What Ground Transportation Can Learn from the Toilet Paper Shortage

The pandemic brought to light a global conundrum. The shutdowns showed us all how vulnerable and ill prepared we’ve been for such an emergency. Today, there isn’t a company –or industry – that isn’t hyper focused on supply chain management. So, what is it exactly and how does it relate to transportation service?

In its simplest form, Supply Chain Management describes the “flows of goods and services downstream, flows of money upstream, and flows of information both ways. Supply chain management means taking charge of those flows in order to satisfy demand and increase efficiency,” according to Chris Nicholson, CEO of Pathmind.

Just like the toilet paper shortage, our services are reeling in a new reality of lack of human capital and vehicle supply, which has become our own supply chain dilemma. What to do? Well, here’s some researched advice for you that hopefully will be about some relief.

1. Focus your market approach. Stop being all things to all people. Concentrate on a specific market niche for now – whether it is retail business, delivers, contract shuttle or luxury, or if you all your work is overflow for another company (called a White Label business) pick your sweet spot and stay in that lane for now.

2. Keep your core customers an absolute focus! A customer, by the way, can be an end user of your services or a particular affiliate – the point is, make sure your top accounts come first in all you do. Don’t be afraid to turn down a random job if you have to in order to take care of your key clients. They were with you first, and if you take care of them in this shortage situation, they will be your longtime loyal customers in the future.

3. Keep your offerings and your pricing simple and straight forward. Keep your payment policies simple and straight forward too. Do not float money at this time because the cost to collect is more time/money and distraction you can’t afford.

4. Pool your regional resources. Partner up with other local transportation providers who do not compete directly with you. For example, if you specialize in bus wine tours, outsource your sedan work to a trusted luxury operator and visa versa. Those same non-competitive companies may be able to share staffing resources to.

5. Improved operational efficiency through automation is key. Outsource your customer service, your book keeping, maintenance, detailing and all other time-consuming tasks.

6. When short-staffed, your most valuable asset, your people, shouldn't be overworked trying to keep up with unrealistic expectations. Let your employees know what's a top priority and ask them to put their best into that rather than asking them to put their best into everything. Burning out your employees just exacerbates the staffing situation and increases the likelihood of losing more staff due to frustration.

7. Leverage technology. Technology is the great equalizer for most businesses. This is why software-as-a-service (SaaS) has been booming. No longer for the “big guys” technology for just about any price point is available – a whole topic of its own.

One of the biggest and best practices in dealing with low staffing levels is communication. Talking with your employees about the situation. Getting their strategies for coping with work demands is key. Your customers should also be kept in the loop. Keeping lines of communication open and being transparent makes it easier for everyone to understand the limitations and the timeline for resolving issues. Avoid the temptation to say nothing, hoping no one will notice: This strategy almost never works.

GCLA EXPO Coming August 30-31, 2021

Exclusive 2022 SUPER BOWL SUCCESS PLANNING – Breakfast of Champions Panel Announcement

Things are getting exciting here on the pacific coast. The U.S. Open, which generates nearly $200 million over the course of 14 days, will debut at San Diego’s Torrey Pine Golf in early August. At this point, the total daily count for spectators is at 12,000 but by August the PGA believes that they will be allowed to have more than 60% capacity.

The Super Bowl, a one-day event but for chauffeured transportation spans a full week, generates about $100 million for the local community. But this event, unlike any other live sporting event, is massive in terms of attendance and Los Angeles holds the record for the largest Super Bowls in the history of football. Coming off a state shut down like no other, next year’s Super Bowl hosted in Southern California is going to be (H)Yooj!

How big? So big that we don’t have enough transportation inventory to handle the demand. Even with 40 million residents and more than 3,000 active CPUC license holders in the state, California will need a lot of help from the rest of the country to service the Super Bowl.

It’s a tangled process and the reason the GCLA is getting involved. We will be training and mentoring operators within our membership with exclusive information so that our people succeed in cashing in on the Super Bowl next year. For those of you that want our help, you’re in luck. Becoming a member of the GCLA is $6.25 per month. Just sign up on www.gcla.org as a first step.

