This episode of 'Celebrating Small Family Businesses' features Chris and Ed Farrell of Alternative Transportation Systems in Arlington, Massachusetts, providing an in-depth look into their journey and success as a multi-generational family business.

2024 marks the 20th anniversary of their transportation business, which Chris has helped grow from a driver to his current role as general manager.

From its origins in the 1940s in the heating oil sector to its expansion into auto repair, retail, and transportation, the Farrells detail the evolution of their business, emphasizing the importance of leveraging individual family members' strengths and mixing business savvy with passion.

Chris shares his experience starting as a driver and working up to general manager, underscoring the value of understanding every aspect of the business.

The Farrells also delve into the challenges and adaptations required during the pandemic, highlighting their commitment to safe and quality transport services.

The discussion covers the uniqueness of a family-run business, the significance of internal culture, and the balance between professional growth and maintaining core values.

The episode is a testament to the resilience, innovation, and familial solidarity that have defined Alternative Transportation Systems for decades.

Learn more or schedule a ride on their website at https://www.ridewithats.com/

Follow them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AlternativeTransportationSystems/

Connect with Ed on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ed-farrell-56b20924/

Connect with Chris on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-farrell-mba-03472098/

00:00 Welcome to Celebrating Small Family Businesses!

00:32 The Origins and Evolution of a Family Business

01:53 Diving Deep into the Transportation Business

02:15 Chris's Journey from Driver to General Manager

04:41 Unique Aspects of the Business Model

08:43 Embracing Technology and Enhancing Human Interaction

10:40 The Importance of Training and Safety Measures

11:16 Mission and Culture: The Heart of the Business

16:10 Challenges and Triumphs: Navigating the Pandemic

24:12 Learning and Growing in a Family Business

30:01 Community Engagement and Networking

31:41 Expanding Reach and Accessibility

36:05 A Heartfelt Conclusion and Future Outlook

John and Connie: Hi and welcome

to another episode of Celebrating

Small Family Businesses.

Today we are celebrating Alternative

Transportation Systems in

Arlington, Massachusetts and we

have with us Chris and Ed Farrell.

Hi Chris.

Hi Ed.

Hello,

Hey, how are you doing?

Nice to meet you.

Thanks for having us on.

John and Connie: It's a pleasure.

It's a pleasure.

I had the pleasure of speaking to Chris

a little bit before and learn a little

bit about the company and I'm looking.

I'm excited to hear more and to share

that your story with our our listeners.

So I recall that you said

that this was a multi general.

Your website says it's a multi

generation family business.

I think you said it

started like in the 1930s.

Ed, you don't look old enough

to have been the

It started

basically, , here in Arlington,

there was different, different

businesses, , same piece of land.

Um, my grandfather started in the forties

was in the heating oil business , and

then as it could, as that business grew,

we morphed into different businesses.

Um, Kind of developed things for

different family members to get into

that they were interested in that You

know keep everybody kind of separated

but still in the family business.

We have the transportation business.

We have a retail store

that sells barbecue stuff.

There's a lot of different things that

our family has gotten into over the years.

You know different people run

different things different talents.

Um, let's say And that's

how we that's how we run.

John and Connie: Nice.

Well, that's, that's one of the things

that, you know, we, we encourage

family businesses to, to focus on is

immediately finding their strengths,

you know, and, and where their, where

their talents and their strengths lie,

and then let, put the right people

in the right seats, you know, get

everybody working with their strengths.

And

that's where people

seem to be the happiest.

So it sounds like you guys did that

just naturally from the beginning.

Yeah, right

from the beginning.

And we've started the

transportation business.

It's the newest of the businesses.

This is our 20th year.

You blink and it's 20 years, that's it.

That's a new business to us.

It's grown quite a bit from its inception.

We've been fortunate enough to, uh, Well,

Chris has entered the business, is really

enjoying it and taken to it very well.

So , it's with his help,

we've, we've made it grow.

John and Connie: Chris, I think

I remember you said you came in

and basically started at the bottom

and worked your way up, uh, maybe

starting in dispatching, was it?

That would

have been nice dispatching.

No, um, I actually came into

it right out of college.

I began as a driver on the road.

So, you know, interacting with our

clients, um, visiting the various

facilities , kind of identifying.

pain points.

