ASA Central Network

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  • 1.  Setting up Transportation shuttles to get employeees to/from jobsite

    Posted 03-10-2021 13:39
    We are looking into setting up transportation shuttles for a client of ours that has trouble getting workers to their facility mostly because of distance to the job.

    Does anyone have any experience in doing this? What were positives/negatives? What were pain points in setting this up? How did you go about setting up the bus/van to/from the jobsite?

    I'm trying to figure out obstacles involved or any potential barriers in getting this off the ground running.

    Any help would be greatly appreciated!

    Thank you!

    ------------------------------
    Matthew Backaitis
    General Manager
    Staff Finders Inc.
    Troy MI
    (248) 588-4000
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  • 2.  RE: Setting up Transportation shuttles to get employeees to/from jobsite

    Posted 03-10-2021 13:53
    Hi Matthew,

    The ASA Industrial Section planned a webinar on legal implications to consider when offering this service. I thought you may have interest in viewing this webinar in addition to whatever feedback you receive from your peers. 

    Webinar: Legal Implications for Providing Transportation Services to Client Sites

    Best,
    Diana

    ------------------------------
    Diana Mertz CAE, CSP
    Senior Director, Councils and Member Engagement
    American Staffing Association
    Alexandria VA
    (703) 253-2020
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  • 3.  RE: Setting up Transportation shuttles to get employeees to/from jobsite

    Posted 03-10-2021 14:05

    Hi Diana,

     

    Thank you very much for this information. I'll definitely review this.

     

    Thanks again!

     

     

     




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  • 4.  RE: Setting up Transportation shuttles to get employeees to/from jobsite

    Posted 03-11-2021 05:32
    Love the webinar thank you so much.

    We are currently bussing employees to rual areas and having great success. The outlying areas wages are good and this is helping to feed the rest of my business. I am happy to schedule a zoom or phone call to chat.

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    Christopher Rickerson
    President
    Elite Staffing Solutions
    Wichita KS
    (316) 202-2082
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  • 5.  RE: Setting up Transportation shuttles to get employeees to/from jobsite

    Posted 03-10-2021 16:17
    Edited by Richard Rosner 03-10-2021 16:18
    Hi Matthew,

    We had the same trouble several years ago, going to Industrial Parks that didn't supply public transportation!

    There is a lot of different ways you can do this!
    -We went the route of leasing vans and having our staff drop them off at their work site and then pick them up.
    -We also came to agreement with the client on how to split the price of the lease and gas for the workers-most companies will be happy to assist and some will pay most of the expense.
    -You have to keep in mind that you must have enough workers on the van each day to make it worth your effort (At least 6+).
    -You also want to have designated pickup areas-saves a lot of time.
    The benefit of this route is that you can market your Transportation to lots of local companies and its a Win-Win for all!!
    The downside is if your staff gets sick and you need a replacement driver, we had a rotating all call driver system set up-but we learned by trial and error!

    Here is another system that we used in the Pittsburgh region:
    https://commuteinfo.org/

    Reach out if you like and we can go over this in detail-Always here to Help!






    ------------------------------
    Richard Rosner
    Founder-Job Agent
    Staffing Shark
    Lemont Furnace PA
    (724) 880-6760
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  • 6.  RE: Setting up Transportation shuttles to get employeees to/from jobsite

    Posted 03-11-2021 06:51
    Hi Matthew,
    You may want to reach out to Enterprise Transportation as well, I would be  happy to provider a contact if you're interested.

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    Christine Adams
    Director of Risk & Compliance
    Belflex Staffing Network LLC
    Dayton, OH USA
    937-586-5057
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  • 7.  RE: Setting up Transportation shuttles to get employeees to/from jobsite

    Posted 03-11-2021 08:45
    Matthew - There are a number of issues to consider regarding this issue:

    • As you know, employers are not required to pay employees for a "normal commute" related to traveling to the worksite. The Fair Labor Standards Act, however, does address commutes that are "substantially longer" than an ordinary commute. How that is interpreted can become an issue, but it could very well end up being compensable from the point of pickup to the final destination. 
    • There are potential pitfalls regarding laws related to charging employees for transportation. The safest bet is not to charge the employees, but have the client pay some or all of the cost.
    • There are also tremendous liability issues if you choose to administer this program yourself. One serious accident could put you out of business. I think it's preferable to hire this out to a transportation company and make sure you absolve yourself from as much liability as you can.