Be on the look out for information about our EXPO that includes 2 days of networking, education and 30,000 s.f. of exhibits – mostly outside and against the beautiful backdrop of the Pacific Ocean at LA county’s famous Redondo Beach. www.gcla.expo is under way. Attending this session will insure you actually MAKE money…great money. There’s a lot that can go wrong during these insanely busy events and we will cover it all so you avoid disaster. You’ll hear from veterans and experts at Super Bowl logistics, from the NFL and from our state enforcement agencies.

Get ready to RUMBLE!

Uber Takes Another Lick’n, Will They Keep on Tick’n?

As if the driver shortage isn’t bad enough for surface transportation businesses, Uber and Lyft stocks tumbled yesterday on the heels of a statement from Biden’s Labor Secretary Marty Walsh. Now spread over all the front news pages, Walsh told Reutter’s that Gig Workers should be classified as employees.

This labor classification fight has been long and contentious but it’s been held to the state levels until now. If the pro labor Biden Administration decides that the balance of wealth is unfair – and it won’t take much to figure that out given the extraordinary salaries at the top of Uber and Lyft as compared to the meager sums dolled out to the drivers, a federal reclassification could be eminent.

For the first time in their 12-year lifespan, Uber and Lyft’s business models are being scrutinized by the Federal Government and if it’s determined that their driver base must be classified as employees, Uber stands to incur about $500 million (Lyft $200 million) or an extra 30 percent more in overhead per year.

Welcome to our world. While the Taxi industry has a longstanding exemption carve out, we in the luxury segment do not. Uber and Lyft entered the transportation market in 2010 and by 2013 had taken away more than 50 percent of our business travel market share all because of three things. Better technology and deliverability, for sure, but those were problems we could catch up on and solve. No, the biggie was price. They not only undersold our services they trained the business traveler to distrust us because they undercut us by so much. That had a profound impact on our client relationships and was the beginning of the erosion of our bread and butter – airport runs.

We may be seeing a change in the wind. In California, Uber and Lyft spent $200 million on ads to convince the public that voting YES on Prop 22 was a good thing when it wasn’t. Their testimonial ads focused on the driver pool that is indeed part time, such as students, making it seem that all the drivers were FOR the independent contractor model. The truth is the career drivers (those that are full time) are the ones that want the stability of being employees. Because of Prop 22 which collided with the Pandemic shut down, this demographic of driver is abandoning the transportation industry which has totally destabilized Uber and Lyft. The driver shortage is very serious problem. However, it affords us a good lesson - Take care of your people or someone else will.

Now that the Federal Government is getting involve with this labor issue, this is no longer just a state issue but a national hot button topic. It’s going to get very interesting to be sure and perhaps give the GCLA a new argument for the state of California.

California Travel Needs Your Help Now!

AB 285 was introduced in February and amended March 16. The California Tourism Recovery Act will implement a new advertising campaign known as the “Calling All Californians” which is a media blitz designed to promote travel and tourism in our state and to get us back on the “places to go” radar with national and international travel managers. This program is being created “for the purpose of reversing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the travel and tourism industry in California, including all of us in surface transportation,” according to CalTravel.org.

California’s travel industry one of the 5 largest economic drivers for the state. Before COVID-19, more than 1.2 million California workers earned their livelihoods in line hospitality. Visitors spent $145 billion annually at California line businesses, generating $12.3 billion in state and local tax revenues. International travelers spent $28.1 billion in California, making travel the state’s largest export.

The coronavirus pandemic has impacted travel and hospitality more than any other industry. More than 1/2 of California’s 1.2 million travel line 15 and hospitality industry workers lost their jobs because of the line 16 pandemic. California lost $78.8 billion in visitor spending in 2020, which is a 54.5 percent decline.

The “Calling All Californians” campaign is in the approval stages now. The state is expected to earmark $45 million spread out over the next three years in advertising and marketing spend all focused on reviving travel within the borders of California. This is a VERY good start and about time!

According to the Bill, California is already behind many other states. For example, New Mexico, with a travel economy 20 times smaller than California’s, is earmarking $25 million for tourism marketing as part of its COVID-19 recovery plan.