And I was a new grad and, you know,

just kind of exploring options

being a criminal justice major.

And, you know, a lot of the folks that

we transport, I saw an opportunity

to provide that valuable and quality

transport, um, day to day from driving

and kind of leaned into it at that point.

And throughout the years went from

driving to dispatching, scheduling, And

so, uh, my current position now is a

general manager and I think that, you

know, having those interactions along

the way, um, makes both your leadership

relatable and credible when, you know,

working and leading your employees.

They know that you've been out there

and touched the things that they've

touched and seen what they've seen.

And I think that carries a lot of weight,

um, and provides, you know, value to

the employees and continued value to

the, to the clients and the passengers.

John and Connie: Totally.

Totally..

You just reminded me of something,

you know, my father said many,

many years ago was, you know, never

ask somebody to do something you

aren't willing to do yourself.

So, you know, starting as a driver

there with the contact, yeah, that

gives you not only credibility, but a

lot of information, a lot of experience

that you can bring, you know, then

to the, uh, to the later stages.

You ever go out and drive,

drive a route once in a while

now just to keep your hand in?

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

On busy days, I'll, you know, head into

Boston and do one of the shuttle routes

and, you know, wear the driver uniform

and kind of blend right in and, you know,

the people who work here are shocked to

see me out there, but I think that's,

you know, holds value and to be able to

keep your finger on the heartbeat of the

business and hear the things that the

passengers are hearing on the shuttle

or the chair car is, um, is important.

Kind of invaluable information and

it carries a lot of, uh, value to

the company to get that feedback

directly from the passengers.

John and Connie: Yeah, sort of your own

little version of undercover boss there.

I like that.

It is, it is.

John and Connie: How did the

transportation business come out

of the, of the other businesses?

Was it a natural outgrowth or, or

was it just, "Hey, we see an the

opportunity, we're going to try this"?

Well, transportation,

originates always from

the vehicles, correct?

And we do have an automotive

repair shop that we own, , that

maintains the vehicles.

And we're, um, Chris and

I are both vehicle people.

We love cars, we love trucks.

We're into vehicles, , and if it moves

we, , we have our finger on it and, um,

there's a certain amount of vertical

integration when you have the ability to

repair, maintain, and take care of the

vehicles that you use on a daily basis.

Um, I think that's a very, very important

part of a transportation business, and

we pay a lot of attention to it and that

has, proven to work out very well for us.

John and Connie: I'm really

glad you brought that up.

I saw that on your website.

And, you know, one of my questions is

like, you know, what's your USP or, you

know, what kind of sets you apart from,

and I'm ignorant about the transportation

industry, but I'm suspecting that

that right there that you were just

talking about; owning your own is...

starting actually with a car repair and

then, but owning your own repair facility

and doing all your own maintenance is

probably not common in your industry.

Is that accurate?

That's, that's correct.

And you know, um, if you know the

vehicles, that's your biggest, can be

your biggest, uh, besides the labor costs.

It can be your biggest expense.

You can think of trying to take

care of you and your wife's cars and

keeping up on all the maintenance.

And you probably drive maybe

15 - 20,000 miles a year.

Well, our vehicles, they travel 50

to 60,000 miles a year, each one.

And there's over a hundred of them now,

uh, to try to keep up on that maintenance.

To keep, make sure you don't lose an

engine or transmission or, um, you don't

grind the brakes and, and to keep it safe.

safe and, and keep it, uh, desirable

for people to ride with you.

It's still all about the ride.

Transportation is still

all about the ride.

John and Connie: Ha, I get that.

We didn't talk about this, Chris, but

part of my family business, where I

started, was working at an egg farm.

We had an egg farm.

And so I was driving a delivery route

for, you know, several years of that.

And so, yeah, I was, I had passengers

that didn't talk, but boy, if I

hit a bump too hard or took a turn

too fast, I had a mess to clean up.

And I remember a time.

We didn't maintain our own vehicles,

I remember a time I was out and the,

uh, I think the clutch went out on

the, the, it was a big Step Van,

like, you know, like UPS drives.

And, um, clutch went out and,

they were telling me, well, just

drive it without the clutch.

I didn't know how.

So, I sort of

feel

to, uh,

John and Connie: the vehicle maintenance.

