The $20,000 NEMT Trip — How to Do Long Distance

Jeanine started SailorGirl in 2017 and is a long-distance specialist, moving seniors across state lines (and sometimes by air) on trips that can span multiple days and thousands of miles. Long distance is a different business than a local wheelchair run, with its own vehicles, crews, regulations, and risks. She's launching an ebook, "Crossing the County Line," for operators who want in. We'll cover:

• What "long distance" really means — Where Jeanine draws the line, the types of trips it covers, and when a rider should go by ground, by air, or ground-air-ground.
• The rig and the crew — What a vehicle needs for an 18-hour drive that doesn't matter on a 20-minute run, why she'll put a rider on a stretcher past three hours, and how she decides between a single driver and a two-driver rotation.
• Crossing state lines without getting burned — Multi-state regulations, the insurance you have to add for interstate work, overnight stays that actually work for a wheelchair patient, and managing medications on a multi-day trip.
• When you need a nurse on board — How Jeanine, an RN herself, decides between a driver, a caregiver, and clinical staff, what families actually want for updates from the road, and the supplies a multi-day senior trip requires.
• Pricing the $20,000 trip — Per-mile vs. day-rate-plus-mileage, how she handles deposits and payment terms, the gotcha line items new operators forget (driver lodging, return mileage, wait time), and the real margin against a local run.
• Where the trips come from — The referral sources that punch above their weight for low-frequency, high-value work (discharge planners, geriatric care managers, senior move managers, hospice), and how to stay top of mind between trips.