Yesterday a letter was produced by the California Travel Association that I’ve added below. It is CRITICAL that ALL OF YOU who need the rebound in California tourism to happen sooner than later sign this and send it into your Senator and/or Assembly Member so we can get the much-needed advertising money from the state to market travel to return. If you don’t know who that person in in your district click here: http://www.legislature.ca.gov/legislators_and_districts.html

LETTER TO BE PUT ON YOUR OWN LETTER HEAD AND SENT IN VIA EMAIL

Dear [Senator or Assembly Member],

As your constituent and a member of the California travel and tourism industry, I am writing in support of a $45 million budget allocation to Visit California for implementing the “Calling All Californians” campaign to jump-start travel when it is safe to do so.

COVID-19 has affected travel and hospitality jobs more than any other industry, confirmed by the report of the Governor’s Task Force on Business and Jobs Recovery. More than half of California’s 1.2 million travel and hospitality industry workers lost their jobs because of the pandemic. Lower-wage workers have disproportionately borne the impact of job losses and the January Budget proposal suggests that these jobs may never return. For every tourism job lost, a ripple effect occurs in the ecosystem that supports the travel industry. Every three travel industry jobs support another two California jobs.

Before the coronavirus, California’s travel industry was one of the largest economic drivers for the state. In 2019, more than 1.2 million California workers earned their livelihoods in hospitality. Visitors spent $145 billion annually at California businesses, generating $12.3 billion in state and local tax revenues (Source: Dean Runyan Associates). International travelers spent $28.1 billion in California, making travel the state’s largest export. However, in 2020, California lost $85.9 billion in visitor spending— a 59.3% decline.

It's critically important to [MY BUSINESS/INSERT BUSINESS/ORGANIZATION] that you please support allocating $45 million to Visit California’s marketing program to accelerate California’s economic recovery.

Funding the rebound of the travel and tourism industry will provide a ripple effect for our communities and will get hundreds of thousands of Californians back to work. This allocation will be an important down payment to help California recover from the dire economic impact of the coronavirus once it is safe to travel again. Please reach out to Emellia Zamani at ezamani@caltravel.org if you have any questions. Your continued commitment to service is needed now more than ever.

Thank you,

[YOUR NAME,

ORGANIZATION]

An Act of Kindness that Went All the Way - Thanks Tim Rose!

The people in this industry are remarkable. Truly. Those of us that have been around awhile know that “something special” I’m talking about that keeps us hooked.

Last month the Greater California Livery Association hosted a live conference in the most Covid impacted state in the country. We did it to raise the morale of our members.  We also needed the money as we operate on a razor-thin budget while keeping membership dues at $75 per year for operators and $300 per year for vendors. 

Pulling this event off was not easy. The association had many goals to achieve. We aimed for 200 total attendees, which was the absolute most the facility would allow. On the financial side, our goal was to raise $12,500 to put towards our annual budget. With just a week to go, I posted on my personal Facebook page a plea for help. Our registration was at 168 and we needed 30 more people to come or we’d have a short fall of several thousand dollars. 

Within a few minutes, I received a response to my post from Tim Rose, the owner of Dolphin Transportation, headquartered in Naples, Florida. He paid for nearly all the remaining event seats with a pledge of $2,500! 

Okay, so let this sink in. Tim operates a transportation company which is over 2,200 miles away and a 39.45-hour car ride from our event location. Check out the map for a better perspective.    

So WHY is a Florida-based company owner helping the California transportation association?  Just because. This is what you call a random-act-of-kindness and this is the stuff you don’t find in most industries.    

Upon hearing from Tim, he simply stated that he has many friends in California and felt the need to help them.  Having spent a decade or more as the president of the LANJ – Limousine Association of New Jersey, Tim also knows how critical fundraising is to the survival of state associations. 

Tim is also feeling really good these days!  His company, Dolphin Transportation recently announced a merger with Key Transportation. 175 vehicles strong, the Dolphin brand is now the largest owned fleet in Southwest Florida with locations in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, the Palm Beaches, Boca Raton, Marco Island, Naples, Ft. Myers, Punta Gorda, Sarasota/Bradenton, and Tampa markets. 