    My company attempted to put a program together like this but it ended up being incredible time consuming to manage and did not solve the problem long term.

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    Jay Mattern
    CEO
    TerraFirma Marketing
    South Bend IN
    (574) 213-3855
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  • 8.  RE: Setting up Transportation shuttles to get employeees to/from jobsite

    Posted 03-11-2021 10:30
    Edited by Chris Pang 03-11-2021 10:30

    At my last employer, we had significant light industrial business spread-out across Ohio, that were setup under a different tax EIN.  The thought being another layer of liability protection.  We had purchased a couple years back several Chevy 12 passengers vans, that were always in the shop (not sure if it was a chevy issue or our drivers being rougher on the vans).  Before leaving the company, I had recommended the newer Ford Transit vans as they allow a person to stand up fully inside vs the shorter height Chevy vans.  We also had a WEX gas card to keep track of fuel to keep up with the ~14 hours of constantly on the road, even most weekends.  Last year during COVID, the challenge was how to transport fewer people with the same number of vans.

    For our temps, we also charged them maybe a dollar or two dollars per day, as a payroll deduction to help offset the cost of operating the vans.  Didn't come close to the fuel, repair, and insurance cost..  but it was something.



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    Chris Pang
    Financial Planning and Analytics Manager
    The CSI Companies
    Jacksonville FL
    (904) 338-9785
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  • 9.  RE: Setting up Transportation shuttles to get employeees to/from jobsite

    Posted 03-11-2021 11:02
    Hi Matthew,

    Great question-- especially in the age of UBER. In the 90's we employed a number of strategies to get employees to job sites that were not on bus routes, or even if there were, where they was a need for dozens/hundreds of employees like large events.

    While there are many business considerations, you should make sure that your staffing insurances cover the potentially increased exposure of transporting employees to sites.  As a former staffing owner of 15 years,  (now comp solution broker for 16 years) you should include your insurance agent/ broker in your decision making, because your insurance costs may increase depending on the option you select, thus impacting your net margins for a job.

    Stay safe,

    David
      
      
    David Schek
    President
    Staffing Comp Solutions
    American Staffing Association Member
    ASA  Central 2019/2020 Most Valuable Contributor
    ASA PAC Contributor

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  • 10.  RE: Setting up Transportation shuttles to get employeees to/from jobsite

    Posted 03-15-2021 09:52
    Hi Matthew - 
    We have set up transportation with various clients and each agreement is different.  We have had clients cover the entire cost, split the cost or not contribute at all.  Considerations are the number of people per shift that the transportation runs.  We have company owned vans or we lease through Enterprise.  This has allowed us to scale the number of riders without purchasing vehicles.  In addition we have applied for a grant in our state that helped subsidize the cost of the transportation.  You may want to look into any programs that are available. 
    The biggest pitfalls are the staffing of the drivers as Richard mentioned.  We hired several drivers and rotated them so we had drivers available.  
    Also make sure that you have sufficient insurance on your vehicles to cover any issue or accident that may arise.  

    A couple of things that we learned over the years is that we have employees sign an agreement of proper conduct while riding and if they don't abide by the rules, they are banned from using the transportation.  We also don't do additional runs if someone goes to work and needs to leave int he middle of the shift. The employee signs off that they are responsible for providing off schedule transportation.  Lastly, we charge for the week, not the day.  We found that people would ride the van for a day or two and then make friends and get a ride from another employee.  It is very costly to run a van with only a few riders.  

    Last but not least, we found that we were able to subcontract with bus companies during the pandemic for a reasonable cost.  Due to social distancing concerns, bussing was a better option for our riders than a 15 passenger van.  This may be changing in the near future but it was a win-win with many bus companies not doing tours or other events.  

    Good luck and please reach out if you have any questions!

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    Sara Luchsinger PHR, CSP
    Vice President, Organizational Development
    SEEK Careers / Staffing Inc.
    Grafton WI
    (262) 377-8888
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