Limo company adapts to changing times

By Juliette Coulter

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Premier Transportation Services has transformed its passenger transportation business to serve the community in ways owner Eric Devlin never envisioned before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Premier has served the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex for more than two decades with luxury charter buses, shuttles, vans, SUVs and limousines. As the largest mixed fleet operator in North Texas, Premier serves a vital role in the transportation of 27 million annual visitors to the area as well as providing limousine and corporate services for area residents. The current COVID-19 pandemic has forced Devlin to adapt to current demands caused by the health crisis. Luxury vehicles that previously transported passengers are now engaged in food deliveries, taking residents from senior living facilities to medical appointments and grocery shopping, as well as hosting some creative birthday parties in luxury vehicles.

Starting on Monday, Premier is partnering with Free Range Concepts, which operates The Rustic, The General Public and Bowl & Barrel, to deliver lunch and dinner catering for corporate and private events in Dallas, San Antonio and Houston. The company is also making special deliveries of food and other items to some of its top clients.

Devlin said, “Our chauffeurs are driving birthday party groups and other special occasion revelers with new twists on old traditions.” For example, families can celebrate a birthday in style in a limousine. Birthday party parades are trending, complete with signs, balloons and parade waves. Other families have used limousines for creative scavenger hunts. “The whole family works together to find items around the city using clues,” Devlin added. “It is a creative way for the family to spend time together outside of the house.”

Prior to the pandemic, the company provided about 200 rides a day using a fleet of 97 vehicles. The company is now operating just 12 vehicles (while the other vehicles sit — mothballed), but keeping the doors open through the innovative new services caused by the pandemic.

When it comes to safety, Premier has invested in technology, equipment and products to keep passengers safe. Every vehicle is cleaned before every trip with a mission critical focus: “If you can touch it, it has to be sanitized,” said Todd Davis, Premier’s fleet manager. This includes interior areas such as headliners, seats, handles, armrests and carpet. Sanitation procedures also include cleaning cargo holds and trunk areas. Each evening, Premier deep cleans every used vehicle.

Founded in 1996 in Dallas, Premier Transportation is a global market leader in ground transportation serving thousands of corporate and leisure clients with their fleet of sedans, SUVs, vans, limousines and motor coaches. For more information, visit premierofdallas.com, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter or call 214-351-7000.

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