[Dixielandjazz] Road Problems

[TCASHWIGG at aol.com]

Spot on Tom Woods:

I encountered the exact same problem in Spain last tour when we had to drive 
up to Holland, regarding renting a 15 passenger minibus.  Could not be done, 
and we ended up with a 9 passenger truck style van with some room in the back 
for equipment and luggage, and a five seater Audi station wagon.

As you said double road tolls, double petrol, etc.

I tried to rent two mini vans in London to drive on the tour, however the law 
prohibits rental trucks and vans from going through the Chunnel, so we could 
not remove them from the UK.

In Italy I usually hire a driver and bus for about $500.00 a day for short 
runs which is picked up by the festival promoters in most cases, for longer runs 
I sometimes hire a big Mercedes Bus with a driver at about $750.00 to 
$1,000.00 a day depending upon the season of the tour.  This is much easier because 
they always speak the language and know who to call if they have a problem, and 
the drivers usually know good reliable and reasonable restaurants where we 
can eat well and not get ripped off.

I have also never had to worry about anyone stealing our equipment from the 
vehicle either, as there seems to be a code of ethics with them that nobody 
bothers the bus, and the driver usually stays within eyesight of his bus anyway.

These days I normally travel with 10 players to avoid the extra expenses, 
unless we have several major Festival concerts to do when I like to have the full 
show.

I also now have several excellent players living in Europe to call upon that 
can just meet us wherever I need them.

Cheers,

Tom Wiggins