An employee-based lawsuit can destroy a company.  The management goes into bunker mode, chauffeurs choose sides, affidavits are signed, and animosity grows.  It’s miserable.

In the end, everyone loses except the lawyers.

Unfortunately, most employers don’t realize until after the fact that a lawsuit could’ve been prevented.  The key to avoiding or at least defending a lawsuit is to establish proper employment practices and procedures.

1. Pay Gap & Setup Time – Most transportation lawsuits revolve around this issue.  A chauffeur should be paid from the time he picks up a car until the time he drops it off.  Chauffeurs should also be paid for gaps in between runs.  In addition, a chauffeur should be compensated for car washes and setup time.  This precedent was established with prince v CLS Transportation.
2. Use “Independent” IOs – An independent operator should actually be “independent.”  This means the chauffeur owns or leases the car, carries his own insurance, pays for gas, and is independently licensed by the state.  Lawsuits arise when IOs are forced to pay the company workman’s compensation or other employee based fees.
3. Don’t be a Jerk – Most class-action lawsuits aren’t based on greed.  They’re based on deep-seeded chauffeur resentment and hatred towards managers and owners.  When a class-action settlement is divvied up, the payouts are laughable.  Chauffeurs pursue lawsuits because they want to hurt the company.
4. Document Everything – It’s vital to document employee infractions and keep personnel files.  If a chauffeur is terminated, a paper trail should support the dismissal.
5. Don’t Retaliate – Even if an employee files a labor board complaint, don’t retaliate.  This only opens you to a serious retaliation claim.
6. Record Everything – Every call should be recorded.  When a chauffeur has an issue, dispatch should resolve the problem on a monitored land line.  If necessary, a manager can review the disagreement.
7. Use a DriveCam – DriveCams help with two important legal problems.  First, they keep small fender benders from turning in to personal injury lawsuits.  Second, they create a permanent record of reckless driving.  All incidents should be downloaded and put in the chauffeurs personnel file.
8. Use an Employee Handbook – A fixed set of standards should be established for all chauffeurs.  The handbook should include all matters of decorum, appearance, and behavior.  Chauffeurs should be regularly evaluated based on expectations set in the handbook.  If a grievance arises, consistent evaluations are the foundation of a strong defense.

Wrap Up

The limousine business is tough.  Most operators don’t make it past 5 years.  The long hours, lousy clients, and cut-throat rates humble the best of businessmen.  An employee-based lawsuit only makes it worse.

Luckily, chauffeurs rarely file lawsuits.  By their nature, chauffeurs put up with a lot of B.S. and are largely transient.  Unless they’re emotionally invested, chauffeurs will simply move on to a better company.

Unfortunately, it only takes one angry and resentful employee to destroy a company.  Do you really want to take that chance?  If it can happen to Bell and CLS, it can certainly happen to you.

When I worked for SuperShuttle in the late nineties, I accidentally left a customer’s luggage on the curb.  It was raining, I was tired, and the customer didn’t bring the luggage up to the van.  I felt terrible, but there was nothing I could do to ameliorate the situation.  Fortunately, when I got back to the airport, the bag was sitting in the same place where I had left it.

Back in the day, nobody cared.  Al Queda was the name of a German guy who lived in my apartment building and the airport cops were a bunch of Police Academy rejects.

Since then, I’ve been anal retentive about airport runs.  Doing transfers isn’t about dazzling the client, it’s about being consistent.  A client on his way to the airport wants to arrive on time.  A client coming from the airport wants to get home quickly.   If you make these things happen, the client will be satisfied.

Since an airport run is a relatively simple operation, the key is to avoid stupid mistakes.  Here are a few tips for making the customer happy and avoiding catastrophe.

Get the right updates – Don’t rely on the dot com world for flight updates.  The only accurate updates come directly from the airlines.  It’s best to call early and often to track your flight.

