October 19, 2009
BY DON MANLEY • DMANLEY@NEWS-PRESS.COM
Many of Southwest Florida's returning snowbirds are forgoing
the long drive from - and then to - their northern homes for the
convenience of turning their car over to a transport service.
One of those companies, Autolog Auto Transport, expects to
continue serving increasing numbers of this area's part-time
residents this year and in 2010.
The New Jersey-based company served 600 north-to-south and
south-to-north customers in 2008. That total is projected to
increase to 950 for 2009 and 1,200 in 2010, according to
Autolog's vice president, Larry Tolstyka.
He pointed to several reasons for the upward swing.
- Actively marketing via the Internet and direct mail,
- Adding an outside sales representative to market to suburban
communities both here and in the North,
- Business derived from the economy-related demise of some
competitors over the last few years.
"It's sort of an unfortunate situation, but in the economy we're
in, there are victims in the marketplace and because we refuse
to be a victim, we're able to capitalize," Tolstyka said. "We've
been in business for 33 years, so we're able to weather the
storm."
The company can provide door-to-door service by picking up
customers' cars at their homes and delivering them to their
other homes. The less expensive option is to drop the car off at
an Autolog terminal and then pick it up at another Autolog
location.
It costs $624 for "the average passenger vehicle," dropped off
at the terminal in Linden, N.J., where Autolog is headquartered,
to be delivered to its Fort Myers terminal, located at the
Wynstar Inn & Suites on Daniels Parkway in Fort Myers, Tolstyka
said. Door-to-door service would cost another $80 to $120, he
added.
"The main motive for our customers is just to have
transportation to get around," Tolstyka said.""They're looking
at it from an economic perspective. They don't want to rent a
vehicle. That would be costly. So they've chosen a company such
as ours to get it down to where they want to be."
Stella Megaro has used the door-to-door service for about 10
years in her travels to and from her homes in New Jersey and
Marco Island. "They do a very good job," she said. "They're
prompt and my car is always in very good shape."
The Northeast - Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New
Jersey, Maryland, eastern Pennsylvania and eastern Virginia -
had been the company's sole coverage area until February, when
the Midwest - Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Illinois - was added.
Fort Myers-Naples is one of 11 markets in south Florida that
Autolog serves.
Autolog's purchase, this year, by United Road, a nationwide
vehicle transportation company with an extensive Midwestern
network, prompted the expansion, Tolstyka said. The new service
area boosted the company's business in the Fort Myers-Naples
market by about 10 percent last tourist season, he added.
Tolstyka said Autolog is able to deliver cars for its
Northeastern customers within four to seven days and six to 10
days for Midwest customers, "98 percent of the time."
Geneva Cook said deliveries are a problem she and her life
partner, Eugene Gervais, have had with the auto transport
companies - Autolog not among them - that they've used when they
travel between their homes in Cape Cod and Cape Coral.
"They promise you everything and deliver nothing," she said.
"Your car never gets here on time and they never pick it up on
time."
She said her car was supposed to arrive on a Wednesday this fall
and instead arrived the following Sunday, leaving her and
Gervais without transportation for five days.
Tolstyka said Autolog prides itself on avoiding such calamities.
"We're not the cheapest service provider out there, but we make
sure we deliver consistent service to our customers," he said."
Mike Colon, an independent trucker who works with Autolog Auto
Transport, prepares a car for unloading Friday at the Wynstar
Inn & Suites off Daniels Parkway in Fort Myers. (Don
Manley/news-press.com)
http://www.news-press.com/article/200910190110/BUSINESS/910190314
Headquartered in Romulus, Michigan, United Road is one of the largest vehicle transportation logistics solutions providers in the United States. With over 1,500 employees and a nationwide network of 1,200 late model vehicle carriers, United Road is the technology leader of the industry via its proprietary web-based, real time OVISS information system. The company operates in the 48 continental United States, Alaska, Canada and Puerto Rico. United Road is also the only SmartWay certified
"green" auto carrier in the United States recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency for outstanding environmental practices. For more information, please visit
unitedroad.com.
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