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Chauffeur Driven’s Industry & Brand Ambassador Philip Jagiela (left) and LANJ Second Vice President David Seelinger of Empire CLS Princeton, N.J. — On March 31, the Limousine Association of New Jersey (LANJ) convened for a meeting that focused primarily on the encouraging headway the organization has made in its recent legislative efforts.
After Brian Engle of meeting sponsor Wolfington Body Company and Shane Tom of Turtle Top spoke about their products and services, LANJ President Jeff Shanker of A-1 Limousine announced that the association “has made significant progress” since the end of 2014.
“If we had accomplished about 30 percent of what we wanted to in December, we’re at about 70 percent now,” Shanker said of LANJ’s goals for TNC regulations. “We might get to 90 or 95 percent but we’ll keep pushing for 100 percent.”
The meeting followed closely on the heels of A-3765’s passage in the state Assembly Transportation Committee on March 19. While LANJ ultimately opposed the bill because it doesn’t address all areas of the association’s TNC safety concerns, members have been working with the likes of Assemblymen John Wisniewski and Joseph Lagana to make amendments to the bill before its upcoming Senate vote.
Shanker recognized and applauded the boots-on-the-ground efforts of several LANJ members, as well as lobbying firms The Kaufman Zita Group and Princeton Public Affairs Group, imploring all in attendance to continue supporting the industry by going to their districts’ legislators.
“We need you to go to your elected officials and let them know why we’re standing in front of them,” he said. “They know my face: Now they want to see yours.”
The traction LANJ has gained by addressing the safety concerns that unregulated transportation companies present has opened the door for discussions with elected officials about the need for a level playing field. The association has provided its members with two documents to assist them in their arguments: a side-by-side analysis of New Jersey’s limousine laws and the considerably less demanding requirements currently in place for TNCs, as well as a letter explaining why LANJ opposed A-3765.
(L to R): LANJ Director Barry Trabb of Complete Fleet & Limousine Sales, Chauffeur Driven Publisher Chris Weiss, LANJ Director Bob Schiavo of Albert’s Transportation, Brian O’Neill of Wolfington Body Company, and LANJ First Vice President Jason Sharenow LANJ’s PAC Chair Peter Corelli of Lakeview Custom Coach asked for members and supporters to help refill the association’s coffers, as fighting for regulation comes at a financial cost. “Whatever it takes, we need to do this,” he said. “We’ll keep fighting the fight but our funds are getting low.”
To increase member involvement, LANJ has created a few internal committees. The Membership Committee, co-chaired by Jon Epstein of Royal Coachman Worldwide and Barry Trabb of Complete Fleet & Limousine Sales, and the Social Media Committee, co-chaired by David Seelinger of Empire CLS and Jennifer Wong of DriveProfit, reported on both committees’ efforts to bolster membership numbers and association recognition. The Merchandising Committee’s recent formation was also announced, which will be spearheaded by Chris Stochholm of New Jersey Limo Finder as a way to both show support for LANJ and get its name out.
Chauffeur Driven Publisher Chris Weiss spoke toward the end of the meeting, announcing the recent addition of Industry & Brand Ambassador Philip Jagiela to the CD team and discussing the newest developments in both June’s Executive Retreat in Nashville and October’s Miami show. Jagiela, as well as Editor Madeleine Maccar, also attended the meeting.
LANJ’s next general meeting is scheduled for May 13 and will coincide with the association’s annual auction, which has raised about $132,000 for LANJ over the course of its 11 years.
Visit lanj.org for more information.
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Houston — When the Houston Area Livery & Charter Association (HALCA) met March 24 at Crowne Plaza, two issues dominated the meeting: a new revenue reporting requirement and vehicles’ accessibility.
Association president Wes Hart of American Corporate Transportation said that when the ordinance was modified last year, the city’s Administrative & Regulatory Affairs Department had added reporting requirements to the Chapter 46 ordinance that enforces for-hire vehicle regulations.