We'll

have to

get an egg test going, have a, uh, part

of the driver evaluation, put an egg on

the dashboard and make sure it doesn't

roll off and, uh, and hit the floor.

Find out if they're a good driver or not.

Yeah.

John and Connie: Bingo

But, um, yeah, compounding

it's, , it's very important to have

a safe and quality vehicle and, you

know, the turnaround on the vehicle

is expedited because of our own repair

shop and we know who's fixing it, right?

It's Ed, it's our fleet of mechanics

to make sure that everything is

safe and sound and it really goes

back to, you know, the safety of

the clients and we like to say that

cleanliness is safety's best friend.

And if somebody doesn't believe a vehicle

is, is clean, it arrives, it's dirty.

They're not going to believe

that it's, it's safe to get into.

It just kind of feeds, feeds into itself.

So the maintenance of the vehicle,

the cleanliness of the vehicle, and

then obviously the, the quality of

the person you're putting behind the

wheel is, is very important to us.

And that's what really separated us

from the pack in the beginning when

we got started about 20 years ago.

And As you grow, you don't want

to, you know, as Ed stated, we

have over 100 vehicles and equal

amount of drivers and office staff.

You don't want to grow away from what

made you special in the first place.

Um, so we found it helpful to

deploy technology to enhance human

interaction rather than replace it.

Um, I think a lot of companies say,

Oh, you know, we can use this item

and that'll save us money here,

or we can eliminate this position.

That's never been Ed's goal or vision.

He, he wants to employ people.

He wants to employ quality folks

and, you know, provide them with, you

know, an above average of living wage

and use those systems such as, you

know, the driver passenger feedback

portals we have on our tablet.

When, you know, Jose or Jim Santos or

Steven go to pick up a client and is

ringing the front doorbell, well, the

passenger likes to be picked up around the

side of their house by the blue dumpster.

So we've already kind of.

We've kind of expended some

time figuring that out at once.

We can now have the driver push

that information into the office.

We can update that client's profile

so when the next driver goes, they're

not wasting time on site and they're

able to tailor that experience for that

client and make sure that we can get

them picked up in an expeditious manner,

brought to their appointment on time,

which is pivotal in transportation.

It's really, you know,

our promise to the client.

And, um, by utilizing those

systems, like I said, we're able

to enhance the experience and

enhance the value to the client.

So, a bit of a little summary

there as far as the major moving

parts, although there are many.

John and Connie: I think you also

have cameras inside the vehicles

that record everything, I guess.

So that if you need to

review something, right.

That's, that's also available to you.

Tracking cameras.

We know where the

vehicles are at all times.

We know what's going on in the vehicles.

We know what's going on in the street.

Um, we have a full time person that,

a safety, uh, officer that basically

looks over, make sure everybody's

operating and doing the things that

we taught them to do in training.

Training is a key thing.

We do a lot of training with people.

We do it, you know, on board training,

prior to going out, you know, we just

don't hire a person, put them on the

street, spend a lot of time and a lot

of capital training them properly

to do the job that they need to do.

And, um, and continuous

training, , on a yearly basis.

Sometimes more than just, uh,

once a year, it's several times.

And if we find somebody, um, not

doing it right, we can retrain them.

The, the goal is to foster or,

or guide people and get them

to move in the right direction.

Um, so they're all in step with what

the, what the mission is that we deliver.

John and Connie: Yeah, mission.

That was something I, a note I

remember writing down from , my

conversation with Chris.

Uh, everyone understands the mission.

Can you elaborate on that a little

bit, Chris, or Ed, either one?

Yeah,

absolutely, absolutely.

Um, so I do the majority of the hiring

here and you know, you can come to me

as a driver or potential office staff

and it's, it's more than just the resume.

Resumes are helpful.

They're a starting point.

Um, but when I, you know, interview

people and speak with them, we start

there, but we move on to, you know,

what are your goals, what are your

aspirations, what are your hobbies?

And you can glean a lot of information and

substance about who that person really is.

And we, we, take that into a large

consideration when onboarding people and

I give everybody all of the information.

Probably too much when I onboard

them and say this is what we are, you

know We are a top quality value based

transportation business If it's in

your mind that you're going to drive

around and you know not pick up the

phone or not get out of the van and not

greet our passengers help them to the

vehicle, help them with their seatbelts,

secure them safely in their wheelchair.

