Personal Driving Services is your solution.
Long Distance Driving
Long Distance Driving Services
- You live in Santa Monica; you get a new job in New York, San Francisco or Miami and you don’t like to drive, but you would like to enjoy the scenery.
- You’re a senior citizen; you and your spouse want to go to Las Vegas for the weekend but don’t like to fly or take a taxi upon arrival.
- Maybe you just love your car but driving through the desert frightens you.
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A Long Distance Driving Story
How We Care About Why We Drive
Personal Driving Services listens to its customers’ needs and responds to special requests. The PDS reservation department received a call on 1/6/2018 for a Chauffeured service quote from Kirkland, Washington to Oakland, California. The quote was forwarded for review and a follow up call was made to the customer as a trip such as this, is not a typical service request.
The conversation emphasized several special needs for the customer. They had a disability that required them to use a wheelchair, a dog with a disability, and the customer also needed assistance moving personal possessions. The passenger could not drive and did not own a vehicle.
This created a series of challenging and not typically encountered circumstances. PDS suggested that a minivan be rented to ensure seat comfort for the passenger, adequate floor room for the dog, ease of vehicle access for the passenger, and increased space for luggage. A budget was created including segmenting the trip into a two day excursion. The budget included flying a driver from Los Angeles to Seattle & hotel accommodations, expenses, etc. The client at this point amended their final destination to Pismo Beach, California, with car rental return at LAX, resulting in a total mileage of 1,200+. The budget included 2.5 days of driver travel including a half day of travel by air from Los Angeles to Seattle, followed by vehicle transit segmented over 2 days including an overnight stop in Redding, California.
The drive itself also contained its fair share of challenges.
The pickup in Kirkland was on a cool rainy morning, and involved the driver packing up the vehicle and providing a comfortable setting for the passenger & dog while on the way to their first stop in Redding, California. The passenger understated the necessity that any bathroom stops must include a bathroom stop for their dog as well, and was unaware at the onset of the trip that their dog experienced motion sickness.
They went on to highlight their strong sense of anxiety with moving from state to state, especially with their own physical disability and that of their dog as well. Interstate 5 through Oregon, for the most part, is a curvy experience for a normal ride, but due to these specialized circumstances, the trip had an added layer of difficulty for the PDS driver.
The driver made sure to calm the passenger and their dog by driving at a specific speed to not exacerbate motion sickness, along with including numerous rest stops along the first day’s 600-mile route to Redding. To help ease the fears of the passenger who had expressed anxiety about leaving their possessions in the car overnight, the PDS driver unloaded the luggage into the hotel when they arrived in Redding.
After reloading the vehicle at the start of the second day, the driver set off on the nearly 400-mile journey towards Pismo Beach. Upon conclusion of the trip, the driver unpacked the minivan for the passenger into a temporary living facility, a hotel. The passenger expressed her gratitude to the PDS driver for his compassion, empathy, and sensitivity to the unique and challenging circumstances of the trip. Finally, the driver headed south to return the rental vehicle at the Los Angeles International airport which was delivered on time at 10:00 pm 2/2.
The entire trip from airport departure on 1/31/2018 to the return of the vehicle, with a two-day rental, was done on budget and on time in a total of 2.5 days including the flight to Seattle, Washington and then driving 1,200 miles to Los Angeles.
This was not the typical PDS client, with typical “Driver for Hire” needs. However, this experience shows the challenges that were met by the PDS driver, and reinforces Personal Driving Services’ commitment towards high-level customer service and care.
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