Our company currently supports over 300 care agencies, thus we are very familiar with the nature of their work. We organize daily departures and returns from Germany, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands, which is not offered by any other transport company in Poland or Europe (when it comes to transporting carers). It is this option that makes GTV Bus the ideal business partner.
Why is it worth choosing GTV Bus as a partner for care agencies?
Apart from the fact that we offer passenger transport every day, we offer door to door services – i.e. transport of the customer from the given address to the destination. In this respect, we are unrivalled!
It is also worth mentioning about night shifts thanks to which we secure the needs of care agencies and solve problems on an ongoing basis, even at late hours. For example: a carer comes to work and no one opens the door for her – such situations have also happened. We are up to the task and, for instance, book a hotel for the passenger, if the company decides on such a solution. This lets the recruitment agent know that their employee is safe.
We are also the perfect partner because, from the moment of making a reservation for transport, it is us who take care of everything – that is, in fact, the agency is only responsible for sending the reservation and that is where all its work ends. Moreover, if something happened on the way for reasons beyond our control, the recruiter from the agency, or e.g. the transport manager immediately receives an e-mail about the event and information on why and what steps we have taken to fix it.
The most important thing about the GTV BUS is that we never say NO to care agencies. What do we mean by that? Often trips are needed from one place to another on the same today and, for example, in the morning we get a message from the company that on that day they need to send a carer to Germany or take someone from there. We then make every effort to fulfil such an order. We are the only company in Poland that provides such a service as ‘’today for tomorrow’ and ‘today for today’. Typically, carriers do not have space or do not offer transport on a given day.
GTV Bus – the secret of our success
For a long time, we relied mainly on the Dutch customer, while we treated Germany more as a form of travelling through this country. We took a pause at specific stops to drop off some passengers and kept going, as it was to the Netherlands that our regular routes were.
During the pandemic, a lot of care agencies from all over Poland had a problem with getting their carers to work, because carriers cancelled their transport overnight. Then we also had to decide how to behave in this difficult situation. We made the decision that we do not cancel our trips, and in fact – at that time we did not cancel a single one. Thanks to this attitude, we started to gain new customers. During that period, we served about 100 care agencies, and after some time this base began to grow. In the beginning, new companies tested us because most of them were unfamiliar with our services (although we had been already over 25 years on the market). Yet, we were taking our first steps in the care industry, and we were treated as a novelty. Questions often occurred about where we came from and how it happened that we deal with such transport. We were aware that this is a demanding transport. But we took up the challenge and it worked out very well. Presently, GTV BUS serves over 300 care agencies. We have achieved our goal – to have as many of these agencies as possible. Since it is a huge market, this number is constantly growing. We have not had a downtime yet. Most importantly – many companies came to us directly, as often we have been recommended by other carers. Of course, we acquired some of the agencies personally through extensive marketing activities. It is safe to say that practically all companies that started cooperation with us are still with us today. If we were to sum up the answer to the question “why we are the ideal partner for care agencies” in one sentence, it could be said that because we are always there for them and we never say no. This is how our approach to cooperation with them can be summed up.
Booking panel – facilitation for partners
We always encourage new business customers to take advantage of a booking panel specially created for them. The crucial advantage of this solution is, of course, saving time, which a recruiter or company owner usually loses looking for a carrier. It happens very often that a care agency needs to transport its carer, e.g. the next day. It is practically impossible to book such a transport service with other transport companies.
At GTV Bus, when an agency gets access to the booking panel, does not have to send inquiries about the availability of seats. It only enters exact dates and is certain that the journey will take place. If there is a need to cancel any trip or change its date, it can also be done using the panel. Information about the change that has been made appears after 15 seconds. However, if a given agency does not use the panel, then the booking is made by sending an e-mail. It takes a bit more time, but it is handled as a priority. The panel is simply a place through which all operations can be performed. You do not have to wonder who and what to write to.
At GTV BUS, there is always some free space ‘for the next day’ for care agencies. In addition, such a reservation in our panel takes literally 2 minutes, and the problem of transport ceases to give you sleepless nights. This is one of our proprietary solutions that we have developed for care agencies. Using it has always been free for these companies who have become our clients. Over time, we decided to expand it and that is how the internal Intranet was created. You can find everything that makes the agency’s work easier, such as transport prices or contact information for individual GTV BUS departments. What is more, a second panel has also been launched via which you can keep track of the minibus route which the employee has taken. Thanks to this, the company can check exactly where the passenger is, whether s/he has boarded the minibus at all, and what time s/he will be at the place of destination. This option works based on similar principles as applications prepared for taxi drivers, such as Uber, or Bolt.
We are already familiar with the specifics of employment agencies, and we know that, for example, companies from the Netherlands attach great importance to what time the employee will be at their place so that s/he can be picked up. We usually show up in the morning, which is very suitable for agents, because we directly arrive at the company, and leave its employees there. Owing to the fact that we come in morning hours, the agency also saves the working time of employees.
To sum up – our booking panel’s major advantage is the fact that it saves time that employees of care agencies spend on finding transport for their employees. Because if you add up this time, it turns out that it can take them several hours.
Our intention was so that a phrase like “problem with transport” to be completely removed from the care agency’s list of obstacles. At GTV, the company makes a reservation in the panel, and we take care of the rest. The clients can be sure that their employees will be where they are supposed to be at the right time.
What is the carer market like in Poland?
There are ca. 350 legally registered care agencies in Poland. It is a huge market. It is estimated that about 400,000 carers leave to work every month. Some of them do it on their own, but the market is constantly changing and we know that the Germans strive to ensure that they are primarily employed by agencies. The data we have obtained show that currently the number of carers legally leaving through agencies is about 30,000. GTV BUS can transport approx. 8,000 carers per month. It is also important to bear in mind that some carers drive their cars – especially if they live close to the border.
Do we plan other destinations?
We are a company that is constantly developing. We currently go to Belgium, Holland, Austria and Germany, and the journeys take place daily. We also offer transport services to these countries from Romania, and every week from Latvia (from Riga to be exact). We plan to open up to more countries and we are still working on it. We pay taxes legally in every country that we travel to, and we start our adventure in a new country with obtaining permits. It is also worth mentioning that we were also to travel from Ukraine (Lviv to be more precise), but due to what happened in that country, it was not possible. But we offered transport right from the border. We also sent coaches pro bono to enable people get to larger cities.
How to distinguish a dishonest transport company from an honest one?
Most companies dealing with transport from Poland to the Netherlands originate from Poland. If an agency wants to distinguish between a legitimate and a dishonest company, it must first check whether the company is registered in the National Court Register. This can be verified by NIP (tax identification number) and REGON (business registry number). Besides, GTV BUS pays all taxes in every country to which it travels, and can issue an invoice to companies, as well as private customers, on which the Polish, German or Dutch section is provided. Before choosing a carrier, it is worth checking whether it pays taxes and is registered as a VAT payer in a given country, e.g. in Germany.
What industries can we cooperate with?
Virtually any company can use our services that needs to transport an employee from point A to point B. Currently, we provide services for industrial enterprises; the segment of truck drivers, employment agencies from the Netherlands and Germany, but also seasonal work. We also cooperate with entrepreneurs dealing with holidays and sanatoriums, as well as companies that employ seafarers. We offer them transport to the places from which they are collected straight to the ship.
