@ really interesting to see the factory where the vehicles i work in on a daily basis are manufactured. Too bad you didnt get on my bus, I would have given you a free ride for sure 😂😂. Keep up the videos man love from eindhoven
I couldn't stop grinning ear to ear😃😁. Thanks for the experience James and thanks to VDL as well. I so wish VDL Bus and Coach in South Africa could have grew even more. I remember speaking to previous operations head in South Africa Mr Sam Mansingh back in 2009 . I wish DAF and VDL Brand (with PACCAR Engines) could compete with VOLVO, SCANIA, MAN and Mercedes Benz in the coach and bus market.
Nice to see you in my hometown of Eindhoven! I drove in Illinois earlier this year. I am gladly to inform you that in the contrary to Illinois , we don't have any toll-roads around Eindhoven.
This was very very interesting.... There is a lot of work involved to make the wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, for sure. Thank you Mr. James Wang for putting this video together for us.......... Really fun to watch, the bus/coaches part was the best.
Its sad that DAF no longer makes diesels. I have the chance to drive a few, and they are buttery smooth, very quiet engines. This was in the 90s for the LT550 engine. I actually wanted to buy one, to preserve but none of those are left. Bodies were made in Spain by Hispano Carrocera and Castrosua (and some in Greece of all places by Elvo, but those were very poorly welded). Van Hool now has some tough competition though. Solaris lately has been gaining huge market share over there. Ive seen them all over Europe. Hope youre doing well, brother. I called you a while back. Its not urgent. Was about my old job, was thinking of you expanding, but NJ Transit already took the facility. They never recouped after 2020, so its really good to see Peoria Charter not just surviving but thriving.
20:00, never knew till know that VDLs had same sort of sleeping setup like European Mercedes Tourismos. Spent many hours trying to sleep in the sleeping berths on many coaches doing overnight journeys.
Great video James it was really cool of Vanhool to invite to come their main power plant I think Novabus should invite you to come to Montreal Canada and visit and take a tour of their assembly stations and who knows you might get to test drive the LFSe+ if they offer you
I wonder how much of Van Hool's future research and development will be done by/with VDL? No matter how big or small that amount is, im super super SUPER happy that VanHool isnt going under!
Once on a train through Eindhoven, I passed a building labeled “van Doorn Autofabrik”. The Dutch drop the “van” or “de”, so this was the factory of DAF.
@James, Eindhoven is also home to DAF Trucks, they build the engines for most of the motorcoaches and transit buses used in Europe and are also a part of PACCAR, Inc. who is the parent company of Kenworth and Peterbilt. 😀
Did all of Van Hool's production move to Macedonia? When I was there in '07 it was all near Lier in Belgium. Koningshooikt. Massive facility. The US product line was small compared to the output for the European market.
Middle door or continental door Is an emergency exit and example if you in UK going into Europe customers can disembark safely Or if you in narrow road no room turn around school children can use that side if drivers pull over opposite sides of road Some coaches have continental door on same side faster unloading
Very interesting and informative James. Indeed you’re Blessed with a wonderful and strong family. Was that plane out of O’HARE a 777? The products that the “old” VAN-HOOL are proven and established. So it’s probably wise just to keep the models for the American market just the way they are. Changing the name is academic. Thanks as always for taking us along. Much appreciated.
Another great Video! Do you have any idea if VDL manufacture their own seats that could possibly be substituted for the Keil product? Keil isn't working on this side of the pond. I have never had as many issues with passenger seats like the current stock models.
@ thank you for the reply. My company owns and operates a fleet of Vanhool coaches here in the states and will no longer take delivery of new coaches with Keil seating.
Here’s the thing. The saying goodbye to your family will never stop. As a driver it will just tear your personal life apart. Make your money and get out before it’s too late.
I dont think I could ever give this up. My family knows that. I find a good work life balance. And it works. But Yes i understand what you mean. Its tough to do.
The company I currently work for promised me year round work in Florida upon hire. I completed my training at our headquarters up north and then moved my family to Florida. They waited until after the move to inform me I would be leaving my family half a year every year. I’ve been here 10 years now and I have done it every year. The kids of the original owner run it now and they have no idea what they are doing however in my area of Florida there are no other opportunities that pay this much and I’m the only person working in my household and I’m too far away from a major city to fix the problem. I’m just stuck. I am hyper organized and sometimes butt heads with the owners also I was raised in a town of less than 1,000 in West Virginia so the thought of dealing with a bunch of rich people if I ever became a CEO is a no go because those kinds of people will never understand me and sometimes my personality type rubs people the wrong way because I don’t want to lay around when I get a break because I come with the attitude of if everybody does their part we can just hop in and go but everybody is lazy.
