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“We chose this specific area in New England because we saw a lack of viable transportation options during the past several ski seasons with our family and friends. We realized this was a tremendous opportunity to bring our luxury transportation to a place that really needs it, so we jumped on it,” said Fleet Transportation Owner and President Stacey Glazier. “We intend to provide them with the same high quality customer service and stylish, comfortable vehicles that we provide our clients in the Washington D.C. area.”
As part of the grand opening of the new office in Stowe, Fleet Transportation will be offering specials for the Fall and Winter seasonal activities. Additionally, the company is offering 10% off all transportation on any vehicle type.
“We are extremely excited about moving into this beautiful area and really looking forward to becoming a contributing member to the thriving Stowe community,” said Glazier.
Toward that end, Fleet Transportation has already become a member of the Stowe Area Association and Your Vermont Wedding as well as the Lamoille Chamber of Commerce.
Visit fleettransportation.com for more information.
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The total investment adds up to approximately $500m, and more than 900 people currently work at the expanded North Charleston site, although that number is set to grow up to 1,300 by the end of 2020. According to estimations, suppliers will create an additional 600 new jobs in and around North Charleston.
"The USA is already the second largest market for our Sprinter today. With the new, state-of-the-art production site in South Carolina, we will be able to supply our customers in North America even faster and with more flexibility in the future. This makes better use of the dynamic market potential, placing our new plant in North Charleston as a central component of our growth strategy," said Volker Mornhinweg, head of Mercedes-Benz Vans.
"The new plant in North Charleston combines our global expertise and experience resulting in a state-of-the-art facility in every respect. It is a valuable asset that completes our global production network. Our priority at Mercedes-Benz Vans during the planning process for this facility was maximum flexibility. This enables us to react in an agile and anticipatory manner to current developments and customer desires. Additionally, it guarantees excellent quality within our proven, standardized production system," said Frank Klein, head of operations Mercedes-Benz Vans.
To coincide with the opening, Mercedes-Benz Vans also announced it will be producing Amazon branded Sprinter vans for the retail company's new Delivery Service Partner program at the new plant. Small business owners will work with third-party fleet management companies to procure their customized vans and get special leases in order to keep their startup costs low.
"We're proud to partner with Mercedes-Benz Vans to contribute to local economies through the order of Amazon branded Sprinter vans produced at their new plant in North Charleston," said Dave Clark, Amazon's senior vice president of worldwide operations. "Thanks to the tremendous response to Amazon's new Delivery Service Partner program, we are excited to increase our original order of branded Sprinter vans to 20,000 vehicles so new small businesses will have access to a customized fleet to power deliveries of Amazon packages."
The opening could not come at a better time—2018 marks the U.S. market launch of the new generation of the highly acclaimed van.
The third generation of the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter defines the top class of large vans in all sub-disciplines. Its classic strengths have been improved upon and are complemented by new intelligent products and services.
Among the outstanding innovations in the North American market are the new multimedia systems MBUX (Mercedes-Benz User Experience), the control and display concept in the cockpit, as well as ergonomically shaped seats and modern assistance systems - some of them were taken over by the car sector and, for the first time, found their way into a Mercedes-Benz van.
New standards are being set in the field of digitization and connectivity, which is why the new Sprinter can be described as the first van in a new category with a holistic overall system solution. The previously available version of the proven Mercedes-Benz Sprinter was in high demand among customers in the USA, the second largest market in the world for Sprinter vans.
Since 2006, Semi-Knocked-Down kits have been assembled in North Charleston for imported Sprinter vans and since 2015 also for imported Metris Midsize Vans (known in other markets as "Vito"). With the new plant and the "made in USA" vehicles, the business area will be able to serve the growing demand of North American customers more economically and significantly reduce delivery times in this market.
The new Sprinter will be made under the brands Mercedes-Benz and Freightliner.
Visit mbvans.com for more information.
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With the meeting held on the 17th anniversary of 9/11, NELA Executive Director Rick Szilagyi of Lexian Management started the meeting with a moment of silence to honor the memory of those who died at the Twin Towers, Shanksville, and the Pentagon. Next, Szilagyi welcomed the attendees, and introduced a number of guest speakers. First, Tina Benson of LA Limousine accepted a trophy on behalf of her foursome who took home first place at NELA’s 19th Annual George Colarullo Memorial Golf Tournament, which was held August 7. Next, Arthur Kloack from Flagship Motors filled in the attendees on the company’s new Sprinter facility in Peabody, Mass.
Weiss was next to speak, and used the opportunity to provide some insight into the CD Show coming to the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center just outside of Washington, D.C. on October 7-10. He raffled off a pass to the show, which was won by Kevin Cronin of Above All Transportation. Before new NELA President Jason Dornhoffer of United Private Car was welcomed to the podium, Carl Restivo of Access Commercial Capital provided an overview of his company’s services to the membership.
Dornhoffer thanked the operators and vendors for attending the meeting, and encouraged NELA members to become more involved with the association. In addition to offering his help to anyone interested in seeking a board position, he also made the appeal for the membership to take a role in the various active committees within the organization. Next, An NLA update was provided by Mike Campbell of Grace Limousine, who shared some recent industry updates from the national stage.
In a continued effort to foster good relations between NELA and the Massachusetts-run transportation organizations, Szilagyi met with officials from the Massachusetts Port Authority (MassPort) on September 7, and gave attendees an overview at Kowloon.
“We have a good relationship with MassPort,” says Szilagyi. “They actually listen to us and our concerns, and we meet at least quarterly. Currently, we’re working with MassPort to improve the long practice involved with Private Sector Identification (PSID) badging for chauffeurs. Also, we talked about how TNCs continue to clog the airport, which hurts everyone, just not the operators.”
Following his recap, Szilagyi welcomed Brian Cristy and Liz Leaman of the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, who were the featured speakers of the evening. They addressed the department’s updated computer system for the motor vehicle registry that will go into effect on October 1, 2018, as well as the Unified Carrier Registration process. Cristy and Leaman then fielded many questions from the membership.
As always, the night concluded with the raffles, which were sponsored by DavEl/BostonCoach, Transport the People, and Access Commercial Capital. Brett Barenholtz of Boston Car Service was the winner of a wine giveaway, an assortment of scratch tickets were taken home by Mike Curtin of Don Brown Bus Sales, and Mark Mollica of Black Tie Limousine Worldwide won the 50/50 raffle and generously donated the proceeds back to the NELA.
NELA’s next meeting will be its holiday party, scheduled for December 11.
Visit nelivery.org for more information.
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