One for the History Books – The GCLA Live Spring Conference Is a Huge Success

It’s a wrap folks!  The spring conference, held this past Tuesday at the Hyatt Regency in Huntington Beach, was the “it” place to be for every serious-minded transportation professional from around the state of California and beyond and boy did it pack a punch!

The event was the first business convention to be held in California, which is a state that is still largely shut down and where the hospitality and travel industry has been the hardest hit in the U.S. I’d like to recognize the fearless leadership of Mo Garkani, owner of The COTS Group and the GCLA president.  He was the primary influencer to making this event happy.  Mark Stewart, principal of Ground Logistics International (GLi) and the Event Program Chair created the session content which included experts from the meetings and convention industry, the luxury and bespoke wedding industry, incentive travel and tourism world.  On behalf of the GCLA, I’d like to recognize and express our sincere gratitude to those experts who generously shared their advice (and precious time) in the spirit of helping the GCLA membership:

o   Lisa Meller, owner of Meller Performance Events Group

o   Alisa Walsh, president of EventWorks, Inc.

o   Lee Palmer Turner, president-elect of the Los Angeles GBTA/Travel Manager for MGM Studios

o   Victoria Zindell, owner of Luxury Ventures Travel

o   Katie Webb Brundige, owner of InterTwined Events

o   John Ehlenfeldt, Director of MPI/Executive VP of Visit Huntington Beach

In addition, our experts including Gregg Cook, GCLA Lobbyist, Matt Daus, managing partner at Wendels-Marx/president of the International Transportation Regulators Association along with the Electric Vehicle leadership team at Cadillac including Mark Leddy, Brad Beauchamp and James Hunter joined us for the State of the Industry presentation, hosted by ‘yours truly.’ 

Our sponsors are the ONLY reason we were able to put on this event.  We only charged GCLA members $50 to attend and we made this decision based on the hardship we know everyone is enduring due to the pandemic.  The rest of the event costs were totally funded by donations, so we wish to congratulate those fine companies and encourage our members to BUY from those who support YOU!

Cadillac – Leading the way with luxury vehicles (All Electric is on the way!)

Chosen Payments – Experts in Credit Card Processing, Check Processing, Financial Services

Amerifuel – All-in-one fuel management programs and discount solutions

Century Business Solutions – Experts in Credit Card Processing and Payment Integrations including EBiz.

Motor City GMC – NEW GCLA PARTNER!  4th largest GM dealership in the country, based in Bakersfield – ships to your door!

Limos 4 – The GCLA Zurich/European Transportation Partner who keeps us connected to the world.

BMW – Luxury Executive/All New Fleet Incentive Program

Ecko Transportation – San Francisco-based Luxury Transportation Provider, GCLA board director

Motev – Los Angeles-based Luxury Transportation Provider, GCLA board director

KLS Worldwide – Los Angeles-based Luxury Transportation Provider, GCLA board director

Windels/Marx - #1 Transportation Law Firm in the U.S.

First Class Customs – the Premiere Coach Builder + Sprinter Upfitter

Beau Wine Tours – Northern California-based Luxury Transportation Provider, GCLA board director

Best-VIP – Orange County-based Luxury Transportation Provider

MCI – Motor Coach Industries sells new and used buses; manufactured in the U.S. with offices in CA.

Davey Coach – Shuttle buses; recently acquired Nations Bus and now officing in Los Angeles.

TIB Insurance Brokers – Insurance brokerage firm specializing in commercial transportation.

Norton Medical Industries – Drug testing for employees in transportation

D.W. Ferguson & Associates – Insurance for business covering the Western United States

The COTS Group – Los Angeles-based Luxury Transportation Provider, GCLA President

Avalon Transportation – Los Angeles-based Luxury Transportation Provider, GCLA board director

Ground Logistics International – Orange County-based Luxury Transportation Provider, GCLA director

The LMC Group -

In close, I would like to offer a very special shout out to Chris Weiss, principal of Chauffeured Driven Media for making the huge trek across the country to spend the day with the GCLA members and help bolster our event and fundraiser.  I thank our board of directors who presented at the event and to those special people who played host to our attendees.  In particular, Mo Garkani, Robert Gaskill, Tom Buck, Adrian Davis, Chris Hundley, Alex Darbahani, Maurice Brewster, Harry Dhillon, Jack Nissim, Mark Stewart, Steven Wolfson and Sarah McKee.