If that's not something that you're

willing to do, you saw something you're

excited to do, please don't work here.

That's fine.

It's okay.

We're not mad.

You know, we have a 90 day

probationary period because you

may start to think you like it.

And then about three months in,

the varnish starts to wear off

when you're stuck in traffic on 93.

If you're not liking it,

please don't work here.

It's okay, right?

Because we want to be able to hire and

retain the best quality individuals and

you either have it or you don't, right?

You're either a caring person

who drives well or, you know,

maybe this isn't for you.

So the people that kind of do make

it through the onboarding process and

do make it through the probationary

period stay here for quite a long time.

We have, you know, folks who

have been here as drivers.

Handful, about 15 years, many more

of them over 10 years, and people

really care about the mission, what

we're doing here, and what we're

doing is essentially providing

freedom to accessible transportation.

Um, everybody has a right to move about

freely, and we want to provide that

bridge to people's care through chair

car transportation to their appointments.

We want to provide that bridge to going

to the supermarket, to, Going up to New

Hampshire for an afternoon to see the

Leaves because, you know, they've been in

a nursing home or something similar for,

you know, several months and we want to

get them out and we want them to have fun.

John and Connie: And, and that brings

us to the, to the family aspect

again, and on two sides, you know,

you're, you're transporting people

who, who's oftentimes their family

can't do for them what they want to.

And so they're trusting you to do it.

But so there's that family aspect.

And, but you're also a family business

and you guys are working together.

Um, what do you love most about

working with family in the business?

Working together.

Um, well, for me, you

know, life is short and we spend the

majority of our lives working and

it's just so fantastic and I'm so

lucky to be able to spend so much

time with my family, with Ed, with

Cynthia, my mother, , you know, my wife

works, works as part of the business.

So just so fortunate to be, you

know, around family and, you know,

enjoying the work that we do.

A lot of people see family

business and they kind of

think oil in the water, right?

But, you know, here it's kind of,

you know, oil and gasoline, um,

and an engine driving forward.

So we work together very, very well.

And the, you know, the strength

of relationships is important, um,

both in family and in business.

And those things feed into one another.

If you have strong family relationships,

you know, if you have strong

business relationships, you can

learn from both sides of that coin.

And you can't do, you can't

do everything yourself, um, in, in a

business, um, To have someone that you

can rely on that's going to be there that

has the same values, the same, shares

the same passions, it's very helpful.

Hopefully has the same

values you've raised them.

Working with, , a family member, there's

different aspects of, um, of family

businesses and we've had, you know,

we've worked together, Chris and I very

well in the transportation business,

but I also have siblings that I work

with that are siblings So it's there's

a different relationship there between

siblings and family members that are

direct blood to you, We've learned over

the years where where the boundaries

lie and how to manage their time and

manage the um the time spent in business

and time spent at home, uh, very well.

it's important to, , separate the

two at some point and, , we've

learned how to do that.

John and Connie: Okay.

Is there a particular challenge that you

did overcome that, that is, that, that

you'd want to share, that, that other

family businesses might learn from?

Our biggest

challenge was the pandemic.

That was our biggest

challenge in this business.

Um, you know, keeping it together I think

back to when we had the pandemic and you

can remember when you, you know, you got

the Lysol out and sprayed your vegetables.

Well, We, continued to work through

the pandemic because the people we

transport for dialysis and medical

care, things like that, they can't,

pandemic or no pandemic, they still

have to go and we were all scared.

And, , you know, we

didn't know what to do.

And we have photos of, um, we got these

machines, these foggers, and in between

every trip, we would have to fog the

vehicle with this special chemical

that kills everything, you know, um.

any viruses or whatever and Well,

that's a huge undertaking With so

many vehicles on the road or whatever

and it was Chris was doing it.

I had my daughter Jessica doing it

That was my son my son Edward was here

helping so it was all hands on deck.

It's kind of like You know

with family businesses a farm.

Let's say you you sell pumpkins.

You grow pumpkins Well, everybody

works when it's Halloween and that's

what we did during the pandemic to

keep the fleet and the vehicles on

the road and keep everybody, um,

get to their medical appointments.

And it was a big accomplishment.

I'm very proud of the way everybody

pulled together and got that done.

John and Connie: Wow.

Nice.

