Charter buses for corporate events

One bus for a day, or a shuttle program?

The instant price covers as many buses as your headcount needs, for one day or several: an offsite at a retreat venue, a client site visit, a team-building day, a dinner at an off-site venue and back, or a group landing on the same flight. For a round trip that comes back on a later day, set the return date to that day: the bus stays with your group, and you add the hours you'll use it each day. The driver's hotel room, and the bus's overnight parking if your hotel doesn't allow buses, are the group's cost on top.

A bus running between the hotel and the venue all day is the form's Shuttle trip type: give the service window, the runs you need (or leave it nonstop) and how many buses. Pickups at several offices on the same morning are extra stops in the form. A whole program goes to our enterprise team, who plan it with you:

• A conference with shuttles running every day.
• Ongoing employee shuttles, such as a daily run between two sites.

Staging at the hotel or venue

Federal rules don't let states hold buses to less than 45 feet on the main highway network (23 CFR 658.13), so a full-size coach can be that long. Ask the hotel or venue where a vehicle that size can load and wait, and whether a covered entrance has the clearance.

Name one on-site lead with a cell phone. The day before the trip you get the driver's name and number; hand them to the lead so the two can settle the pickup point directly.

For airport arrivals, set the pickup after the last scheduled landing, with time for bags, give the flight number (the form asks for it when an address is an airport), and tell travelers exactly where to meet the bus. Arrivals spread across the day mean several runs, so call.

Leave slack in the return time. Dinners and closing sessions run long, and the price covers the schedule you book; changes you make aren't included.

Accessibility: ask early, and ask how many

Wheelchair-lift buses are available on advance request: tick the box when you get your price, and the lift is confirmed with you before the trip. Charter coach operators may require up to 48 hours' notice for an accessible bus (49 CFR 37.189). The rule's own example is a charter group that learns a week out that a traveler needs an accessible bus; because the group tells the bus company more than 48 hours ahead, the company must provide one. Asking for a lift never changes the price.

Put an accessibility question on event registration, and ask how many people need a wheelchair space. An accessible coach must have at least two securement locations (49 CFR 38.159). If more riders need one than the bus has, spaces go first come, first served, and the others are offered a regular seat with boarding help (49 CFR 37.205). Service animals ride with their handlers (49 CFR 37.167).

Paperwork and payment

If your company needs a Form W-9 before paying a new vendor, ask for one: SimpleShuttles LLC sends it on request, and will register in your vendor system and fill in supplier onboarding forms if your company needs that. A W-9 is the IRS form a business uses to give its taxpayer identification number to whoever has to file an information return. If your venue or legal team needs proof of insurance, ask once your operator is confirmed: we'll send the operator's certificate of insurance naming your company or venue as certificate holder within 3 business days.

A small deposit books the trip. The balance is charged 14 days before the trip, with an email 7 days before; a trip booked 14 days out or closer is paid in full when you book. Pay by card or bank; the all-in price includes any tax, and nothing is added at checkout. If accounts payable needs an invoice in the company's name, ask for one. If it can only pay against a purchase order or by check, call (704) 368-1515 before you book. Paying after the trip is arranged only for certain enterprise clients, by inquiry.

Event dates move, so read the cancellation policy before you commit. Refunds step down from 100% at 14 or more days out to nothing inside 7 days.

Duty of care: what you can check yourself

Every operator is vetted before booking: active FMCSA passenger authority, current insurance, a safety rating that isn't Unsatisfactory or Conditional, no out-of-service order, and a fleet that fits the trip. Your confirmation email gives the operator's USDOT number and a link to its FMCSA SAFER record, so your travel or risk team can look for itself.

• SAFER shows the operator's safety rating (if any), a summary of roadside out-of-service inspections and crash information.
• “Unrated” means FMCSA hasn't assigned a rating, not that the operator failed one. Conditional and Unsatisfactory mean FMCSA found the carrier's safety controls inadequate (49 CFR 385.3).
• Federal rules set minimum liability coverage for interstate for-hire bus companies, with a higher minimum for vehicles seating 16 or more including the driver (49 CFR 387.33).
• Federal rules require drivers of vehicles designed for 16 or more people, including the driver, to hold a commercial driver's license with a passenger endorsement (49 CFR 383.5, 383.93), to pass a drug test before they start, and to be in a random drug and alcohol testing program (49 CFR 382.301, 382.305).
• Hours limits apply on every trip; the driver-hours guide covers long days.

WiFi and other extras

WiFi and leather seats can be requested as paid extras. They're not guaranteed: if the bus doesn't have one, it comes off the bill. Don't plan a working session or a presentation that depends on onboard WiFi. More on how it works.

What the instant price covers

Instant price: one day or more, any headcount (past 56 people the form adds buses), such as an offsite, a client visit, a dinner out and back, or one airport pickup for a group on the same flight, all-in (driver, fuel, gratuity, tolls, parking, repositioning miles and any tax). Extra stops go in the form, and a round trip that comes back on a later day keeps the bus with your group. A shuttle that repeats daily goes to our enterprise team (/enterprise).

How the price is built, what it includes and how booking works: How it works.

Common questions

Keep planning

• How far can a charter bus go in a day?Federal rules give charter bus drivers 10 hours of driving and 15 on duty. What counts, how trucking differs, and when a day needs a second driver.
• Which charter bus fits your group?Sprinter, mini bus or coach bus? How seats, luggage, restrooms and wheelchair lifts differ, and what to do past 56 riders.
• Charter buses for government agencies and public eventsWhat procurement offices may ask for (W-9, vendor setup, insurance, SAM.gov), how payment works, ADA duties for public events, and driver-hours limits.
• Wedding shuttle buses, planned around your dayPlan wedding guest shuttles: hotel-to-venue timing, how many buses or runs, alcohol and decoration rules, wheelchair lifts, and what to tell guests.
• Plan a group trip by charter busField trips, church retreats, team travel, corporate events, weddings and public-agency trips: a planner for each, plus how to pick the right bus.