Fact Book Survey Closing In For Your Responses

The annual LCT Operator Business Survey, also known as the Fact Book survey, is ready for your results.

Digital: If you have not yet completed our LCT Operator Business Survey, we kindly ask you take a few minutes and complete the brief version below based on your fleet category.

• 2017 LCT Operator Business Survey (1-10 Vehicles) http://ift.tt/2oGWY8J
• 2017 LCT Operator Business Survey (11-20 Vehicles): http://ift.tt/2oPsCNY
• 2017 LCT Operator Business Survey (21 Plus Vehicles): http://ift.tt/2oH1WSN

Print: If you received the survey in the mail and would like to fill it out, please do so now so we can get them back by next week. Although the deadline is April 7, we will accept any surveys postmarked through Tuesday, April 11. 

If you have already sent back either one, thank you for supplying this valuable data. We rely on your candid and thorough answers to our annual survey to develop this exclusive research, not available from any other source. 

Your answers are all kept confidential and used to compile general statistics to be published in the June issue Fact Book & Industry Guide.

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industry surveys   LCT Fact Book   research and trends   survey   

 

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Limo Coach Can Help You Plan For Better Growth

As a limousine operator, it can be difficult to juggle all the hats you have to wear. In any one day, you could play the role of CFO operations manager, sales manager, customer service representative, or marketer. How do you find room in your schedule to run your business, much less grow it?

And how do you prioritize which aspect of your business to work on first to achieve your business goals for the year?

Limousine business coach and mentor Bill Faeth wants to help you plan your growth strategies and refine your business plans.

During the 2017 LCT Leadership Summit, Bill will be hosting individual business coaching sessions. Attendees can select their individual focus topic, including sales, marketing, operations, or business process.

Registration is available on a first-come, first-served basis and is limited to the first 10 attendees. Bill will conduct a 30-minute discovery call with each registrant, during which time the the personalized coaching session to be held at the Edon Roc Hotel will be scheduled.

For more information or to register for a coaching session, visit http://ift.tt/2oPxOl9

About Bill Faeth:
Bill Faeth is the founder of Limousine University and Inbound Marketing Agents. As a limousine operator, Bill grew his company to $8 million in revenue before founding IMA, an award-winning marketing agency specializing in serving the online marketing and sales needs of over 165 ground transportation companies globally. Bill launched Limousine University, online sales and marketing training courses built exclusively for limousine operators, in October 2015.

LCT SUMMIT REGISTRATION HERE

Keywords

Bill Faeth   business growth   business plans   financial planning   industry consultants   industry education   industry events   LCT Leadership Summit   staying competitive   

 

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Domestic U.S. Business Travel Hits A Downturn

“While domestic leisure travel growth remained positive in February, the domestic leisure [travel index] reflected the sector’s slowest year-over-year growth in over four years,” reads the U.S. Travel Association report.

“At the same time, domestic business travel slipped into negative territory in February. However, an uptick in vacation intentions and positive growth in forward-looking bookings, as well as a stronger outlook on business activity, bodes well for the domestic travel market in coming months.”

Skift article here 

Keywords

business travel   corporate travel   research and trends   U.S. Travel Association   

 

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Private Jet Charter Activity And Demand Rises

New Flight Charters announced a 8.4% year-over-year increase in number of charters for 2016. The company, celebrating its 13th Anniversary in 2017 and named to the Inc. 5000 fastest growing U.S. company list four consecutive years 2009-2012, is experiencing consistent growth in jet charter demand.

Miltech article here

Keywords

business opportunities   business travel   charter jet   corporate travel   FBO market   luxury market trends   private jets   research and trends   

 

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Peering Into The Future Of Luxury Travel

Luxury travel is one of the most lucrative segments for travel agents, but success depends on offering highly personalized experiences, says Robb Report editorial director and travel expert Bruce Wallin.

Travel Market Report article here

Keywords

industry trends   luxury market trends   research and trends   

 

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What Are The Forces Shaping Business Travel Today?

Although he described the travel ban as one of the biggest recent disruptions to corporate travel, McCormick has other issues on his mind as well.

