Joan Dyer 3/19/21 Joan Dyer 3/19/21

Here is What You Will Learn at the GCLA Spring Conference

With less than 2 weeks to go, 75% of the conference seats have been reserved. Many more operators are waiting to make sure their schedules permit the time away from businesses to attend. That said, we expect a full house at the FIRST business conference in the travel industry to be hosted LIVE in the state of California since the onset of Covid restrictions 365 days ago.

If you’re trying to weigh out your time and money investment, here is what your payoff is for attending:

1. A one-hour State of the Industry that will detail where the industry stands today and what is happening in real time in all areas of transportation.

2. Incentive / Business travel update on the return of our bread-and-butter revenue stream.

3. Meetings, conventions and live events “come-back” details from top experts.

4. Electric vehicles – a very interesting look into the not-too-distant future of luxury vehicles in California.

5. Luxury and Retail travel trends (including tours) – leisure and luxury travel is up this year so it’s time to chase that side of the business. Experts will tell you how to cash in.

6. Airport status in California – how Covid changes at airports from San Diego to SFO are affecting ground transportation, plus, we will cover what’s happening at small airports and private FOBs.
7. Weddings in California this year – a full report on how Covid has impacted wedding trends. There’s very good news for transportation professionals.

8. Insurance update – a detailed status of California transportation insurance and answers to your most pressing questions. You will also be able to talk one on one with our two insurance sponsors for more personalized questions.

9. Legislation – an update on all pertinent issues impacting ground transportation, presented by the GCLA lobbyist and attorney.

If you are not in the state of California, but farming out jobs to operators who reside in the state, your presence is necessary and we hope you come. California is the nation’s bellwether state on many levels, especially when it comes to travel and tourism trends.

Here is how your register:
www.gcla.show
www.gcla.org – click EVENTS tab
Email us at sara@gcla.org
Call us at 213-349-0190

Joan Dyer 7/16/20 Joan Dyer 7/16/20

Standing By Your California Business Clients

WHY ITS TIME WE STAND BY OUR CLIENTS
IS CALIFORNIA AT IT WITS END?

The counties surrounding San Francisco were the very first in the country to enact the stay-at-home orders. That was March 16, what seems like a million years ago. At that time, the bay area set itself apart as being the model of coordinated action against the spread of Covid-19. Soon the entire state of California followed suit. We did everything we were told to do by our county supervisors and our Governor. This was all supposed to be temporary. In late June we finally began to feel the ease of tensions as slowly we were able to resume some semblance of normalcy.

This week, things spiraled downward as the Governor reinstated shut down orders amid mixed messages. My phones have rung off the hook by demoralized operators wanting to know what is going on! I mean that literally. Conflicting rules from county to county and city to city are leaving business owners outraged. For example, as reported by the Mercury News just yesterday, “Outdoor dining, for weeks allowed in all of the Bay Area, is now banned in Alameda County, while indoor dining can continue in San Mateo County. In Contra Costa County, which has allowed hair salons since mid-June, outdoor diners will have to wear a mask at all times except when they have a fork or spoon in their mouths. Santa Clara County, which last week had to temporarily stop outdoor dining, is now poised to open gyms and barbershops. And in San Francisco, the zoo is reopening next week while the Oakland Zoo less than 30 miles away stays closed, teetering on bankruptcy. For Union City Mayor Carol Dutra-Vernaci, the inconsistency in rules county to county is a reflection of the unequal response nationwide, where some states have refused to issue mask ordinances that have been commonplace in California for weeks. That poses a challenge for city officials in the Bay Area, where people regularly cross county lines to work, shop and visit friends and relatives. I can’t help feeling sometimes that our residents wonder what in the world we’re doing.”

What we can do is this. We can ban together. There are nearly 6,000 transportation operators in California and only a sliver of them are members of the GCLA (which is terrible). If we do not have the consensus of the entire group, we do not have the influence we need to be heard. All of you reading this should make sure you are a current member and if you are, you should be evangelizing our great organization that is trying to fight for you. We are supporting the efforts of YOUR key clients – the meeting planners, the hotels, the travel management industry, California’s tourism industry and more! If you chose to sit this one out, the GCLA just lost a critical voice in a locale that needs a VOTE. If you are not part of our solution, you are part of the problem and the big one facing us is the health of the industries that BUY transportation.

We must stand behind our clients. We must help them recover and resume operations so we in mobility can resume ours. We do that by supporting the GCLA who in turn backs organizations like Visit California!

The icing on the cake is that by the end of August, the GCLA will have developed a promotional video to distribute to all state organizations that book travel – members will get a free copy. And, we will have completed our all-new OPERATOR DIRECTORY (in digital and mobile formats) that we intend to push out to the world of travel, tourism and affiliates.

