AVOID LEX / ILLINI TOURS

UPDATE 2014

LEX was finally shut down by regulators in December, 2012. But Bob is back, operating under the name ILLINI TOURS. The new company has status "NOT AUTHORIZED" on the FMCSA website as of 8/1/14, which suggests that Bob may be operating illegally. When we find out what's going on, we'll post an update here. Also, we recently came across records related to Bob's arrest for assault. See below.

Background

Suburban Express has been around since 1983. In the 26 years we've been in business, we've had some people copy us. They generally fail because they are not able to duplicate our high quality and reasonable prices. Customers want high quality and reasonable prices.

Our most recent competitor is LEX aka Lincolnland Express. LEX is run by a local drop-out named Bob. Bob's background includes renting out mobile homes and installing hot tubs.

In 2005, Bob bought four 1979ish buses which had recently been sold for about $2500 in the bankruptcy liquidation of defunct bus company Illini Swallow Lines. As you might imagine, $2500 doesn't buy much of a bus. In fact, it doesn't even buy a brake job for a bus! They were pretty lousy buses.

Bob put his $2500 buses in service between Champaign and the Chicago Area. When he began operating suburban service, Bob seemed to adopt low prices as his main strategy. But you get what you pay for. Bob's low prices didn't seem to come from a clever approach or a low cost structure. Bob's low prices seemed to come from cutting corners, especially in maintenance, equipment, and driver quality.

Bob must have realized that low prices don't work as a long-term strategy if you can't afford to keep your buses running, because Bob started slapping big hidden charges on his fares. He'd advertise a fare that seemed low, but then he'd add extra charges when the customer showed up to buy a ticket.

To this day, Bob advertises fares which seem reasonable, but which have significant additional charges added at the time of purchase. His fall 2009 advertising includes fine print and asterisks which boost the price by a whopping 15%! A $29.95 ticket really costs $34.44 with a 15% surcharge, but you won't see $34.44 in big type.

Even though Bob no longer charges low fares, he seems to still be skimping on maintenance, drivers, and other crucial ingredients. We've documented some of his history below. Have a look.

LEX Safety

Here are some of the highlights of Bob's safety and maintenance record:

Surprise DOT/State Police inspection in May 2009 resulted in 9 buses failing out of 9 buses inspected.

Driver ticketed/arrested for DUI while driving a LOADED LEX bus.

Court documents regarding LEX DUI

FMCSA "SAFER" Website shows LEX with failing scores and "Critical Violations".

Runs decrepit buses with no IL safety inspection sticker and other serious problems.
- Pictures of bus with no safety sticker (required) and no license: front | back
- Video of bus loading at O'Hare with no safety sticker, no license
You may see these buses on the road with a fresh paint job. They may look better now, but it's what you don't see that is potentially dangerous.
Runs buses/vans which look like they belong in a junkyard.

Danging taillight and fluids spattered on rear of bus
Junky LEX van at Oakbrook Mall
Rusty bus
Common sense dictates that you do not drive through tornadoes, or this happens
What happened here?? It's not the tornado van.

LEX Financial Distress

Bob seems to have a spotty financial history. Maybe that's why his buses seem to have big maintenance problems. The following documents are all available from the Champaign County Circuit Clerk:

Bob had a Foreclosure in 2003. Since United States of America is listed as a defendant in the suit for foreclosure, he may have also declared bankruptcy around the same time.
Bob can't seem to pay his advertising bills on time, even when they send him collection letter after collection letter.
Bob can't seem to keep his rent current with the people who run the train station here in Champaign.
Bob must not have paid City of Champaign promptly when one of his buses wiped out a traffic signal, because they filed suit to recover damages: City of Champaign Suit
Bob seems to attract lawsuits from customers for lost/stolen/damaged bags: Gladney Suit | Bell Suit
And Bob seems to bounce LOTS and LOTS of checks.

LEX Owner's Temper

With all this going on, it's no wonder that Bob can't seem to control himself -- even when his actions are being videotaped.

LEX Owner's Arrest

According to police documents, Bob threatened to kill a representative of Illinois Power who visited Bob to turn off his power. Here's the Police Report.

LEX SHUT DOWN BY REGULATORS

On December 7, 2012, LEX was finally shut down by regulators. Read the juicy documents from the shutdown process.