Hello FreedomCar Friends,
Are we having fun yet? Yes and no, right? Don’t worry, we’re all experiencing the waning pandemic’s unique brand of ennui. This image from a recent assignment sums up an all-too-familiar scenario: Ft. McHenry on a lovely day, stars and stripes flying as ever… but the Fort was closed.
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Here’s what you need to know about FreedomCar’s Pandemic Recovery and how that affects you. We’ll call it The Good and The Not-So-Good.
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 The Good
You’re back, and therefore FreedomCar is back—at 105% of pre-pandemic levels of activity.
 The Not-So-Good
We’ve got 83% of the staff that we had on March 13, 2020. That equation isn’t ideal. We’re doing waaaay better than many, but it’s still a challenge.
What This Means to You
Sometimes that means “we can pick you up earlier or later than you want,” or “we’ll be in a van, not a car,” or “would you consider sharing the car with your neighbor?” or sometimes just an unavoidable “I’m sorry, we can’t help you.”
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The Good
We’re hiring as fast as we can.
The Not-So-Good
There aren’t a lot of people out there who are as good as we need them to be. Once hired, it takes 120 days for a newly minted FreedomCar team member to become as good as you’ve come to expect from us. (Do you know anyone worthy? Send them to us!)
What This Means to You
Please be patient with our newer additions. They’re fantastic people, each and every one of them, but they’re learning. If your driver is new to the system, that’s a good thing. See what you can do to help them be the FreedomCar driver they should be.
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The Good
Our fleet is almost entirely brand new! (p.s. Thank you to our friends at Bill Kidd’s Toyota and Bob Davidson Ford Lincoln!)
The Not-So-Good
That’s it. There aren’t any more cars out there right now. We’ve bought everything we can buy. We’ve got vehicles on order, but who knows when they’ll arrive?
What This Means to You
You’ll be in beautiful new vehicles every time you get into a FreedomCar! Our capacity to meet your needs, however, is limited by both personnel and fleet size.
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The Good
YOU. You are flying, sailing, dining out, having long-delayed medical procedures, getting married … it’s all wonderful! Maybe this is the only thing that truly matters.
The Not-So-Good
Whatever you’re planning, it’s likely to change on you for reasons entirely beyond your control (or ours.)
What This Means to You
When that happens, you experience inconvenience, aggravation, additional costs, and occasionally decreased service levels when you finally do receive them.
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The Good
Wages are going up! (Yes, this is good news! It’s long overdue.) Despite this, we’ve held rate increases to about a 4% difference from 2019 and our fuel surcharge is (hopefully) only temporary. We’re very proud of all of this, and don’t anticipate major rate increases for 2023.
The Not-So-Good
Everything costs more … especially gas. It’s unsettling to not know just what things will cost a year from now.
What This Means to You
In an uncertain world, FreedomCar remains much the same—in service quality and in cost—as before any of us knew that Corona wasn’t just a beer. In fact, I’d say we’re better.
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What does all of this mean? It means we’ve got good problems! We’re all alive, you’re living the life you should live and FreedomCar is as busy as we can possibly be. Let’s take a moment to be grateful.
Then Let’s Make a Deal
The FreedomCar Family is going to work as hard as we possibly can to meet your needs. In return, we’ll need patience and flexibility from our passengers. Eventually, we’ll get this ship righted. Staff will be hired and trained. Cars will be bought and delivered. This, it turns out, is what recovery feels like. It’s new to us too.
Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you again soon!
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