And last but certainly not least, thanks to Tammy Carlisle owner of Action Limousine of Atlanta for spearheading our Volunteer Team and the Fundraising Committee.  Tammy is one of the most gracious people in this industry and is the epitome of “service with a smile.”  She went beyond the call of duty for all of us.  A special hug got out to all who came to the event.  I trust you got your money’s worth since the take home value was over the top.  We can’t wait for the September EXPO coming to the Portofino Hotel and Conference Center and are already hitting it hard on the planning front!

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

VEHICLE INSURANCE PERFECT STORM UNPACKED

Many members want answers to the questions surrounding insurance costs for commercial vehicles and all the confusion surrounding the subject.

The first thing you should know is that in California, there was an exodus of insurance carriers that left the market or went out of business in recent months. With exceptions like Merced who was undone by the extensive wildfire damage claims, most
simply were not making money. In fact, commercial auto was unprofitable from 2015 to 2019 and generated underwriting losses from 2012 through 2019. While I know you’re all experiencing “sticker shock” at the cost to insure your vehicles today, the truth is that prices were artificially too low for the past years. Insurers who are left in the market are trying to keep their doors open. We want that because we need insurance. Also, there are much less companies and vehicles doing transportation work. The market has been down 85-95% since early 2020. With less companies buying insurance, there is less dilution. The more insureds, the more the cost of doing business can be spread out. On the converse, a smaller market drives per unit pricing up.

Insurers are targets for claims and suits. There exists an entire industry devoted to milking insurers. With the huge surge in vehicles on the road due to Uber and Lyft, accidents and claims up through 2019 skyrocketed. Defending claims today is 10xs more expensive than just 10 years ago. Guess who has to bear the brunt of those claims? Your premium.

Here is some good news. The California market is opening up with new insurance companies coming in. The Pandemic, for better or worse, has helped insurance companies reinvent themselves with more tools to streamline their businesses and creative ways to approach insuring vehicles, including by-the-mile programs. Also, while not much activity was happening on the insurance underwriting front last year, with so few cars on the road there were many less claims paid out which helped to save insurance company’s bottom line.

You need to have a relationship with your agent. The best way to find the right agent is to network with your peers here at the GCLA. We are taking on this subject at our Spring Conference, being held at the Huntington Beach Hyatt on Tuesday, March 30th. TIB and D.W Ferguson & Associates (Western Partners) are two excellent agencies who are sponsoring our event and will be there to talk in person with you. The cost is $50 as a GCLA member. If you’re not a member we have a combination membership + conference package for you. Just email me at sara@gcla.com or go to www.gcla.show

SHOUT OUT! THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

The GCLA Spring Conference, themed WE MOVE CALIFORNIA- LIVE, is off to a fantastic start. This event is critical for operators. We have pulled together an All-Star line-up of experts in weddings, luxury travel, business travel, meetings & conventions and oh so importantly, California Tourism. No operator who takes advantage of our event will leave without fully understanding the ground transportation landscape as told to you by YOUR CUSTOMERS!

This event has an expense to it well beyond the $50 full day registration pass. There is a venue rental fee, speaker costs, audio/visual/staging and production expenses, travel costs, security, promotions, marketing design and development, plus the cost to register each guest. Thankfully, this was underwritten by our sponsors and partners who deserve a round of applause and a fist bump when you see them onsite! www.GCLA.show
DIAMOND
*Cadillac*
PLATINUM
*Chosen Payments * Amerifuel * Motor City Buick/GMC*
*Limos4*
GOLD
*BMW * First Class Customs * MOTIV * KLS Worldwide*
*Century Business Solutions* ECKO Worldwide*
SILVER
*BEST VIP Chauffeured * BEAU WINE TOURS*
BRONZE
*Western Partners * Mosaic Global
Visit: www.GCLA.show