Stay Tuned, Stay Strong and Stay Safe,
Sara Eastwood-Richardson

Joan Dyer 7/9/20 Joan Dyer 7/9/20

State of the Industry Today

WHAT IS THE STATE OF THE INDUSTRY TODAY?

Mobility depends on movement. As things have been slowly opening up, demand for our services has felt that. It’s not a lot, but there are positive signs. I pay close attention to what is happening in the larger travel and meetings/events/convention industries. I go by the old saying, “follow the money.”

Total travel output in the US alone is $2.5 trillion with 26% of that in the business travel space and 74% in leisure travel. As for live events, the total annual economic contribution of the meetings and convention industry is $907 billion, which generates $64 billion in federal tax revenue and $46 billion in state and local tax revenue. Additionally, live concerts and sporting events account for $35 billion a year. Those are very big numbers so you can bet those industries are working tirelessly to get things unstuck and when that happens, it’s pretty clear, we will be moving people again.

What can you do to bring business back in the “now”? Before people begin to travel by air, before people to go gatherings, they will first return to their offices and work space. Those people will be looking for transportation. Home-to-work transportation will be the first piece of mobility that comes back and perhaps some retail business. My friend called me last week to ask about a limo for her 50th birthday. She and friends are heading to Santa Barbara county from San Diego for wine tasting and fun. She said she was tired of being cut off from society and wanted to enjoy life again. That is a positive sign.

Chauffeured services that were squeezed by Uber and Lyft for the last 5 years have a chance to regain lost market share in commuter work. For now, the health and safety of people is on everyone’s mind. Corporations are willing to go the extra mile to make sure their employees are comfortable and with the state of public transport in this time of social distancing, we are a great option. I understand from speaking to operations, they are experiencing an uptick in long-distance rides. This is because people still don’t want to or simply can’t fly. Until the airlines and airports find their grove, people will travel longer distances by ground. People are afraid of buses and trains and opting to take cars. As time goes on, buses and trains too will defeat these fears and people will go back to mass transport. But for the time being, it’s too scary.

Speaking of fears, I caution you about overdoing it in an effort to be taken seriously with hygiene protocols. It’s important that we do everything in our power to work against those fears while interacting with clients in person. For starters, until your clients get close to your chauffeurs, they should not have a mask on, rather a big friendly smile. People must be able to read body language to be made comfortable. The masks – especially the black ones – are scary and people are fearful enough. If I had a luxury car company I would have masks that were as subtle as possible – or even whimsical like the ones offered on Vistaprint ( https://www.vistaprint.com/masks/.) Black is the sign of death and while you might think it looks cool, trust me, it’s a very ominous look and that is the last thing you want people to feel about your service in these frightening times. We must work creatively around service levels to lessen fears and the best way is to be happy. Drivers should text upon their arrival with a happy thought of the day and a cheery salutation. Think the opposite of serious and come up with your own unique first impression. Chauffeurs are your store front. You don’t want them to look intimidating but rather friendly. They are hired to help people relax and lift their spirits while bringing a sense of peace-of-mind. Drivers in situations requiring a mask at all times can use technology to help with that pleasant first impression. An iPad with a happy emoji is a very simple added touch and a memorable one that’s sure to make yor client smile.

Parting shot? To the operators of California and beyond, I remind you to limit the time you spend watching the news and stay focused on positive steps forward that ARE happening. Keep your prospective. This is an election year and the hysteria coming from the media is distracting. We need logic to drive us, not emotion. We will resolve this matter…we are resolving this. We know a heck of a lot more today than we did 4 months ago. In March, California Governor Newsom stated that there would be 2 million dead in California by June 1. There are a reported 6,000 out of 40 million residents who have reportedly died by complications exacerbated by Covid 19. This is GREAT information (not the death toll of course, just the stats).

Enjoy your weekend,
Sara Eastwood-Richardson

Joan Dyer 5/14/20 Joan Dyer 5/14/20

Pandemic Insurance Matters

Starting Your Engines – Time to Talk Insurance

Governor Gavin Newsom relaxed some statewide restrictions last week but that was not enough to quell the ever-growing frustration by Californians who want to get back to work. Nearly 30 California counties are threatening to jump ahead of Governor Newsom’s orders and open up. Meanwhile, Los Angeles Mayor Garcetti was forced to walk back a statement his county public health director Barbara Ferrer made on Monday that suggested the Coronavirus lockdown would continue for another three months. In another act of defiance, Tesla CEO Elon Musk reopened his plant in Fremont this week as well.