Arrive early – Airports are unpredictable places.  During busy evenings at LAX, it can take 45 minutes to get from the holding lot to the terminal.  Security alerts are another concern.  You can be the best chauffeur in the world, but if you’re MIA when the client arrives in baggage claim, you’re toast.  The client will never forgive you.

Bring everything into the terminal – “Everything” means the run sheet and your cell phone.  If the client is a “no-show,” you’ll need to start making calls and confirm the trip details.  Never take the chance of missing a client by going back to the car.

Grab a luggage cart – Clients always appreciate the gesture.  If you’re picking up a large party grab two.

Print the sign neatly – This is always an indicator of a great chauffeur.  It’s a small detail, but the sign is the first thing the client sees.  In addition, always print the first initial.  You’d be surprised at how many “Wongs” are in the world.

Correctly read the client – This is the most important thing a chauffeur can do.  Is the client young or old, are they a man or woman, are they a New Yorker or Angelino, are theya hippie or conservative?  It all matters.  How you respond to a client in the first 10 seconds of a run can determine the outcome of an entire trip.  Always remember that “confidence” is the name of the game.

Take control in baggage claim – Nobody understands baggage claim better than an experienced chauffeur.  Direct the client to the location where the bag drops on the carousel instead of letting the bag roll around.  If it looks like a flight is missing its luggage, direct the client to the baggage office before the line gets impossibly long.

Confirm trip details – Never rely on a reservationist for accurate information.  When the client gets in the car, turn around, make eye contact, and confirm the trip details.

Turn off the GPS – GPS is for losers.  It tells the client you don’t know what you’re doing.  A big part of any run is to instill confidence and sell yourself.  If you need GPS, you shouldn’t be a chauffeur.

Tell the client the route – Tell the client the route and then ask if it’s alright.  It’s important to take an alpha position in the car.  If the client wants to take a different route, do it without question.  If you get stuck in traffic, it becomes their problem.

Offer amenities – Some clients need to be offered the water and candies.  Without the offer, they won’t touch a thing.

Give out your business card – At the end of a run, thank the client and give them your business card.  Requests are the lifeblood of a chauffeur.  A lot of clients will put in a request if you simply tell them.

Conclusion

If you’re new to this whole thing, it’s important to remember that a lot of clients just want you to shut up and drive.  It’s nothing personal.  Passengers are nervous on the way to the airport and tired on the way back.   Flying is a stressful experience that brings out the worst in people. The secret to great airport limousine service is to be prepared and anticipate the client’s needs.  Most people simply want to get from point A to point B in a safe and timely manner.  If you fulfill this need and follow the above tips, your job will be easier and your career will flourish.

Just like any service profession, the life of a chauffeur is a mixed bag.  On one hand, it affords tremendous flexibility and freedom.   On the other, the clients can be difficult and obnoxious.

I always felt the positives outweighed the negatives.  For me, it was all about adventure and randomly rolling around Los Angeles without supervision.  As a senior chauffeur with a major affiliate, I got to do some wild stuff.  Every day was different and I accumulated a lifetime of stories.  Of course, not all of the stories are happy ones, but that’s true of any profession.

Although I always enjoyed the job, the turnover rate for chauffeurs was tremendous.  Most guys could drive, but they couldn’t handle the people.  This included clients, dispatchers, managers, and owners.  This in turn created conflict and burnout.

It doesn’t have to be this way.  With a few adjustments, most chauffeurs can do well.  So without further ado, here are my insights into how to survive and flourish as a new chauffeur.

It’s a popularity contest – Working for a limousine company is like being in high school, but only worse.  Not only is your popularity tied to your social status, but so is your paycheck.  To succeed, you must be likable.

To get good runs, the dispatchers must like you.  To get requests, the clients must like you.  To move up in the company, the managers must like you.  Success should be ideally based on job performance, but rarely is.  Everything hinges on popularity.

Everyone judges you by your appearance – Unlike most professions, managers rarely see their chauffeurs at work.  As a result, appearance becomes a critical measure of job performance.  In addition, clients judge a chauffeur on appearance first.  Always buy the most expensive suit, shoes, tie, and shirt you can afford.