Aside from the complicated and labor-intensive paperwork that accompanies the new requirement, Hart and many other HALCA members are concerned that divulging proprietary information such as the number of pickups and drop-offs in a ZIP code or at an airport could compromise livery companies’ livelihoods—especially those of smaller operators—to the benefit of TNCs.
“If anyone goes to the city with a Freedom of Information request, they can get our information,” he said. “Any ‘technology company’ out there could just create this bubble map of how much revenue is in an area, so we’d be losing all of our marketing and competitive data. A lot of people don’t realize what an impact this has.”
While Hart reports that Houston is threatening to revoke operators’ permits if they don’t supply their revenue information, he added that “the city has allowed us to sign a waiver so we don’t have to report that information for one year.”
One of HALCA’s primary goals for the year is to fight the reporting requirement. Members are currently engaged in a letter-writing campaign to bring the issue to city council’s awareness, and Hart said that HALCA’s legislative committee is planning a “boots on the ground” meeting with Houston’s elected officials.
“I’m optimistic that, when they realize what they’re doing, they’ll modify the ordinance to make it not so restrictive,” said Hart, though he ventured that the difficulty of the battle ahead will be determined by the impetus of the regulation in the first place.
The second issue that commanded the meeting’s agenda was also born of last year’s modifications to Houston’s for-hire vehicle ordinance, as it created the city’s Transportation Accessibility Task Force, which includes HALCA member David Dillon of Carey Houston. The task force has mandated that 2 percent of each fleet’s vehicles be wheelchair accessible.
“The big issue is that a small operator would be spending $60,000 on an accessible vehicle,” Hart said. “As a small operator, I’d be spending that kind of money when I’ve only had one request for a wheelchair-accessible vehicle in my 10-year history.” Hart added that the average livery staff isn’t trained to assist a disabled individual in getting from a wheelchair to a vehicle, which presents a liability issue.
Additional issues that HALCA will address in the future include Uber’s arrival in Austin and fighting a pickup/drop-off fee that the Galveston cruise terminal has had on the books for years but never enforced until recently—a charge that Hart believes is in violation of The RIDE Act, as it introduces a cost to livery operators without offering them benefits not made available to the non-commercial public.
Visit houstonlimos.info for more information.
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Phoenix, Ariz.—FASTTRAK Technologies recently announced an integration with TomTom Telematics that allows dispatchers to send orders from FASTTRAK Cloud directly to TomTom PRO driver terminals in their vehicles. With a single mouse click, dispatchers can now send all relevant order information to the driver, and leverage TomTom’s award-winning vehicle tracking, navigation and real-time traffic capabilities, according to a joint press release from the companies. The integrated solution is expected to increase efficiency in the back office, and save chauffeurs time on the road.
“Partnering with TomTom has allowed us to extend the benefits of our reservation and dispatch management solutions to our customers,” says Eddie McCoy, president and owner of FASTTRAK Technologies. “In today’s business climate, anything that improves response times and efficiencies can help companies compete and thrive.”
TomTom Telematics’ WEBFLEET provides real-time visibility into vehicle location, delivering significantly faster response times and improved accountability. WEBFLEET’s advanced fleet management capabilities help FASTTRAK customers maximize the return on their fleet investment. WEBFLEET provides complete visibility into driver behavior, such as speeding over the posted limit, aggressive driving and idling. The PRO driver terminals offer drivers traffic-based navigation and Active Driver Feedback, a real-time coaching tool to encourage a safer and more fuel-efficient driving style.
“FASTTRAK and TomTom have created a one-stop solution for us,” says Stephen Winstead, transportation manager for Towne Park. “Being able to see reservations, what each individual vehicle is doing on one screen and manage it all from one hub has been phenomenal for us. I don’t know what we’d do without it.”
Visit FASTTRAKcloud.com or more information about FASTTRAK. For more information on WEBFLEET from TomTom Telematics, visit tomtom.com/telematics.
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