Worldwide Chauffeured Transportation at its Finest
Going Green
Over the past 2 years, the trend in the chauffeur transportation industry was to add a nationwide, worldwide or global after your company name. Hundreds, if not thousands, of companies around the world did this not understanding what this meant or having the ability to truly service its clients nationwide or worldwide.
Chauffeured transportation companies have now jumped on the “green” bandwagon; Green is the new worldwide. So many companies have something about going green or green initiatives, on there marketing literature and/ or website.
This brings me back to the same point I made above; most companies have no idea what it truly means to go green.
For example; In Atlanta there are two transportation companies that operate Chevy Tahoe Hybrids and they claim they have gone green. Think about the big picture for one second; a Chevy Tahoe is not a full sized SUV, it can seat 3 passengers in the rear and have luggage space or it can seat 6 passengers in the rear and have no luggage space. In the transportation business 90% of our clients carry some sort of luggage with them. With this being said, Chevy Tahoe Hybrids are then utilized as sedans as they need the trunk space to be available. A standard sedan is a Lincoln Town Car, which averages 24 miles per gallon. The Chevy Tahoe Hybrid, which is now being used as a sedan, averages 20 miles per gallon. Yes you are operating a hybrid vehicle, but if you look at the big picture, it is actually worse for the environment then if you were operating a standard Lincoln Town Car.
Many companies have also hired “green consultants” to audit there business. This is a great first step into the realm of green initiatives, but you have to actually make the changes that the consultant recommends and yes these changes will most likely be expensive. Fuel prices are relatively low right now, but when they increase, which I think we all agree, will be in the very near future, green initiates will become much more important to clients again as transportation providers will be implementing fuel surcharges to keep current with the price of fuel.
Topper has taken many steps to truly go green. The first place any company needs to start with is there office. Tons of paper, plastics and other materials are wasted or thrown away on a daily basis. The first step Topper took towards going green was installing multi-monitor set-ups at every workstation. Between having multiple monitors and a document management system, our office has cut down our paper use by over 70%. We have also implemented a very strict recycling program. We require our employees to recycle; all shredded documents, chauffeur trip tickets, welcome signs, news papers, magazines, bottles of water, soft drinks cans, mint wrappers, aerosol cans; i.e. tire shine, and glass cleaner, as well as any other paper, plastic, metal and glass that is used in our business. Our office also recently completed an energy audit. With the results of this audit we changed every light to a fluorescent bulb as well as changed all windows and doors to energy efficient models. All of these changes combined reduce our green house gas emissions by a significant amount.
We have also recently added Ford Fusion L Hybrids to our fleet, which makes us the only transportation provider in Atlanta with full sized hybrid sedans. The Ford Fusion Hybrid sedans are a brand new addition to the livery industry and provide a 38% increase in fuel economy as compared to a Lincoln Town Car sedan. The Ford Fusion Hybrid also matched the Lincoln Town Car in interior space and comfort as well as luggage space.
Chauffeured transportation companies have now jumped on the “green” bandwagon; Green is the new worldwide. So many companies have something about going green or green initiatives, on there marketing literature and/ or website.
This brings me back to the same point I made above; most companies have no idea what it truly means to go green.
For example; In Atlanta there are two transportation companies that operate Chevy Tahoe Hybrids and they claim they have gone green. Think about the big picture for one second; a Chevy Tahoe is not a full sized SUV, it can seat 3 passengers in the rear and have luggage space or it can seat 6 passengers in the rear and have no luggage space. In the transportation business 90% of our clients carry some sort of luggage with them. With this being said, Chevy Tahoe Hybrids are then utilized as sedans as they need the trunk space to be available. A standard sedan is a Lincoln Town Car, which averages 24 miles per gallon. The Chevy Tahoe Hybrid, which is now being used as a sedan, averages 20 miles per gallon. Yes you are operating a hybrid vehicle, but if you look at the big picture, it is actually worse for the environment then if you were operating a standard Lincoln Town Car.
Many companies have also hired “green consultants” to audit there business. This is a great first step into the realm of green initiatives, but you have to actually make the changes that the consultant recommends and yes these changes will most likely be expensive. Fuel prices are relatively low right now, but when they increase, which I think we all agree, will be in the very near future, green initiates will become much more important to clients again as transportation providers will be implementing fuel surcharges to keep current with the price of fuel.
Topper has taken many steps to truly go green. The first place any company needs to start with is there office. Tons of paper, plastics and other materials are wasted or thrown away on a daily basis. The first step Topper took towards going green was installing multi-monitor set-ups at every workstation. Between having multiple monitors and a document management system, our office has cut down our paper use by over 70%. We have also implemented a very strict recycling program. We require our employees to recycle; all shredded documents, chauffeur trip tickets, welcome signs, news papers, magazines, bottles of water, soft drinks cans, mint wrappers, aerosol cans; i.e. tire shine, and glass cleaner, as well as any other paper, plastic, metal and glass that is used in our business. Our office also recently completed an energy audit. With the results of this audit we changed every light to a fluorescent bulb as well as changed all windows and doors to energy efficient models. All of these changes combined reduce our green house gas emissions by a significant amount.
We have also recently added Ford Fusion L Hybrids to our fleet, which makes us the only transportation provider in Atlanta with full sized hybrid sedans. The Ford Fusion Hybrid sedans are a brand new addition to the livery industry and provide a 38% increase in fuel economy as compared to a Lincoln Town Car sedan. The Ford Fusion Hybrid also matched the Lincoln Town Car in interior space and comfort as well as luggage space.