The same is true of your vehicle.  Always clean your car before you go into base.

Don’t get into an accident – If you shut-up, show up on time, and don’t wreck the car, you’ll work forever.  When starting out, don’t worry about requests or impressing clients.  It takes time to handle the insanity behind the divider.  Driving safely and showing up on time should be your only priorities.

Just say yes – Dispatchers love new drivers because they can dump the lousy runs on them.  Starting out at a new company is rarely fun because the runs are so bad.  This is the simple reality of the profession.  With time, the runs will get better, but you have to keep a positive attitude and keep saying yes.

Requests are everything – It’s an inaccurate measure of a good chauffeur, but requests determine the pecking order.  Successful chauffeurs sell themselves.  The easiest way to get requests is to give the client a business card at the end of every run and ask them to request you.  It’s a bit brash, but the great chauffeurs do it.

Don’t brag to other chauffeurs – limo runs are a zero-sum game.  For every good run you’re assigned, someone else is getting screwed.  Low-key is the name of the game.  Limo driving may be a solo gig, but a limousine company is a group of guys trying to make a living.

Please yourself, not the clients- If you base your happiness on the client’s happiness, you’ll make yourself miserable.  As a chauffeur I learned the hard way that trying to make unhappy people happy is futile.  Some people are just inconsolable.

If you deal with the rich and famous, the majority of your clients will be miserable.  Just do the job perfectly and if the client is unhappy, that’s their problem.

Don’t complain-In all my years in the industry, I’ve yet to see any chauffeur’s complaint resolved.

Ground transportation has a lot of built-in negatives.  Anytime you deal with the public in a service capacity, you’re going to have problems.  Why make waves by complaining about stuff that can’t be fixed?   Real complaints in the limousine business are called lawsuits.  These are the only kind of complaints that get resolved.

In conclusion, driving is a relatively independent profession, but a lot of politics are involved.  If you know how to work the system, you can do well.  It’s all about people and popularity.  The more requests you get, the better you’ll do.  Once you have the requests, start to acquire accounts.  When you have accounts, the sky is the limit.

I read a beautiful story today about a limo driver who helped a stranded and helpless woman in need.  While stopped at a Los Angeles service station, this off-duty chauffeur heard loud weeping coming from the side of the gas station.  When he investigated, he discovered an apparently abandoned woman, approximately 30 years old, crying in a motorized wheelchair.  As he drew closer, he realized she had been sitting there so long, she had soiled herself.  It was a truly humiliating situation.

With the help of a friend, he got the helpless woman out of the wheelchair and helped her into his car.  He then loaded the heavy motorized wheelchair into his vehicle and traveled 15 miles to the convalescent home where she lived.

Simply Amazing

On the surface, the built-in gratuity is the silliest thing in the world.  What’s the point of a gratuity if it’s automatically included?  Isn’t the reason behind a gratuity To Insure Prompt Service?  Most would assume this trickery falls into the category of bogus surcharges, but the built-in gratuity is legit.  It’s a traditional and essential part of the limo business that protects the client and ensures chauffeur longevity.

Why is it important?

Control - First and foremost a chauffeur needs to control the vehicle.  When things get too wild, he needs to step in and curb the client’s behavior.  This is a basic safety issue.  When a limo driver thinks he might lose the tip (which is the bulk of his pay), he’ll let the client do anything.  This puts the client and the vehicle at risk.

Better Pay – The nice thing about the built-in gratuity is that clients usually tip a little extra at the end of a run.  In this system the chauffeurs simply make more money.

Better Companies – Good limousine drivers are finite.  The companies who forego this perk inevitably have trouble acquiring and retaining good chauffeurs.  Unless you’re an established operator with brand dominance in an uncompetitive market, do not go down this path.  You will assuredly bleed out talent.

