Navigating the costs and liability of a transportation program

Before adopting Uber for Business, Walnut Creek Honda operated a traditional shuttle program, loaner cars, and courtesy rides through other rideshare apps. For the shuttle program in particular, managing a fleet of 3-4 vans came with substantial overhead, including driver compensation, ongoing vehicle maintenance, and significant commercial insurance and liability costs.

Beyond high liability, the shuttle service was limited. Waiting periods at the dealership for shuttles were prolonged, as a single van could easily be away for over an hour when transporting passengers to multiple destinations. The service was also constrained to a strict 4:30pm cutoff and an 8-mile limit to prevent employees from being away too long or triggering overtime pay.

As backup, Fowler used another rideshare platform to request rides for customers waiting for the shuttle, but the lack of support from the platform added complexity to Fowler’s operations while the longer wait times added frustration to each customer’s day.

Replacing costly transportation fleets with Uber for Business

The Walnut Creek Honda team is committed to providing exceptional customer service, so when customers started sharing negative feedback about the shuttle, they knew it was time to pivot. After searching for ways to improve the experience, Fowler landed on Uber for Business for 2 main reasons: cost effectiveness and customer satisfaction. Walnut Creek Honda was able to downsize their shuttle fleet and replace other rideshare providers with one on-demand courtesy ride program through Uber. This enabled the dealership to tap into Uber’s platform and expansive network of drivers, alleviating the need to pay for maintenance, staff compensation, and commercial insurance.

For customers, this meant getting a ride to their next appointment, home, or work in just a few minutes. “We live in an environment now that is very ‘instant gratification. Everyone wants the fast pass to the front of the line. Nobody wants to wait,” said Fowler. “Changing this up now with Uber, it allows me to have people picked up [on-demand] and get them out of the store where we can work on their car.”

This transition not only improved wait times, but vastly expanded the dealership's service area. "Uber for Business really expanded our reach.” Fowler explains. “Before, we had a set mile radius for shuttles that we wouldn’t go past, because our employees would be gone from the dealership for too long. It was super restricted. Now that we have Uber for Business courtesy rides, it has expanded our service area."

The flexibility of the Uber for Business courtesy ride program boosted customer satisfaction, with 95% of customers expressing happiness with the new direction. Since launching the program, Walnut Creek Honda has completed 2,699 courtesy rides, proving the program’s popularity and efficiency.

Improving operational efficiency and support for staff

In addition to controlling costs, Walnut Creek Honda chose Uber for Business for operational efficiency and ongoing support from the Uber team. Juggling multiple transportation solutions added layers of operational inefficiencies for Walnut Creek Honda. For example, at-home vehicle pickup and dropoff required 2 employees and a chase car, pulling valuable staff away from the service bay. With Uber for Business, staff can request on-demand rides to bring employees to and back from deliveries, eliminating the need for chase cars and allowing technicians to stay focused on servicing vehicles.

Fowler notes that the setup and onboarding process was straightforward. An Uber team member maintained continuous communication from day 1—regular phone updates, email support, and hands-on, in-store training for dealership personnel. “He sat with each one of the cashiers I have at the dealership and reviewed the platform with them, how to use the platform, and ran a test ride,” says Fowler. Beyond staff support, the Uber team provided Uber-branded pickup and dropoff signage that guides drivers and passengers to designated zones—minimizing delays and confusion.

Increasing spend visibility across 3 dealerships

Alongside Walnut Creek Honda, Fowler manages parts and service at 2 additional locations—Oakland Kia and Oakland Acura. Part of his role as Fixed Operations Director includes overseeing ‌daily financials and maintaining a quality customer experience across all 3 dealerships.

Overseeing transportation across 3 dealerships became easy with Central. The user-friendly dashboard made managing spend accessible to all departments, including the accounting team who can go into the platform directly or receive a PDF with the month’s spend already reconciled. “Reconciliation is a lot easier because on Uber, you can switch between the stores and break down by billing by date, memos, and things like that. Other platforms are not as easy. With other platforms, it would take 5 to 10 minutes to try and find a receipt and when you’re looking for 30 receipts a day, it’s time consuming,” says Fowler.

The spend visibility and reporting makes warranty reimbursement reconciliation much simpler, too. “Kia reimburses us for some Uber rides when it’s under warranty. So being able to find those rides quickly for a warranty administration department and get reimbursed is very nice.”

Supporting more than courtesy rides

Beyond customer transportation, Walnut Creek Honda uses Uber for Business across several other departments to keep their dealership running smoothly.

Moving parts across dealerships and the OEM

Alongside their dealership, Walnut Creek Honda has a certified Parts Center that sells authentic parts from Honda. Before Uber for Business, the dealership would send one driver out to pick up or deliver parts across the Bay Area, which could take 8 to 10 hours. Now, they can request multiple parts deliveries via Central to as far as 50 miles and still receive each part before the end of the day.

Helping customers with roadside assistance

If a customer experiences an issue with their car and is stuck on the side of the road, Fowler requests an Uber ride to bring them safely back to the dealership. This saves customers from waiting for the tow truck in an unsafe area or staying trapped in the heat.

Sweetening the deal in the sales department

The sales department uses Uber for Business to request rides for customers after a trade-in. Additionally, if Walnut Creek Honda is trading cars with other dealerships, they’ll use Uber for Business to request a ride to and from each dealership for their staff.