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GCLA members at the Capitol in Sacramento
Sacramento — The Greater California Livery Association (GCLA) held its annual Day on the Hill February 13, when 21 association members took to Sacramento to lobby on behalf of the state’s luxury ground transportation industry.
The yearly event is typically spearheaded by GCLA lobbyist Gregg Cook of Government Affairs Consulting and the GCLA’s own legislative committee led by David Kinney of API Global Transportation Group and Mark Stewart of CLI Worldwide Transportation. It presents an opportunity for the association to speak with state legislators and their representatives about the most-pressing issues facing California operators, as well as hear from a few assembly members, too.
A great deal of preparation goes into the event just to ensure that all Day on the Hill attendees are attuned to one another: February 7 saw an in-person training day so that members could be briefed on how get the most from their time in the capital city, while a February 12 dinner allowed participants a last-minute chance to hone their collective message—and with a three-pronged directive, it was especially important to make sure everyone was on the same page.
GCLA lobbyist Gregg Cook of Government Affairs Consulting (left) and GCLA Mo Garkani of The COTS Group
This year’s three correlating key issues were:
--Drug testing for TNC drivers: An especially important topic as legalized marijuana becomes a broader conversation, two possible bills are also looking at this issue from a regulatory standpoint, in terms of mandating both TNC drivers’ and traditional livery passengers’ usage;
--Wages and labor: In an effort to find a more level playing field between more traditional livery options and TNCs, the classification of workers is emerging as a critical conversation. An Assembly Bill (AB-5) aims to “creates a presumption that a worker who performs services for a hirer is an employee,” effectively putting the kibosh on TNCs’ tendency to eke by with less expensive labor by calling their drivers what they are by deferring to legal definitions: employees, not independent contractors;
--CPUC Enforcement: The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), which regulates the state’s commercial transportation industries, has nearly $50M in accrued payments from the operators who’ve been paying quarterly fees to the PUC’s Transportation Reimbursement Fund for years—and the GCLA is urging legislators to release some of those funds to hire additional officers to cut down on the illegally operating outfits that muddy the waters of the state’s transportation options by skirting the licensing and oversights that allow them to provide less expensive—though obviously far riskier—rides.
Some of the 21 GCLA members who walked the halls on behalf of their state’s livery industry
Then on February 13, everyone hit the ground running. The morning was filled with the likes of internal meetings where Cook briefed the group and presentations with key lawmakers before the afternoon’s meetings with local legislators began. All told, GCLA representatives advocated their cause to 24 Senate and Assembly offices, and spoke to fewer staff members and more decision-makers than in years past.
The evening recap meeting reflected the generally positive reception GCLA members felt they received, with many reporting that they felt their voices and concerns were actually heard.
Check back with our March issue of Chauffeur Driven magazine for in-depth coverage of this event.
Visit gcla.org for more information.
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The Atlantic Limousine & Transportation team takes the delivery of its six newest Temsa buses
Atlanta — Atlantic Limousine & Transportation welcomed the addition of six new Temsa buses to its fleet right before this year’s Super Bowl LIII touched down in its hometown of Atlanta.
The company’s founder/President Robert Oskouie says that his company got into the big-rig game back in 2007 and hasn’t looked back.
“When we started working with bus companies, they didn’t have the chauffeur mentality that we were looking for,” Oskouie said. “So we bought our first bus, put our chauffeurs with their suits and ties in the driver’s seat, and they helped passengers get in and out of the vehicle and handled their luggage—and everyone loved it.”
Today, the company has 21 coaches and 13 minicoaches—which includes the four 56-passenger coach buses and two 40-passenger executive-style buses it just purchased.
While Atlantic is not only Department of Transportation-approved but also Department of Defense-certified—meaning it’s cleared to do work for the likes of the army and the National Guard—the company has contracts with various local organizations, and is an in-demand provider for both corporate and special-occasion groups, too.
But having the Super Bowl in their backyard encouraged both Oskouie and his brother/business partner Hoss to beef up their fleet before the biggest professional sporting event of the year.
“We had some big contracts secured for the Super Bowl, so we thought ‘Why not?’,” Oskouie said. “We figured that if we’re going to purchase more vehicles anyway, we might as well get them before the Super Bowl so we can use them for that and get some extra money from them.”
