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Orlando, Fla. — Allied Specialty Vehicles (ASV), a leading manufacturer of motor vehicles for commercial, fire & emergency, and recreation markets, announced an exclusive partnership with CleanFUEL USA, an industry leader in propane auto gas technology. Under the partnership, CleanFUEL USA (cleanfuelusa.com) will provide products and services to expand ASV’s line of alternative fuel vehicles, namely propane auto gas.
“ASV has a long relationship working with CleanFUEL USA on propane auto gas fleet installations for type A school buses at Collins Bus. Expanding this relationship across all ASV vehicle brands will increase the breadth of propane auto gas systems we can offer to our customers,” said Tim Sullivan, ASV president and CEO. “We’re proud of our commitment to offer green energy alternative fuel options such as propane that have long-term benefits to the environment.”
The partnership agreement calls for CleanFUEL USA’s propane auto gas systems currently installed by third-party upfitters to be transitioned to ASV factory-certified installations. Sullivan says this change will not only offer customers a full OEM warranty, but it will increase installation efficiency and improve overall quality control. The two companies will also work together to develop customer service centers that will offer spare parts and maintenance services for a full suite of CleanFUEL USA propane auto gas systems for multiple ASV product lines and their customers.
ASV also announced an exclusive partnership with Westport (westport.com), a global leader in alternative fuel, low-emissions transportation technologies. The partnership expands the availability of the compressed natural gas (CNG) Westport WiNG™ Power System to the company’s commercial bus products.
The Westport WiNG™ Power System is a dedicated natural gas fuel system for light-duty specialty vehicles built on Ford truck chassis and backed by a Ford Factory 3-year/36,000-mile engine and powertrain warranty. As a leading CNG Ford Qualified Vehicle Modifier (QVM), Westport designed its system to meet Ford’s OEM standards. Westport also conducts rigorous, OEM-approved safety testing, including extensive simulations and physical crash testing that meets or exceeds OEM and U.S. federal safety standards.
Visit alliedsv.com for more information.
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Both HB-225 and HB-190 have passed in the Georgia House and Senate, and gradually will be signed into law between July of this year and July 2016. HB-225 mandates that all for-hire drivers receive a license endorsement before taking to the road, while HB-190 decrees that TNCs and their drivers are insured enough to cover minimum liability limits.
GALA President Dennis DeLoatch of Carey Atlanta calls the bills’ passing “a mixed bag of emotions.”
“The city didn’t view TNCs as taxis and the state didn’t view them as limousines, so nobody was doing any enforcement,” DeLoatch said. “The legislation was written and adopted so there could be some enforcement. What seemed to be our only option was to get legislation passed that would clear that pathway so state and local municipalities could start providing some enforcement to oversee these operations, because the bottom line is all about safety.”
DeLoatch said that while “legislation is usually black and white—outlining that this is what you do and this is what you don’t do,” the two bills offer more of an either/or approach to regulating TNCs.
“For example, TNCs don’t pay sales taxes here in Georgia and we do—so instead of “You will pay,” there’s an either/or for TNCs: Either you pay sales taxes or you buy a permit or a fee based on the number of vehicles that you’re operating,” he said. “There’s an Option A or Option B, whether it’s for insurance, fingerprinting, vehicle inspection, or sales taxes.”
The Georgia Committee for Transportation Compliance (GCTC)—a council that had been formed by local leaders in both the taxi and chauffeured ground transportation industries, included their lobbyists and attorneys, and in which both DeLoatch and GALA Vice President Jeff Greene of Greene Worldwide Transportation played a role—had a hand in crafting the two bills.
“The efforts for the bill were results of the efforts of the GCTC,” DeLoatch said. “We were very active in writing the legislation, negotiations went back and forth with lobbyists and attorneys, and what we wanted was not exactly what we got. But maybe there’s something to build on, and maybe there’ll be an effort going forward to rewrite some of the legislation and put more bite in the bark.”
GALA is currently looking to grow its membership, and its website, galalimo.org, has “a wealth of knowledge” available for the entire industry—not just GALA members. DeLoatch said that the site is regularly updated to help the association in its mission to make operators “aware of what their obligation is to the public and the industry, and to be fair in their operations and how they conduct their business.”
Both CD’s Chris Weiss and Jeff Brodsly of Chosen Payments spoke at the meeting, with the former discussing the industry as well as Chauffeur Driven’s 2015 events, and the latter talking about the recent bout of credit card fraud plaguing operators. Weiss raffled off a pass for the Executive Retreat in Nashville, which was won by Tiffany Morman of MARTI Transportation, and a pass to the Miami show, which Clarence Carr of Action Worldwide Transportation won.
The association’s annual charity golf tournament has been scheduled for September 22, and will raise funds both to benefit Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and cover GALA’s legal efforts of the past year.
GALA’s next meeting will be June 16.
Visit galalimo.org for more information.
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After some mingling and refreshments, LBTOUNY President Kevin Barwell of Giorgio’s Limousine Service kicked off the meeting with a brief overview of some old association business before turning over the mic to Katie Mitchell of National Interstate Insurance. Mitchell spoke about automatic event recorders and the different types available for the chauffeured transportation industry. She shared about a dozen videos that helped to establish what party was at fault when both claim innocence, and if any injuries occurred to passengers during the collision. The videos also showed if the transportation driver acted properly before, during, and after the accident—or if he should be retrained or dismissed.
It was back to business as Barwell spoke about the sales tax repeal, which the association has been fighting for years but had made tremendous progress on in the last legislative session. LBTOUNY launched a successful grassroots effort to gather support in the state senate, but the bill stalled in the assembly.
“The assembly felt that they would have a $24 million loss in the budget, so it wasn’t doable for them,” said Barwell. “We may not see an outright appeal but an exemption like in other states. The issue isn’t dead, but it’s slowed up a bit. Now that we have a voice, we can get the momentum going again.”
Barwell also noted that sales tax audits have become a little more aggressive and are hitting some transportation companies hard. “Anything is taxable that you charge to a customer, including tolls, water, everything except gratuities,” he said.
Immediate attention, however, is focused on stopping two bills that are currently in both houses that would exempt TNCs from all requirements that limousines, taxis, and buses face. Barwell notes that they were able to fight them aggressively in Buffalo, but Lyft has said it wants to resume operating in the city by July. LBTOUNY is organizing a Lobby Day in Albany; as of press time, the final date was not yet available pending a meeting schedule with state representatives. Other state associations are encouraged to join the event. In the meantime, the association has started an online petition against the state senate to push them to pass legislation that treats TNCs like transportation companies with the same regulations. The petition can be found at chn.ge/1J9EAYk.
Chauffeur Driven raffled off a pass to the Miami show, which will be held at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel this October 11-14. LBTOUNY Chairman Scott Pizzo of Park Place Corporate Transportation won the pass.
The next official meeting is scheduled for July, date to be determined, in Buffalo.
Visit lbtony.com for more information.
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