The International Limousine & Chauffeured Transportation Show (LCT) celebrates its 25th anniversary in January.

Experts from across the limo industry are to head to Plazzo Resort Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas for the high-profile event.

Attendees will be treated to three-days of seminars, discussions and presentations on the limo industry.

One of the main themes behind this year's LCT Show will be how to make strategic business decisions in the current economic climate. Other pressing issues will include staff training, price competition and insurance regulation.

"If operators want to be profitable, especially in this tight market, they need to be informed and strategic," said Sara McLean, publisher of LCT magazine.

Over 20 sessions will be taking place with programmes tailored to suit those with different fleet sizes and levels of experience.

As well as the conference options, the show will feature 100 exhibition stands, an industry awards ceremony and representatives from Ford and Cadillac.

A good value is something that pretty much everyone is looking for, particularly at a time when budgets have been cut to the bone. For Black Car/Limousine operators and drivers looking to make it through these difficult times, creating value means making sure you deliver reliable and professional service. A company that provides exceptional service, that picks you up when you want to be picked up and takes the stress out of getting you from here to there, is still a bargain by any standard for a lot of people – particularly in New York City.

Last month, I ran a press release from the limousine coachbuilder, Royale Limousine Manufacturers that seemed to get right to the heart of the issue. Certainly, the companies selling limousines are among the hardest hit in the current economy, but Royale has done a great job of keeping their business moving forward. They also made some very strong points in their press release that I think need to be reiterated here. Most of those points were made by a corporate executive who uses chauffeur-driven services, which made them that much more significant.

The release noted that some executives have been abandoning chauffeur-driven limousine and executive sedan services because of a “perception” that they are wasteful. The executive quoted in the article argued that driving himself is actually far more wasteful than having a professional take him to his destinations. “During a typical week, I used to spend upwards of 20 hours in traffic, getting virtually nothing done,” explained Anthony Berritto, owner of Sal-Son Logistics, a 1,400-employee trucking company based in Bergenfield, NJ. “This allows me to buy back that valuable time.”

From the backseat of his chauffeur-driven car, Berritto said he can check email, research relevant information about potential clients on the Internet, make sales calls, even handle payroll. He also said he feels much safer these days. Previously, when he was driving himself, he spent a considerable amount of time on the phone. “Whether the phone is hands-free or not, speaking to an important client requires a lot of attention, and that can be a dangerous distraction. Luckily, I was never involved in an accident – but imagine how expensive that could have been in the grand scheme of things.”

In a down economy, he added, “I find it’s even more important to be out there getting face-time with my clients. And that means more time on the road. When you do the math – adding up what I pay for a chauffeured sedan versus my ability to be productive during that time – it’s a no-brainer.”

Excellent points, I think, and ones that tie together with an article that I recently read in the New York Times by Ben Stein, the famous actor, writer, lawyer and economist. In the article, called “Don’t Blame the Business Trip,” Stein laments the fact that business meetings are getting a bum rap these days and recommends that President Obama make it clear that there is nothing wrong with business travel… only the glaring abuse of government aid to bailed-out companies.

“The truth is that business meetings are usually not a waste of time, even if they are held in Las Vegas or at a resort with a golf course near a Southern California beach,” said Stein. “They are not decadent, with rare exceptions. And at the business meetings I see, an incredibly heavy burden of work lies on the shoulders of those who attend.

“Technology is wonderful and indispensable. But for finding out the tricks of the trade, the way business runs in bad times and good, the latest developments in business and the economy, nothing can replace the spark of intelligence that travels from person to person at meetings.

“Moreover, it would be harsh in the extreme to kick the hospitality industry when it is down by frowning on business meetings, thereby making hotels lay off cooks and waiters and maids.

“Who would be better off if business travel for meetings ground to a halt? No one and nothing. Business meetings are not the enemy. In terms of making the nation more productive and better off, they are builders, not saboteurs.”
source:http://www.blackcarnews.com/home.cfm?pgid=news#143

The New York City Taxicab and Limousine Commission (TLC) proposed a significant list of new rules aimed at the for-hire vehicle industry, at its March 26 meeting. The following, which is only a portion of the summary released by the TLC on its website (http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/tlc/downloads/pdf/fhv_rules_guide.pdf), includes the NEW rules pertaining to Black Car, livery and luxury limousine bases.

