SLOOP: Offering an Uber-Style Car Service for Kids and Their Busy Parents

By ALEXANDRIA BORDAS | Reporter

Professional ride service Sloop has hit the streets of Pacific Palisades to support the rising needs of busy families. CEO Jay McClary and co-founder Derrek Long launched Sloop online at the beginning of April.

Similar to Lyft and Uber, Sloop specializes in transportation services for busy parents who are pressed for time getting their kids to and from activities.

McClary used his 20 years of experience working in the tech and transportation industries to design Sloop. But it was feelings of frustration that initially inspired him.

“My wife and I were talking one night about our struggles with managing our busy schedules and that’s when I started working on Sloop part-time till it started to gain traction,” said McClary, who now works solely on Sloop.

The benefits of Sloop can be measured by this example: the majority of Palisadian parents spend every afternoon swerving in and out of traffic trying to get their kids to and from piano lessons, lacrosse practice, SAT tutoring and back to piano lessons all in the time span of four or five hours.

Family dinner can then become secondary due to time constraints and parents rarely get a minute to themselves. With a car service like Sloop, however, logistical issues are solved with the click of a button.

“Sloop is designed and built to serve parents with hectic lives. Most important to us is trust, safety and positively contributing to the Palisades community that we love so much,” McClary said.

When speaking about safety, McClary’s voice turned serious. Sloop asks for parent’s permission to trust their drivers with their most prized possessions – their kids.

“As a parent I know how important safety is,” he said. “The lengths we have gone to in order to ensure safety include thoroughly vetting each driver by conducting extensive background and reference checks, hiring drivers who have childcare experience, car inspections by licensed garages and drivers with impeccable driving records.”

Currently an online service, requesting a Sloop driver is simple. All parents have to do is enter their email address and zip code and then request a driver. Parents also have the option to choose a specific driver based on driver bios offered online.

“We also know parents like to have control of their child’s situation, so parents can track the whereabouts of their kids with our online maps so they know exactly when and where they get dropped off and picked up,” McClary said.

The entrepreneur added that his team is attending local community events to represent the face of Sloop and discuss it transparently with parents.

“It’s been great so far, we are really excited about this. We are still actively recruiting drivers and the starting pay is 25 dollars per hour,” McClary said.

Palisadian-Post readers can get one free ride with Sloop by entering the promo code “Pali Post” after registering online.

Sloop operates in the Palisades, Brentwood and Santa Monica, Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Register at: slooprides.com.