Northeast Charter and Tour: The economical and logical choice for group transportation

By Kathryn Roberts
Freelance Writer

You’ve planned the perfect trip for your annual office outing – a day in Boston: Quincy Market, dinner at 33 Restaurant and Lounge, followed by a Red Sox game at Fenway Park. The only problem is transportation. How can you make sure everyone arrives at the same time, finds parking, and is able to sit back and relax on the way home? The answer is simple. Book a motor coach with Northeast Charter and Tour.
Celebrating its 10th anniversary, Northeast Charter and Tour is the economical choice for large group transportation. “We are large enough to serve you, but small enough to know you,” said Scott Riccio, founder and president of the company. “Anybody is a charter customer. If people have a need to travel as a group, we can help.”
While a student at the University of New Hampshire, where he studied forestry and tourism, Riccio worked as a charter bus driver, often driving the college routes to drop off students and transporting the athletic teams. When he graduated, he continued in the charter industry, working for a large Portland bus company for 17 years. “Aside from working a paper route and doing some bartending, this is pretty much what I’ve done,” said Riccio.
Now, just 10 years after Riccio used his knowledge and experience to start his own company, Northeast Charter and Tour is the third largest motor coach company in the state of Maine, and it continues to grow. Recently, the company was awarded the athletic contracts for Bates College and Bowdoin College.
Northeast Charter joined Trailways association in September 2008, a group of independently-owned motor coach companies. In June of 2008, Northeast purchased Richards Coach in Lincolnville, ME, which added six more pieces of equipment, obtaining a second dispatch location and garage. “All employees from Richards stayed on,” said Riccio. “We’ve been able to work both locations together as a family.”
The company’s growth can be contributed to its employees’ dedication to meeting client needs. “A bus is a bus is a bus. But what makes us stand out is our customer service.” Riccio explained, “We have people on-call 24/7. We have mechanics on-call 24/7. If a bus breaks down and we can’t fix it, we’ll hire another bus to pick everybody up. We do what we need to do to make sure every customer is satisfied. I am very fortunate and blessed to have the crew I have. Without them it would be beyond challenging to run a motorcoach company successfully.”
To further ensure customer satisfaction, all of Northeast Charter’s fleet is equipped with GPS tracking systems, which allows the company to know where all its drivers are at all times. This ensures the buses are in the right place, at the right time, every time.
NECT has been the transportation provider for the Lewiston MAINEiaces since they came to town six years ago and the transportation provider for the Portland Sea Dogs, the AA Affiliate for the Boston Red Sox for eight years. The company has 12 motor coaches, two mini-buses, one van and an SUV. Primarily serving a 500 mile range from Washington D.C., north, Northeast Charter does make regular trips throughout the United States and Canada as well. They work with the tourism and cruise industries, also, providing services such as shore excursions for passengers on cruise ships.
A motor coach is ideal for group trips: the bus picks the group up, travelers can stop and get off wherever they need to and leave things locked and secure on the bus, watch a DVD while traveling, and the bus is outside the destination when needed. “A motor coach is your own 45-foot chariot,” explained Riccio. “It moves you around on the schedule you want. When you contact us, we provide the price and then we provide the service to back it up.”
For more information about the company and the packages and services offered, visit:
www.northeastchartertour.com.

Northeast Charter & Tour
235 Goddard Road
Lewiston, Maine
784-3159
www.northeastchartertour.com