HOW INTEGRITY COACH LINES CAME TO BE

Recently, the owner of Integrity Coach Lines, Ross Sims, was asked why he started the company, here is what he had to say:

Having been in the coach driving profession for the past 25 years, all based in WA I have traveled the length and breath of this magnificent state.  I've been to some of the most amazing places, met the most fascinating people and had some fantastic adventures.

Initially, having been a long distance truck driver for a few years driving east west on my own I quickly realised I wanted to travel with company so I started to apply for a license to drive a bus. Having met all the requirements set out by the department of transport, I was armed with a licence to drive coaches and busses. My first driving job was for a local company driving charter and tours, it was this position that made me recognise I had no idea what the coach and bus industry was like to work in.  As I'm learning on the job and very quickly I soon got down to becoming a much more informed and better driver. I continued doing this for the next couple of years and really enjoyed my new profession.

Then I was introduced to long distance express driving in WA working for a Queensland based company.  Wow!  What a difference, this was the tour and charter driving that I really enjoyed, unfortunately this only lasted for 13 months but I had a taste now and wanted more, however I was married with 4 children and a mortgage so back to metro work for a while.

I was hired by the CAT Central Area Transit based in the city taking passengers from one end of Perth to the other in all directions, shift work driving in the city all day and night, in traffic, was at times a challenge.  After a while I was promoted to the depot supervisor so I went from a long time driver to an office worker, it didn't take too long before I realised this wasn't for me.

I needed to be back on the road and I wanted to be back driving from Perth up into the North West express again. With another express company in WA this was going to be difficult as I didn't really want to work for this company. So the IDEA formed, start your own express service Perth to Carnarvon, so I did, along for the ride was my good friend Barbara, 1 coach and 1 office lady and 1 wife doing far more than a mother with 4 small children should have ever been expected to do.

So off we went on our first service, left Perth on the 28 September 1998 with not a single passenger on board and 1 passenger coming back from Carnarvon. WHAT HAVE I DONE ??

To read the second part of how Integrity Coach Lines started, click here…..

Courtesy of Ross Sims