Examining other limo services

I've spent a lot of time looking over other limo companies websites. I've taken the best things I've seen out there and we will be incorporating them in our own site we are building. That's only part of it though. We also need to use the other services here in town to see how it's currently being done in our city. That and we needed a car last night. lol.

Last night we used Executive Touch Limousines from here in Portland. We had Cliff Robinson drive us in their 14 passenger Hummer H2. Cliff is not only a driver. He's the owner of the company. Having the owner of the company drive for us was a great opportunity to learn a little bit about the industry. After all. It's been over 10 years since I drove limos and a lot has changed in the industry. So there is more to learn.

The first thing I learned is that Cliff is a bit of a risk taker. Or at least that was might thoughts when I saw the limo. Their H2 limo is a 2006 and if I remember correctly it's a 200" stretch and it's a total of 34' long. It's a very big car. Seeing it I noticed Santa across the side of it with the words "Happy Holidays". I think that people who are willing to theme their cars are risk takers. I have read about them but that's my first one I had ever seen. I personally didn't care for it but my wife liked it. We also got several comments on it when we went to one of the near by casinos. The car is a beautiful vehicle.

ETL's H2 has a video touch screen for controlling everything in the car. Back when I was driving everything was 100% analog controls. It took me a minute to get used to it. But it actually was pretty easy to use. I think the controls need to be as easy as possible. It's important especially if you are driving someone who is not technically savvy. Cliff did take a moment when he picked us up to go over the controls. This was required as we never would have found them otherwise. I would never think of touching one of the LCD screens in the car. One drawback I noticed of the digital controls on the touch screen. One of our people we had with us wanted to restart the DVD that was playing ( Blue man group ) and touched one of the main screens thinking he could get a menu. I could see this assumption in the future ending up with damage to one of the larger screens that is not a touch screen.

One thing I learned is that when you look at limos on the web and such and they say they are a 180" stretch. That number refers to how much the vehicle has been lengthened, It's not the total length. I had assumed that it was the total length. So the H1 we are flying out tomorrow to pick up is a 200" stretch. If this H2 we rode in tonight was a 180" - 200" stretch and it is 34' long I may not have a big enough parking space when I return with the car. I planned to just park it in my driveway for the moment after I returned. Then I was going to look for warehouse space. Well I have two parking spots in my driveway. One is 30' and the other is unmeasured. I estimate it's about 36'. The H1 is a bit bigger than the H2. This could prove to be an issue. I won't know though until I return.

Cliff was also nice enough to give me the number of a good insurance agent that specializes in limos. We've been turned down by 6 companies so far. We are currently pending with our 7th. Right now I have the insurance for driving it home on my personal policy. That's ok for personal use but it won't be able to work that way for customers. We will need to have a commercial policy in place.

After meeting Cliff I think we will be able to do some business together. I can learn a bit from him and I hope that I can create some fair exchange so that he has value in working with us on some stuff.

Tomorrow morning we fly out just after 6am. Cheers.