“I'd guess we're not the typical ABC Companies customer,” laughs Owatonna, MN, based Cavalier Coaches Owner/Operator John Regan. “My Dad, and the company's founder, Bill Regan, is 82 years old and remains very active in the business. Clarence “Clancy” Cornell was an early competitor in the charter bus business with Owatonna and Faribault, MN, only 17 miles apart.
“Many times my Dad has told the story of how he limped his 1948 GM model 3751 into Clancy’s yard at about midnight on a wintry Friday in 1969. The clutch was all but gone and he 'absolutely' needed a bus at 7:00 am Saturday morning. Clancy told him he didn’t have an extra bus, but got Ron, his 15 year old son, out of bed and the two of them changed the clutch in the old 'Silversides' in about two hours.” According to Regan, Bill was relieved in 1970 when Clancy stopped operating coaches in order to devote all his efforts to building the bus sales organization that became ABC Companies. Cavalier has been a loyal customer since then.
Cavalier has expanded substantially since the early 1960's when Bill operated 4 school buses in Leroy MN. In 1967 he landed the school bus contract in Owatonna, Minnesota and along with the school buses acquired a few motorcoaches. Over the years the coach business has steadily grown and eventually separated into its own division. Today, the family runs more than two hundred school buses in Owatonna, Albert Lea, Medford, and St. Louis Park, MN and Mason City, IA, as well as operating 17 motorcoaches serving charter customers in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa. In addition they operate local transportation contracts in St. George and Brian Head, UT.
“We've worked hard to build a reputation for first rate customer service, and a solid commitment to safety” says John Regan. “With ABC just up the road from our main terminal, coupled with the great service they provide, Van Hool’s are our motorcoach of choice.”
Like Cavalier, ABC has grown, and is now Van Hool's exclusive North American Distributor. According to Senior Account Manager John McFarlane “Cavalier Coaches is a pleasure to partner with. They, like ABC, are a family run company, and their devotion to taking care of their clients is phenomenal. It's not easy balancing the customer, equipment and driver needs out of three major terminals, but this team excels at it. The options they ordered on their new Van Hool is one reflection of their commitment to their customer.
The 56 passenger CX45 boasts leather trimmed seats, woodgrain flooring, enclosed parcel racks, Alcoa Dura Bright aluminum wheels, an REI Elite entertainment system with six 15.4” monitors, 110 volt and USB power outlets, in addition to Van Hool's standard safety features including 3 point seatbelts, backup camera, lane departure warning, antilock brakes, Smartwave Tire Pressure Monitoring, Kidde Fire Suppression Systems, automatic stability control, daytime running lights, curbside lighting and adaptive static aiming lights. The coach is powered by a Cummins ISX engine coupled to an Allison B500 GenV transmission.
