A North Olympic Peninsula shuttle service to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is using an alternate carrier after a state agency ordered the company to stop.
Pennco Transportation, which operates in Jefferson and Clallam counties, continued booking passengers on Saturday, a week after the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission found that it failed to maintain required liability insurance coverage.
Pennco president Kevin Harris on Saturday night said his company has chartered another Utilities and Transportation Commission-registered company to transport passengers while Pennco awaits paperwork processing related to its insurance problems.
Peninsula Tours and Charters Inc., which has $5 million in liability insurance, will handle’s Pennco’s business until around mid-May, said Harris, of Port Townsend.
Peninsula, which does business as Royal Tours, is affiliated with Pennco but carries different Utilities and Transportation Commission certification.
“If you’re a regular Pennco passenger, besides being picked up in different vehicles, we hope our longtime customers will not notice much difference at all in the quality of the service we provide,” Harris said in a statement.
Carlsborg-based Pennco drivers will be among those driving for Royal Tours, he added.
Pennco’s problems, Harris said, began April 22 when its coverage with insurer, Canal Insurance Co., expired.
The expiration was the result of a lengthy dispute over removing coverage from 10 Pennco vehicles the company wasn’t using, Harris said.
Although Pennco now has new coverage — from an assigned risk pool — for the company’s 20 operating vehicles, the paperwork won’t be processed by the state commission for about 15 days.
Thus, the Pennco fleet is grounded.
“Our broker has assured us that as long as the application is filled in correctly and the premium received, our coverage will be effective as of April 26,” Harris said.
“However, until the risk pool can provide the Form E to the [Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission], in the WUTC’s eyes, we have no insurance.”
That was borne out in an earlier interview with a commission spokesperson.
“One of the requirements to operate is that the company carries the proper insurance,” said Bonnie Allen, transportation commission regulatory analyst.
“At this time staff is concerned that the company has continued operations without certification.”
At least one time last week, a Pennco driver was ordered away from Sea-Tac International Airport, one of Pennco’s main destinations.
The Port of Seattle, which operates the airport, would not allow Pennco to stop at the airport without authority and insurance, Sea-Tac officials said.
