Phoenix's VIP Taxi Drives Forward During Uncertain Times

PHOENIX, AZ — Businesses big and small across America have been force to bear the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It's that systemic struggle that makes success stories, like Phoenix-based taxi operator, VIP Taxi, all the more notable.

The operator, which has served the Phoenix and Tucson region for 15 years, is family-owned and operated.

Patch chatted with Dave Grauer, who runs the taxi service with his sons, Jason and Brandon, to get a handle on what has allowed VIP Taxi to navigate the rocky economic road that businesses are facing currently.

Below is a transcript of the conversation that Patch had with Grauer, edited for clarity.

Q: How has VIP taxi handled the year-plus of the COVID-19 pandemic in your opinion?

A: We are very proud of how our whole team came together to solve new unforeseeable problems. During the first days of the pandemic, we networked with our contacts in the chemical industry to secure a tremendous amount of 99% isopropyl alcohol, aloe vera gel, spray bottles, gloves, microfiber towels, and much more, so that we could ensure the vehicles are properly sanitized.

We utilize sanitizing fog machines regularly, UV lights to clean tablets and payment terminals, along with other antibacterial technology so that our drivers and passengers could be as safe as current guidance recommends.

We give away and restock masks, gloves, sanitizing spray, and hand sanitizer to every driver in addition to securing the hand sanitizer bottles to the inside of the vehicles for passenger use.

We listen to our passengers, who provide feedback hundreds of times per day on our post-trip surveys, to find out what makes them comfortable and then see if we can positively impact upon that.

As a local family service who wear our hearts on our sleeves, we’ve maintained open communication with our entire team and altered our business model on the fly to ensure safety was and always will be our top priority during this pandemic. In short, I could not be more proud of the staff and drivers who came together, than I am right now.

Q: Take me through what it's been like for your business to go through the ebbs and flows of lockdowns and other COVID-19 restrictions. What impacts have those decisions had on VIP taxi and what did it teach you about your business' resiliency, etc.?

A: As an essential business, we’ve always stayed open, however we’ve had a heightened sense of awareness that we must do so responsibly. During the first few weeks, it was no doubt shadowed with uncertainty and very disheartening to see business drop so suddenly.

We went from providing transportation to thousands of passengers, to less than a few hundred each day, as many stayed home and did as much as possible remotely.

We have a very experienced and wonderful group of drivers who refused to let the passengers down. They coordinated dates and times to work so that VIP Taxi can move passengers to get their groceries and much-needed supplies.

We rewarded this core group of drivers with tens of thousands of VIP driver reward points that they may use those points for their own groceries and supplies in our reward store.

We also doubled the number of points we were giving to passengers at the same time, who may then use their reward points in the same manner. In doing so, we were able to stay open, provide safe service, and additionally provide value to the community with these extra bonuses to help make life easier during an uncertain time.

That’s what we would want for our family, so that’s what we wanted for our drivers and passengers. It’s all very simple to operate when you approach decisions first with human kindness.

Q: What would you want the general public to know about VIP Taxi and how its handled the COVID-19 pandemic?

A: VIP Taxi is a local family service, we’re not an international service or even a national service. We shop at the same grocery stores, we support the same small businesses, we care about our neighbors and we reinvest in local goods and vendors as often as possible.

We have followed CDC protocols as recommended for transportation businesses and additionally went above and beyond with extra supplies and efforts to mitigate the effects.

We provided notices to passengers online about our efforts and kept an open line of communication with our passengers and drivers the entire time so that their feedback was heard and discussed internally, in every effort to not only provide service, but do so safely.

Q: What elements have allowed VIP Taxi to thrive during the COVID-19 pandemic, in your opinion, at a time when so many businesses are struggling to stay afloat?

A: Passengers have choices on who to use for their transportation service and we found that many of our loyal passengers, additionally earning reward points for using us, gravitated towards utilizing our services and over-tipping drivers to let them know how much they appreciate our local family service being open. Simply providing transportation was not enough.

When concerned passengers know that you’re a local family service who truly cares about their safety by following CDC guidelines, is concerned about their experience using your service, and knows that you’re always listening; this has been a model for success more so during a difficult time.

We regularly inspect our vehicles and our entire fleet has advanced camera technology that helps maintain both quality and accountability which helps set us apart from the competition.

Q: What does it mean to you to see your family-owned business succeed in such a difficult business environment in particular?

A: It’s difficult to quantify any kind of success during such an uncertain and challenging time. There is no celebration during a time when you know families are struggling, lives have been affected, and hard-working people have lost their jobs.

The only source of pride we can take during this time is knowing that we were able to get passengers to and from the grocery store to provide for their families, to their much-needed medical appointments, and anywhere in between as they go about their daily lives.

I’m the luckiest guy in the world, each day I get to work with my two sons and traditional success is not our primary focus, it’s that in the end, family is what matters the most. We get to provide service to many other families and we take pride in this.

Q: Has there been a highlight for you, business-wise, over the year-plus COVID-19 pandemic?

A: We have heard from customers who get emotional about us being there for them, for staying open with our business, for helping them get to the store early for eggs and milk while additionally being there to help them unload groceries.

During a difficult time, it’s comforting to know that good people are there, and that would be the highlight I would take from this business. Putting our challenges aside, the monumental cost of personal protective equipment and supplies for the company and drivers as a whole, it’s best to focus on heartfelt sincerity as the “Drive” that moves us to do what VIP Taxi does each day.

Q: How has VIP Taxi evolved as a company, operations-wise, to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts in your opinion?

A: During the first days of the pandemic, we sent our dispatch staff home with laptops, phones, computer equipment, and much more, so that they could continue to work remotely.

Since that day, we’ve had some of our key people move to different parts of the country to be with their extended families while still being able to work remotely. Some of the phone calls are answered in Iowa, or Texas, and you would not know it.

We have experienced dispatchers across the country making sure we get to appointments on time in Arizona and that was a first for us. It has allowed us to be more flexible, however, we do miss their smiles and laughter in the office which is why we are all on webcams and communicating in real time about efforts to fulfill orders and various requests.

Thanks to technology, there was not a hiccup in the operations side, and we were able to continue business as usual to provide service to the Phoenix and Tucson metropolitan population without any interruptions.

Q: Is there anything else that you'd like people that read this story to know?

A: We’re facing a shortage of safe and qualified drivers and it weighs heavily on our pride to see so many passengers not receive the transportation at the service level we’re known for.

We are trying our best so that we can continue to get passengers to their appointments, to the store, to anywhere they need to be, however it’s been a real challenge for us.

If you know of a safe and qualified driver who may be interested, please ask that they reach out to us at CustomerService@viptaxi.com so that we may work together to keep our communities moving and thriving as we’ve noticed demand increase significantly over the past several weeks.