CENTURY MCMYNN BUS LEASING

                                        

In The News

MCI recently wrote an article in the monthly news letter about our company.


Century McMynn Leasing marks 20 years, makes every mile count

Some motor coach companies manage to thrive without ever transporting a single passenger. Century McMynn Leasing is one of them, making its revenue from other motor coach operators that need to lease a coach or two — or a few dozen — during good times, either long-term or for a few weeks or months. Century McMynn also sells and finances new and used equipment.

It seems the leasing business is a good one. The Vancouver company recently took delivery of five new J4500s from MCI, and all are already rented. Partner Bob McMynn says that one is serving an operator in Halifax for the summer; another is in Toronto as an accident-replacement vehicle; and three others are rented to an oil patch customer — a fair representation of Century McMynn's regular business.

McMynn started his coach career when he took a summer driving job during college, and later helped found one of Canada's largest coach operations. In 1988, R and J McMynn Leasing became an independent company with 32 coaches. By 2000, McMynn had 279 coaches. Then the 9/11 disaster hit, followed by the SARS epidemic that hit all of Canada particularly hard. Coaches everywhere were parked, and McMynn was just barely hanging on.

In 2004, he took on Century Services Inc. as a financial partner. Initially, 2004 through 2005, the focus was on consolidating the fleet and turning cash flows around; fleet size was reduced to 115 vehicles but has been growing steadily since. Century is reportedly happy with its investment, and the coach fleet today stands at 150 — 14 of those have been purchased in 2008 alone, with more to follow. Bob and Joanne McMynn run the business, now with the help of their son, Rob, who is a certified heavy-duty mechanic and all-around big help. Century Services, which is headquartered in Calgary, handles the accounting and finances, which, jokes McMynn, "makes our life a lot easier."

So far, he's impressed by the new J4500s. McMynn, who hadn't bought any MCI equipment for quite some time, despite MCI having been his preferred supplier from 1979 to 1995, likes having both quality and variety in his fleet. "I drove one of the J4500s from Winnipeg to Vancouver, and I love it," says McMynn, who says the proof of a coach's quality is after it's been in another operator's fleet for a tour of duty. "Traditionally MCI's durability has been impressive. Ease and cost of maintenance are important to us, and residual values are extremely important. MCI has proven itself over the years."

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