AMHERST — Taking 21,000 people on 7,000 trips during 2016, Valley Transporter remained the largest airport shuttle in Hampshire County.
But as the company enters its 31st year serving the Pioneer Valley, owner Gary Bosselait is closely watching the growing popularity of ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft that have already decimated the taxi cab business, and could one day undermine his service.
“I’d love to say they’re not a concern, but they are,” Bosselait said.
While he appreciates the competition, which he says has made Valley Transporter’s service better, Bosselait worries that current regulations mean his company is not on a level playing field with the network transportation companies.
Bosselait said he is fighting through national organizations to make sure that Uber and Lyft drivers carry insurance and meet the same obligations when picking up passengers for hire.
Because his fleet of 22 vans crosses state lines, the Federal Highway Safety Administration requires minimum insurance, that drivers be medically qualified and pass background checks and that vans have specific safety equipment. The vehicles are also subject to random roadside inspections by the Department of Transportation.
With a workforce of 45 employees, a mix of full- and part-time drivers, many of whom are younger retirees who have an extended driving history and are reliable, the company is a far cry from when he founded it in 1986 with his sister, Valerie Bosselait. Both had started their careers as travel agents, leaving their jobs to begin the company as a two-person operation.
“It was quite a challenge,” Bosselait said. “We did everything from taking reservations, driving customers, marketing and repairing the vans.”
But it was also at a time when travel agents were prominent, with at least 10 companies in Amherst specializing in booking reservations and planning itineraries. They became the best marketing tool for Valley Transporter, which ensured that people would be picked up at their homes.
“The key was going right to your door to get you,” Bosselait said.
As agents booked trips for customers, and worked to get the best deals for their patrons on cruises or resorts, they were offered commissions if Valley Transporter was incorporated into the planning.
“In the beginning that was critical for our growth,” Bosselait said.
As the company continued to grow, it left its site on Railroad Street and moved in the mid-1990s to an office building at the corner of West Street and West Pomeroy Lane, where a large parking lot provides enough space to park its vans. The fleet includes a combination of full-size Ford vans, which can have five or six passengers, and Honda Odyssey mini vans.
Shuttles to the airport remain the primary business, making up about 90 percent of trips, with the remainder for other charters and for hired work, such as weddings where multiple guests need to be brought between locations.
Of the airport destinations, nine in 10 customers are heading to Bradley International Airport in Hartford, with the remainder going to Logan, New York City or Newark.
For the many international students who study at the local colleges, Valley Transporter remains the cheapest and most effective way to get from the large airports, Bosselait said.
Logistically, the challenge is designing the most efficient route. For instance, on a recent day one van was to begin by heading to Conway, with other passengers to be picked up in Amherst, Hadley and Holyoke. The route needs to be designed so that the arrival time at the airport is met.
“We have a window of time we can give someone, even if it’s three months out,” Bosselait said.
This is easier in days of Google maps, but in running the company for three decades, he knows the exact time between points, and trains people to do scheduling by inputting multiple addresses.
“Most of the time we’re getting to the airport ahead of schedule,” Bosselait said.
At the headquarters, several people are on one side taking and processing reservations in one room, while on the other side is a dispatching center where drivers pick up the information and begin their trips.
Dispatchers are vital to managing everything live, doing both troubeshooting and answering driver questions.
“They’re running the show,” Bosselait said.
Drivers fill out a report after each trip,
“They know I’m angry if they don’t identify a problem and report it,” Bosselait said. “Anything a driver reports is fixed, and don’t send out until it’s repaired.”
Over the years, the largest indirect competition has been Peter Pan, which doesn’t offer door-to-door service, and while limousine services do, Bosselait said Valley Transporter will remain no-frills.
“We’ve never competed in the upscale market,” Bosselait said.
Some direct competitors have existed, but it’s a tough business to start, with Bosselait noting that he operated at a loss for the first year.
One that has found some success is Bluebird Airport Transportation in South Hadley, which is dedicated to longer runs, bringing up to three people at a time to airports or cities.
Richard Hunter, the owner and operator, said he started about 10 years ago, and remains a sole driver, and has no plans to expand. “I’m pretty content,” Hunter said.
A retired employee for the town of South Hadley, Hunter said he worked for Valley Transporter for 18 months before heading out on his own.
Bosselait said the only time he questioned his business model was in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, when flights were grounded for several days, and there was fear about taking plane trips.
“People stopped traveling,” Bosselait said. “We weren’t sure we’d get through this. But aside from that, we’ve been rock steady.”
In recent years, airlines reducing the amount of luggage allowed on board has ensured plenty of space in the vans for those being picked up.
“It was helpful for us when airlines cracked down on the checked bags,” Bosselait said.
Valley Transporter had a computer database from the start, and has evolved with technology, creating an online reservation system that has been upgraded and updated. And cellphones were first used by the company in the 1990s when they were still large and bulky.
With the younger generation tapped into the smartphones, the reservation process is designed for mobile-friendly devices, to counter the ease with which millennials can order a trip with Uber and Lyft.
“We’re trying to make the system as mobile as can be,” Bosselait said.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com
