Out With the Old, In With the New

This week we said goodbye to our oldest car. Namely the 2009 Mercedes E Class which proved to be a very reliable motor with some 291,000 miles on the clock when sold. As we said goodbye to this car, it was also an opportunity to say goodbye to Euro4 (European Emission Standards).

In 2017 we said goodbye to the last of the Euro3 vehicles being employed. This signalled our commitment to improving our green credentials and considering our clients’ CSR policies. Looking at specifications shows how engines have changed in the last few years.

Comparing our old 2009 E Class with the brand new 2018 E Class (purchased September) reveals the improvements: Power and performance has increased, efficiency has been enhanced (greatly) and most importantly emissions have reduced.

Mercedes E220	2009 CDI	2018 SE
BHP	170	194
0 – 60 mph	8.6	7.3
MPG	42	65
Gearbox	5 speed	9 speed
Co2 (g/km)	177	122
Engine size (cc)	2145	1950

This change is aided by modern materials and energy saving features like LED lights and new post combustion technology (which reduces harmful nitrogen oxide gases). There are more developments too including voice control, a 12” widescreen display, auto-braking and a five star Euro NCAP safety rating.

Busy Fools Airport Transfer Service

It has taken a while for DrivenByQ to define a niche in the market place but today we know exactly where it is and why! Although we take on all sorts of chauffeur work, 90% of our turnover is generated by airport transfers and 95% of those airport transfers are for corporate account holders in the Wrexham and Deeside area.

We like business passengers because they are well organised, they travel light and they don’t like hanging around at airports. In addition there is no issue with charging VAT and everything can be compiled on one monthly invoice so it keeps things simple. What is more, usually one or two people in each organisation make bookings, so we establish a good working relationship with them.

In contrast, budget providers in the airport transfer market, target holiday makers. With the lure of cash payments they often forget the basic principle of calculating a break-even point and they aggressively compete on price. They become busy, they get addicted to cash and very soon they burn out, completely under the illusion they are making money.

Generating enough volume for lots of journeys to link-up at airports takes time. After seven years of trading, things are working well at DrivenByQ. Our drivers are profitable and our rates of pay are attractive. For some reason though, we’ve recently noticed less availability from some drivers. So the question has to be, why would any driver with an executive vehicle prefer budget holiday makers over low-maintenance, reasonably paying business passengers?