9 months of driving a cab

[Jetfire]

My city is small enough that our cabs don't even have Meters. (We also don't really have much in the way of traffic ). Instead we have defined zones. The city is divided into zones, with a set price to travel between the zones, and another for travel within the zone itself; though those zones aren't really known by anyone but the drivers and dispatch. When you get in, the driver will call dispatch, say where he's going and how many passengers he has. Dispatch will then say how much it will be.

Only time I've seen the zones explicitly outlined is out at the airport, to give new arrivals an idea of how much it will cost to get from the Airport to which area of the city.

IIRC it's about 8-12$ total to get from one end of the city to the other. 20$ to get to the airport. I usually round up to the nearest 5 or so, and add an extra 2 if we were close to the 5 to begin with.

[PepperElf]

Where's my gameboy?

that sucks. i'm glad they don't completely shaft you over but still... bleh.

Go on, ASK ME AGAIN!

WTF? When is that EVER a polite question during casual conversation?

If I have to pay, YOU have to pay

Yep cos technically the kid was stealing. Might only be less than a dollar but that can add up.

[Mikkel]

Wait, 48 hours/week? Who sets that limit, the company or the law? (I'm not clear on the law here so I go by the company's policy, which of course can't be any more permissive than the law allows.)

The 11 hours are Danish law, the max 48 is EU law.
The police check for the 11 hours rest sometimes, but I have never heard of anybody who got in trouble over the 48.
I drive 6x12 hours a week with Sunday off and are payed half I earn + tips. The owner get the other half and pay expenses on the car.
It is really impossible to make enough in just 48 hours.

[Javarod]

24s are what I do. I actually hold onto the cab for 48 hours at a time, usually. (Not today, though. Last night was "meh" and today was crap. Decided I was done for the day.) Green Cab Co's safety policy is 14 hours on, 6 off. If you go much over 14 hours, they can shut you down for the night (or day).

And I avoid cab stands. When people are using them, traffic is a bitch. When traffic is okay, no one uses the cab stands.



I don't know anything about that; I'm not a sports fan. We had the Fiesta Bowl on the 3rd; that was crazy busy... and just plain crazy. I got off the road mid-afternoon because it seemed like people were driving way crazier than usual. "Omigod the bowl game starts in five hours, better hurry or I'll be late!"

Nods, "Allstate didn't have any policy, i leased the cab weekly since it was the cheapest way to go, and then worked when i wanted to. Heck, even if i was going grocery shopping i took the cab, and would occasionally pick up flags on the way to the store, or on the way home."

"I was thinking along the lines of Mill when everyone lines up to grab fares, always thought it was more trouble than it was worth."

"I'm not a sports fan either, but i quickly learned that spring training is a good time to make money, the trick is not getting there too early or too late for obvious reasons. Get a copy of the Cactus League schedule, there are a lot of stadiums. Hohokam was my favorite because it had some of the best traffic control and layout (come down Center from McKellips, road becomes one way southbound at the stadium, cab parking is north side of the street facing north, looping around into the turning lane), though east valley is very competitive for cabs."

[Deserted]

My city is small enough that our cabs don't even have Meters. (We also don't really have much in the way of traffic ). Instead we have defined zones. The city is divided into zones, with a set price to travel between the zones, and another for travel within the zone itself; though those zones aren't really known by anyone but the drivers and dispatch. When you get in, the driver will call dispatch, say where he's going and how many passengers he has. Dispatch will then say how much it will be.
Only time I've seen the zones explicitly outlined is out at the airport, to give new arrivals an idea of how much it will cost to get from the Airport to which area of the city.

I've seen ONE company in town whose rates are advertised like that, but I don't know how they make it work. Green Cab Co has the valley divided into zones, too -- but that's strictly for determining which cabs get which calls.

IIRC it's about 8-12$ total to get from one end of the city to the other. 20$ to get to the airport. I usually round up to the nearest 5 or so, and add an extra 2 if we were close to the 5 to begin with.

Here... well, depends where you actually are. "One end of the city to the other" could be as short as a few miles, could be as much as 50... and that's just Phoenix proper; add in all the other towns and cities in the metro area and it could be well over a hundred miles. (100 miles = $212.95 on my meter)

Anyway, by law, our rates must be explicitly spelled out for the passenger in several places: on the outside of the cab in letters at least an inch tall, on the dashboard in a highly-legible manner, and the meter (which is inspected by the state Department of Weights & Measures, the same people in charge of things like gas pumps & postage scales) must be accurate.