Yeah, that, that is, I had not

thought about what, how the pandemic

might have affected you guys.

That's, that had to be huge.

Yeah, because you

can't, well, fortunately

you couldn't stop, right?

You had to keep going, but

you had to really adapt.

You had to get, you know, get

creative with what you did.

Well you couldn't share

vehicles with other people, so

it would have single, single use,

uh, single riders on the vehicles.

Right.

Um, whereas you couldn't, you

know, put two people, you know,

everybody had to be separated.

Um, just, it made a lot of work

and everybody came together and

we got through it pretty well.

John and Connie:

Everybody coming together.

That's one of the, I think, the hallmarks

of family business is that, people rise

to the occasion when they're needed,

it's, you know, nobody's, nobody's

saying, well, that's not my job, right?

Because it's like

There's no

John and Connie: family,

No such thing.

Yeah.

John and Connie: Exactly.

It's everybody's job.

This is not a corporation

where there's a job description and

people, you know, oh, that's not my,

you know, that's not my role here.

Everybody has a role.

Everybody.

Everybody is a driver first,

and they do what they do second.

John and Connie: Okay.

Cool.

So you know, we were talking about

having the right people in the right

seats and going with strengths.

So, , within the family, the

people that are family that are

working in the business, do you

have a process for figuring out

what roles people need to play?

And is there also multiple role

cross training or, you know, how did,

how did you figure that part out?

It's simple, you start at

the bottom and you work your way up.

Um, you gotta learn every

aspect of the business.

If you, you're not worth

having if you don't know every

little piece of the business.

You have to understand it all.

Um, it's not, it's unlike anything else.

Um, if you don't know, then when

someone tells you a story, you

don't know if it's the truth or not.

John and Connie: Okay.

So cross training is the process.

It is, it is, and I

think to expand upon that as far as, you

know, family members in the business and

then, you know, recognizing individual

strengths, um, it was, there is really

no expected succession plan, right?

You're my son, you're my

daughter, you're working here.

, I've been told a million times,

if you want to do something

else, go do it, right?

Um, if this is your passion,

then please continue on with,

we'd be happy to have you.

So there is no, I guess, underlying

animosity or, or expectation or, you

know, guilt that I would have if this

is not something that I wanted to do.

Um, you know, Ed's been

very open about that.

Cynthia has been very open about that.

Um, so, you know, like our probationary

period, we want you here cause you,

we want you to be here essentially.

Um, and I think that that

holds a lot of value.

A lot of value and same thing

with recognizing strengths, right?

Ed's going to say, all right, Chris

is good at, you know, this thing,

this thing, this thing, let's give

him the tools, give him the training,

you know, the education necessary in

order to be the most successful version

of that person within the business.

And, you know, I translate that, you

know, to the driving staff as well.

Um, you know, we have some folks here

that work in the office who were drivers

and, you know, We're not going to hold

up a piece of paper and say, Hey, where's

your, where's your bachelor's degree?

Where's your this, that,

or the other thing?

You know, if you were, you know, the

type of person who, you know, is a

star in a role, let's say a driver.

It's our belief that you'll continue

to be a star with the proper

training and tools, um, no matter

which position you're holding.

So we've had a lot of folks that

were drivers that now work in the,

you know, the customer service or

the safety department because You

know, they've already seen the

human interaction side of things.

Now, if they can go on the other side

of the quality control and the safety

aspects, then they can share that

knowledge with, you know, the rest of

the driving cohort and the driving team.

So, um, I think those are, you know,

two very important distinctions to make.

Um, again, first that it was,

you know, never expected or

this is what you'll do now.

You know, your dad was a farmer,

so you're a farmer type situation.

Um, It was kind of an open invitation.

And if you want to do this, then

we're going to expect everything

from you as, as we would any other

employee plus a little bit more on top.

So it's been fun.

John and Connie: Oh, man, that is huge.

The open invitation.

I love that, that phraseology for,

for that, that it's, it's not that

expectation because I think that's,

in fact, I've got a great little book

called, , Trapped In The Family Business.

And this gentleman has explored

all these different ways that

people feel in some way trapped or

guilted into and things like that.

And I, I can speak to that, but I won't.

And, and so, you know, having that

open invitation, but also, And then

married with that, what you said is,

you know, you earn your place, right?

