About this episode
Corey Jones owns Royal Care Transportation in Kansas and did not take his first NEMT trip until September 2024, after the freight market gutted a trucking company that had been paying him $150,000 to $200,000 per truck. His fiancee Lanissa Hill, an assisted living admissions coordinator with more than 20 years in healthcare, made the calls that opened the first buildings, and Royal Care moved from overflow backup to first string at facilities that cannot keep their own drivers. He does no broker work, runs three used vans bought with cash, and is bidding on 2026 World Cup traffic in Kansas City.
Key takeaways
- Jones ran five over the road trucks and a dump truck until loads went for pennies on the dollar. He argues NEMT is the same logistics job delivering a different product.
- The way in was overflow. Facility vans break down and drivers are hard to hire, so Royal Care took the leftovers and is now first string at several buildings.
- Growth runs on resident chatter. Riders tell the trip coordinator about the music, the temperature checks and being asked every five or ten minutes if they are comfortable.
- His costliest mistake was stacking trips too tight. One resident waited two hours for a pickup, and that facility stopped calling Royal Care for roughly two months.
- Chamber of commerce membership put Royal Care in position to bid on the 2026 Kansas City World Cup, which Jones expects to draw 200,000 to 300,000 visitors.
Chapters
- 0:32 Corey Jones and Royal Care Transportation in Kansas
- 1:20 Inside the 2018 rear entry Dodge Caravan
- 3:28 Five trucks, a dump truck, and a collapsing freight market
- 5:05 Company formed in 2023, first trip September 2024
- 6:12 The income swing from trucking to NEMT
- 8:00 How Lanissa Hill's contacts opened the first facility
- 10:15 From facility backup van to first string
- 11:52 Word of mouth at the dinner table
- 15:48 Why Royal Care does no broker work
- 17:32 The mistake of cramming trips too close together
- 23:02 Used vans paid in cash and a driver who took less
- 25:10 The chamber of commerce and a World Cup bid