Count Down to March 30th Begins as We Gear Up to Bring You a Full Conference Spotlighting YOUR Customers

If you are itching to know what your clients are thinking about, our spring conference is a must attend for you. Today, on www.gcla.show we are able to showcase a full day’s agenda from experts in the high net-worth luxury travel and luxury weddings industries, business and incentive travel and bespoke tourism in California. Each week, the GCLA e-news connects you to stories happening in all the vertical markets that involve transportation but our LIVE event will have the pro’s front and center for you to hear and exchange questions with.

I’ve said this a dozen times so what’s one more, we must band together as a community to get our wheels turning again and that means our industry must work in tandem with the buyers of transportation, beginning with the travel advisors and agencies that matter to us most.

The event is $50 for our members and the reason for that extremely low price is we are being helped by sponsors – many of them – who are convinced that the GCLA is in this to win this and rather than let us fend off the recovery blues by ourselves, these fine companies are partnering with us to help us cross the finish line. You may not be in a position to buy services or a new vehicle today, but our sponsors are investing in us for your future.

Now it’s up to you to sync up and show up. Come here first hand how to prepare for your future. Mo Garkani, the GCLA president, will also be presenting a membership stakeholders report. We’ve not had a membership gathering in too long. This presentation followed by my data-driven State of the Industry report, our legislative update will tackle your most pressing concerns. The take home value of this one-day event is immense.

We are restricted to 200 total attendees so we expect to sell the seats out fast. We will be requiring you to sign a Covid-19 waiver on site along with allowing us to take your temperature. The Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach adheres to all state and county Covid-19 protocols.

Email me directly if you need special help with anything at sara@gcla.org.

We Move California Live

For starters, the event is happening. It’s firmly set for Tuesday, March 30 at the Huntington Beach Hyatt Resort. We can thank (I guess) the recall momentum of Governor Gavin Newsom for ensuring that we can finally bring you a live gathering. In case you’re not following the state news these days, the needed signatures for the recall were obtained this week, meaning a vote is almost certainly going to take place this spring. Even though it’s broadly believed that he will survive the recall, Governor Newsom is getting the message loud and clear that residents have had it with the arbitrary lock downs and mixed messages that he, himself, has not adhered to. After his approval rating plummeted to below 40 percent last month, Newsom immediately opened up outdoor dining. Now he’s tackling school openings. Each week, Californians are being given back their freedoms while the state is working on overdrive to get the vaccine distributions out – ASAP. It’s time for us to get out there, meet with local businesses and sell transportation services!

The “We Move California Live” conference is a 1-day event, set in a TedTalks format. The speakers are experts in areas that matter to you including – weddings and special events, meetings and hotel events, tours and retail travel, luxury travel and business travel. I am also providing you with a state of the industry that is data-driven information to help navigate these coming months. A final note is our closing session, hosted by GCLA president Mo Garkani and our legislative committee chair Mark Stewart. This session addresses the GCLA members’ Top Concerns which include the life past Prop 22, government financial help, insurance and the fleet crisis that everyone is facing.

There will be time for networking and brainstorming. We will have chat groups that are able to be out by the pool and in the amazing courtyard spaces throughout the venue gardens.

Even though we are still tweaking the program, I urge you to sign up now. As of today, we can only host 200 people (the number may increase but don’t take that risk). The event is $50 for members. The bulk of the event is being subsidized by our generous sponsors. I’ll be sure to make noise about all of them in the coming weeks. We are just days away from launching our new website so make note: www.gcla.show will be live soon!

Are We Actually Hosting a LIVE Conference? That Would Be a YES.

For real. The stage is set. The program has been developed. Cadillac has stepped up to be our Official Sponsor host. Let’s pray that California will continue to roll back restrictions so we are ALLOWED to gather. It appears that will be the case since events in California have resumed their bookings.

The GCLA Spring Conference is coming. It has a theme: We Move California – LIVE! The sessions will focus on regaining lost business in all areas of transportation from luxury to business travel to retail, shuttles and charter and we’ll bring you the people with the intel to present you the facts.