As buses become geared more and more toward the luxury ground transportation industry and group work rises in popularity, Oskouie believes it will only become more critical than ever for traditionally limousine- and sedan-based companies to offer bus and motorcoach options to their clients.
“They’ve helped us tremendously to grow, and part of why that is is because we offer brand-new equipment,” he explained. “People love the fact that they’re clean, the have satellites for long trips, the latest equipment, and outlets for their phones and tablets. We took the limousine mentality and transferred it over to buses—and that’s what everybody’s doing in this industry. Any limousine company that’s growing their bus side so those passengers feel like they’re being treated at the high level they expect. We’re moving away from buses being just people movers to being seen as luxury transportation.”
Visit atlanticlimo-ga.com for more information.
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ABA’s 2019 Marketplace featured several familiar faces from the chauffeured ground transportation industry, like Brent Maitland of MCI (left) and Jeff Shanker of Black Tie Transportation (right)
Louisville, Ky. — American Bus Association (ABA) members spent the last week of January building their business with appointments, networking, and professional education during ABA's 2019 Marketplace in Louisville, Ky. The annual event, which was held from January 25-29 this year, brings together all sectors of the group travel and tourism industry.
With more than 137,000 scheduled business appointments happening throughout the week, tens of millions of dollars of business was generated to kick off ABA members’ 2019. But not all the business building was happening through appointments. During Marketplace, attendees had endless opportunities to network with established partners and meet new ones whether in the exhibit hall, during morning, and lunch events and evening dine arounds and events.
Attendees also participated in more than 50 seminars and education bites with top-rated national speakers and industry experts to help hone their professional development, technology and sales and marketing skills, as well learn about and discuss issues affecting the industry through motorcoach safety, motorcoach maintenance and repair, motorcoach innovations, and motorcoach regulatory and compliance sessions.
ABA President/CEO Peter Pantusso
Numerous ABA Council meetings offered a different kind of education during the week, as the Bus Industry Safety Council (BISC), Bus Maintenance & Repair Council, Hispanic Motorcoach Council, School Bus Council, and the Women in Buses Council all held meetings during the event.
ABA members also took care of association business by electing five new members to the Board of Directors: Jonathan Berzas of Fullington Trailways; Cindy Brown of Boston Duck Tours; Roman Cornell of ABC Companies; Kim Grzywacz of CIT Signature Transportation; and Luke Busskohl of Arrow Stage Lines as the 2020 Marketplace chairman.
But it is not all hard work and no play at ABA! Attendees had were treated to more than a 100 exhibitors, including 22 motorcoaches, on the networking floor—many of whom were giving out treats to Marketplace-goers.
Attendees were also treated to a night at the Kentucky Derby Museum at Churchill Downs for a night of Juleps, Jockeys and Generosity as they raised money for the ABA Gives Back local charity, Backside Learning Center at Churchill Downs. The Backside Learning Center is an independent, non-profit organization serving the equine workers and families at Churchill Downs. They provide adult education programs, after-school and summer youth programs, and social services. Because ABA members' generosity, the ABA Gives Back program donated $22,000 to the Center.
With more than 100 exhibitors on the show floor, foot traffic was constant throughout the event
ABA members also were very generous when it came to raising funds for the ABA Foundation's Fund a Future program. Each year at Marketplace, the ABA Foundation holds a live and silent auction, as well as in partnership with the Hard Rock Cafe International and Prevost, hosts the popular Afterglow party. All monies raised during the week of Marketplace through these events go toward the ABA Foundation scholarship program and helps the ABA Foundation fund $100,000 in scholarships each year. This year through the events, the ABA Foundation was able to raise approximately $140,000 for scholarships. Since its inception, the ABA Foundation Scholarship program has awarded more than $1 million in scholarships to hundreds of ABA member families.
While it was a week of hard work, everyone also took the time to recognize achievements of ABA members that were made throughout the year. The annual ABA Certified Travel Industry Specialist program not only saw 22 members graduate from the program during Marketplace, but also celebrated the 30th anniversary of the program. And ABA partners also presented awards throughout the week to members in recognition of their individual accomplishments.
ABA’s Marketplace 2020 will take place in Omaha, Neb., from Jan. 10-14.
Visit buses.org for more information.
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