Flexible workflows for limo companies without losing consistency

No two companies work alike

Some companies are an owner and one car, serving a handful of repeat clients. Others run a fleet for corporate accounts, weddings, and airport work, with a dispatcher and a dozen drivers. A system that forces one routine on both will suit neither.

Keep the core stages, vary the details

The part that benefits from consistency is the life of a ride: it is created, assigned, driven through En Route, On Site, Passenger On Board, and Passenger Dropped Off, and completed, or it is cancelled or ends as a no-show. LimOperations uses the same set of stages for every booking, while leaving the details to the company: service type, vehicle, pricing, and notes.

Set company defaults, then override when needed

A good setting is one you choose once. LimOperations lets a company decide whether clients are texted about ride status by default, whether those texts show the driver's name or the vehicle, which taxes appear on invoices, what the invoice terms say, and what standing dispatch notes accompany the rides you send to partner companies. Individual bookings can still differ.

Let drivers do as much as you are comfortable with

Some owners want drivers updating status themselves; others prefer the office to control it. That is a setting, not a software limitation, and a company can change it as the relationship with its drivers develops.

Resist adding steps for rare cases

It is tempting to add a mandatory step for something that went wrong once. Before you do, ask how often it happens and what it would cost to handle it by exception. A workflow that serves the ordinary ride well, and bends for the unusual one, stays used.

Two companies, one platform

One company is an owner who drives and sends invoices to a few corporate accounts. Another has a dispatcher, eight drivers, and weekly partner transfers. Both create bookings, assign them, and follow them to completion. The first leaves driver status updates to the owner; the second lets drivers update their own. The stages are the same, and the preferences differ, which is the right way round.

Settings worth deciding once

• Whether clients are texted about status by default.
• Whether those texts mention the driver or the vehicle.
• Which taxes and terms appear on invoices.
• Whether drivers may update ride status themselves.
• What standing notes go with rides sent to partners.