Why Chauffeured Transportation?

The chauffeured transportation industry is very serious about keeping the highest standards. This is especially true when it comes to safety and customer service. These days, there is a wide variety of providers to choose from when you think of transportation.

This array of choices includes ride-hailing companies, especially those who work through mobile applications. Their business models are based on being entirely machine-driven. This means that they employ algorithms for every task, from assigning rides to handling complaints.

By making everything automatic, ride-hailing companies risk on missing any issues that would only be perceived by the human eye. Additionally, it might be harder to track the adherence to high standards when the volume of information processed by the algorithms is gigantic.

Read on to understand how standards followed by chauffeured transportation companies compare to ride-hailing practices.

Chauffeured Transportation Standards

The Ride Responsibly™ campaign was established in 2015 by the National Limousine Association. It aims on informing the public about best practices on ground transportation services. Additionally, it encourages corporate responsibility for the rights and well-being of ground transportation drivers.

Ride Responsibly™ suggests a set of standards for all ground transportation companies to follow. This list of recommendations was named Driver Duty of Care and it’s available on the Ride Responsibly™ website here.

We are going to discuss some of the standards and make considerations about good practices in the transportation industry.

Driver Recuitment and Training

The Duty of Care sets recommendations for all ground transportation services. They define these services as having vehicles including (but not limited to):

• Sedans
• SUVs
• Vans
• Mini-coaches
• Buses

You can check out the example of a ground transportation company fleet here.

The Duty of Care suggests that all drivers are “properly screened, licensed and trained”. The screening encompasses criminal background check, medical examinations and drug testing. As for the training, they encourage interesting practices that will ensure companies are meeting high standards. Let’s look at some items in a little more detail.

Driver training program

According to the Duty of Care, a proper driver training program should include:

• Driver duties: this is about the responsibilities of a professional chauffeur. At companies like Vegas VIP Limousine, we take these very seriously. Our drivers have a sense of responsibility with their duty that goes beyond the ride itself. Training covers topics like:
  • Making sure they had a good night’s sleep before each work day
  • Having their formal attire clean and prepared for the day
• Customer service: chauffeured transportation is all about the experience. Training programs must ensure the focus on superior customer experience from pickup to dropoff. This may include even apparently small details, which in fact can make all the difference:
  • Ensuring customer feels safe by confirming their personal information
  • Double checking destination and informing customer about traffic conditions
  • Making sure customer is never kept waiting outside of the vehicle
  • Helping customer with their luggage until the door of dropoff location
• Safety: it could not be more crucial for drivers to have training on safety measures. This can include:
  • Being able to troubleshoot any issues with the vehicle
  • Always checking the surroundings for any safety hazard at pickup and dropoff
• Defensive driving skills: this is all about being careful and not taking unnecessary risks.
• Proper supervision, retraining and discipline when appropriate: this is a valuable asset for ground transportation companies. They rely on:
  • Human resources management done by real people
  • Constant communication leading to close track of their drivers’ performance

These are standards that ground transportation companies strive to follow. With these in mind, we can look at the reality of ride-hailing companies and then understand where we stand.

Chauffeured Transportation vs. Ride-Hailing Companies

There is a number of ways we can look at the current situation in this business. Right now, we will focus solely on the customer’s point of view. For a passenger booking a ride, it may all come down to one single aspect: chauffeured transportation is managed by people and not by algorithms.

Of course we may take advantage of mobile applications and state-of-the-art technology to complete our tasks faster and more effectively. However, when it comes to managing the relationship between employees and customers, there might be details that go unnoticed by artificial intelligence.

Vehicle Conditions

It is hardly possible to keep track of vehicles cleanliness if you rely only in customer’s evaluations that feed a giant database. Customers often will not report on the conditions of a vehicle. In chauffeured transportation, vehicles will go through constant inspection. Furthermore, professional chauffeurs will always keep records of the conditions of vehicles through photographs or video.

Customer Service

How do ride-hailing companies keep track of customer service? Again, they rely on customer feedback. This implies relying on each customer’s personal standards for great service. It is clearly a very subjective concept, as each person will view service according to their own experience. Therefore, it is quite hard to keep service standards based on customer reviews.

In chauffeured transportation, companies keep their service standards based on constant training and personal contact with customers. Passengers will be more likely to report any issues if they talk to a person instead of fill a form in an application.

High Standards in Las Vegas and Worldwide

Vegas VIP Limousine is committed to excellent customer service in every ride. Our team of chauffeurs receives constant training to ensure they focus on every detail of their passenger’s experience. From pickup to dropoff, you will feel:

• Safe: your chauffeur will check your personal information and give you the necessary details about your destinations and your route.
• Comfortable: every vehicle is clean and always perfectly tidy. You will have amenities to bring extra comfort during your ride.

Make chauffeured transportation part of your plans and experience high level comfort and luxury. We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for your convenience.