You have to, you have to qualify

for the job just like anybody

else that we're going to hire.

That's so powerful, not only for the,

the younger generation in the family

business that now, because of that,

knows that they have earned their place.

It wasn't given to them.

And they don't have any doubt about that.

And, and second of all, the, the hired

employees, the non-family employees

that you're working alongside, also

know that you had to go through the same

rigorous process that they did, and, and

there's more respect there, and there's

more, um, yeah, just equality, I guess.

You You named it.

You named it; it's the respect

you can't, you earn respect.

You don't get it.

It's not given.

Um, and you have to be witnessed,

um, in a lot of cases, um, your, your

actions, what you do, um, and, and.

That's how it works the best.

You know, it's not always that way,

but that's how it works the best.

Yeah, I think, uh,

I think it would be a detriment

overall for me in my current role.

You know, leading the operation

side of things, if this is where I

started, I think it would be, you

know, the light shines through, right.

When you're speaking, not from experience

and interacting with my office staff or

my drivers, it'd be a huge detriment.

To me, professionally, it'd be a detriment

to the business having, having, having

not had that, you know, that background.

So,

John and Connie: Smart!.

Is there anything about being in

a family business that you know

now that you wish you knew back

20 years ago when you started?

Everything!

When you own a business, a small

business, sometimes you try to

compare your life to other people.

You look around and your wife or

whatever, they'll say, well look at

these people, look at those people.

You have to put that

completely out of your mind.

Don't try to compare yourselves to others.

You have to absorb it and

not be aggravated by it.

In other words, you have

to thrive or embrace it.

, there'll be times, you know, when

you're asked to do things that a normal

person wouldn't do in any other business.

And you can let that aggravate you or

you can say, well, let's embrace this.

This is just part of,

you know, what it is.

I've decided to do this

and I need to embrace it.

You embrace the good things

and you embrace the bad things.

It just, you can't let

it get under your skin.

Um, it's, it's part of who you are.

John and Connie: Wow.

A lot of wisdom there.

The maturity is just, on, on, your

business maturity is, is outstanding.

And, and not just the length

of it, but your depth of it.

That's, it's um, it's

pretty awe inspiring.

Thank you.

It's clear to see why you've

succeeded the way you have.

So what's the most?

uh, a similar

experience throughout, Being a new

grad as a driver and working my way

into, the office and to kind of

put it into a phrase, as Ed stated,

other's success is a mirror for you.

And a lot of people look at other

people's success and see what they,

they themselves have or haven't done.

And that can be discouraging

or it can be motivating.

And the way that you, you

handle that, that image or that

feedback is very important.

And, you know, as a, as a young

professional in my, in my twenties,

you're looking at friends who, you

know, work in corporate America or

work in finance and things like that.

And um, you say to yourself, why I

work nine to five, I, I work, you know,

eight to four, whatever it might be.

And that's not true.

Um, you work all the time when

you're really starting out.

I started 10 years ago, so halfway

through the company's lifespan

essentially, and it was a very busy time.

We were starting a lot of new

work, and I was, you know, kind of

confronted with a choice to make.

Do I, you know, work nine to

five and try to shut my phone

off, or do I lean into it?

And, you know, as Ed said, it's

going to be there when you get back

and you turn your phone back on.

It's just going to be a little bit worse.

So, you know, lean into it, embrace

it, embrace the challenges, and

you'll learn a lot about business.

You'll learn a lot about yourself.

And, um, you know, we've gotten to a point

now where we have a lot of good folks in

the office to help us with those things.

And, um,

it's not as bad.

It's not like it was.

It's not like it was anymore.

But I, I, I remark and people say, you

know, you'll, you'll talk to others and

they'll say, Well, I work 12 hour days.

I'll just look at 'em

and say, oh, half a day.

Yeah.

John and Connie: Exactly.

Exactly.

So,

John and Connie: that's

what entrepreneurs do.

We work 24

7, right?

Yeah.

It's not a, well,

John and Connie: Our phones never off.

You only

worked half the day . Yeah.

John and Connie: I love that.

Exactly.

That's an awesome perspective right there.

Yeah.

John and Connie: Yes.

So what's the most valuable thing

you've learned from your employees?

Or from a single employee?

One thing that resonates

with me is, you know, we were talking

to the, to the driving staff and.

