The Beach Boys, Greg and Scott

"Scott and I started out here when we were very young. We're proud to be involved in a family business and proud to supply a quality service to our customers." - Greg Beach

"A guy on one of the tour buses once told me, 'It's your attitude, as well as your aptitude, that will give you your altitude' ." - Scott Beach

Bob Beach's eldest son, Greg, was born in Missoula on July 22, 1957. His younger son, Scott, was also born in Missoula, March 6, 1961. Today, along with their father, they co-manage Beach Transporation.

A 1975 Sentinel High School graduate with a bachelor's degree in business finance from the University of Montana and a master's degree in business from the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, Greg Beach, as comptroller, handles tasks ranging from payroll preparation to accounting to financial analysis. Also a Sentinel High graduate (1979), Scott Beach attended the Missoula Vocational Technical Center and now oversees Beach's growing bus maintenance program. In addition, he manages the company's employee insurance program and prepares fuel and mileage reports. Both brothers drive Beachliners and, when needed, fill in on school bus routes.

The Beach boys began to get practical experience as youngsters. Said Greg, "Weekends, or in the summertime, we used to come down and wash buses. And after school we used to come here and help the guys gas their buses, sweep them out and so on." Said Scott, "I started from the ground up ... Dad had me coming in here and scrubbing windows, sweeping buses and cleaning sumps. Our whole family would be down here in the summers, and we'd run the buses up on blocks and scrub out the insides. At first there was no pay, so to speak, except being able to eat and live. The main thing was just to help Dad ... By the time eighth grade rolled around, I remember riding my bike from Meadow Hills School down to Mount Avenue to sweep buses. Dad was paying me a buck a day, five bucks a week. It wasn't too bad, and it was $5 more than anybody else had. I remember putting the gas nozzle into a bus, and the older guys would more or less stand there and watch me and laugh."

(By 1986) Greg Beach had helped bring Beach Transportation into the computer age. "We're starting to do all of our accounts receivable and accounts payable on the system, and eventually we'll do all of our accounting on the computer." he said.

And, there's a computerized preventative maintenance program for the Beach buses. It's title, said Scott Beach, is CFA, or Computerized Fleet Analysis. "When the drivers fuel up." he explained, "they record the gallons and mileage. I take that information and other factors and run it through the computer. It kicks out when a particular bus is due for A service (oil change), B service (tune-up) or C service (brake job). The program has been very efficient ... and it helps monitor what each bus is doing as far as fuel economy.

As for running the shop, Scott Beach said he thinks the key is having "good people with good attitudes." He added, "Like any operation, you have to be able to get along with people: you have to have communication."

Greg Beach once addressed the question of whether school districts are better off owning and operating their own buses or contracting for student transportation. In doing so, he noted the need to look at factors, such as cost, safety and service. He explained that while safety and service may be difficult things to measure, the cost factor isn't. Pointing out that the Beach company is in the student transportation business for the "long haul" and plans to "stay there by providing superior service at a reasonable price," he noted that school boards are "justified in looking at every alternative to cut costs, and busing should not be exempt from this process." However, he added, "We are of the opinion that it is more efficient to contract for busing services than to have a school district own buses." He listed four reasons why:

1. The contractor operates on a 12-month concept, allowing a broader amortization of capital costs, such as buses, garages and equipment. In this manner, the private contractor can spread capital costs over other revenue sources. In Beach Transportation's case, this includes Missoula County High School, School District 1, University of Montana, US Forest Service, summer programs and various other clubs and organizations throughout Missula and Montana. In a capital intensive industry, such as the bus industry, this spreading of capital costs becomes a significant factor in the analysis between contracting v. ownership for a school district. It is this efficiency in the use of our capital that allows us to operate at a lower costs than a school district could expect to operate for - and still make a profit.
   
   Several studies can be cited that prove this is true. In a May 1979 study, done for the Bozeman public school, researchers found that on an annual cost basis, ownership is 8.4 percent more expensive than contracting. In another study, the New York Department of Education surveyed 140 school districts relative to transportation costs. This study showed that costs averaged 7.3 cents per mile less in those districts contracting their transportation.
   
   
2. The contractor is free to buy and sell equipment when the market is right - not necessarily when everyone else is buying.
   
   
3. In many cases, the school district does not have economies of scale. This means the district often isn't big enough to be able to buy parts at a discount, or buy fuel at bulk rates, as well as the many other items need to run a school bus operation.
   
   
4. Contracting frees school personnel and board members from setting up a complex system with large capital outlays and allows district personnel to concentrate on what they do best and most efficiently - educate children.

This story has been excerpted and edited from Second to None: the story of Beach Transportation Co. and its buses written by former newspaperman Steve Smith and published for Beach Transportation by Pictoral Histories Publishing Company in 1986.