Transportation for care facilities.TrueStar sets up standing and one-off wheelchair and ambulatory routes for dialysis centers, nursing homes, group homes, adult day programs and hospital discharge planners across the Twin Cities metro. Private pay, billed direct, and every rate published on this website — so a coordinator can cost a run before making the first call.
- 4471059USDOT, with the insurance on the federal register
- 16 citieson the daily schedule, the seven-county metro on request
- 7am–7pm dailyand the dialysis runs leave before six, by arrangement
The runs we set up, and who books them.
Five kinds of schedule. All of them ride in the same vans, with the same drivers, off the same published card — what changes is who holds the calendar and how often it repeats.
Dialysis centers
Three mornings a week, the same chair times, the same driver. The schedule is built backwards from the chair time rather than from our convenience, and the standing runs leave before six when the shift needs them to — the published window is 7am–7pm daily, and earlier pickups are arranged.
Nursing homes and assisted living
Residents to specialist appointments, imaging, infusion and procedures, booked by whoever holds the calendar rather than by the family. Up to 3 additional riders travel at no extra charge, so an aide or a daughter comes along on the same fare.
Group homes and adult day programs
Program runs that repeat on the same days at the same times. One booking holds the slot until you change it, and the driver who runs it learns the building, the door that actually opens, and which resident needs the ramp.
Hospital discharge planning
A ride you can call when the paperwork is genuinely done instead of a window you have to guess at. Give us the hospital, the unit and the hour they expect to release, and the rider is met inside and walked to their own door at the other end.
Case managers and social workers
One-off appointments for a client on your caseload, quoted off the published card on the call. Nothing on this site is behind a form or a quote request, so a ride can be costed before you have authority to book it.
What you have to verify, and the one thing we cannot show you.
Most of this industry answers a vendor check with a phone call and a promise. Three of the four things below can be checked without taking our word for any of it. The fourth is where we are short, and it is printed rather than dressed up.
- 4471059Our USDOT number
A federal registration, not a badge we printed. The FMCSA company snapshot lists this company, its operating authority and its insurance on file — which is the document your vendor process is actually asking for, and it takes thirty seconds. Open the FMCSA register.
- 4certifications, every driver
First Aid, CPR, wheelchair securement and defensive driving — all of them current, and held by every driver rather than by a nominated one for the company. Securement is the one that matters on a February morning: it is the difference between a chair strapped to the floor of the van and a chair resting on it.
- $75 + $3published, dated, and the same for everyone
The card is on this website with the date it was last checked against what the dispatcher quotes — . There is no facility price list and no quote gate, so a run can be budgeted and approved before anyone dials. See the whole card.
- 3+years, and a short roster
Here is the part we cannot check for you: there is no wall of facility logos on this page because the facility side of this business is being built rather than displayed. Three years on the road, a handful of vans, and the person who answers the phone is the person who knows where they are. If a roster is what your process needs, say so on the call and we will tell you plainly what we have.
A facility pays what a family pays.
There is no facility price list, no volume tier and no quote gate. Three lines cover nearly every leg we drive, and holding a standing slot costs nothing on top of them.
| $75+ $3 a mile | Wheelchair, one wayRamp van. The chair is secured before it moves. |
|---|---|
| $50+ $2.50 a mile | Ambulatory, one wayWalking with a hand, a cane or a walker. |
| $100an hour | The driver waitsFlat, pickup to drop-off — one booking for a procedure instead of two dispatches. |
Miles are counted from the pickup address to the destination, never from our garage, and there is no zone map — a resident in Elk River is billed the same way as one in Plymouth. Loaded miles past the first 15 add $1 each.
A ride cancelled inside the hour before pickup is 10% of the fare; cancelling earlier is free, which is the rule a facility needs when a clinic moves an appointment. Card or Check at the door, and the invoice arrangement for a standing route is agreed on the same call that sets up the schedule.
A pickup outside 7am–7pm daily carries the late-hour 25%, as do weekends — so an early dialysis run is quoted above the card. Holidays add 50%, and the two never stack: the higher one applies.
| Base fare | $75 |
|---|---|
| 5 miles × $3 | $15 |
| There and back, base once | $105 |
| 3 mornings a week | $315 |
3 round trips a week, base fare once each morning, booked once, priced at the 7am–7pm daily window — a chair time before 7am carries the late-hour 25% on each leg, so ask for the figure with the real time in it. The arithmetic is otherwise the same on the fiftieth week as on the first.
Up to 3 riders travel at no extra charge — an aide goes with the resident on the same fare.
Setting a route up takes one call.
No portal, no onboarding packet, no account manager who is not the person driving the van.
You tell us the times
Addresses, chair or appointment times, and the days it repeats. A person takes it down — nothing is entered into a form.
We quote it off the card
Per leg, from the same figures printed above, on the call. You have a number to take to whoever approves it before anything is held.
The slot is held
Booked once and kept until you change it — no weekly phone call, no re-quoting, and no losing the time the treatment depends on.
The same driver runs it
They learn the building, the entrance that actually opens, and the resident. That is what a standing route buys that a dispatch queue cannot.