He also spoke to Skift about the move to add more personalization in business travel, the slow pace of change when it comes to technology, and the continued rise of the sharing economy.

Skift article here

Keywords

business travel   corporate travel   Global Business Travel Association   research and trends   

 

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Thousands Fail Mass. TNC Background Checks

BOSTON — The persistent hard work of the New England Livery Association (NELA) working with other private transportation associations to ensure public safety paid off as a new Massachusetts state law requiring stricter TNC background checks denied licenses to more than 8,000 Uber and Lyft drivers for various offenses.

“We are thrilled to see the statistics from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which is the direct result of our all-out effort working to get new legislation passed last year,” said Rick Szilagyi, NELA executive director.  The team we forged between taxi and livery, and with national organizations like the National Limousine Association and the Taxicab, Limousine & Paratransit Association, and our continuous effort to generate funds enabled us to assemble a team of professionals to guide and execute the legislative plan. It worked — and we’re not done yet,”  

Under the TNC “rideshare bill, signed by the governor into law Aug., 5, 2016, the state now conducts double background checks of drivers to be done twice per year through the state of Massachusetts Dept. of Public safety, which goes through the FBI, in addition to the TNC’s background checks.

“This is what we told the state legislature for three years that the riding people have been exposed to any dredge of the earth that could become a TNC driver and nobody knew their background,” said Scott Solombrino, president and CEO of Dav El / BostonCoach Chauffeured Transportation Network. “This now gives us impetus to move forward on further legislation that would require fingerprinting — the gold standard of background checks.”

A bill is circulating in the state legislature (MA H535) that would require fingerprinting for TNCs, he said, noting that because the state denied licenses to 8,000 drivers because of basic background checks, “imagine how many more they would deny if fingerprint checks were required?”

Mike Fogarty, president of Tristar Worldwide, and former president of the TLPA, said, “The results of the Masssachusetts background checks clearly demonstrate that Uber and Lyft’s self-conducted background checks are worthless. We are happy we successfully lobbied to achieve the state run background check process.  However, we are convinced more than ever that fingerprint background checks are the best solution to protect the public. We intend to continue our efforts and see fingerprint background checks implemented.”

Solombrino, also a board member of the National Limousine Association, asserted that the Massachusetts law — especially after the news spreads of the thousands of license denials for TNC drivers — could reverberate nationwide and spur stricter state TNC regulations.

“It’s outrageous to have 8,000 people rejected for licenses based on the most basic background checks, that’s why we believe fingerprinting should be required,” Solombrino said.

See Boston Globe article

 

Keywords

background checks   Boston operators   MASSACHUSETTS   Massachusetts operators   National Limousine Association   New England Livery Association   New England operators   regulatory enforcement   Rick Szilagyi   Scott Solombrino   state regulations   Taxi Limousine Paratransit & Association   TNCs   

 

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Airport Access Fee Looms for NY, NJ Operators

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J.— Fresh on the heels of victories regulating TNCs and repealing the 7% sales tax on limousine company services, another fight is looming for New Jeresey operators over a potential new $4 airport access fee gaining traction.

“It’s coming,” warned Jason Sharenow (Broadway Elite, East Hanover), president of the Limousine Association of New Jersey (LANJ), during its quarterly meeting March 29. He told members that conversations with the New Jersey/New York Port Authority hinted that an access fee for all private transportation companies dropping off and picking up passengers at regional airports — Newark Liberty, LaGuardia, and JFK —airports is being discussed.

Noting that such revenue-generating airport fees are already in place at many major airports nationwide (generally average $2 – $4), Sharenow told the more than 100 members gathered at Englewood Cliffs Cadillac, the host of the lunch meeting, that any new airport fee is still in the exploratory stage and may be one to two years away.

This is not the first time the authority has floated a for-hire airport access fee. Regional news reports have reported on the possibility, especially following the influx of TNC vehicles working the airports

Sharenow added that a new fee may be inevitable but noted that LANJ would fight to make sure it would apply to all private transportation companies, including the TNCs.