The summary was created to help base owners, vehicle owners, and drivers understand what is expected of them, since the original document is 33 pages long and somewhat complicated to read through. The entire package, which includes all of the rules, is posted at www.nyc.gov/tlc under “TLC News/Proposed Rules.”

According to the summary, one of the most important rule changes is a new penalty point system, which states that, “When a base or vehicle owner gets too many points, his or her license can be revoked.”

Base Licenses and Renewals
Starting July 1, 2009, all base licenses will last for three years. New and renewal base licenses will last for three years on and after that date.

Before a base is given its license, it must give the Commission a bond for $5,000. Black car and luxury limousine bases will need to provide the bond for the first time when they renew. If any base receives penalties and does not pay its fines, the Commission will notify the base owner 30 days before drawing on the bond. Drawing on the bond means the Commission will take the amount owed for fines from the bond. The base will receive one penalty point if TLC has to draw on the bond.

If you are a Base Owner, you must:
• Ask TLC’s permission to move your base location. If you don’t – or if you move to a new location without being approved, you may be fined, padlocked and/or get one penalty point.
• Use only one business name for your base.
• Give TLC correct and up to date contact information, including office hours. This information has to match what TLC has on file and use the same name you use for your base.
• Keep a record of all your dispatches. You can keep these records on paper or electronically.
• Tell all passengers what their fare will be before their ride. Once you tell them the fare, you cannot change it.
• Make sure your affiliated vehicles do not loiter or park illegally on the street your base is on.
• Make sure all of your affiliated vehicles pick up passengers through prearrangement only for each and every ride.
• All of your affiliated vehicles must have three new TLC vehicle permit stickers starting September 1, 2009 – on the windshield and on both rear quarter windows. You will get these permit stickers from TLC in the mail. When your affiliated cars renew or change affiliations, they will get these permit stickers from the TLC at its Woodside, Queens location and TLC will put them on the car.
• Starting July 1, 2009, if you own a livery/community car base, all of your affiliated vehicles must have stickers on the outside of the car (either on both sides of the vehicle or on the back of the car) that have your base name, base station license number and base telephone number.
• You can only dispatch vehicles that are affiliated with your base. There is one exception to this rule when you provide wheelchair accessible service,
• All of your affiliated cars have to show these things inside the car so that passengers can see them:
o TLC Driver’s License of the person driving
o TLC Vehicle License (this is a new license TLC will give vehicle owners)
o FHV Passenger Bill of Rights (livery/community cars only)

Affiliations and De-affiliations
• Vehicles can only affiliate with one base at a time.
• If a base is suspended for more than thirty days (30), its license has expired, or its license is revoked, all vehicle affiliations to that base will automatically terminate. Vehicles will need to re-affiliate with a different base that has a current license.
• If you are a base owner and would like to disaffiliate a vehicle, you have to submit a form that both you and the vehicle owner have signed. If you can’t get the vehicle owner to sign, you must give the vehicle owner 10 days notice in writing. A letter must be sent to the vehicle owner, using certified mail, to the address that matches the address of the vehicle owner we have on file. You will need to show proof you sent the letter when you request the disaffiliation.

FHV License Applications and Renewals (FHV licenses are good for 2 years)
• If your license is revoked, surrendered, or if the vehicle plates are surrendered before the expiration date, your license has expired and cannot be renewed.
• If you are renewing a FHV license, you will need to submit a complete application to TLC thirty days (30) before the expiration date of the license. You will be allowed to submit a complete application in the 30 day period before the license expires as long as you pay a $25 late fee. Once your expiration date has passed you cannot renew.
• Vehicles can only have one current FHV license at a time. If you submit an application for a license and the vehicle already has a current and valid vehicle license, the original license holder will be brought in for a hearing and his license may be revoked.
• If you submit an application for a new license and you had a TLC vehicle license that was revoked in the past, you will be brought in for a fitness hearing.