Where's my gameboy?

that sucks. i'm glad they don't completely shaft you over but still... bleh.

I've talked with their main day driver a couple times since then. He says that guy is a bit of a flake, but maybe has some sort of "in" with the owner. Yay nepotism!

Go on, ASK ME AGAIN!

WTF? When is that EVER a polite question during casual conversation?

I think I'm going to go with "NEVER".

If I have to pay, YOU have to pay

Yep cos technically the kid was stealing. Might only be less than a dollar but that can add up.

Absolutely. The buses may be the cheapest way to cross town but they aren't free. (My aunt's a bus driver here. I should ask her how often this sort of thing happens.)

The 11 hours are Danish law, the max 48 is EU law.
The police check for the 11 hours rest sometimes, but I have never heard of anybody who got in trouble over the 48.

Again, I'm not sure what the law is -- I'll let the company worry about it and do as they tell me.

I drive 6x12 hours a week with Sunday off and are payed half I earn + tips. The owner get the other half and pay expenses on the car.
It is really impossible to make enough in just 48 hours.

I suppose it depends on your needs. My 42-56 hours/week more than cover my needs.

Nods, "Allstate didn't have any policy, i leased the cab weekly since it was the cheapest way to go, and then worked when i wanted to. Heck, even if i was going grocery shopping i took the cab, and would occasionally pick up flags on the way to the store, or on the way home."

When I have the cab I use it for shopping, but that's always at the end of my day... which can make things interesting if my driving ends between midnight and 5am. (Closest 24-hour grocery store to my home is 9 miles away.)

"I was thinking along the lines of Mill when everyone lines up to grab fares, always thought it was more trouble than it was worth."

Mill Ave, and Old Town Scottsdale (centered at Indian School & Scottsdale Rd), are Green Cab Co's two busiest area (and I suppose probably the same for everyone else too). I avoid those areas because every other cab driver goes there. If I'm in Old Town during the day, I usually start about 5 or 6 places down the list before it's my turn to get a call, and flags are almost non-existent. (Mill Ave is slightly better, but not that much.)

"I'm not a sports fan either, but i quickly learned that spring training is a good time to make money, the trick is not getting there too early or too late for obvious reasons. Get a copy of the Cactus League schedule, there are a lot of stadiums. Hohokam was my favorite because it had some of the best traffic control and layout (come down Center from McKellips, road becomes one way southbound at the stadium, cab parking is north side of the street facing north, looping around into the turning lane), though east valley is very competitive for cabs."

I actually tend to stay in the west side, regardless of what's going on that day. It's what I know (grew up in Glendale, mostly), it's where I'm most comfortable, and for the past few months, it's where my biz has been. (Green Cab Co seems to have problems getting drivers to go to Glendale, especially Sunday night. Fine by me, I'll take all the biz for myself.)

[Jetfire]

I've seen ONE company in town whose rates are advertised like that, but I don't know how they make it work. Green Cab Co has the valley divided into zones, too -- but that's strictly for determining which cabs get which calls.



Here... well, depends where you actually are. "One end of the city to the other" could be as short as a few miles, could be as much as 50... and that's just Phoenix proper; add in all the other towns and cities in the metro area and it could be well over a hundred miles. (100 miles = $212.95 on my meter)

Well my city is small; about 60k people in the main city, and 110k people in the greater area, so we don't have much traffic issues normally, (so not much waiting in traffic) and it only takes 10-15 minutes to get from one end of the city to the other, even if it's across the river (barring bridge problems). Fredericton could be dropped in the Phoenix sprawl and be easily lost, both in terms of number of people, and in terms of size. (Hell I think Phoenix is bigger than my entire province; New Brunswick is only about 800k people total and 500km from corner to corner, give or take a bit)

That's what lets the cab companies get away with a zone system here. That, and the fact that all of the cab companies use the same zone system, so everyone's on the same page so to speak. I think down in Moncton or Saint John they've changed over to metered fares, but here, the zone system is still maintained.

