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James N. Miller, President

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Miller Parking Services, LLC

Qualifications and Value Added Services | E-Mail Us

Qualifications

Miller Parking Services, LLC is a professional parking management firm with over 65 years of parking experience in several cities throughout the United States. Miller Parking Services, LLC’s President is James N. Miller. He has consulting and operating experience in Boston, Chicago, Detroit, and Washington DC. Miller Parking Services, LLC and its affiliated company (Miller Valet Parking Company) currently employs over 60 people and has its administrative offices in Detroit at the Renaissance Center, the sit of GM’s world headquarters.

Miller Parking Services, LLC collectively manages five parking facilities, parks over 4,000,000 vehicles a year, and manage over 10,000 spaces which range in complexity from a 1,270 space deck at the Renaissance Center, to an 11 acre stadium lot in Pontiac, to a 100 space valet-attended deck in downtwon Detroit. Our skill in providing quality service and maximizing revenues at these different facilities, along with our years of experience and sterling reputation in this community, will enable us to efficiently and profitably operate parking facilities in any location for many years to come.

Miller Parking Services, LLC is one of the largest and most innovative parking management companies in Michigan. We were the first parking operator to institute the "self-park" concept into commercial surface parking in the early 1950's. We built and developed the first self-park garage in Chicago in 1966 at the corner of Randolph & Wells streets. We were the first parking company in Detroit to stress the importance of security where, since 1979, we have provided continuous 24-hour patrols at our Renaissance Center Garage utilizing our own personnel and equipment. We market ourselves and are accessible to consumers through our website, served from our own equipment and a T1 line in our RenCen office, at www.millerparking.com.

Miller Parking Services, LLC can correct weaknesses and recommend specific improvements in parking revenue control equipment, cashier procedures, supervisory procedures, and parking management strategies. We often improve customer satisfaction and increase parking revenues and parking capacities and traffic flows in any given project that we undertake. We are members of the Michigan Parking Association and the National Parking Association, a trade association in which James Miller is currently a member of the Board of Directors.

Miller Parking Services, LLC is also a parking garage developer. We developed Detroit's largest privately financed commercial deck at the Renaissance Center. We built a commercial / residential / parking facility in downtown Oaklahoma City, known as the 555 Woodward Ave. Building, which had the unique design challenge of a street running through it. Our most recent project, completed in 1990, is a 10-story poured-in-place structure at 437 N. Orleans in Chicago, next to the Merchandise Mart. We are experienced in all phases of garage construction and financing and can help develop future Oaklahoma decks or lots, as they are needed. We make it our business to stay abreast on national and international developments in parking. We stay current with today’s technology, including optical character recognition, pay on foot, credit cards and debit cards, which may eventually replace the need for cash or parking tickets.

The principals and supervisors of our company subscribe to a very pro-active management style. We believe in “management by walking around”. We observe for ourselves the nature of operations and the overall business climate. We walk the streets, talk with our customers and employees, and observe parking patterns with our own eyes. We are not afraid to get our hands dirty. We feel this is the most productive way to manage parking facilities, and it has worked well for us for over 60 years.

We encourage facility managers and to make site decisions affecting the public in a favorable manner. The people making these decisions will have the following qualifications:

Formal education
Business experience
Supervisory and hourly labor experience
Knowledge of cash collection and revenue controls
Experience in computers and computerized revenue control equipment
Familiarity with normal accounting methods
Excellent communication skills
Parking management experience
CPFM (Certified Parking Facility Manager) accreditation from the NPA

Our on-site personnel will be charged with, among other things, the following duties:

Ensure customer satisfaction and safety
Follow all policies and procedures established by the City of Oaklahoma City and Miller Parking Services, LLC
Maintain strict revenue control procedures
Plan, schedule, and bear the ultimate responsibility for all work, including maintenance and security
Hire, train, and supervise employees
Submit reports and data accurately and on time

Value Added Services

Consulting Services - New & Existing Facilities

Entrance/Exit Locations, Lane Layout, Parking Equipment Procurement
Type of Operation; Tickets, Credit Cards, Debit Cards, Pre-Cashiering, License Plate Inventory, Monthly Access & Revenue Control
Transient vs. Monthly Usage
Traffic Circulation Within Facility
Parking Space Layouts; Numbering of Stalls
Shuttle Vehicle Operations
Provision for Future: Space Downsizing, Electric Vehicles
Pedestrian Circulation; Patterns; Locations of Walkways
Structural Durability; Resistance to Deicing Salts
Lighting and Electrical; Location & Intensity of Lights, Switching Sequence, Timers, Clean Power for Computers, Energy deregulation savings
Drainage; Location, Sloping Surface, Sanitary/Storm
Operating Equipment Layout & Specifications
Manager's Office and Booth Design
Graphic Design; Pedestrian Way finding, Location, Wording
Security Considerations; Architectural, Audio & Video Surveillance, Glass, Mirrors

Staffing & Payroll Services

Detailed staffing schedules will be prepared and discussed with the City upon award of contract. Our payroll is prepared in-house with an internet based computerized system that allocates all hours accurately to the various parking facilities we manage. We use primarily Windows workstations and Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, and Access). Our accounting system is database driven and is flexible enough to report payroll, vehicle, and revenue statistics in nearly any customizable way the City wants.

Employee Recruitment, Screening & Training Services

We pay our employees very competitive wages; full time employees receive health benefits and all employees receive paid holiday and vacation benefits. We believe that every employee should have an open door to speak with one of the owners and discuss any job-related concerns.