Regarding the repeal of the7% percent sales tax, the association’s lobbying and operator pressure from operators resonated with legislators, Sharenow said. “They felt your pain and they realized it was unfair, so the last time you’ll have to pay the tax is April 31,” he told members who applauded the LANJ victory.

 

 

 

Keywords

airport fees   George Jacobs   Jason Sharenow   LANJ   Limousine Association of New Jersey   new jersey   New Jersey operators   New York operators   New York state regulations   state regulations   Windy City Limousine   

 

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Why Character Matters — And Costs — In Business

LAS VEGAS — You could not have unwrapped a better publicity gift to the limousine industry than the infamous video of Uber CEO Travis Kalanick losing his temper with a driver who criticized his business model. It just said and confirmed so much.

Had this been a one-off incident, most of us would chalk it up to a bad moment, bad night, or a bad mood; we’ve all been there. With Kalanick, however, it was the raw impromptu episode that underscored a public pattern of arrogant, defiant behavior and flouting of norms and rules. It’s one thing to be a swashbuckler if you’re a grown-up who’s earned a record of creating good works. It’s another if your company supplies an inexcusable serial drama of safety and crime-related incidents, threats, and harassment. Were it not for the convenience Uber offers and the political and public relations warriors it pays for, Uber would have joined the dung pile of corporate disgrace a long time ago. It may still yet.

Here again we have another Exhibit A of inconsistent values, or ethics, in a successful, self-made entrepreneur or business figure. Public and private don’t quite match up. We’ve seen one leader after another fall into this trap.

How appropriate then that the keynote speaker for the International LCT Show, former pro-football player-turned-coach-turned ESPN commentator Herm Edwards, spoke on this very topic March 13. “What you do in the dark comes to light. When faced with conflicting thoughts and desires, never compromise your integrity. It’s not an option.”

No matter what changes or obstacles emerge, you always stay true to your values and principles, Edwards said. Even when facing lonely decisions; even if it costs you money and attention in the short term. Colleagues, teammates, and subordinates are watching.

That applies to all businesses and vocations, at all times, including the chauffeured transportation industry.

The keynote theme segued well into a Q&A stage interview the next day with Steven Hill, author of “Raw Deal: How The Uber Economy and Runaway Capitalism Are Screwing American Workers.” Hill contends Uber and gig-economy companies are shredding the labor- and income-stability of America’s full-time employment economy. A freelance gig labor market where more workers juggle for-hire jobs does not produce a confident economy where consumers save, invest, and spend. They just work to survive. That, in turn, diminishes everything down the economic line and splinters the social fabric.

How does Uber get away with this? Because it misleadingly calls itself a “technology company” and avoids rules that apply to similar businesses and industries, which have to spend more money to comply and are undercut. Why does Uber do this? Because it can, and because it lacks defined principles and values applied and trained across the board. Where does that come from? Cue the Kalanick video.

What’s needed here is what I call the “get-real reset,” to borrow some common slang. Sometimes you don’t have to look far to find it.

In the video, I must admit I was just as fascinated with the moments before the little meltdown. Most of the backseat cam footage shows a 40-year-old CEO shimmying and flirting between two females like an insecure, scamming college guy. Based on the conversation, they did not seem to know him very well. It’s easy to scoff at and ridicule his behavior, but as a former single adult, I can relate somewhat.

Had the video just shown a youngish CEO acting socially awkward, Kalanick may have earned himself some goodwill. People naturally relate to those human moments. Better yet, had he simply handed his card to the driver, thanked him for his honesty, and told him he wanted to talk further, it could have been a pleasant surprise, maybe even the start of a new persona. But that would take some maturity and growing up.

The more time I spend with businesspeople — interviewing, visiting, networking, and then writing about it all — the more I see how character counts for more than talent, wealth, skill, and ambition combined.

Takeaway lesson: If you clean up your act in private, you don’t have to worry about the public, no matter your station in life. When you abide by proven values that endure, it’s easier to be genuine, whether someone is looking or not. And it affects more people than you’ll ever know.

Keywords

business ethics   How To   ILCT 2017   keynote speakers   LCT editor   Martin Romjue   TNCs   Travis Kalanick   Uber   

 

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