One of the statements that the

driver has made, it's very simple,

but um, He just said when you do

everything with love, it's simple.

That's it.

And that's, that's what really

stuck, stuck with me and stood out.

He's been a driver here for eight

years and you know, we're asking him,

what do you like about working here?

You know, it's tough in the winter time

in New England and you're in snow and

you're digging your van out and you

still can't be late because it's snowed

because we're transportation professionals

and we have a promise to our people.

And he said, Chris, you know, Hey, when

you do everything with love, it's simple.

And uh, that really stuck

with me, really stuck with me.

John and Connie: So, that's,

that's, that's a great question.

Yeah, that's powerful.

Is, is that, did he, how do I ask this?

Did he develop that, did that

come from him personally or

is that part of your culture?

Or

to think

it's a little bit of both.

Um, you know, like I said, you know,

everybody understands the mission.

People who are here, they want to be here.

They want to make sure that somebody's

mom, dad, grandmother is getting the best

care possible, the best transportation

and safest transportation possible.

And I think that they feel

that way because them, they

themselves are people of value.

So they're providing value to

the people that they pick up.

And, you know, like I said, when we hire,

that's, that's what we're looking for.

We're looking for quality people to put

behind the wheel of quality vehicles

to do the best job that we can.

And, uh, so I think, I

think it's a bit of both.

I think it's a bit of both

and it's kind of lent itself

to the, to the culture here.

And, uh, we're very

fortunate to have that.

John and Connie: Yeah,

It's the people that you have

working for you as a, as a, as a whole

that really makes the company as well.

So, um, does it come from the company

or does it come from the person?

Um,

John and Connie: it's kind

of like a circle, isn't it?

The people are the culture

and the culture defines the

people.

Exactly.

yeah.

John and Connie: Very nice.

That is so cool.

What a lovely lesson.

So, uh, as far as other family

businesses, do you guys network?

And I think I know part of the answer to

this because of our conversation, but do

you network with other family businesses?

Uh, I, it's

funny you ask that.

We have a breakfast club in my

office, where there's many people

that I've met throughout my career.

We'll come, they'll sit down,

we'll talk about their struggles,

my struggles, you know, kind of

venting, let's say, , at some point.

, but it's a breakfast club and,

, there'll be people that'll come

and, uh, to my place and we talk.

They could be masons, they could

be builders, they could be In many

different businesses, , flower business.

, these people come, they, hey, how you

doing, sit down, just start talking.

We can vent back and forth a bit.

But I think we learn from

each other a bit as well.

And, um, if I can give some advice,

let's say for an insurance issue, or

a, um, a banking issue, or things that

I've picked up along the way, or a

tax issue, um, You know, I'll share

with them, they'll share with me.

Yeah, you do learn from talking to

other people that are in small business.

John and Connie: Very cool.

Very cool.

And, and sometimes, when we're talking

to someone in our own, or when we're

hearing the example that's, that's

in our own vertical, we personalize

it so much, we, we miss the point.

And so hearing somebody from another,

uh, a different kind of industry

and completely talk about a similar

problem, it frames it in a way

that we can see it clearer too.

I love that.

The Breakfast Club.

Yep.

John and Connie: So, you guys

are in the, all of New England.

You're based just outside Boston,

but you cover all of New England.

How

do, how do people, like if, if

somebody's up in New Hampshire,

and they need, I mean, I'm, I'm

ignorant of distances, sorry.

Vermont, New Hampshire, I'd

think of those as farther north

than Boston, but I may be wrong.

But somebody distant, you know, several

hundred miles from your main office.

What do they do?

So, The majority

of the work that we do, we're

contracted with facilities, with

hospitals, things of that nature.

Um, so a lot of their rides are set

up through the facilities that they're

visiting and that they will contact

they being the facilities will contact

us to set up transportation for them.

Um, we also have, you know, contact us

or book with us portals on our website.

They can call us six days a week.

You know, from 6am to

6 pm at 781 316 0400.

Our website is www.

RideWithATS.

com.

So there's a lot of

useful information there.

And, you know, we get a lot of general

inquiries, whether it's, as I stated

before, a medical appointment, or,

you know, a private paid fun run,

where they just want to get mom

and dad, you know, out for the day.

And we have, you know,

LinkedIn and Facebook.

