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Car seats for infants (1-24 months), toddlers (2-5 years), and children (5 to 8 years) are a vital tool in a chauffeur’s toolbox. I sometimes need to provide different types of car seats for different passengers on a given day as part of my job.
Car Seat Chaos
Sometimes I need to bring one, two or all three types of car seats with me to my first ride of the day. My day can become chaotic if I have multiple rides back-to-back after my first ride, and I have to secretly store the various car seats in the front passenger seat or trunk.
In mid-December, my first, second and fourth rides all needed a toddler seat and a booster seat. Between rides two and three, I had to drive home to drop off the car seats in my personal car because I had a ride with six passengers. After I dropped them off at Newark Airport, I had to race home again to pick up the toddler and booster seats.
Big Pay Off
All this frantic running around was worth it, because my six-passenger ride put a Ben Franklin ($100 tip!) in my pocket.
Since I live 8.6 miles (or 12 minutes) from Newark Airport, I can return home and store the car seats in my car, rather than running them up to the third floor of my condominium building, carrying the 30-pound car seats.
My company offers our chauffeurs all types of car seats, they just need to pick them up at the office if one is requested. It would be very inefficient for me to keep driving back and forth to the office to pick up and return car seats, so I own them.
Practice Makes Perfect
I purchased my own car seats to make life easier, and my dispatch team often calls me first because they know that I have them at home, readily available. By having my own infant, toddler and booster car seats, I am familiar with how to quickly install and remove them. This proves that the practice of continuously installing and removing the same car seats makes it perfect for me.
Usually, a chauffeur picks up the car seat at the office and does not install the car seat for the passenger because they don’t know how to. They claim they can’t secure the car seat for insurance reasons.
The Cost of Convenience
The one and only time I told a passenger I could not install the car seat for insurance reasons, he said to me “You’ve got to be kidding me.” I have since found that when I pull into the passenger’s driveway, jump out of my Cadillac Escalade and confidently tell my passenger the car seat is already installed for their convenience, it is almost a guaranteed tip!
Free Fire Drills
Sometimes, I will get a phone call or a text from a chauffeur at Newark Airport, who realizes a car seat is needed for their next ride. They will call and ask if I can provide one. Since I only live 12 minutes from Newark airport, I am often happy to comply. Sometimes, I’ll joke that that there’s a $25 charge to use the seat, but I am quick let the know I’m just kidding. These fire drills are free!
The moral of this Street Story is to always be prepared. If you need to “go above and beyond” by purchasing your own tools to be more effective at your job, I recommend doing it. Consider it an investment in yourself to not only be more effective, but to be the best you can be. It will pay off for you in getting more rides and nice tips.