If you own a vehicle
• Your vehicle can only affiliate to one base at a time.
• Your car must be dispatched through your affiliated base for all trips. You have to make sure your drivers only accept trips by dispatch from your vehicle’s affiliated base.
• You have to make sure anyone driving your car is not accepting street hails.
• You must bring your car to TLC in Woodside, Queens to be inspected every time you renew or apply for a license.
• Your license will be revoked if:
o Your car is not affiliated with any base for 60 days.
o Your car does not have insurance for 60 days.
o You do not pass your inspection or re-inspection in 60 days.
o Your vehicle receives three or more penalty points during the two year license term.
• Beginning September 1, 2009, vehicles will need to have three TLC permit stickers on them. Your base will receive these new stickers from TLC and you will need to put them on yourself. The stickers will show your base affiliation and VIN. These stickers are the vehicle permits and will replace the diamond. One will be on the windshield where the diamond is now; the other two will be on both sides of the car on the rear quarter windows.
• Any time you do a transfer (base transfer, plate transfer, vehicle transfer) and submit a transfer application, you will need to visit TLC in Woodside, Queens for new stickers. TLC will put the stickers on your car at Woodside.
• Inside your car, you must have three items placed in protective holders attached to the front seat. In the protective holders you must have:
o FHV Passenger Bill of Rights (for livery/community car vehicles only) behind the front passenger seat
o The driver’s TLC license and vehicle’s TLC license behind the driver’s seat. TLC will give you this new vehicle license.
• Starting July 1, 2009, if you are affiliated with a livery/community car base, your car must have base markings on the outside of the car (either on the both sides of the vehicle or on the back of the car) that have its affiliated base name, base station license number and base telephone number.

Vehicle Inspections
• Starting September 1, 2009, if you are a new applicant, you will have to get your vehicle inspected at TLC’s Woodside facility within 10 days of getting your TLC license plates from DMV. The TLC inspection at Woodside will count as one of your DMV inspections. If your car is model year 1995 or older, the TLC inspection does not count as a DMV inspection because TLC does not have the equipment to do a DMV inspection for these older cars.
• Starting February 10, 2010, if you are a renewing applicant you will have to get your vehicle inspected at TLC’s Woodside facility. The inspection at Woodside will count as one of your DMV inspections. If your car is model year 1995 or older, the TLC inspection does not count as a DMV inspection because TLC does not have the equipment to do a DMV inspection for these older cars.

Vehicle Markings
• Starting July 1, 2009, all livery/community car vehicles must have the base name, the base license number, and the base telephone number on the outside of the car.
• Livery/community car vehicles will put the markings on both sides or the back of the car. For the sides, the letters and numbers must be at least 1.5 inches tall. On the back, letters and numbers must be at least one inch tall. Vehicles may choose to put markings on both the sides and the back.
• Starting July 1, 2009, inside the car, the vehicle must have on display, at all times, the FHV vehicle license, TLC driver’s license, and for livery/community cars (starting June 26, 2009), the FHV Passenger Bill of Rights.

Information TLC Will Provide
Every time an affiliated vehicle is convicted of a violation and gets a penalty point, the base will get a letter to tell them. The TLC is sending these letters to keep you aware of your affiliated vehicle’s activity. When any affiliated vehicle gets three penalty points for violations, the base will get one penalty point.

PENALTY POINTS
Penalty point: a point given against a base owner or vehicle owner after being convicted of a violation. Base licenses may be revoked if they get five points during the three year period of their licenses. Vehicle licenses can be revoked if the vehicle gets three points during the two year period of its license. When the base or vehicle license is renewed, they start their licenses at 0 points again for the new license period.
source:http://www.blackcarnews.com/home.cfm?pgid=news#143

President Barack Obama's new presidential limousine grabbed some headlines this year - especially in Detroit -- when General Motors announced in January that Obama was getting a brand-new 2009 Cadillac Presidential Limousine, the first presidential limo that did not carry a specific model name.
The Obama limo has high-tech security features that Kennedy's limo lacked.

The Obama limo has high-tech security features that Kennedy's limo lacked.
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That got me to thinking about another famous (or, perhaps more accurately, infamous) presidential limo -- one that for many years has been sitting on display, for all the world to see, at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, right in the heart of Ford country -- and just five minutes from my home.

I'm referring to the 1961 Lincoln Continental 4-door convertible sedan that President John F. Kennedy was riding in on that historic / tragic day in November of 1963 when he was assassinated.

Why would Obama's new limo prompt thoughts of the Kennedy limo? Well, perhaps in part because political commentators and historians have compared Obama to Kennedy, in terms of his charisma, his popularity and his call to service.
source:http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/wayoflife/03/18/aa.obama.limo/index.html?iref=newssearch