September 12, 1976
"Every year I go down to Florida with my wife and child to visit my in-laws, and I am sick and tired of it" says New York Lawyer, Myron Levine. The drive, that is, not my in-laws. So, Mr. Levine, a 34-year old former Counsel of the Regulatory and Surveillance Group of the New York Stock Exchange, has come up with a new Automobile Transport Service to spare vacationers the 2,650 Mile round-trip between New York and Florida without depriving them of their cars, once they're there.
The latest, most direct and most costly version of a service pioneered by the Auto Train and Auto Bus, Mr Levine's Autolog carries customer's cars to Florida on auto trailers in two - four days, while the customer flies in two and a half hours. In the Auto-Train version, cars are loaded aboard a train which also carries the drivers as passengers, the Auto-Bus carries passengers, whose cars are then driven down on an auto-trainer. Still, other services provide drivers so car-owners can choose their own route to Florida.
Based on the Airline night coach fare, Mr Levine put the cost for two people of his one-way service at $406. This, he said, compares with an estimated cost of $360. for the Auto-Train, including extra sleeping car charges to and from the Auto-Train terminals at Lorton, VA and Sanford, Fl, and a total cost of $283. for the Auto-Bus service between Hazelton, PA and Cocoa, Fl, also including associated travel costs.
The driver services, charge car owners about $150.00 one way to Florida.
Mr Levine acknowledged his service - operated out of a former laundry and Oldsmobile showroom at 1625 Neck Road, Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn - is more costly than alternatives. But, he maintains, it is justified in terms of convenience, particularly for elderly travelers who make up much of the travel market to Florida. They can drop off their cars to the Autolog Terminal, and take a taxi from there to the airport, he says. The first six-car trailers, carrying seven autos each, should be on the road by November 1st. |
