OM DENNE EPISODE
We did this one differently. Instead of one guest in a studio, Nirav took a mic onto the NEMTAC Transform 2026 exhibit floor in Orlando and grabbed 16 conversations in two days — operators, insurance brokers, vehicle manufacturers, inspection tech, and the people who run the show itself. It's the closest thing to walking the floor yourself without buying a plane ticket.Inside: BraunAbility's John Masselli walks through the new rear-entry Toyota Sienna XL (39.5" ramp, 15 lbs of operating force, production starts in November). Three insurance voices — Tom Clancy of Research Underwriters, Evan Chambers of Higginbotham, and Mark Crawford of Swan Insurance — give the same advice from three directions: telematics and dashcams won't cut your premium on day one, but they kill the frivolous claims that wreck your loss ratio, and you should be pulling loss runs quarterly instead of finding out at renewal. Jeff Hoff of ReliaWheels lays out exactly what he looks at when he evaluates buying an NEMT business — customer concentration first, fleet age second. Jim Cermak of Driverge makes the case that driver training is the cheapest insurance you'll ever buy. Hamed Yazdi explains why Rideshare Mechanic became Bright Inspect, and why AI makes vehicle-inspection fraud easier, not harder.Plus: Hayes Stills debuts ADAboy's new minivan conversion, Scott Symonds on how adding a Broda chair opened up complex-orthopedic trips at SmartRide, Howard Berkowitz and Dave Swanner of MyRide SC on why one-man stretcher transport is never the answer, operators Hossein Mokhtari and Nikola Simic on doubling a fleet to 30 vehicles in a year, Lakeisha of Right Hand Transportation on getting her sister dispatching in a day, NEMTAC's Eva Keidel on what's new at Transform, and TTA's Rebecca Tonkinson on Mobilize in Anaheim this October.⏱️ TIMESTAMPS00:00 Cold open00:09 Eva Keidel — NEMTAC — what's new at Transform 202601:52 John Masselli — BraunAbility — the new rear-entry Toyota Sienna XL06:19 Hayes Stills — ADAboy — new minivan conversion debut07:33 Scott Symonds — SmartRide — managed care growth + adding Broda09:11 Hossein Mokhtari & Nikola Simic — operators — doubling the fleet10:53 Lakeisha — Right Hand Transportation — onboarding a dispatcher in a day11:55 Jim Cermak — Driverge — the driver training module that pays for itself13:46 John Rinaldi — Green Cab — 30% efficiency and credentialing by agency15:43 Howard Berkowitz & Dave Swanner — MyRide SC — stretcher standards18:21 Jeff Hoff — ReliaWheels — how to evaluate buying an NEMT business20:51 Tom Clancy — Research Underwriters — telematics, cameras, loss runs23:17 Evan Chambers — Higginbotham — picking an agent who knows NEMT27:09 Mark Crawford — Swan Insurance — the 2026 hard market28:27 Hamed Yazdi — Bright Inspect — virtual vehicle inspections33:47 Rebecca Tonkinson — TTA — Mobilize, Anaheim, Oct 26–28🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/56zxEK8t7nNSQcgig5gQkQ
