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On Wednesday, October 28, the Minority Limousine Operators of America (MLOA) returned after a two-month respite for a Zoom meeting. MLOA President Darrell Anderson of A-National Limousine warmly welcomed back members and guests, and thanked the association’s Board for their hard work behind the scenes work. Anderson then took a few minutes to suggest that members read Chauffeur Driven’s recent piece on the Black Lives Matter movement—to which Anderson contributed—and, with the election looming (at the time of the meeting), he strongly encouraged everyone to vote.
MLOA President Darrell Anderson
Following the president’s updates, MLOA Member Committee Co-chair Tiffany Hinton of Motev offered assurance that Board Members are there to assist operators to keep their companies on track or pivot their business.
“A closed mouth doesn’t get fed,” said Hinton, noting that they can’t offer help to those who don’t ask.
Further, MLOA has extended its membership to include companies and representatives from logistics and all transportation industries.
Dave Uziel of UrbanBCN
With the ground transportation industry in a state of flux, MLOA welcomed two guests to discuss ways they’ve successfully pivoted their business—a follow-up to its previous meeting covering the topic. First, Dave Uziel of UrbanBCN shared his experience with partnering with Amazon as a delivery provider. The shift from delivering passengers to packages was relatively simple for Uziel, who believes that his experience as a limousine operator was seen favorably by the retail mega-giant when he had his initial meetings with their team. He also said that the relatively traditional hours that Amazon drivers keep has been helpful in attracting employees, many of whom were working all hours of the day/7 days a week as TNC drivers.
Dan Goff of A Goff Limousine
The MLOA next welcomed Dan Goff of A Goff Limousine & Bus who also recounted the ways he pivoted after the post-COVID work stop. Originally seeking a partnership with Amazon, Goff decided to move into a different industry altogether. He devoted time into researching commercial cleaning and convention services, before deciding that profit margins were too thin. After “making it a full-time job” to apply for grants and financial aid, Goff circled back to the limo industry, where things were starting to return. The industry vet found success in reaching out to drivers whose companies had closed, and found inexpensive used vehicles on Facebook and through his bank.
Before the meeting concluded, Anderson said that MLOA is exploring a virtual member conference to take place early in 2021.
Visit mlooa.org for more information.
[11.03.20]
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Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) Interim Executive Dave Hilfman recently announced that the association is launching a new campaign to stimulate business travel, as the $1.45T global industry continues to be impacted severely by the pandemic. According to the association, the GBTA #ReadySafeTravel initiative will focus and mobilize advocacy efforts to support the industry, ensure passenger and worker safety in ways meant to restore traveler and corporate confidence, and grow public awareness around the economic necessity of a thriving business travel industry.
GBTA Interim Executive Director Dave Hilfman
“I have always been incredibly proud to work as part of the business travel community. … In 2020, during some extremely dark days for business travel, the people who make this industry our profession have refused to quit, because quitting is not an option. Together, we can and must continue to get this industry we love ready and safe for the upcoming return to business travel,” said Hilfman in a letter to members.
According to the letter, the campaign will target specific areas:
Advocacy: The #ReadySafeTravel initiative will offer more than 9,000 GBTA member professionals worldwide the opportunity to help the association advocate for everything the industry needs to save jobs and get back on the road to travel—as soon as that can be safely accomplished.
Education: Since the onset of the pandemic, GBTA has consistently worked in North America and Europe to increase rapid testing efforts, reduce travel quarantines, and establish reciprocal open borders to stimulate a return to business travel, all of which will be accelerated with this campaign.
Data: The initiative will offer data, talking, points and storytelling opportunities meant to make the business travel tale top of mind for the public, industry peers, thought leaders, and elected officials.
Behind the scenes and on the front lines, GBTA has been fighting globally for the safe return of the corporate travel industry. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the association has been polling members worldwide to provide a snapshot of what is happening and what can be expected for the future. In its most recent poll, the association found that corporate professionals are eager to once again travel, and will likely restart in early 2021. Increased safety measures, a vaccine, and reduction of restrictions have all been cited as impediments to business travel.
Full resources for the #ReadySafeTravel initiative are available here.
Visit gbta.org for more information.
[11.02.20]
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Motorcoach manufacturer ABC Companies will soon be the first to offer a motorcoach-diesel-to-electric-repower program for North American operators.
Together with Lightning eMotors, formerly known as Lightning Systems, the partners have created a five-step process for identifying, assessing, and converting a wide range of “donor” diesel coach models that fit the criteria for fast-track battery electric conversion. The repower kits are engineered by Lightning eMotors and will be installed by ABC technicians. The program will launch under ABC Companies SVT (Specialty Vehicles and Technologies) division, underscoring the company’s focus on lowering EV market cost of entry barriers for coach operators.
ABC debuts its first fully battery-electric OEM-produced Van Hool motorcoach, the Van Hool CX45E
Lightning eMotors is a leading developer of zero-emission electric powertrains for a wide variety of commercial vehicles and is certified by CARB and multiple OEM chassis certification programs.
“ABC Companies has a very long history of repower and refurbishment expertise, making conversions to battery electric power a logical next step,” said Roman Cornell, president and chief commercial officer of ABC Companies. “By sourcing leading suppliers and manufacturers, we will provide a portfolio of offerings and price points that will enable our customers to accelerate their introduction of zero-emission vehicles into their fleets. Although the pandemic has impacted the motorcoach market, we are working to get traditional vehicles back on the road, while investing now with innovative new solutions which will address customers’ needs for environmentally-friendly vehicles as the industry begins to recover.”
In spite of these challenging times, many ABC customers and the clients they serve are developing strategies to reduce their carbon footprint, a trend that was started well before the pandemic, noted Cornell. With the cost of current options that organizations face to reduce their carbon footprint ranging from clean energy like solar panels to the enormous expense of upgrading or building new energy-efficient facilities, battery-electric coaches suddenly become an attractive lower-cost alternative
Cornell cited reduced total cost of ownership and monetizing older assets as tangible benefits when specifically looking to add EV Repower to fleets.
In addition to providing a full range of motorcoach zero emission vehicle (ZEV) Repower options, ABC will also be an authorized referral agent for repowering many popular shuttle vans and cutaway applications such as the Lightning Ford Transit passenger van, E-450 and F-550 chassis. “The ability to assist in electric repowered solutions for our customers using these popular vehicles made Lightning eMotors a great fit for ABC Companies,” Cornell said. “Many of our customers utilize these smaller vehicles for various short distance routes, such as airport runs and hotel shuttles, as well as last-mile services for smaller groups. These vehicles can provide a lower cost of entry as fleets identify vehicles to be repowered, and we need to be ready to meet those needs.”
The first repowered motorcoach, a 2012 Van Hool T2145 will be going into operation in the San Francisco area this month, while other motorcoach models are being readied as this is written.
ABC will also debut its first fully battery-electric OEM-produced Van Hool motorcoach later in 2020, the Van Hool CX45E. Featured at the 2020 UMA Expo and designed specifically for battery electric power, this new coach from Van Hool will change the way the industry views zero-emissions motorcoach travel.
“We must continually reassess our offering based on customer needs,” Cornell said. “Aligning with the right partners to bring scalable and flexible solutions to our customers is what drives our business strategies. Whether our customer needs an EV passenger van or a double-deck motorcoach, ABC is ready to help any sized fleet operator shape a solution around their resources and requirements for the long-term.”
Visit abc-companies.com for more information.
[11.02.20]