Burnout – Nothing embitters a chauffeur faster than being shortchanged on the gratuity.  When I was a driver, I regularly drove the Saudi Royal Family.  I hated it.  These folks were spoiled and disrespectful.  The worst part was being shorted on the gratuity.  After a week of service, the security officers would inevitably pocket the driver gratuity and leave us hanging.

Collecting the proper gratuity is always a problem with large groups.  This is why restaurants include the gratuity in groups of six or more.  Without this policy, servers quit and find better gigs.  The same is true for limo drivers.

The Opposition

A lot of people simply can’t wrap their mind around the idea of a built-in gratuity.  It’s assumed that a chauffeur will go the extra mile if he has to earn his tip.  This couldn’t be further from the truth.  First, no amount of money can motivate a lazy driver.  These guys are on autopilot and could care less about the client.  Second, most clients tip on top of the built-in gratuity.  Industrious chauffeurs know this and hustle for the extra cash.

The other common belief is that customers don’t like it.  In some cases this is true, but corporate clients demand it.  With the tip included, busy executives pay nothing and corporate accountants can accurately track their transportation expenses.  The all-inclusive tip eliminates the padded expense accounts and the fabricated cab receipts.  If a customer is unhappy with the trip, they can always call the company and have the gratuity removed from the bill.

Get on Board

If you’re an operator who simply pays by the hour or holds back part of their chauffeur’s gratuity, get with the program!  The built-in gratuity helps everyone.  You benefit because you attract better chauffeurs.  The chauffeur benefits because he makes more money.  Lastly, the clients win because they get a happy chauffeur.  It’s a win, win, win.

Now if I could just find a way to get a built-in gratuity for blog posts ….

When I was a chauffeur, I loved it.  My passion for driving and natural affability made me a natural.  My days behind the wheel began as a job, but became a mission.  In my quest to become a better chauffeur, I looked to others to find the secrets of the profession.  Good chauffeurs showed up on time and looked nice, but what made a chauffeur great?  This is what I found out.

Confidence – Weak chauffeurs brag about their celebrity clients and big tips.  Great chauffeurs simply exude quiet confidence.  With confidence, a chauffeur can ease a client’s tension and control the run.  As the old saying goes, “never let them see you sweat.”

Strength – Service is important, but control is essential.  The basic function of limousine service is to safely transport clients from point A to point B in a timely manner.  You can’t do this unless you control the vehicle.  Maintaining an ALPHA position is imperative.

Clients regularly ask chauffeurs to do all sorts of stupid and illegal stuff.  A classic example is the client who is late and wants the chauffeur to speed.  Weak chauffeurs get run, ALPHA chauffeurs don’t facilitate the stupidity.

Consistency – A great chauffeur will arrive early, be knowledgeable, look professional, and provide exceptional service on every run.  No matter the circumstance, he always does great work.  He shapes his personal and professional life around the job.

Integrity – Over the years, I’ve known chauffeurs to do some incredibly dishonest stuff.  From stealing gas to swapping out engines on company vehicles, I’ve seen it all.  I’m always disappointed when a seemingly great chauffeur has a major character flaw.

Great chauffeurs don’t get involved with this nonsense.  The pursuit of fast money is rarely worth the risk.

Salesmanship – When a client asks, “how do you like working for this company,” a great chauffeur sells himself and the company.  When clients used to ask me this question, I would respond, “I love it.  I have a 401k and medical insurance; and their affiliate network provides great service for my clients throughout the United States.”  Without salesmanship, you don’t get requests – and without requests, you’re at the mercy of dispatch.

Passion – Great chauffeurs want to be great.  It’s their mission.  These guys are always looking for new ways to improve their game.  This is particularly true for chauffeurs in bad companies.  Even if the company is screwing them, a mission focused chauffeur will stay on point and provide great service.

Cooperation – Great chauffeurs aren’t prima donnas.  Cooperation and teamwork are an inherent part of the job.  These chauffeurs take the runs as they come and rely on their excellence to secure lucrative hourlies.

