History
Serving the Twin Cities of Minneapolis & St. Paul, and surrounding regions since 1945
Lorenz Bus Service is a trusted brand within the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul and is well known throughout the country for innovative thinking, strong leadership, reliable performance, attentive customer relations, high quality equipment, superior maintenance, solid safety practices and individualized training.
Lorenz has a large and diverse client base ranging from professional sports clubs, Fortune 500 corporations, and major events with complex transportation requirements, like the Minnesota State Fair and the NHL Draft, to public transit route transportation and school bus route service. We are the largest independently owned transportation provider in the Upper Midwest, and have a substantial fleet of motor vehicles to meet our clients’ every need.
Lorenz Bus Service has a rich heritage that spans over sixty years. We started providing public transit services to and within downtown St. Paul from along Rice Street in 1945 under the name Rice-Edgerton Lines. In time, Lorenz became a major contractor for the Metropolitan Council, the local government entity responsible for organizing public transit.
In 1972, we expanded into the charter motor coach business with several motor coaches, and in the early 1990’s, we were among the first companies to start using European touring coaches within Minnesota. Today, we operate a fleet of over 150 vehicles. Our charter bus rental business is booming, our public transportation business is constant, and we’re a visible player within the school bus industry.
We attribute our success in managing a diverse portfolio of business to our commitment to our core values of safety, service, and sincerity, to our ability to recruit and retain the best talent, and to our ability to adjust as the needs of our customer base evolve.
Woven into the fabric of our organization are our core values. They define who we are, they give us purpose, and they guide us in all of the decisions that we make. They are as follows:
Safety:
Many lives are held in our hands and entrusted to our high-quality performance. We understand safety is of paramount importance. Our compelling safety record and low out-of-service record are a direct result of our attentiveness to preventive maintenance, methodical repair procedures and consistent vehicle bodywork.
We hire carefully, train individually, monitor attentively, and take immediate action when necessary. We have worked to build a culture where each employee embraces the need for safety both by personal practice and by reporting unsafe practices he or she may observe. We hold monthly safety meetings to reinforce safety awareness and to ensure our riders have a safe ride to their destination. Operations staff work together to monitor and report equipment malfunctions thus minimizing downtime and maximizing safety. This means we never send out a bus that is not fully functional, safe and clean.
Service:
Our work is only good if we do it on time, respectfully and according to customers’ needs and the law. Contract compliance, equipment functionality, on-time performance and customer satisfaction are a few of the internal methods we use to measure the quality of service we provide. We rate highly in all of these areas relative to our competitors, and continue to commit ourselves to bettering our performance year after year.
Every Lorenz transportation service plan is shared with staff so that all are committed to the same goal. Everything we do at Lorenz is to give our riders the best service possible. We’re here because of you, our clients.
Sincerity
Sincerity is about caring; at Lorenz, we emphasize the importance of caring vs. going through the motions. We care about what we do, how we get it done and for whom we do it. Lorenz is committed to maintaining a culture that is respectful of all individuals, presenting a positive demeanor and promoting a courteous attitude that allows us to meet the needs of our clients and community. Our route drivers develop relationships with riders, they stay tuned-in to their needs, and help them start and end their days on a positive note, whereas our charter drivers always recommend a “hidden gem.”
Recruitment and retention are at the forefront of everything we do, as our core values are only words without the people and processes to bring them to life. We invest in our employees; we strive to add value to the lives of our employees by empowering them with responsibility and accountability to show they are valued and trusted. Thus, we have a very high retention rate.
Cumulatively, these values and practices allow us to continually evolve to ensure we’re meeting our clients’ needs. Over 10 years ago, we began purchasing lift-equipped motor coaches long before our competitors; we now have one of the largest accessible fleets in the Twin Cities. As our meeting planner customers started to look for an effective and efficient method for transporting large numbers of passengers at once, we introduced some of the first private charter transit buses to Minnesota. Presently, we have one of the largest privately held fleets of charter-ready transit buses in the United States. Most recently, our charter clients started to seek out upgraded motor coaches that provide the most modern of amenities to transport their leaders, employees, customers, prospective employees, colleagues, teammates, and friends. We’ve now introduced the “Elite Motor Coaches” into our fleet–the two most prominent motor coaches in our region.
As you’re planning and preparing for your next event, trip, or project, you can count on Lorenz Bus Service to take you wherever you’re looking to go. Contact us today and we’ll take care of you.