[Deserted]

Well my city is small; about 60k people in the main city, and 110k people in the greater area, so we don't have much traffic issues normally, (so not much waiting in traffic) and it only takes 10-15 minutes to get from one end of the city to the other, even if it's across the river (barring bridge problems). Fredericton could be dropped in the Phoenix sprawl and be easily lost, both in terms of number of people, and in terms of size. (Hell I think Phoenix is bigger than my entire province; New Brunswick is only about 800k people total and 500km from corner to corner, give or take a bit)

Well, NB is not quite 73,000 km^2 with 751k people in 2011, according to Wikpedia (The Web's Largest Source Of Disinformation(tm)), while Phoenix proper is a bit under 1400 km^2 with almost 1.47 million people, and the metro area is over 37,000 km^2 and more than 4.2 million idiots sucky customers walking paychecks people.

(The county's population is more than nearly half of the U.S. states, also according to WP.)

That's what lets the cab companies get away with a zone system here. That, and the fact that all of the cab companies use the same zone system, so everyone's on the same page so to speak. I think down in Moncton or Saint John they've changed over to metered fares, but here, the zone system is still maintained.

Green Cab Co's zones are completely different from Yellow Cab's, and those are the 2 biggest companies in the state. (At first glance, many look rather similar, but it's nowhere near a 1-on-1 match.)

Green Cab Co's system divides the area up into chunks: 100's are Phoenix proper and the west valley, 200's are Scottsdale (big money area), 300's are Tempe (university) and Mesa (2nd biggest city in the county), with outlying areas running between 10 & 85. (86 is almost entirely the airport (so it's mostly drop-n-go for me), 87 is next to that, and 90-99 are downtown Phoenix. I haven't asked where zones 1-9 are, if they exist at all, and I believe that zones 400+ are the Tucson area (Arizona's other large metro area, south-southeast of Phoenix). IIRC Yellow's zones just start in the far northwest at 100 and make a giant grid without taking city boundaries (or obstacles like rivers and mountains) into consideration.

[Javarod]

I've seen ONE company in town whose rates are advertised like that, but I don't know how they make it work. Green Cab Co has the valley divided into zones, too -- but that's strictly for determining which cabs get which calls.

Anyway, by law, our rates must be explicitly spelled out for the passenger in several places: on the outside of the cab in letters at least an inch tall, on the dashboard in a highly-legible manner, and the meter (which is inspected by the state Department of Weights & Measures, the same people in charge of things like gas pumps & postage scales) must be accurate.

Its prolly not a cab company, but a car service, they're not required to be metered nor have rates posted on the outside of the car (unless they're using cab stands, then its required to be permanently displayed on the right side of the car).

Don't forget to make sure your tires are properly inflated, you can get dinged for that.

[Cranky Cabbie]

Hi there fellow cabbie!

Thankfully I've never had any offers for "Favors" myself, not yet anyway. I do get people hitting on me on a regular basis, and even today picked up an old lady who, to put it nicely, was very grabby. One thing I have learned in my short time in this job is that for some reason people tell their cabbie EVERYTHING. I'm completely baffled as to why.

[wolfie]

One thing I have learned in my short time in this job is that for some reason people tell their cabbie EVERYTHING. I'm completely baffled as to why.

I have a couple theories:

1) Captive audience. Unlike other scenarios, you can't just leave. Even a bartender can take care of "side work" away from the customer's stool.

2) They've mistaken you for a bartender.

[Deserted]

Its prolly not a cab company, but a car service, they're not required to be metered nor have rates posted on the outside of the car (unless they're using cab stands, then its required to be permanently displayed on the right side of the car).

Um... no clue.

Don't forget to make sure your tires are properly inflated, you can get dinged for that.

The Prius tires are supposed to be filled only with nitrogen, so we do that as part of our checkout list.

If I check in with low tires, the yard attendant will make me air them up before checking in, and then they note the cab down to see if it's low again when checking back out.

(I keep them properly inflated for the gas mileage.)

Hi there fellow cabbie!

Howdy! Believe it or not, I was thinking about calling myself "Happy Cabbie" to contrast with you.

Thankfully I've never had any offers for "Favors" myself, not yet anyway. I do get people hitting on me on a regular basis, and even today picked up an old lady who, to put it nicely, was very grabby.

I had one lady like that... but she was so drunk she forgot her address, and turned a 1/2-mile trip into a 3-mile trip. Halfway there she just sorta leaned forward and wrapped her arms around me from the back seat. Awkward!

One thing I have learned in my short time in this job is that for some reason people tell their cabbie EVERYTHING. I'm completely baffled as to why.

I rather agree with wolfie; probably it's the whole "captive audience" thing. Or we're just the only ones who sit still long enough to hear the insanity come forth.

