About: CJ Medical Transportation is a small locally-owned company, established in 2007 to provide safe, efficient and cost-effective wheelchair transportation services throughout North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad, which includes Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point and Burlington. With a fleet of more than 40 vehicles and nearly 50 employees, the company prides itself on offering “personalized services from people who know you by your first name.”
What problems, issues, or needs led you to engage Transit and Paratransit Company (TAPTCO)?
Before we adopted TAPTCO’s training program in late 2015 we struggled with a smorgasbord of different training materials, none of which were specifically tailored to the needs of medical transport. For example, one program focused on the proper use of wheelchair securements and occupant restraints, while another covered driver safety and DOT compliance. And many of these disparate programs were geared toward tractor trailer operators. Our company was growing and we needed a comprehensive program that would address the full range of issues involved in wheelchair transportation.
What made you choose TAPTCO? What made their services stand out from others?
I first heard about TAPTCO at an industry seminar in 2013 and reached out to them in 2015. That’s about the time that we engaged a new, local insurance agent, who had experience with TAPTCO programs and highly recommended their curriculum and its impact on insurance rates. Once we started talking with TAPTCO it was clear that their program was exactly what we needed. It focuses from soup to nuts on what we do. And the company was willing to work with us to arrange a payment plan that fit our budget.
What have the implementation phase and ongoing relationship been like?
We fell in love with the program from Day 1 and have been using TAPTCO programs exclusively for the past three years. The program is very flexible and can be adapted easily to meet the needs of both novice and experienced drivers. It allows us to bring on drivers with no experience and systematically run them through the full 28-module course over a two-week period. We cover everything from loading and securing wheelchairs to how to keep trip records and pump fuel using a fuel card. Our more experienced drivers receive a somewhat condensed program. Our working relationship with TAPTCO has been great. When we request replacement materials, the TAPTCO team gets them to us in a day or two.
How is TAPTCO aligned with the values that drive your business?
We are a company that recognizes the unique needs of our customers and we go above and beyond to ensure that their needs are met. The TAPTCO team has gone above and beyond to meet our needs for high quality training materials. They worked with us from the get-go to accommodate flexible payments and have been there at every turn to satisfy our requests for materials and counsel.
What have been the greatest benefits of working with TAPTCO?
TAPTCO programs engage our drivers and help them learn more effectively. The curriculum allows for a great deal of discussion and review, and the employee handbooks provide space for a lot of note taking. As each module is completed it is noted in employee files, which reinforces the importance of the program. TAPTCO has definitely made us better!
As a new company without a record of performance, we started out with some very high insurance premiums and an accident early on did not help that. Since we’ve been using TAPTCO, we’ve been able to improve our overall accident frequency and our insurance premiums now are eight percent below the industry average. The TAPTCO program was very instrumental in helping us achieve that premium reduction.
Can you share specifically how TAPTCO helped you reach your goals?
In this business, we have two primary goals – safety and on- time performance. In addition, we place a great deal of focus on the human element; our drivers need to have empathy and what I call a “service heart.” The TAPTCO program covers all of these elements, both tangible and intangible, and our improving safety record and decreasing insurance premiums tell the story of its effectiveness. I honestly don’t know if our company would still be here if it weren’t for the TAPTCO training.
How has working with TAPTCO made your job/work life easier?
I handle marketing and business development and the TAPTCO programs allow me more time to focus on these core responsibilities. Our TAPTCO training program has become a competitive advantage. I use it as a selling feature with every new account.
What surprised you or pleased you the most about working with TAPTCO?
I am very excited about TAPTCO’s latest online training program. It allows us to share short videos with important safety tips directly with employees, who can view them on their own schedule. The videos bring these topics to life and help reinforce common practices like using headlamps in the rain and the proper use of turn signals. These condensed modules are an important part of our risk management program. Driver training is the foundation that supports everything we do.
Would you recommend TAPTCO to others? What positive benefits would you emphasize?
Yes, I do recommend TAPTCO. We have seen the impact that the TAPTCO paratransit driver training programs can have on safety and employee morale. These courses have changed the behavior of our drivers and helped keep everyone safe.
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