With more than 4 million people in California on unemployment and a nearly $55 billion budget shortfall for the state, the pressure is on for the state to open the economy faster than leadership is comfortable with.

According to CA-Gov there have been 1.1 million residents tested to date. Of those, just under 7% have tested positive for COVID-9 (73,000 cases). As of May 14th, of those that are carriers of the virus, a little under 4% (3,000) have died due to complications that were exacerbated by the virus. California has 40 million people so all things being equal, the data that CA-Gov has shared means that 7% of our population is likely carriers, or 2.8 million. All lives are precious but at some point, we have to ask ourselves are we winning the battle to only lose the war? I think that is the sentiment being spread all over as more testing and data makes things clearer to all.

What does this mean for us? Cutting through the clutter of all the unknowns, we know these truths. One, clean is the new safe. Sanitation protocols are a must. GCLA is working hard to fine tune a standard for all of you which will happen in the next two weeks. Messaging to the traveler must be aligned with new priorities and new opportunities. I will reiterate what I shared weeks ago. We have an emerging opportunity to recapture lost market share to ride-hail enterprises. We have a chance at procuring more contract work in the “people-mover” space including commuter, non-emergency medical and courtesy shuttle. We know that local business and leisure travel will come back before international travel does. Meeting planners will find a way to reconvene, beginning with selecting destinations that offer fresh air spaces. We are in the sunshine state and as restrictions for meetings relax, expect more open-air gatherings to be the trend which we have an abundance of compared to any other state. We will rise to the occasion, pardon the pun.

If you furloughed your fleets, start getting quotes now for insurance. I say this because you must have insurance to reactivate your CPUC license. While the CPUC announced an expedited plan, which waives the 30-day wait period, you still have to have your vehicles insured before you can get your TCP. You don’t want to leave this to the 11th hour. Give yourself plenty of time to ensure you are on the right side of negotiating your best insurance rate and plan. All things are changing, including insurance.

As always, I am thinking of you in these stressful times. My team is on overdrive to help you recover as fast as possible. Remember to lean on facts and stay clear of all the rhetoric and keep a positive attitude.

Reach out to me any time. We got this!

Sara Eastwood-Richardson

Joan Dyer 4/23/20 Joan Dyer 4/23/20

Clean is the New Safe

Clean is the new safe

There was an interesting article recently in Fast Company written by a futurist who sees this pandemic as a very real turning point for transportation in the future. The article goes on to describe all the great lengths transportation businesses will need to take to make their business models work. Of particular interest to me was the part about ride-hail companies. Think about it for a minute. The hail-model of transportation–from a germ standpoint–is fraught with peril. They move random people who come in and out of the vehicles with no duty of care, no insurance of sanitizing protocols, no quality control. Now, think about the chauffeured transportation industry. We have ALWAYS had vehicle cleaning protocols between runs. It’s not a big deal to add a few new kinds of procedures to what we are already set up to do. The article mentions new technologies such as touchless doors but just how in the world is Uber or Lyft going to be able to deliver that product consistently? On the other hand, our chauffeurs handle the doors so for our part this is easy to ensure.

My final takeaway from reading this article (and others similar to this) is that we have a golden opportunity to reclaim the lost “mid-tier” market of business that went to Uber and Lyft simply for being who we’ve always been—high end services. CLEAN is the NEW SAFE. Coming out of this mothball, more consumers will be frightened by interactions with strangers. We have the upper hand here. Our chauffeurs are not random drivers. Our clients know where to find us. We can easily prove our cleaning protocols. Let’s imagine that somehow, we limp through this terrible time only to find what is waiting for us is a new world of consumer consciousness that opens doors for us. Envision you are talking to travelers who do not feel safe (yet) to fly but are willing to travel by vehicle to get from place to place and they (or their employer) chooses YOU over a ride-hail company because you can prove your service is clean therefore, safe. Clean saves lives. This is our new reality and our industry is better poised to sell “cleanliness” than any other transportation vertical in the world.

In the meantime, Silicon Valley is already fast at work for new technologies for the ride-hail industry to include in-vehicle cameras that see in advance who else is in the vehicle pool, including thermal cameras that detect if other passengers have fevers or other indications of disease. Talk abut Big Brother! If our clients are uncomfortable with the drive cams mounted on our windshields, just think how they’d feel getting into a car loaded with virus sensors and backseat cameras? I argue that the tech world’s utopia is our client’s dystopia.

As the markets begin to re-open (the governor of Georgia is opening up the state this weekend), we must start to really imagine the opportunities before us. On this note, we will be offering free webinars, beginning in May. Our first one will be a training video on vehicle sanitation procedures. More on that next week. I love the emails from everyone. Please keep ‘em coming!