By Michael Gorman

THE VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com

When Peter and Anne Winkles, the owners and operators of Cloud Nine Shuttle, were searching for a way to make their business more productive and efficient they thought they found the perfect solution in a 10-passenger van. What they got instead was nothing but headaches and frustration.

Oh, and they didn't get their van, either.

Anne Winkles said the decision to look at a larger van was based on their maintenance costs. The shuttle service uses three seven-passenger vans that travel between Yarmouth and Halifax daily, 364 days a year.

"The wear and tear on that vehicle over our roads — or anybody's roads — (is) astronomical," she said. "Our mechanical and maintenance bills for these vans was climbing up into many thousands (of dollars) a month.

"Our mechanic was extremely happy about it but I wasn't."

The Winkles thought that by moving to larger van that is designed for more extensive travel, they might be able to cut down on maintenance costs and retire one of their seven-passenger vans.

But not long after they started looking at vans, they received a call from the province's Utility and Review Board informing them that a notice would be placed in the paper advising people that they were looking to purchase a larger van. The Winkles were informed several weeks later that a public hearing for their application would be necessary because two companies — Acadian Bus Group and Trius Tours Lts. — would be filing objections to the application.

"The difference in seats overall (between the vans they have now and the one they were looking at) is three," said Winkles. "In order for us to run a more efficient business we need to take measures. (The price of) gas we can't control. We can't control roads; we can't control anything. One of the few things I thought we might be able to control was maintenance on the vehicle.

"Why big outfits like Acadian Bus line and Trius, who are running these huge busses — I still to this day don't understand why three extra seats threatens them so much."

At the public hearing in Halifax, representatives for Acadian Bus Group and Trius Tours argued that the transportation market in this area was not big enough to handle with Winkles buying a larger bus. The lawyer for Acadian Bus Group, a company that doesn't even service Yarmouth, argued that Cloud 9 could take enough business from them to make their operations in the area unsustainable.

In the end, the Winkles's request was denied.

This means their maintenance costs remain high. They average between $2,000 and $4,000 per month, said Anne.

She said that at a time when so many people bemoan the lack of transportation links in this area and the government talks about trying to address the matter, she finds it maddening that a government-appointed board would deny an application to improve their business.

"It's extremely frustrating that my own government seems to be impeding my business efficiencies," she said. "There can't be anything more galling in this day and age for small business. They've got so many external environments that they can't control and the government . . . is running interference.

"I think our government talks the talk about helping small businesses but, in my opinion, the (URB) has a negative effect on business and it looks like there is a lot of partiality for the big guys."

Winkles said she would like to see Nova Scotia follow New Brunswick's example and do away with the board.

"Surely we don't need as many bureaucracies as we have," she said. "Have we got so much money we don't want to save any anymore?"

Winkles said it is unlikely she and her husband would pressure the matter any further. She said the URB hearing was costly in terms of time, effort and expenses and, because of the ruling they received, it doesn't seem likely they would be able to change anything now.