What we will turn down.
A vehicle that arrives and cannot load the resident costs you a missed appointment and costs us the relationship. So here is the list, before the first booking rather than at the door.
No stretcher, no gurney
We seat wheelchair and ambulatory riders only. A resident who has to travel lying down needs an ambulance or a stretcher van, and we will say so on the call rather than send a vehicle that cannot load them.
We do not supply oxygen
A rider who brings their own is welcome and always has been. We simply do not carry it, and no driver here manages it — there is no clinical care of any kind on board.
No behavioral health transports
Rides that need a trained escort or a secure vehicle are outside what this fleet runs. Wheelchair and ambulatory appointment transport is the whole service.
No child car seats
We do not supply them and cannot fit one, so a child who needs a seat is a ride we have to turn down.
No broker or waiver-program contracts
We are not in the broker networks and do not hold waiver-program contracts, so a run assigned through one is not a run we can take. Our arrangements are booked with the facility and billed direct at the card above. Where a resident’s rides are covered by Medical Assistance, the county agency or their health plan arranges them at no cost to the resident — worth checking before a facility pays for one.
None of this is an emergency service. We are registered with the federal government as a motor carrier, USDOT 4471059, not as an ambulance service — a resident who is deteriorating is a 911 call, and waiting for us is the wrong decision.
Asked by the person booking.
The questions coordinators, planners and case managers actually ask. Open a row for the rest — none of it changes when you dial.
14 answers
Do you work with nursing homes or group homes?Yes — facilities too.
Standing routes are set up the same way for adult day programs, group homes, assisted living and discharge planners as for a family: one call establishes the schedule, and the same driver runs it. A facility pays the published card — there is no separate facility price list.
Can a case manager or a facility book for a client?Yes — regularly.
Case managers, discharge planners, group homes, adult day programs and assisted living staff all book here. One call sets up a single ride or a standing route, and the invoice arrangement is agreed on the same call.
Standing routesDo I have to book every week?No. Once.
A standing slot is booked one time and held until you change it. No weekly phone call, no re-quoting, no losing the time you count on.
Standing routesDoes a standing slot cost extra?No. Ordinary rates.
Each leg is priced like any one-way: $50 ambulatory plus $2.50 a mile, or $75 wheelchair plus $3. Holding the slot costs nothing.
Is it the same driver every time?Yes.
The same driver takes the same run. They learn your door, your building, and your chair time — which is the point of a standing slot.
Can you make a 5:30 chair time?Yes, by arrangement.
The published window is 7am–7pm daily, earlier by arrangement — and the standing dialysis runs leave before six. If you need a 4am pickup, ask for one. A pickup outside 7am–7pm daily carries the late-hour 25%, so an early chair time is quoted with that in it.
How a dialysis week is pricedWhat if I skip a week?Tell us the day before.
Cancelling is free until an hour before pickup; inside that hour it is 10% of the fare. The slot itself stays yours either way.
Do you pick up after a hospital discharge?Yes — an ordinary booking.
Give us the hospital, the unit, and the time they expect to release you, then call when the paperwork is actually done. Walking or in a chair, you are met inside and walked to your own door at the other end.
Five options when nobody can collect youWhich dialysis centers do you run to?Any of them.
The centers in Maple Grove, New Hope, Golden Valley, Plymouth, Brooklyn Center, Champlin, Coon Rapids, Blaine and Elk River are on the weekly schedule, and so is any other one in the metro. Give us the address and your chair time and the slot is built around it, not the other way round.
How dialysis rides work hereAre you licensed?USDOT 4471059.
That is a federal registration number, not a badge we printed. Look it up in the FMCSA's own company snapshot and you will find this company, its authority and its insurance on file — which is a thing you can check about us in thirty seconds and cannot check about most of this industry.
Look up USDOT 4471059Are the drivers trained?Certified, four ways.
First Aid, CPR, wheelchair securement and defensive driving — every driver, not a nominated one. The securement certificate is the one that matters most on a February morning, and it is why the chair is strapped and checked before the van moves.
How do I pay?Card or check.
You or your family pay us directly for the ride you took, at the figure quoted on the call. Cash is not accepted. No account, no membership, no subscription.
Can you carry someone on a stretcher?No. That is an ambulance.
We seat wheelchair and ambulatory riders only. Bring your own oxygen and that is fine; we do not supply it. If a stretcher is what you need, we will say so on the phone rather than send a van that cannot take you.
Do you take behavioral health transports?No. Not this fleet.
Rides that need a trained escort or a secure vehicle are outside what we run, and we will tell you that on the phone rather than send a driver who cannot help. Wheelchair and ambulatory appointment transport is the whole service.
Tell us the chair times. We will build the week around them.
One call sets up a standing route or a single ride, quotes it off the card printed above, and agrees how it is invoiced. You will be talking to the operation that schedules the vans, not to a sales desk.
Have these ready
- The pickup address, and the clinic or building you are going to.
- The date and the appointment time.
- Wheelchair or ambulatory, and whether the chair is yours.
- Whether the driver should wait, or come back for you later.