Amtran driver gears up for national competition
Beach heads to Oregon to compete in ‘Roadeo’ after winning state event
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From the time he was a child growing up in Dutch Hill, Joe Beach wanted to drive a bus for Amtran.
Even on winter days, he'd sit on the stoop of Ray's Corner Store store and watch the old GMC "Fishbowls" go by, and when he rode to school on the bus after it snowed, and his mom didn't want to risk taking the car, he'd observe the drivers and ask them questions about their work.
Now 47, Beach not only drives for Amtran himself, but will be driving this weekend for the local bus authority at the American Public Transportation Association International Bus Roadeo in Portland, Oregon -- a reward for not only finishing in the top three last year at the Pennsylvania Roadeo, but for winning that event.
This weekend's national Roadeo actually isn't Beach's first: he competed in 2019 in Louisville, Ky., finishing in the mid-50s, after qualifying the year before by coming in third at the Pennsylvania Roadeo.
His approach in Portland will be one that athletes have used in many competitions for many years -- focusing on the familiar, so as not to let stress undermine performance.
"(It's) gonna be, 'Hey, this is my job. This is what I get paid to do every day," Beach wrote in multiple text exchanges Thursday and Friday, after traveling to Portland by train. "So I'm gonna just do what I do every day and drive."
Being nervous "slows my thought process down," he added. "So I'm not nervous."
At the Roadeos, drivers maneuver slowly on courses designed to test basic skills that they use constantly on the job, according to Beach.
The Roadeos also include pre-trip checks of conditions inside and outside the bus, mimicking inspections required of drivers every day, said Amtran CEO Josh Baker.
The Roadeos also include a wheelchair securement test, Baker said.
To compete at any Roadeo requires a clean record for the prior calendar year -- no preventable accidents or "mishaps of any kind," according to Beach.
Ensuring that his driving record remained pristine was thus part of his "practice" for the Portland event, he said.
There were also exercises on the Amtran lot doing "slow maneuvers" under the direction of Amtran trainers Jamey and Scott, who are "some of the best," Beach said.
As a kid, Beach liked buses, trucks and trains.
"There was always something about the mechanics of how bigger vehicles ran, and the looks of (those) older vehicles," Beach wrote. "The Fishbowls (so named because of their curved front windshields) had so much ... class and style."
Beach's routes for Amtran are the Crosstown No. 1, a school tripper in the afternoons and the Early Bird in Greenwood on Saturdays.
Being a good bus driver isn't all about steering the bus around obstacles, doing inspections and securing wheelchairs.
There is also the service component.
"We are paid to be a customer support person," Beach wrote. "It takes a lot of patience and understanding."
That includes when drivers are having a bad day, he said.
"Sometimes you have to smile and do your best," he wrote.
An amiable driver can be especially important for certain customers, according to Beach.
"You (may be) the only person they have to talk to," he wrote. "So you just sit and listen (and) laugh and smile when you can."
Beach has been "a very conscientious professional" since starting at Amtran -- skillful at driving, diligent about safety and attentive and compassionate with customers, as borne out by universally positive feedback and administrative ride-alongs, Baker said. "The total package," Baker added.
Beach trained for his commercial drivers license with Waddington Tours, began driving tour buses for Blue and White Lines in 1998, and operated tractor-trailers for many years, going through all of the lower 48 states and the bottom half of Canada, before joining Amtran seven years ago.
Three Amtran administrators will be at the Portland event, which includes a national mobility conference, Baker said.
Beach is married to Janine, who is with him in Portland.
He has a son, Christopher, who is married to Emily, a granddaughter "Miss Mary"; and stepchildren MJ and Blyss. He also has a brother, Michael.
"My family is my biggest support," Beach said.
He and Janine took the train to the West Coast because Janine is afraid of heights, and because they wanted to "share a few days being able to watch the sights go by and enjoy what the rails have to show," Beach wrote.
He didn't explain why they didn't take a bus, although he responded with a "ha ha," when asked.
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.