After 145 years the elephants did their last show for Ringling Brothers Circus and will be leaving forever. No longer having elephants in the circus sounds strange but it is progress for animal rights and a very good metaphor for the progress of technology in ground transportation. The difference is I will be sad to see the elephants go but the antiquated technology especially in the chauffeur industry needs to go and be replaced or at least upgraded.
There's no way that I can review all the technology and supplier offerings in ground transportation. The technology is changing so fast that what is reported in this piece will have changed again soon after this is uploaded. Some technology will be eliminated while other technology will improve functionality. New systems will appear.
There are so many new entrants who are claiming that they are "The Ground Solution" because of their technology. But technology alone is only half of the solution: the delivery and reliability of the service, the vehicle, the driver, the coverage and duty of care are the other half.
There is no guarantee that a company that has the technology can deliver what it says or is safe.
Technology can be used to invent useful things or to solve problems. When brought to the marketplace technology is like a living human being; it continues to evolve and varies in how it performs. No one brings perfect technology to the market. Most technology is acceptable and functional and then improved upon while in service. Some technology is brought to the market too early; it's not ready but is released and marketed anyway.
Since a lot of ground transport technology involves credit card and personal information, security is very important and becoming even more so as cyber crime increases. The suppliers and technology companies with which you do business must be PCI compliant and the certification should be checked for validation, as it always needs to be current. Due diligence is essential before any technology is implemented.
The TNCs (transport network companies) such as Uber and Lyft have introduced user friendly technology that connects the passenger to the driver. The whole ground transportation industry needed this kick in the ---- and this has accelerated technological advancements to enable them to compete in all areas of ground transportation.
Remember that the best way to ensure a good price and have the right vehicle and/or driver if needed is to book ground transport in advance. On demand works for unplanned instances but, regardless of the marketing, it is by no means foolproof.
The rental car industry's reservations systems and operational processes are mature and have worked for the most part. At this stage the majors have gone to a single reservation system for their brands. It is important to note that even legacy systems need constant investment to keep them working properly. Reservations systems work in this segment, continue to improve and add new technology as a result of acquisitions of new companies. The new companies' systems must be adapted to the existing technology or upgraded. Currently, most rental car suppliers will not release future innovations until they are complete and tested. Here are some of the updates.
Car rental companies
- Hertz, which purchased Dollar and Thrifty, has implemented one reservation system and all its companies are now on one system, which will drive many reservations and operational efficiencies. Hertz has gone to a cloud-based platform. It is investing in mobile technology, Mobile First, which streamlines the rental experience to allow consumers to book their rental cars via an app.
- Enterprise Holdings, which comprises National, Enterprise and Alamo, has been expanding outside the US and implementing a single reservation system, Virtual Aisle, throughout. Facility constraints (for all suppliers) in locations in North America prevent National from offering a true Emerald Aisle experience but National can now allow Emerald Club members to have a "Virtual Aisle" experience. Just prior to renting from National, through the National app, members can choose from a selection of vehicles. They will select the vehicle they would like, pay the mid-size rate regardless of vehicle selected and the vehicle will be waiting for them when they arrive at the National location. The likelihood is that this will be scalable to other regions of National's network in the near future.
However, the Virtual Exit service is still expanding and developing at many locations in the United States and Canada. Emerald Club members can process their own rental simply by opening the National app, selecting "Virtual Exit", scanning the QR code on the car they choose, then showing their ID and smartphone at the exit and they are on their way.
- Sixt claims to be the first car rental firm in the world to integrate with the Apple Passbook app. Customers can store all the information about their rental in their Passbook. Once the desired vehicle has been reserved, the app creates a "Pass" to be used when the vehicle is picked up. The app also recognises when the customer is close to a Sixt location on the day of the rental and sends them a notification.
Sixt also has a corporate car share product that allows companies to tailor their corporate rental car programmes to fit their travellers' needs.
Chauffeur drive
The chauffeur industry is a different story when it comes to an effective, secure and a uniform booking system. First there are literally thousands of different chauffeur companies and there are a multitude of different systems that are customised for each individual supplier. Then there are smaller suppliers and independent drivers who have just a cell phone and or fax machine. This leads to issues when they have to communicate with each other. This can result in bookings that are not communicated properly or at all and holes in the PCI compliance and EU US Privacy Shield. For companies doing business globally the EU US Privacy Shield requires the US to cooperate with the European Data Protection Authorities to ensure the safety and security of a traveller's information.
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In comparison with car rental companies the chauffeur industry is fragmented and the largest players have only a small percentage of the market. There is no uniform technology throughout the industry or a supplier's entire network of affiliates. Because of this, the industry as a whole is far behind in technology and security.