Insight – Every client is different.  Man or woman, young or old, businessman or rapper, New Yorker or Angeleno – every client requires a different approach.  The chauffeur who follows policy and addresses a sixteen year old as “mister” is making a big mistake.  A great chauffeur instantaneously reads a client and behaves accordingly.  Accurately reading clients is what separates the men from the boys.

The Right Stuff

Confidence, strength, consistency, integrity, salesmanship, passion, cooperation, and insight define highly successful chauffeurs.  If a driver cares, he will develop many of these traits with experience.  In time, if the chauffeur hones his skills, the job will become easier and more enjoyable.  In addition, he will make more money and cultivate valuable connections throughout the industry.

Success is elusive for most, but highly skilled career chauffeurs are a bright spot in an otherwise dreary industry.

Chauffeurs are a sorry lot.  I should know, I used to be one.  On any given day, a sea of pathetic, sloppy, and burnt-out chauffeurs wait at airports across America.

It wasn’t always this way.  The profession was once well respected and stocked with career drivers.  Unfortunately, it’s been degraded to transients who are nothing but glorified taxi drivers.  How did it get so bad? Most point to a lack of training, but the problems run much deeper.  The state of chauffeurs is a systemic issue that stems from three main areas.

Insufficient Pay

It’s an old saying, but you get what you pay for.  Good chauffeurs cost money.  In large urban markets, experienced chauffeurs make at least 50k a year and the real talent pushes six figures.  Chauffeur oriented companies like Commonwealth and EmpireCLS provide health insurance, 401ks, and dental benefits.  The people who run these companies aren’t saints, but good businessmen who understand the value of talent.  Unlike their peers, they recognize the pool of experienced chauffeurs who can handle national accounts is finite.

On the other end of the spectrum is the detritus of horrible companies.  As operating costs have risen, these services have cut chauffeur salaries.  As a result, a wave of incompetent and inexperienced drivers has flooded the market.  These companies want good chauffeurs, but the absence of a sustainable rate structure negates this.  Considering fixed costs will continue to go up, this situation will only get worse.

Poor Hiring Practices

Driving people around isn’t a complicated job, but it does require a particular set of personality traits and skills.  Any person who is service oriented, pleasant, hardworking, and forthright will be a pretty good chauffeur.  Unfortunately, these folks aren’t getting hired.  To find good people and screen out the scrubs, a number of steps should be taken.

• Use a chauffeur referral system – Chauffeurs tend to bring in good people when their reputation and money is on the line.
• Use your chauffeurs as screeners.  Senior chauffeurs are tremendous judges of character.  These guys make thousands of personality judgments every year and can quickly size people up.
• Recruit out of the service industry – Service is 90% of the job, so why not get someone that has 90% of the prerequisite experience.  Restaurants and hotels are great places to find your next chauffeur.
• Use a personality test – Exceptional chauffeurs usually possess the same personality traits.  Give your best chauffeurs the test and you’ll have a baseline for success.

Finding talent isn’t difficult – you just have to go out and get it.  To screen out the bad apples, simply use the talent at your disposal.

Incompetent Management

If you want better drivers, start by fixing the broken windows in the office.  By broken windows I mean expired registrations, overdue vehicle maintenance, illegal IO programs, inconsistent payroll, and dishonest dispatchers.  Even good drivers stop putting out fires when the house never stops burning.  When management is apathetic and incompetent, so are the drivers.  Once the management is fixed, a comprehensive training program can be started.

Summary

Lousy pay, bad hiring practices, and inept management are the reasons chauffeurs stink.  It isn’t a lack of training.

Bad companies breed bad chauffeurs.  In most service industries, the market punishes poor companies, but in the limousine business, this model doesn’t work.  With a focus on single event services like weddings and proms, many substandard companies survive indefinitely on marketing and ignore repeat business.

This trend is likely to continue, but there is hope.  With the downturn in the economy, bad companies operating on thin margins will fail.  In addition, the growing prominace of online reviews will weigh heavily on companies that provide consitently bad service.  Ultimately, the fewer poor companies that populate the industry, the better chauffeurs will be.