If you remember what the Norwegians told you about motorcoaches in Europe they do not use what you have in North America a torque converter transmission Instead This one comes with an automated manual transmission
A little history...Philips, while currently HQ'd in Amsterdam, was founded in Eindhoven. A lot of Philips' history is greatly associated with Eindhoven, and the main football team is PSV Eindhoven, the P in PSV coming after...PHILIPS. 😆
James , Very impressive. I feel like the frame should be welded and not glued. New Flyer has used glue for while to put on body panels. The coaches with the sleeping compartments. Not a fan of sleeping compartment being next to a dual wheel model. Thats not going to be pretty if there is a blowout. I am glad you were given the opportunity to visit their plant.
@@Mr-pn2eh I get lots of fan mail at my office. I love reading them. I also get lots of gifts too from my viewers. I feel bad because I don't want people spending money on me. But I am very touched and grateful!
Hey man can you do a video where you go to South Korea and try one of they're best coach from Daewoo, Kia or Hyundai (my best recommendation is for you to try the Hyundai Universe it's the best of the best from South Korea) and do a full review about it
There is a lot of cost when it comes to traveling. Usually when I go to these places, I am invited and the airline tickets, hotel rooms, and meals are covered by the sponsor. This does not include all of my time that i spend away from my work place and my home as well as the many hours it takes me to edit the footage into the videos that my viewers enjoy watching. I gladly donate my time to these videos and do not ask for any compensation since my videos do generate a little bit of revenue... This trip was sponsored by ABC companies. If someone from south Korea would like to invite me and sponsor a trip and has access to a daewoo bus for me to drive... then I would gladly accept.
Thank you! I hope I can make this video one day. I hope someone in Korea will invite me. I would love to go visit the country. I love the food too lol@@kyruzarnejo7472
you mentioned that this was the old Philips factory ,so i take it they are no longer in business, BTW. my last name initials are alsoVDL as in van der Leest originally from Emmen and now in BC. Canada
What I find weird about foreign buses is all the emergency windows are break glass instead of a handle. I prefer the handles because in an emergency it’s quicker and also safer. Ok bus is on fire let me break this glass and cut myself to escape. I can either burn or bleed out 😂. I know it’s supposed to be safety glass but it can still cut u.
It was great having you over James.
The honor was mine! Thank you for your kindness and hospitality during my visit! I fell in love with Eindhoven!
I hope you enjoyed the video.
Dutch bus driver here, I'm watching this after having driven my shift on a VDL Citea
So funny to see this video. I’m a bus driver working out of eindhoven central station, never thought you’d visit.
No way!
@ really interesting to see the factory where the vehicles i work in on a daily basis are manufactured. Too bad you didnt get on my bus, I would have given you a free ride for sure 😂😂. Keep up the videos man love from eindhoven
I couldn't stop grinning ear to ear😃😁. Thanks for the experience James and thanks to VDL as well. I so wish VDL Bus and Coach in South Africa could have grew even more. I remember speaking to previous operations head in South Africa Mr Sam Mansingh back in 2009 . I wish DAF and VDL Brand (with PACCAR Engines) could compete with VOLVO, SCANIA, MAN and Mercedes Benz in the coach and bus market.
Pretty cool that they showed you & us the entire VDL Universe
I never realized how much pride goes into each Transit Unit. It's really impressive to see the behind the scene details
Don't you mean bus or coach.
Nice to see you in my hometown of Eindhoven! I drove in Illinois earlier this year.
I am gladly to inform you that in the contrary to Illinois , we don't have any toll-roads around Eindhoven.
Oh! That is really nice! We spend a fortune on toll roads! I really enjoyed Eindhoven. Such a cozy city. Lots of good restaurants. Its very clean!
As a up coming Dutch bus driver, I love how they keep saying ''ja ja ja'' to confirm a question.
Nice tour ad a proud dutch family buissnes.
Glue is much more common then you think, the plane you flew on is 90% glued together.
You do a great job editing! Keep it up!
I love this so so much !! Remarkable !! Thats all I can say !!
Hi James, great to see you my friend, another amazing vlog!
This was very very interesting.... There is a lot of work involved to make the wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, for sure. Thank you Mr. James Wang for putting this video together for us.......... Really fun to watch, the bus/coaches part was the best.
