Since the day after I graduated high school I have been in the limousine industry. All parts, all levels, all positions. The first lesson I learned was that you take what you are given and do not say no. The word no is not in the industry vocabulary. I also learned that a regular does…

You ever realize how good the electric company has it. Think about it. You apply for service. They check your credit, if you pass, they turn the juice on, and you are good to go. If you don’t pay your bill, they turn it off and you are out of luck. You can’t go to…

I have been servicing a larger mid-size operation. Been with them easily close to 20 years. During the pandemic they went through a fair number of general managers. The first new one was a recently retired fortune 500 upper-level cubicle farmer. He could have also been a micromanaging higher-up. Can’t be sure. He wasn’t on…

If you recall, some time ago I told you the story of Michigan Matt. Michigan Matt, who had the propensity to lose things has been one of my primary senior dispatchers for some time. Now firstly I must confess, his real name is Massachusetts Mickey. He did not want me to use his real name…

In our industry’s previous life, the dispatcher played a very key role in the operation of one’s company. Although a large degree of their authority and actions may have been symbolic and attitudinally based, they nevertheless kept the train on the track and running on time. One operator humorously described it years ago. He said…

Earlier this year I posted a 3-part piece on Appnology. It was a concept where the industry working together could create an all-encompassing app to eliminate some specific rivals. The gist was simple. We are their backbone and what the industry giveth, this industry can taketh away. The real meat and potatoes of the idea…

In any given service industry performance or endeavor, one is only as good as their last mistake. In any company crisis or disaster, a similar dynamic applies. Have a solid plan regardless of the nature of the incident. The public in their very soul are typically forgiving, sympathetic, and understanding when bad things happen to…

As previously discussed, cross training staff has numerous operational advantages. It breaks up monotony, offers schedule flexibility, and other little things. The chain of command, bureaucracy, or hierarchy of many companies are the same. Dispatch is understaffed, overworked, and in a constant battle of supply, demand, and personality conflicts. Reservation agents are in a constant…

The idea or concept started to take form with odd, unique operational practices and tricks I picked up over the years. One of my all-time favorites was FedEx and the flying spares. Now remember, the FedEx aircraft fleet is one of the 10 largest in the world. 6 nights a week they would launch 3…

One of the concepts that always fascinates me are when I learn simple solutions to complex problems. I often wonder, maybe wish, why can’t I reverse engineer the idea and perhaps get two solutions for the price of one problem? Our entire planet functions consistently better as we societally, discover, exploit, and implement these ideas.…