Tag Archives: All-Points Personal Transportation

The Enemy Within – Predators Taking Advantage of Our Troops

We at All-Points Personal Transportation are outraged at the way our Armed Forces personnel are taken advantage of by those who ‘seek to serve’ them. We see it every day near every military installation: crummy service, ridiculous prices, outrageous ‘pay-day loans’, and a general lack of respect for the fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, sisters, and brothers who signed on to serve our nation.

The troops, sailors, aircrews, and marines I have spoken with over the past few years each have endured a sort of second-class citizen treatment in and around our military bases: and I am sickened by it. Without these bases the people who make their livelihood from our troops would have no livelihood at all! How is it that they do not bend over backwards to help our troops in any way possible?

I applaud those citizens who go out of their way to treat our troops with the respect they deserve, and, I have never seen one of our service personnel treat any civilian with less than dignity and respect.

Over the past number of years we have seen a number of Transportation companies (Shuttles, Cabs, Taxis, Gypsies, and ‘Airporters’) charge outrageous prices to our troops while cramming them into unsafe, filthy vehicles, while making false promises of where they will be taken.

Here is a prime example for those of you who are coming to North Carolina to spend some time aboard Camp Lejeune. If you are flying in or out of Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) you may not have been told that RDU is well over 120 miles away from Camp Lejeune. That’s a little more than 2.5 hours on a good day. Camp Lejeune is also a rather large piece of property – over 248 square miles and is also home to Camp Johnson, Camp Geiger, New River MCAS, and a number of other quaint places you will spend some time. When you are making your travel arrangements and speak to one of these ‘Transportation Experts’ who quote you a price and tell you that they go to ‘Camp Lejeune’ or ‘Jacksonville’ BEWARE!

Ask them ‘exactly where will I (or my son, daughter, husband, wife, or loved one) will be picked-up or dropped off? Chances are they will merely say ‘Camp Lejeune’ or if really pressed they will tell you the ‘Main Gate’. Sounds okay right? Wrong! When you have travelled halfway across the country or the world and have to report by midnight at Camp Geiger you will have a nice 12 mile hump to the Camp Geiger Gate! Going to Courthouse Bay? 22 miles to that Gate!

When you travel with All-Points we take you to your doorstep. Why? Because that is our Standard of Service that We owe You. Do we charge more for this? No, we do not. We charge by the size of the vehicle we need to get you and your bags safely and comfortably directly to your destination – your REAL destination. Granted, if you are travelling alone the fare is quite high due to the length of the trip, however, when you make a reservation with us we do our best to combine your reservation with your comrades and divide the cost equally between the group. We call the USO on the day of your arrival to advise the USO staff that we have at least one person headed down to Base so that they can advise other troops coming in that there will be a shared ride available. We then call 2 hours before your arrival, again an hour before your arrival, and we visit the USO when you arrive to see if there is anyone else who can ride along and split the ride. More often than not we end up making 4, 5, or 6 stops to deliver our troops to their doorstep on time safely and with the level of service they deserve.

So, before you get taken in by yet another predator please give us a call so we can do our best to serve you. If you make a reservation and find an alternative means of transportation 24 hours before your arrival we DO NOT charge you. Ever, period. And, we also offer you the ability to pay half on the day of your trip and the balance on payday.

Give us a call at 919-836-9900 and let us show you that we have the same pride and integrity in serving you as you do in serving this great country. Be assured – we will never let you down. We remember the sacrifices that you are making and the sacrifices of those who came before you.

We serve all military bases across the state and are ready to answer your call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We will always get you to your destination.

Thank you for your service. It will not be forgotten.  

A Short Story Worth Remembering

The Sack Lunch

I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight. ‘I’m glad I have a good book to read. Perhaps I will get a short nap,’ I thought.

Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me. I decided to start a conversation.

‘Where are you headed?’ I asked the soldier seated nearest to me.

‘Petawawa. We’ll be there for two weeks for special training, and then we’re being deployed to Afghanistan

After flying for about an hour, an announcement was made that sack lunches were available for five dollars. It would be several hours before we reached the east, and I quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time…

As I reached for my wallet, I overheard a soldier ask his buddy if he planned to buy lunch. ‘No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack lunch. Probably wouldn’t be worth five bucks. I’ll wait till we get to base.’

His friend agreed.

I looked around at the other soldiers. None were buying lunch. I walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant a fifty dollar bill. ‘Take a lunch to all those soldiers.’ She grabbed my arms and squeezed tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me. ‘My son was a soldier in Iraq ; it’s almost like you are doing it for him.’

Picking up ten sacks, she headed up the aisle to where the soldiers were seated. She stopped at my seat and asked, ‘Which do you like best – beef or chicken?’

‘Chicken,’ I replied, wondering why she asked. She turned and went to the front of plane, returning a minute later with a dinner plate from first class.

‘This is your thanks..’

After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane, heading for the rest room.

A man stopped me. ‘I saw what you did. I want to be part of it. Here, take this.’ He handed me twenty-five dollars.

Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Flight Captain coming down the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he walked, I hoped he was not looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my side of the plane. When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand and said, ‘I want to shake your hand.’ Quickly unfastening my seatbelt I stood and took the Captain’s hand. With a booming voice he said, ‘I was a soldier and I was a military pilot. Once, someone bought me a lunch. It was an act of kindness I never forgot.’ I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of the passengers.

Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs. A man who was seated about six rows in front of me reached out his hand, wanting to shake mine. He left another twenty-five dollars in my palm.

When we landed I gathered my belongings and started to deplane. Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me, put something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a word. Another twenty-five dollars!

Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their trip to the base.

I walked over to them and handed them seventy-five dollars. ‘It will take you some time to reach the base.. It will be about time for a sandwich.

God Bless You.’

Ten young men left that flight feeling the love and respect of their fellow travelers.

As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe return. These soldiers were giving their all for our country. I could only give them a couple of meals. It seemed so little…

A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to ‘The United States of America ‘ for an amount of ‘up to and including my life.’

That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.’

The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art and the North Carolina Museum of Art: What’s the Big Deal?

The Big Deal is that while you should visit New York this summer and take in the new Picasso exhibition which opened this week at The Met the same fine organization that sponsored the Picasso exhibition also made a gift of 30 Rodins to our hometown NCMA this past weekend. The Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation (www.cantorfoundation.org) and other patrons of our fine museum celebrated the pre-opening to ensure that their gifts had an appropriate venue. Having spent the better part of 3 days at our new museum this past weekend I can tell you that we are fortunate to have a world-class and spectacular (!) jewel of a museum in Raleigh. In fact, visitors to the area, even those coming through Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) with a few hours to spare can easily take in North Carolina’s newest crown jewel. 

What were we doing at the museum? Who do you think was entrusted to provide the safest transportation for the Patrons for the 4 day event? Yes, correct, All-Points Personal Transportation. And not only can we take you and your guests our professional chauffeurs can also give you a tour of the NCMA as well.

The NCMA has its Grand Opening this weekend. (www.ncartmuseum.org).

(PS: it is beautiful at sunset and into the evening as well.)

How’s this for ‘service’?!