Applicants for parking attendants and cashiers are carefully screened for their abilities to communicate and project a positive first impression. Driving records are checked over the internet through a State of Michigan MVR account, as are references. Applicants are screened for substance abuse problems. All employees acknowledge in writing at the inception of employment that they understand and agree to follow the operating policies as outlined in our Employee Conduct and Responsibilities Handbook concerning promptly and courteously assisting all customers in a friendly and efficient manner.

Employees receive rigorous instruction and training from a supervisor who acquaints them with the performance standards to which they would be expected to comply. We spend hours going over the many details of the operation. New employees will be oriented to their surroundings so they will be able to give directions and answer basic questions. The supervisor will carefully check to see that all employees adhere to MPC performance standards, including the wearing of a clean and complete uniform at all times. A clean, neat and well groomed attendant will make a favorable impression. A friendly smile, a helpful attitude, and an accurate answer to a direct question are extremely important factors in promoting a positive experience for everyone. We therefore constantly reinforce the importance of these qualities with our employees through training, supervision, and ongoing communication.

Our employees are awarded raises and promotions based on merit. We review their performance periodically as part of their ongoing training. Many of our employees have risen through the ranks, starting as cashiers or attendants and moving up to the supervisory level. We have an open door policy whereby all our employees are given an opportunity to communicate directly with one of the company owners.

Claims Handling Services

One of the things we explain to our employees in their training period is how to handle customers who ask questions or who have problems with their cars. Many people are disoriented, lost, or frustrated. We train our employees to be sensitive to their needs and situations. Our employees must give clear directions, and they must render speedy assistance when the situation calls for it, including jumping their dead batteries, folding their wheelchairs, searching for a "lost" car, loading their packages, and escorting them whenever asked.

Our managers are trained to fill out incident report forms whenever claims or complaints are made. We follow up all incident reports with the necessary phone calls and personal visits to resolve conflicts. We will often go to someone's house and look at a damage claim, take a photograph, or ask to see two damage estimates. James Miller will often get personally involved in handling these claims. Our company policy is to quickly and fairly settle or deny the claim. We keep the owner fully informed. If directed by the owner we will settle a claim even if not legally obligated to do so. We usually, however, do not pay for claims unless they involve bailment situations and we are negligent. In most self-park situations since there is no bailment there will be no liability unless we are proven to have acted negligently. We realize, however, that sometimes it is important to settle a small claim even if we are not responsible in order to "keep the customer happy".

Security Services

We stress the importance of security with all our employees, both in their training period, and throughout the course of their employment. Our employees are trained to listen, watch and report any incidents. Our cashiers and attendants will alert security whenever they see a suspicious person or activity. We will assist customers with dead batteries and customers who are locked out of their cars. We will drive a customer home if necessary to get a spare set of keys. We will go out of our way, as we do at our other facilities, to assist people in distress.

The risk of stolen cars is a constant source of our attention. Our valet attendants are trained to lock every vehicle they park and bring the keys back to a secure area. Our cashiers are also trained in how to handle potential stolen cars. One such situation is the so called "lost parking ticket". We get names, addresses, and phone numbers for all such transactions. We ask to see the vehicle registration for proof of ownership. These policies deter the potential thief from posing as the owner and driving it out of the lot for the mere price of parking.

Audit & Financial Controls

The key to the financial success of any parking facility is supervision and our ability to reliably and accurately account for vehicles and parking revenues. Parking is a cash-based business and prone to abuse unless it is supervised very carefully. Our control system centers on the issuance of a parking ticket for each transaction. We take a beginning and ending number for every shift and hold cashiers accountable for every ticket processed during their work period. Every cashier transaction must either be a paid transaction or properly validated. In self park situations there are meter readings that are taken simultaneously at the beginning and end of each shift which act as a backup to the ticketing system. The on-site manager constantly monitors the transactions and performs unannounced spot audits. We audit every shift report daily; we count and inspect all parking tickets, and we track every vehicle that uses the facility by means of vehicle detection loops and software. Inconsistencies or inaccuracies in cashier reports are noted and investigated immediately by our auditing and supervisory personnel.

Cashiers will turn in their own sealed envelopes on the premises. The envelopes will be picked up daily by armored courier (Brinks) and taken to their counting facility where it is processed into a Fed-ready state for the bank. The bank becomes the final authority as to what was actually deposited and the cashiers are fully accountable if any money is missing.

Expense Control

We have an administrative office staff that currently produces dozens of monthly statements, numerous statistics, and a weekly payroll for over 250 people. We audit dozens of cashier shift reports per day, thousands of daily parking transactions, and we perform the bookkeeping for nearly 100 separate parking facilities. When we incorporate the City of Oaklahoma City facilities into our overall operations there would be no need to reinvent the wheel since our existing office staff is already geared up to do many of the administrative tasks. All of our office systems, computers, and computer programs, which cost many thousands of dollars and are geared specifically to the parking business, would be provided at a fraction of what it would cost to provide from scratch.

As owners of parking properties we know from experience where to find the best buys for parking tickets, light bulbs, ballasts, forms, ribbons, and supplies. Our insurance agent, Mr. Steven Zack of Lubin, Schwartz and Goldman, shops every year for the best deal on liability and workers compensation insurance. We would continue to be as frugal in our buying for the City of Oaklahoma City as we are with our own properties. Whenever we buy something we would provide owners with a copy of the invoice showing exactly what was spent. Any expense over $500.00 would require prior owner approval. Additionally, we will endeavor to reduce operating expenses wherever feasible, such as minimizing payroll hours or installing equipment that minimizes payroll, but not at the expense of reduced customer service.

Need more information? Contact Us

	Center Garage, 414 Renaissance Dr. W., Detroit Self-park facility, the ticket machine issues the ticket to the customer at the entrance. Payment takes place with the cashier when the customer exits.