So we, we try to cover all of our

bases as far as providing updates to

the employees through multiple avenues

and also, you know, to our clients.

And, , as far as, you know, the

scope of our work, we go everywhere.

There's, there's really nowhere

in New England that we don't go.

Um, some things in my mind stick

out where, you know, on one day,

I believe 3 weeks ago we were in.

New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont,

Connecticut, Rhode Island,

Massachusetts, and we're

discharging somebody to New Jersey.

So we, we go far.

Um, if there's a need, if there's somebody

who needs to make it either home or to

their appointment, we will take you.

We have, as I stated, a great

dedicated driving staff.

I remember a story where we had

a passenger who was an hour and

a half north of Montreal, Canada.

But was still somehow in Maine.

Um, and they had a four

o'clock pickup in the morning.

So our driver left their home 10

o'clock the previous day, 10 o'clock pm.

Drove through the night, hit a snow

squall, went about 50 ft off the

highway, called himself a tow truck,

got winched out, continued up north,

picked the gentleman up, drove him

down to Boston, called in to say,

Chris, I need a front end alignment.

And, uh, About a mirror

replaced on the van.

We fixed it for him and we went home.

So, when I say everyone understands

the mission, that is, that is truly

the definition of the mission.

John and Connie: Yes, indeed.

Yes, indeed.

Kind of sounds like a Florida

driver need not apply, but

maybe that's just me.

Oh, goodness.

And we don't do good in snow.

That a wonderful example.

Thank you so much.

Well, we, this has been, thank you so

much for spending this time with us.

Yeah.

This has been absolutely wonderful.

We're excited to, , promote, and give

you a little bit of extra exposure.

I think you got some really

wonderful, I wanted to congratulate

you again, both Mm-Hmm.

on the, uh, the TD Bank Takeover and

the, you know, the publicity from that

and the well deserved recognition.

Mm-Hmm.

that was awesome.

Thank you.

Thank very much.

John and Connie: That video.

on your website is, , is fabulous.

Really wonderful . Yeah.

Everybody wishes They had that.

They did a good job and,

uh, the folks that I had asked, you

know, for the driving staff to be in

it and, again, kind of open invitation,

they took to it and, and during the

shoot, the gentleman in the beginning

of the video making his coffee, um, you

know, he had asked the film crew, what

do you, what do you hope to capture?

And they were outside in his driveway

and they said, well, we want to kind

of get a day in the life of a driver.

He said, it's going to be really hard

to do that from outside of my house.

Why don't you guys come in?

I'm about to have a coffee.

So, you know, just kind of

the, the personal aspect.

He understood, again, the mission,

what we were trying to accomplish.

And, uh, just a good

guy, good guy overall.

And, uh, fortunate to

have him as well as me.

All the employees here.

So it was a good video.

They did a great job.

The production quality was fantastic.

It was overwhelming.

Actually, the whole experience.

And what we, what we really hope to

accomplish from that is yes, it's

great for alternative transportation,

but we want to call to attention the

industry and the fact that non-emergency

medical transportation is out there

and tying it back to the family aspect.

It is a growing issue and challenge.

Where mom or dad are aging, they have

a medical appointment, and, you know,

siblings and children and siblings are

saying who's going to take mom, who's

going to take dad, don't worry about it,

just call alternative transportation,

let our family take care of yours,

we'll make sure they get there, you

can go to work, I promise you they're

going to have the best drivers, the

best vehicles, and we'll take care of

them like they're our own, because,

I think Uncle Sam uses us sometimes.

John and Connie: Having been there, I

get it and I agree and there were

times when, later on, um, my mother

was in assisted living and it got to

where it wasn't safe for us to try to

get her in and out of a vehicle, um,

No,

you cannot.

John and Connie: We, we needed

somebody that was trained

and had the right equipment.

Yeah.

So, um, I, you know, my hat's off

to you guys for what you're doing.

Yeah.

Well, I'm getting older,

you know, and I kind of figured that,

um, looking forward, this is a forward

thinking project so that this business

gets good enough, you know, if I

need it, I'll be, I'll be all set.

John and Connie: That's right.

Maybe they'll give you your own driver.

I don't know.

I don't I don't know about that.

John and Connie: Alright.

Well, awesome.

Thank you so much again.