What to Put in a Corporate Ground Transportation SLA

The short answer

A ground transportation service level agreement (SLA) turns "reliable" into something you can actually check. Write down five things: what counts as on time, how quickly bookings and changes are confirmed, what happens when a trip doesn't go to plan, how billing questions are raised and answered, and how often you review performance together. Define each one so it can be measured from records both sides already keep. A clear two-page SLA that you review every quarter will serve you far better than a twenty-page one nobody opens.

The RFP chooses the provider. The SLA keeps you on the same page.

If you've just run an RFP, you know how much care goes into choosing a provider: the questions, the sample trips, the scoring. Once the contract is signed, the questions change. Was the car on time? Did the traveller hear about a delay before they noticed it? Did the invoice match the quote?

Without written answers, every small problem becomes a fresh conversation, and the person who made the original promises may have moved on by the time you need them. An SLA simply writes the answers down while everyone still agrees on them.

The good news is that it doesn't need to be long. It just needs to be specific. Here's how to put one together, step by step.

Start by agreeing what "on time" means

"On time" sounds obvious until two people measure it differently. It's worth a few minutes to define it for each kind of trip.

• Pickups from an address: the vehicle is at the address and ready to load at the booked time. Say whether you mean the street address or the door, which can be a few minutes apart at a large building.
• Airport pickups: tie the measure to the flight, not the clock. The chauffeur should be at the meeting point when the traveller gets there, and that depends on when the flight actually lands. Measured against the scheduled arrival, a pickup looks late every time a flight lands early.
• Time-critical drop-offs: for a flight or an important meeting, measure arrival at the destination by an agreed time, not just a punctual pickup.
• The record: agree where the timestamps come from, such as trip records, chauffeur check-ins or traveller reports, before anyone needs them.

The definition matters more than the target. An impressive on-time figure means very little if "on time" quietly allows a generous margin.

How quickly bookings, changes and quotes are handled

Many service problems begin before the car leaves. It helps to write down how quickly the provider handles each of these.

• New bookings: how quickly each one is confirmed in writing, both in business hours and outside them.
• Changes: how quickly a change is acknowledged and confirmed.
• Quotes: how quickly you receive a written quote for trips that need one, such as long-distance routes and group movements.
• Problems on the day: who answers, and how quickly. A number that goes to voicemail at 6 a.m. isn't an escalation path.

If your account needs anything different from the provider's standard trip terms, write it in as a named exception, so the SLA and the terms never quietly disagree.

When a trip doesn't go to plan

Even the best provider will one day have a car break down or a chauffeur fall ill. An SLA can't prevent that, but it can make the next hour calm and predictable for your traveller.

Cover the three ways a trip can go wrong.

• Running late. Who tells the traveller, and how early. The standard worth writing down is simple: the traveller hears about a delay from the provider before they notice it themselves.
• The car doesn't arrive. How quickly a replacement is sent, and how the traveller is kept informed until it arrives.
• A breakdown during the trip. How a replacement vehicle reaches the traveller, and who stays in touch with them until it does.

Then agree what happens afterwards.

• An agreed process for a trip that failed, settled in advance so nobody has to work it out on the day.
• A written explanation within an agreed number of business days, saying what happened and what will change.

If the provider arranges trips through local operators, it's fair to ask what standard it holds those operators to. A provider that sets a standard should be happy to show it to you.

Billing accuracy

A good SLA describes what a correct invoice looks like, not just when it's due.

• The invoice matches the written quote, and anything added after the trip comes with a breakdown of each item.
• There's a deadline for raising a question, and a deadline for the provider's answer.
• It's clear what happens to an amount while it's being reviewed.

Our invoice audit guide walks you through a simple set of monthly checks.

Reporting and the quarterly review

Agree what the provider will report, and how often. A helpful set covers:

• trips by city, and on-time performance against your agreed definition;
• every incident, and how it was resolved;
• how quickly bookings and changes were confirmed;
• spend, split the way your finance team likes to see it.

Before you write a report into the SLA, ask what data the provider can actually supply. A report that has to be built by hand every month rarely survives the second quarter.

Then meet once a quarter with your account contact. Go through the numbers, any incidents and the events coming up next quarter. Keeping your own incident log between reviews means each meeting starts from records rather than memory, which makes the conversation easier for everyone.

What to leave out

Some things look reassuring in a contract but don't really help anyone.

• Promises that can't be measured, such as "best in class" or "premium experience".
• Targets nobody collects data for.
• Penalties so heavy that a provider either builds them into every trip or won't sign.
• Terms that override the provider's standard trip terms without saying so. Exceptions are perfectly fine, as long as they're written down as exceptions.

How this works with Canadian Limos

Part of what an SLA asks for is already written into Canadian Limos' published terms.

• Your booking agreement is with Canadian Limos, which remains your single point of contact before, during and after each trip, including for any service issue or rebooking.
• Canadian Limos selects and verifies every operator before it carries clients, and sets the service standards operators must meet.
• Waiting and flights are built in: pickups from an address include a 15-minute waiting allowance, and airport pickups include flight tracking and a grace period after landing.
• Anything that can only be known on the day is invoiced after the trip, with a breakdown of each item. Chauffeurs don't quote or negotiate charges, so any question goes straight to the reservations team.

For a corporate account, payment terms are set in the account agreement. If you have any questions about corporate accounts with Canadian Limos, our team is happy to help.

Frequently asked questions