The other issue is there is very little margin in the chauffeur industry to warrant that investment in the technology. Even if there were superior reservation systems available, only the largest companies could afford to implement them. The top limo companies have the best technology that there is to offer and work hard to make it seamless to the traveller, working through the limitations but not all are PCI compliant throughout their entire network. The larger, higher-end suppliers are also the best when it comes to duty of care. However, each supplier needs to be vetted to ensure the company's travellers are safe.
The majority of bookings are still made by phone. Technology is the second most popular means for reservations, through the supplier's web, customised landing page or app.
Companies are trying to direct their travelling employees to use the online booking tools which bridge suppliers with the GDS. The two top online booking tools are GetThere, which has Deem and GroundSpan to link the reservation to the limo company and back through the GDS and Concur, which has just severed its relationship with Deem and uses GroundSpan and SummitQwest to link a reservation to the limo company and back though the GDS. The days of ground transportation needing to be on the PNR/itinerary are fading away, it is right there on your smartphone.
Deem's ground transportation business, formerly known as GGA, formerly known as GT3, was a pioneer in providing the link or the ability using proprietary technology to connect through the internet to a limo company. It has now ventured into several different business lines. Its expansion and the results of some actions taken have resulted in some not so favourable outcomes. The Car Service Cloud and Mobile application that was unveiled in partnership with the National Limousine Association (NLA) and many of the largest operators in ground transportation at the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) annual meeting was followed by an announcement on February 28 that the NLA Board of Directors had unanimously voted to terminate the agreement with Deem which had been signed in July 2015. Deem's CEO and founder Patrick Grady stepped down from the San Francisco-based company and PointGuard Ventures managing director Krish Panu will assume the role of chairman and CEO. The newest round of funding and new leadership will have to be watched as what the results will be on the ground transportation portion of the business.
The GroundSpan platform is another uniquely developed technology to accelerate the automation of ground transportation reservations from travel agencies and self-booking tools. SummitQwest also connects ground transportation reservations with travel agencies and SBTs. It also provides a connection to ground transportation blackcar, limo, taxi and have billing and auditing tools. GroundScope is a UK-based technology company which promotes itself as a ground supplier which connects and provides billing and offers a suite of suppliers that they have assembled.
Taxis are adopting new technologies to compete with the TNCs. Hailo and Gett are successful UK apps connecting travellers to black cabs in London and other cities in Europe. There are several similar apps in the US but they are not as functional as the UK-based companies. The US taxi community is banning together and will be producing more effective apps in the near future.
Conclusion
The new technology is coming at such a rapid pace that it is difficult to determine what new app or new car service should be used. The important point is that you must do your due diligence to find out the reality versus the promises made by the sales and marketing pitch.
The chauffeur industry is so fragmented that most companies' travellers use many different chauffeur driven suppliers in many different countries. I have seen hundreds of suppliers used by global companies from larger limo suppliers that have been vetted to many chauffeur driven suppliers that have not been vetted for safety/duty of care (finger print background checks, drug and alcohol testing and drivers training). Given the range of the TNCs that currently exist throughout the world and new technology companies that are coming, it is now more important than ever to understand your spend and the gaps in duty of care, pricing, security, liability coverage and policy and adapt your technology and policy to manage it.
There are limo companies which own their fleets, have their own technology, have their own drivers and have invested in technology to facilitate the reservation and operational systems. There are technology companies that have a reservation and reporting service which use independent operators; others offer some or a full array of services, a connection to suppliers, billing and audit functions.
The whole industry — from rental car to chauffeur driven vehicles, which includes TNCs and all technology companies that show like a supplier, is changing rapidly. Many more entrants, such as auto companies, are getting into this space. Many companies with substantial ground transport programmes, however, are still awarding contracts to suppliers who have not been vetted for duty of care, PCI compliance or price. With the TNCs now being a larger part of that mix, companies are starting to look much more closely at this spend. Many companies have not tried to control their travellers through policy and many partially control the ground spend, ie rental cars, and some of the limo and black car, but not all spend such as TNCs and taxis.
- The TNCs are selling a technology solution but most companies are still struggling with the duty of care issue.
- The notion that paying for technology is not worth the price needs to change. If a technology solution is implemented properly the investment will save money and improve safety and security.
- Duty of care, service and cyber security and price should always be benchmarked when looking for a solution.
- Much of the marketing can be misleading so it is essential when doing due diligence to include security, risk, IT, legal and human resources.
- Companies will have to mandate policy and whatever solution they choose if they want controls. There is no other way to get rid of the gaps in duty of care, security, liability and at the same time increase savings, reliability and reporting.
The elephants are gone will they be replaced by technology?