting a 15-passenger van (or anything bigger than a mini-van) *for not-for-profit groups* have a Class B driver's license.

 

Of course, I can always go rent the van and just tell them it's for personal/family use, but that would not be honest.

 

I have called every freaking auto rental place in the entire Sacramento area, and nobody else rents passenger vans.

 

The only bus charters one can get in Sacramento are full-sized school busses -- overkill to say the least, and well out of our price range unless we have at least 25 people going (which is unlikely).

 

Other cities have options for van rentals or smaller bus charters. But not Sacramento. Why???

 

So... unless one of our parents has a Class B Commercial driver's license, we're really going to be out of luck. As far as I can tell, the only other option is to hike to the train station and make all the boys hang out inside the station from the time it gets dark until the train gets there at midnight... and that's IF it's on time!!!!!

 

*sigh*

 

Any other ideas?

 

-Liz

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Liz, that is a state law, when we from AZ travel to California and bring the Big Van the Driver must have the license. So You might want to get one of the Adults to take the test before you go, so you can do this.

 

John

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Check with the camp, many camps have a van that they will use to transport a troop (with or with a fee).

 

Also check with:

Area church/daycare

near by troops

Taxi

Army/Navy/Marine recruiter

Hiking club

trail guide/outfitter

Limo company (you never know who will help out)

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Liz writes "Of course, I can always go rent the van and just tell them it's for personal/family use, but that would not be honest."

 

From the BSA Guide to Safe Scouting

 

"If the vehicle to be used is designed to carry more than 15 persons, including the driver (more than 10 persons, including the driver, in California), the driver must have a commercial driver's license (CDL)."

 

Rather than waste the energy to look for ways to do things wrong...why not just follow the rules of the program amd the local laws and do things right?

 

 

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Ok, I did not know that it was state law in CA. It is NOT the law here in Oregon.

A 15 passenger van is within the limits of the G2SS everywhere else, so I thought it was just a rule for the rental agency. In fact, this is what they told me: "It's an insurance thing." If she'd told me it was state law, I wouldn't have thought to be annoyed with them about it. (Annoyed with the state of CA, maybe...)

 

In order to get the Class-B here in Oregon, it would require someone to be willing to fork out $150 or so, in addition to studying for and taking the behind-the-wheel test.

 

The camp does not have a vehicle; I've already checked.

 

One of the scouts has an aunt who has a CDL; she drives for our local public transit system. It turns out that she's actually interested in going along on this trip, so that might solve the problem for us. Doing the paperwork to let her drive for the troop and getting her on the tour permit is a very minor issue.

 

I appreciate the other suggestions from wingnut, but I've pretty much called everyone I can find phone numbers for, and either people can't help or everything is beyond our price reach. I think I'll put my energy toward recruiting the one scout's aunt, and if that fails I guess I'll start saving up for my CDL and try to find someone willing to loan me a bus to take the test with.

 

-Liz

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I've never had a traffic ticket, but I've also never heard of anybody being offered a class to get rid of a ticket in Oregon. I know my husband got a ticket last year (his first since he's lived in this state) and they certainly didn't give him that option. I remember him mentioning it from when he lived in California. *shrug*

 

-Liz

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heehee. When my dad taught me to drive, he made a point of teaching me about NO caravans. Every driver must know where he or she is going, and not rely on having to follow someone, because that leads to unsafe driving choices (running "yellow" lights, changing lanes when it's not safe, etc..) I don't know about your personal no-convoy prejudice, but I have to say from experience that I agree with my dad on this one. I won't let anybody get away with "I'll just follow you." I print them a map. :-)

 

2 vans might work if necessary, but it would increase the expense and spread our adult leadership somewhat more thinly. I really hope that the aunt with the CDL is willing to come!

 

-Liz

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LOL! I love the horse-drawn carriage idea. But it would be hard to make it up to Big Trees State Park (we're kind of hoping for a side trip, seeing as how we have to rent a van anyway).

 

Thanks for the encouragement and ideas, folks. I do feel better knowing that it's a state law issue and not just an annoying insurance policy on the part of Enterprise rent-a-car.

 

So far, it's looking more and more like the one boy's aunt really wants to go. Apparently, his mom's been talking to her about it since we started planning the trip, and she's been complaining that it sounds like SO much fun and she sure wished she could go along... LOL! :-)

 

It is certainly within walking distance, but I was told by the Council down there when I called to reserve space at Camp Pollock that we should NOT be walking around after dark in that part of town. My sister-in-law also lives in Sacramento, and she said the same thing. (And no, she's not able to assist in any significant way).

 

And if we can't get someone with a CDL, we probably can find a way to make it work with 2 mini-van rentals. It's not as economical, and it does complicate things in ways that it doesn't make sense to go into here, but the obstacles are not completely insurmountable.

 

Thanks again. :-)

 

-Liz

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Enterprise has strange "insurance" rules and we have run into trouble with them in the past. We avoid them with a passion. We have always gone around them including going with Hertz (which does rent 15-passenger vans) at a higher price (twice as much).

 

Here's the pitch we got from them on the last trip: Wisconsin to Missouri. No problem driving in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Missouri. The only problem was with Iowa. Iowa laws were no different than any of the others, but Enterprise didn't insure 15-passenger vans in Iowa. Go figure. We rented with another local company with no problems.

 

Stosh

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Hertz in Sacramento told me they did not have 15 passenger vans. The most they had was 7-passenger.

 

I called every rental agency in Sacramento before resorting to Enterprise. :p

 

*sigh*

 

-Liz

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