Here’s the skinny:

The GCLA Spring Conference will be hosted at the Orange County Hyatt Regency, Huntington Beach on Tuesday, March 30th, 2020. Here is a video that pretty much says it all with respect to the location:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijayct82WmE

This event is CAPPED at 200 people so we will have to prioritize attendance the only way we know how, on a first-come, first served basis. We do have a registration form created for you so sign up now: https://www.gcla.org/we-move-california-live.

We wish to thank our official sponsor, Cadillac. For without their support, we would not have the means to make this live event happen, thus we would continue to be cut off from seeing you in person – a very depressing thought.

Looking ahead, we are also launching the GCLA Expo which is a larger version of our spring conference to include an exhibit area for suppliers as well as an expanded 2-day conference complete with all the networking trappings you’ve come to expect at industry shows. For all of this we are creating a brand-new event website to be up and running in the next week. In the meantime, please make note of it: www.gcla.show.

As you can see, the GCLA is growing in its optimism and there’s good reason. In the month of January, the GCLA renewed 70 percent of its 2020 membership PLUS we are welcoming 32 FIRST TIME MEMBERS. How is this possible when mobility is at a mandated halt and operators are in dire shape? It’s because our constituents know that we have to fight our way back to a robust economy and save our industry. We need each other more than ever. We need strong leadership and we need a plan. And, most of all, our people need to know someone has their back. Our job is just beginning for 2021 but we are pointed in the right direction and cannot wait to see your shining faces this spring.

Stay Strong. We are in this to win this!

FEBRUARY IS THE MONTH OF LOVE - And Here Comes the Bride

2020 was a complete disaster for the wedding industry. However, unlike other live events that were “cancelled” weddings were not. For the most part, they were pushed off to 2021.

Wedding planner Holly Poulter, Founder and Creative Director of Revelry Events, as this to say about the upcoming wedding season. "2021 will be the industry's busiest yet, with even the off-peak, normally quieter weekdays and months booking up with not only 2020 postponements, but also couples who would have been planning a 2021 wedding anyway", Holly warned. "It's safe to assume Summer 2021 will be busy anyway, with newly engaged couples snapping up dates alongside postponements, so expect the less popular months to book out as well."

Weekday weddings are on the rise this year. Driven by availability because last year’s couples who moved their dates snapped up the best ones already, newly-engaged couples are opting for week days in lieu of postponing. Wedding professionals are working to modify weddings to work with a weekday plan so that couples are happy to take time off during the week to go to a wedding of someone near and dear.

2021 will definitely see more local destination weddings due to the uncertainty of travel in the coming year. California with its beaches, wine regions and mountains, offers the best of the best for outdoor and destination venues.

WHAT WEDDINGS WILL LOOK LIKE IN CORONAVIRUS ERA?
Smaller weddings were trending in the last few years anyway, as couples started to actively choose to reduce their headcount way down in order to invest more in each person, rather than spread their hard-earned money further across 150 people. This crisis has shifted priorities and the focus is now more on an intimate gathering with their nearest and dearest, and it will be hard to get over the mental hurdle of being around big groups.

Finances will also play a big role in this. “It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that in most cases, reducing headcount reduces spend. So, if couples have been hit particularly hard by this crisis but they just want to be freakin’ married, then perhaps we’ll see smaller budgets and smaller numbers because of it."

My husband and I got engaged on February 14, Valentines Day and yes, we celebrated in a limo! As we turn the page on January and move to the Month of LOVE it’s time to play Cupid and get on with marketing your celebration packages. And, very importantly get on the phone with your local wedding planners and venues to cash in on the busy wedding season ahead.

