About this episode
Andrew Brainard, CEO of TransMedCare, started in NEMT as a driver at 22 and launched his own company with one van and credit card debt, buying Google ads and undercutting on price to build a reputation. TransMedCare now runs 10 vehicles on trips of 300 miles and up only, sends a three-person crew on every job, and retires vans at about 750,000 miles. Roughly 90 percent of the business comes from Google ads, and demand peaks at the start and end of the month, when nursing home rooms turn over on the first and the fifteenth.
Key takeaways
- Local policies often cover only an adjacent state or two, Brainard says, and long-distance coverage costs far more. That insurance line, not the driving, is why so few companies work past 300 miles.
- Clients are people not cleared to fly: elderly parents relocating near family, a rider who broke a hip at Daytona bike week, elderly prison transfers, cancer treatment, and funerals across state lines.
- Vans carry a 6-inch memory foam mattress, privacy curtains, an onboard toilet, separate driver sleeping quarters, Netflix and Wi-Fi. A 3D model on the website shows buyers what they are paying for.
- Every crew is two drivers and a CNA who checks vitals, helps with feeding, and can run oxygen, suction, and nebulizer treatments. Drivers are contractors who pick the trips they want.
- Two vans stage in Las Vegas for last-minute West Coast calls, and the operations manager tracks nationwide weather to postpone trips. Vans run 70 to 80 percent capacity when work is heavy.
Chapters
- 0:00 Introduction
- 1:03 Andrew's background and starting TransMedCare
- 4:18 Use cases of long-distance NEMT trips
- 6:42 How TMC gets customers
- 10:09 TMC's specialized vehicles for long-distance
- 13:19 Drivers of long-distance trips
- 15:04 Logistics of long-distance trips
- 20:12 Getting into long-distance
- 23:11 Partnering with other NEMT businesses
- 24:16 The future of TransMedCare
