We’ve Been in Business Since 1980.
Secure Transportation was founded by Alan R. Blomker in 1980 with a couple of used vehicles, a handful of loyal employees, and the support of friends and family. Today, Secure Transportation is an innovative vertical market transportation leader with hundreds of loyal employees and a large diverse fleet of cutting-edge vehicles.
“Secure Transportation was founded in 1980 with a couple of used vehicles, a handful of loyal employees and the support of my family. I founded the company knowing that anyone
could provide a vehicle and a driver, but not everyone understood the true meaning of good service. The willingness to say yes to customers when others might say no. The willingness to make the extra call or drive the extra mile. We understood that then and we understand that now. That’s how a couple of used vehicles grew into one of the most diverse fleets in the industry. That’s why a few loyal employees became a few hundred loyal employees, many of whom have been with us since the early days. And of course, Secure is still a family business.”
– Alan R. Blomker, Founder
Since Alan Blomker founded Secure Transportation back in 1980,
the firm has traveled a lot of miles on its route to success. What Blomker began with a hearse and a stretch car to transport people to and from funerals, has turned into four offices, where 200 employees make sure a fleet of 135 vehicles – from limousines to coach buses – gets people to where they need to go.
Back in the beginning, it was just a living. Blomker, who was inspired to start the business after being a funeral escort on a motor bike, didn’t see the growth coming. “I never imagined we would be as big as we are today,” he said, adding that employing so many people “is humbling.”
By 1985, things started taking off, said Blomker’s son, Steve Dobbs, who came on shortly after the business started and ultimately became its president. That’s when the business started transporting clients to medical centers for non-emergency, medically-related rides. Today, that part of the business has jumped to 500 such transports a day, Dobbs said. You may even recognize their name from the road, as they shuttle disabled veterans to their medical appointments, oncology patients to hospitals and seniors to adult day care centers. “We’re extremely proud of what we do,” Dobbs said. “We take it very seriously.”
What they also take seriously are the challenges inherent in running such a business. Blomker remembered vividly about five years ago when workers’ compensation costs were driving the firm under. Faced with 16 months in a row of losing money, Dobbs had to face longtime employees and lay it on the line. He had to freeze wages; the firm had to ask vendors for discounts. But one thing he didn’t do was cut workers – reflecting a notion offered by his father: that good service comes from your employees, who should be the last thing you cut.
The company made it through only to face another hurdle: rising fuel prices. Dobbs hasn’t forgotten the $101,000 fuel bill the company was faced with in the midst of a gas spike two years ago. Still, the company has continued to grow – recently opening an office in San Jose to add to its Whittier headquarters, and offices in Riverside and San Diego.
The family touted the firm’s recent contract to manage ground transportation for the TED Conference, a prestigious global tech industry event that this year was held in Long Beach. What’s the secret to the longevity, and how have they kept it in the family for 30 years? For Blomker, he always felt he and his son agreed on most things in the business, and that has kept the family running it – including Dobbs’ wife, Pilar, and sister-in-law Anne Marin. For Steve Dobbs, the key thing was something his father instilled in him. “It is to treat people with respect, whether they are sweeping the floor or running the company,” he said.