Sara Eastwood-Richardson
Executive Director, GCLA

Urgent Message Regarding Federal Loans and Grants - Time Sensitive

Dear Colleagues,

Today, I am going to keep this message short and to the point since time is of the essence. This week is your only window of opportunity to apply for the new PPP2 program. The applications are processed on a first-come, first served basis and when the money is gone, it’s gone.
In the spirit of time, I’ve researched the best tutorials for you to watch and came up with the one below that will take you through the entire application for sole proprietors, independent contractors and partnerships. Review this as soon as possible and get going on the application if you haven’t already:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRNKKSpPDaw

Also, hidden way down on the SBA website regarding the EIDL, there is a $10,000 grant program (free money). Some caveats to receiving this money apply so watch this video to find out if you are eligible. The amount of money in this grant program is $40 million and will pay out mid-February which is double that of the grant program from last June so don’t shirk this off! This link is extremely helpful to know exactly what’s entailed so watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xbjas5xwUI

For Greater California Livery Association members only – our office hours are 9am - 5pm, PST. My team and I have actually applied for relief on behalf of the GCLA and know the ins and outs too. If you need personal assistance, you should call our offices immediately or email us at www.sara@gcla.org and set up an appointment for one of us to help you. Our office number is (213) 349-0190.

If you are not a GCLA member, you need to join now. Our annual dues are $75 – that is $6.25 per month, or the cost of a Starbucks coffee and donut! The benefits to belonging to the GCLA extend out to offerings like this, a personal help desk, and go far deeper. Just go to our website and see what’s cook’n. www.gcla.org

We encourage members from all states and all countries to become members to connect with us. The state of California represents the 6th largest economy in the world with over than 165 Billionaires and more than 1 million Millionaires. The state is the Mecca of tech and entertainment. It also attracts more than 300 million visitors a year who vacation here. This is where the major networking opportunities abound. Come one, come all – you are welcomed here. We are enjoying an explosion of growth in our community and we’re only in month ONE of the New Year.

Our motto is real: We are in this to win this and so we shall!

Sara Eastwood-Richardson
Executive Director, GCLA

Looking Back with GCLA

Dear GCLA Members and Industry Colleagues:

I am writing to convey my very best wishes to all of you as we wrap up an eventful 2020 and shift our momentum into the next calendar year. The past months have been rocked with challenge, but even through the storm, noteworthy achievements have happened.

Just a few outstanding examples: the GCLA joined the fight to upend Prop 22 and stayed the course to the bitter end. Along the way, we got to know some of the most influential politicians and organizations in the state of California, thus expanding our sphere of influence and credibility. We need all the friends we can get. So, despite the Prop 22 setback (and the fight is not over), your transportation association garnered much needed clout and opened more doors of support for the challenges ahead. Another proud achievement was being able to offer our members a hygiene safety certification for frontline personnel/drivers. The www.SafeCleanRideCert.com program has been accepted by a growing number of travel organizations, insurers and trade groups. We have only scratched the surface with this program. We aim to change human behavior towards health risks through education and we’re off to a great start. This year we also created membership standards and a code of conduct that enables the GCLA to help resolve individual business disputes – something no other trade association offers. Our members have a place to go and be heard. We proudly rolled out a new digital membership directory which we are promoting to transportation buyers AND we have this fancy e-newsletter that is reaching more than 6,000 transportation professionals EVERY week!

As we ring in the New Year, the Greater California Livery Association has updated its Association Committees and we are looking for volunteers to add to our teams. We have big plans that include a new series of industry awards programs, the GCLA Academy, two live events sponsored by big brands like Cadillac. Our advocacy calendar is busy as well. There is much work to do legislatively to get our members moving again. I have the 2021 GCLA Committees Sign-Up Sheet at my desk so please send me an email to sara@gcla.org and we can go over the projects you’re most interested in.

Indeed, we have so many points of pride that there are too many to do them all justice in an end-of-the-year letter. We have many good people with helping hands that made all the difference in the world. And, to our sponsors…there’s a special place in Heaven for all of you. We thank you for shouldering the lions’ share of our overhead this year and backing our member initiatives.

If you’re on the fence about joining the GCLA, please get off and come be a part of our community for $75 for Operators and $300 for Suppliers a year. We want and need you. We don’t care where you’re from either. They say what goes in California, so goes the nation and it’s true. Out-of-state and abroad members offer different perspectives and that is so very important to us.

This is a winning association with great momentum. Get involved and help us accomplish big things together in the year to come.

With very best wishes,