May 9, 1981
After a Federal bankruptcy court flipped the deadman's switch on the Auto-Train Corporation last week, a host of smaller companies began scrambling to pick up its stranded customers. No one else offers a service quite like Auto-Train's - carrying a car and its driver together to vacation areas. But some come close.
Among them is the Auto-Bus, a service of Central Florida Coach Lines Inc., which carries its customers in buses and their cars in trailers. Auto-Bus operates between Hazelton, PA and Sanford, FL and charges $352. to transport a car and its driver and $82.50 for each additional passenger.
Then there is the Autolog Corporation, a nationwide car carrier that charges $406. to carry a car by trailer between the northeast and Florida but requires that the car's owner arrange their own transportation. There are also several companies that hire drivers to take cars to vacation areas for their owners. Auto-Train had developed a popular following, particularly among older travelers. For almost 10 years, the company ferried passengers and their cars between Lorton, VA outside Washington DC and Sanford, FL, near Orlando. |
