The Chauffeur’s Life

As I’ve recounted in the past, my father first put me to work when I was twelve years of age which was in1964 and I finally left the supermarket industry after 32-years in 2002 when I turned fifty. Would think the Baby Boomer would’ve been content in retirement after working for 38 years, but, unfortunately, being a so-called workaholic, I couldn’t take my “foot off of the pedal” going from 100MPH to just 20MPH. I still needed to have purpose and focus and came across the opportunity to enter the ground transportation industry which I considered to be my fun retirement job not ever thinking it would last for more than 20 years.

At Giant Food, even though I was in the Career Development Program, our success was determined by our commitment, effort, and performance. You weren’t handed anything, you had to earn it and that meant, no matter what level you were at, you started at the bottom rung of the ladder and had to climb it one rung at a time. Due to this, by the time you became a General Manager, you had earned the respect of your associates as they were well aware that you knew everything there was to know about a supermarket. With this being said, I came into the transportation industry knowing nothing, but over time had the opportunity to learn the business.

JL was a very small company when I first joined meaning my work schedule as a new Chauffeur was all over the place. Hey, that was okay because I was learning and, more importantly, I was having fun. The team, “back in the day”, worked well together and became very close as we were determined to successfully grow the company.

Our fleet was made up of just three sedans, one SUV, five stretch limousines, and a 6-passenger limo van. Our Driving Team was made up of three full-time drivers and five part-time. Our work was corporate and retail with the corporate being mainly airport transfers and retail consisting of “nights out on the town”. We joked that being full-time was full-time availability for part-time hours as we’d do corporate work during the day, take a few hours off, and return to do the retail work at night. Not only were we all committed–we were passionate and our customers appreciated the service we provided and the relationships we built–that’s how “value” was created. I’ve always preached the two greatest attributes of a successful JL Chauffeur have been patience and flexibility.

So, what are the advantages that makes being a Chauffeur a desirable profession, especially, for those who have chosen retirement, but still want something to do. Hey, let’s be honest, becoming a professional Chauffeur isn’t “earth-shattering as we’re not curing cancer, solving world hunger, nor negotiating world peace. All we ask, is if you decide to be a member of the Driving Team, be passionate about it and do it to the best of your ability each and every day. As you know, a company’s reputation takes years to build and a day to destroy.

Of course, you must enjoy driving and be and excellent driver where SAFETY is your #1 priority always staying focused and never becoming complacent avoiding distraction at all times. Hey, you’re going to be by yourself most of the time with you only being with your client for just a portion of your driving time, so you must be “comfortable in your own skin” and be somewhat of a “loner”. Your schedule can be all over the place, and what you think you may be doing the next day and prepared for may change and often does, even the day of your scheduled runs. WTBS, the two greatest attributes of a JL Chauffeur are patience and flexibility.

Your assigned vehicle is your office and is a very nice space–clean, pristine, and well-maintained. Your environment changes with every mile driven. Seldom are two days ever alike as your runs vary daily. You get to travel to interesting places and meet even more interesting people. Those you work with, your colleagues, are enjoyable to be with although you seldom see them as your work environment is like “two ships passing in the night”–that’s just the nature of the business. You’re not able to “pick and choose” your runs, but you do get to “pick and choose” when you’re available which gives you a great deal of flexibility.

Over the years, as JL continued to grow, you could begin to specialize in being assigned runs you most enjoyed. Some folks wanted to remain local, some folks wanted to go out of town, some folks wanted to wait long periods of time (something I just couldn’t do well), some folks wanted to do retail, and some folks with a CDL (Commercial Driver’s License) drove larger groups in our mini-coaches and coaches. As you can see there was a plethora of options.

As for the Baby Boomer, he specialized in corporate work and preferred to go out-of-town with a sedan. Over time, I, like many other members on the Driving Team, built a loyal clientele who you regularly served. Some of the relationships you established with your executives made your runs very enjoyable. Overall, the entire JL clientele was very nice where I only experienced a handful of “jerks” over the time I drove. Seldom did I have clients whose head I couldn’t get into the car due to their tremendous egos.

The majority of our clients were successful and more than financially comfortable. You knew this by the positions they held, the homes where they lived, the vehicles they drove, and the corporate jets they flew in. I will say there is a distinctive difference in the attitude of those who are rich vs those who are wealthy. Those who are rich, I considered to be “nouveau riche”, while those who are wealthy have lived with their riches for generations. In Richmond, there exists a great deal of “generational wealth”. I found those clients who flew into Central Virginia from the North (NYC) on a “corporate roadshow” attempting to sell their wares to those managing local and state endowments felt they were a bit more important than they really were and members of the “nouveau riche”. Those with “generational wealth” were normally very courteous, polite, and comfortable in “their own skin” if you know what I mean.

JL and me in particular, traveled the route to Washington more times than I wish to remember and, for the most part, did my best to avoid traffic. But there were those runs when I couldn’t escape the onslaught of vehicles “bumper to bumper”. Certainly, we went to the airports often (IAD, DCA, and BWI), visited Capitol Hill, and took clients to meetings with other corporations and organizations based in DC.

With the Baby Boomer preferring to travel out-of-town, his wishes were usually granted having visited many cities and states. There was a length of time when he traveled monthly with three executives from a Richmond based insurance company to NYC, spending the night, coming back the next day visiting offices in both Baltimore and Washington before returning to Richmond. In addition, there was another monthly overnight trip with executives from a tobacco company heading to the Carolinas looking at tobacco crops.

Some of the cities I drove to included Tampa, Atlanta, Charleston, Charlotte, Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Durham, Winston-Salem, the OBX, Knoxville, Danville, Roanoke, Lynchburg, Harrisonburg, Staunton, Winchester, Hampton Roads, NOVA, Northern Neck, White Sulphur Springs, Baltimore, Salisbury, Ocean City, Rehoboth Beach, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Red Bank, NYC, Buffalo, Cleveland, and Detroit. States include Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Ohio, and Michigan. Whew!!

Many would say the reputation of those who choose to be Chauffeurs isn’t necessarily a good one. I’ve heard folks describe Chauffeurs as not being very smart, lazy, and slovenly. I certainly can’t speak for every ground transportation company, but those Chauffeurs who are members of the JL Driving Team look professional, act professional, and are professional. Most are retired executives who possess both a high degree of intelligence and common sense. The Baby Boomer does not hesitate to say these folks are the best in the business and I’ve always been extremely proud to be a part of their team. Thus, the Chauffeur’s life!