AWESOME video James! Looking forward to the next one. Thanks for sharing.🚍
Excellent job filming &editing this video ❤
Very nice video. I worked at vdl bus and coach. But now i am working in the cleanroom that you visited. So as mechanics we are flexible too.😉
Its sad that DAF no longer makes diesels. I have the chance to drive a few, and they are buttery smooth, very quiet engines. This was in the 90s for the LT550 engine. I actually wanted to buy one, to preserve but none of those are left. Bodies were made in Spain by Hispano Carrocera and Castrosua (and some in Greece of all places by Elvo, but those were very poorly welded).
Van Hool now has some tough competition though. Solaris lately has been gaining huge market share over there. Ive seen them all over Europe.
Hope youre doing well, brother. I called you a while back. Its not urgent. Was about my old job, was thinking of you expanding, but NJ Transit already took the facility. They never recouped after 2020, so its really good to see Peoria Charter not just surviving but thriving.
DAF still does make diesel engines, they're tagged as PACCAR MX & PR engines.
20:00, never knew till know that VDLs had same sort of sleeping setup like European Mercedes Tourismos. Spent many hours trying to sleep in the sleeping berths on many coaches doing overnight journeys.
20:45 The UK spec coach is for Leger Tours as their Luxuria brand offering upmarket coach tours of europe.
Great video James it was really cool of Vanhool to invite to come their main power plant I think Novabus should invite you to come to Montreal Canada and visit and take a tour of their assembly stations and who knows you might get to test drive the LFSe+ if they offer you
he could also visit the prevost factory in ste-claire de bellechasse and see how they build the H3-45 and others
Doubt that will happen; didn't Nova pivot away from actively marketing to American customers?
@ don’t they still have a factory in upstate New York?
LOVE THIS!!!! Wish I could visit myself.
I wonder how much of Van Hool's future research and development will be done by/with VDL? No matter how big or small that amount is, im super super SUPER happy that VanHool isnt going under!
That was super interesting. Thank you.
Once on a train through Eindhoven, I passed a building labeled “van Doorn Autofabrik”. The Dutch drop the “van” or “de”, so this was the factory of DAF.
Fantastic video,James. 😮 very interesting.
Amazing video, congrats!
@James, Eindhoven is also home to DAF Trucks, they build the engines for most of the motorcoaches and transit buses used in Europe and are also a part of PACCAR, Inc. who is the parent company of Kenworth and Peterbilt. 😀
Howdy James!
Howdy!
Did all of Van Hool's production move to Macedonia? When I was there in '07 it was all near Lier in Belgium. Koningshooikt. Massive facility. The US product line was small compared to the output for the European market.
nope, there was still a lott of activity in belgium. but more with truck trailers i think.
Now this is amazing, I wonder if VDL still makes the Jonckheere buses as I’ve seen JUTC buses that say “VDL JONCKHEERE” or VDL Volvo B7R.
Its made in VDL bus Roeselare belgium
Middle door or continental door
Is an emergency exit and example if you in UK going into Europe customers can disembark safely
Or if you in narrow road no room turn around school children can use that side if drivers pull over opposite sides of road
Some coaches have continental door on same side faster unloading
Very interesting and informative James. Indeed you’re Blessed with a wonderful and strong family. Was that plane out of O’HARE a 777?
The products that the “old” VAN-HOOL are proven and established. So it’s probably wise just to keep the models for the American market just the way they are. Changing the name is academic.
Thanks as always for taking us along. Much appreciated.
That plane was a 767 300 ER
Another great Video! Do you have any idea if VDL manufacture their own seats that could possibly be substituted for the Keil product? Keil isn't working on this side of the pond. I have never had as many issues with passenger seats like the current stock models.
Vdl bus does not manufacture there own bus seats. When i was working there the came from turkey i think.
@ thank you for the reply. My company owns and operates a fleet of Vanhool coaches here in the states and will no longer take delivery of new coaches with Keil seating.
As my Dutch in-laws said “if you ain’t Dutch you ain’t much”.
DAF engines are branded PACCAR engines. PACCAR owns DAF and VDL uses DAF powertrains.
Here’s the thing. The saying goodbye to your family will never stop. As a driver it will just tear your personal life apart. Make your money and get out before it’s too late.
I dont think I could ever give this up. My family knows that. I find a good work life balance. And it works. But Yes i understand what you mean. Its tough to do.
The company I currently work for promised me year round work in Florida upon hire. I completed my training at our headquarters up north and then moved my family to Florida. They waited until after the move to inform me I would be leaving my family half a year every year. I’ve been here 10 years now and I have done it every year. The kids of the original owner run it now and they have no idea what they are doing however in my area of Florida there are no other opportunities that pay this much and I’m the only person working in my household and I’m too far away from a major city to fix the problem. I’m just stuck. I am hyper organized and sometimes butt heads with the owners also I was raised in a town of less than 1,000 in West Virginia so the thought of dealing with a bunch of rich people if I ever became a CEO is a no go because those kinds of people will never understand me and sometimes my personality type rubs people the wrong way because I don’t want to lay around when I get a break because I come with the attitude of if everybody does their part we can just hop in and go but everybody is lazy.
If you remember what the Norwegians told you about motorcoaches in Europe they do not use what you have in North America a torque converter transmission Instead This one comes with an automated manual transmission
@@EpicThe112 Those things are slow and rough. Nothing is smoother than a torque converter.
Are you bringing the VDL market into the USA yet?
A little history...Philips, while currently HQ'd in Amsterdam, was founded in Eindhoven. A lot of Philips' history is greatly associated with Eindhoven, and the main football team is PSV Eindhoven, the P in PSV coming after...PHILIPS. 😆
James Wang become motorcoach king !
James ,
Very impressive. I feel like the frame should be welded and not glued. New Flyer has used glue for while to put on body panels. The coaches with the sleeping compartments. Not a fan of sleeping compartment being next to a dual wheel model. Thats not going to be pretty if there is a blowout.
I am glad you were given the opportunity to visit their plant.
Did you made any Vanhool bus purchases for Peoria Charter while your out there?
Haha no, I just purchased Peoria Charter. I need a little bit before I purchase any coach lol
They better let you drive one of them coaches
Stay tuned LOL ;)
James you so need visit Cummins Darlington engine plants and emissions especially there leading way for green hydrogen coach industry
IF they invite me, I will come ;)
Initially I thought Idaho...then was like first class sleeping ...and I was like isn't Chicago just a few hours away?
Did the TV in your hotel room say “Welcome, Bus” or “Welcome, Driver”?
haha I never turned it on lol. I wish I would have now!
In many a hotel, I was registered as Driver, Bus.
Do you have a po box?
No, but my company address is 1910 N Federal Drive, Urbana Illinois. Suite 111
@MotorcoachWorld i dont know if it's even a good idea to mail a letter to the company.
It's not work related. It's fan mail
@@Mr-pn2eh I get lots of fan mail at my office. I love reading them. I also get lots of gifts too from my viewers. I feel bad because I don't want people spending money on me. But I am very touched and grateful!
@@MotorcoachWorldoh ok.
If its allowed I'll mail it there
Should I address it as james or peoria?
Hey man can you do a video where you go to South Korea and try one of they're best coach from Daewoo, Kia or Hyundai (my best recommendation is for you to try the Hyundai Universe it's the best of the best from South Korea) and do a full review about it
There is a lot of cost when it comes to traveling. Usually when I go to these places, I am invited and the airline tickets, hotel rooms, and meals are covered by the sponsor. This does not include all of my time that i spend away from my work place and my home as well as the many hours it takes me to edit the footage into the videos that my viewers enjoy watching. I gladly donate my time to these videos and do not ask for any compensation since my videos do generate a little bit of revenue... This trip was sponsored by ABC companies. If someone from south Korea would like to invite me and sponsor a trip and has access to a daewoo bus for me to drive... then I would gladly accept.
@MotorcoachWorld ahh i see
Well i hope for the best for you
Thank you! I hope I can make this video one day. I hope someone in Korea will invite me. I would love to go visit the country. I love the food too lol@@kyruzarnejo7472
💝
you mentioned that this was the old Philips factory ,so i take it they are no longer in business, BTW. my last name initials are alsoVDL as in van der Leest originally from Emmen and now in BC. Canada
Are they trying to make a sale on you?
LOL That would be a expensive sales tactic. ABC sponsored this trip and I am so honored and grateful!
@MotorcoachWorld they are probably looking for another brand ambassador.
maybe nice to meet Bus youtuber: Bus Travelin'Man, make some nice content with him!!
Dr but when
Polaris ;-)
Geert the CEO greets people with a hand in his pocket... no education...
What I find weird about foreign buses is all the emergency windows are break glass instead of a handle. I prefer the handles because in an emergency it’s quicker and also safer.
Ok bus is on fire let me break this glass and cut myself to escape. I can either burn or bleed out 😂. I know it’s supposed to be safety glass but it can still cut u.
No you won't cut. I had to break a few once and it's absolutely safe.