[Jester]

Seriously, though, wtf? I'm a driver. Tell those stories to your bartender.

Ex-CUSE me? I don't think so!

UP: Wait, did I say [1 mile away]? I meant [3 miles away]. Can we still do that for $5?

$5 will get you one mile. That's it. After that, you can hoof it, pal. Hey, at least you're a mile closer to where you wanna be.

What's that? You want to go three times as far as your money will allow? And you expect me to just do that for you? Get out of the cab. No. No cab for you! Come back one year!

Pax: How much money have you made today?

Enough to tell you to get the hell out of my cab if you ask me that again.

Hmmm, almost time for spring training, no? Hohokam field was always my favorite stadium for that.

Was always a fan of Scottsdale Stadium myself.

Nope, Jester personally. (Isn't that what bartenders are for anyway?)

[channeling Liam Neeson] I will look for you. I will find you. And I will kill you.

Next time, ask the cabbie for his personal number (or his card, if he has one) and then call him direct.

I've done this. Actually have a couple Key West cabbies' cell numbers in my phone. And have done this elsewhere, too....the cabbie who brought my friend and I to the concert in West Palm was so awesome, we asked for his number, and after the concert he picked us up and took us to a bar, and then later, he took us from the bar back to the hotel. Cool guy.

"I was thinking along the lines of Mill when everyone lines up to grab fares, always thought it was more trouble than it was worth."

Mill Avenue. *sigh* Now I'm homesick again.

I rather agree with wolfie; probably it's the whole "captive audience" thing. Or we're just the only ones who sit still long enough to hear the insanity come forth.

There's that, and there's also the fact that you deal with a lot of drunk people, who tend to talk. And on the west side, you probably deal with a good number of older folk, some of whom are starving for attention since their own family may be ignoring them, or they may be housebound or some such.

Of course, these are merely guesses, as I've never actually driven a cab, and all my experiences in cabs are as a passenger.

Until, of course, I look for you, find you, and kill you. But that can wait.

For now.

[Deserted]

Seriously, though, wtf? I'm a driver. Tell those stories to your bartender.

Ex-CUSE me? I don't think so!

I was cackling like a loon while reading this entire post.

$5 will get you one mile. That's it. After that, you can hoof it, pal. Hey, at least you're a mile closer to where you wanna be.

What's that? You want to go three times as far as your money will allow? And you expect me to just do that for you? Get out of the cab. No. No cab for you! Come back one year!

I'm a pushover, I'll admit it. Besides, once she was in the cab I accepted the call, it didn't really matter. 1 mile, 3 miles, my cost is about the same.

Pax: How much money have you made today?

Enough to tell you to get the hell out of my cab if you ask me that again.

Amen to that.

Hmmm, almost time for spring training, no? Hohokam field was always my favorite stadium for that.

Was always a fan of Scottsdale Stadium myself.

Green Cab Co actually has an exclusive contract at the Glendale stadium; we're the only company that can pick up there. (We've got the stadium, Yellow has the airport... I rather think Yellow wins, there.)

Nope, Jester personally. (Isn't that what bartenders are for anyway?)

[channeling Liam Neeson] I will look for you. I will find you. And I will kill you.

Next time, ask the cabbie for his personal number (or his card, if he has one) and then call him direct.

I've done this. Actually have a couple Key West cabbies' cell numbers in my phone. And have done this elsewhere, too....the cabbie who brought my friend and I to the concert in West Palm was so awesome, we asked for his number, and after the concert he picked us up and took us to a bar, and then later, he took us from the bar back to the hotel. Cool guy.

Most successful cabbies are nice guys. Jerks don't get tipped very well, if at all, and find it hard to show a profit.

Mill Avenue. *sigh* Now I'm homesick again.

I believe I already mentioned that I tend to avoid Mill (and the heart of Old Town Scottsdale). Too much competition for not enough money.

I rather agree with wolfie; probably it's the whole "captive audience" thing. Or we're just the only ones who sit still long enough to hear the insanity come forth.

There's that, and there's also the fact that you deal with a lot of drunk people, who tend to talk. And on the west side, you probably deal with a good number of older folk, some of whom are starving for attention since their own family may be ignoring them, or they may be housebound or some such.

If they're truly housebound, odds are I never see them -- they're more likely to call the wheelchair cabs than me.

But yeah, lots of lonely Sun City-ers. I found this story not long after I started driving.

Of course, these are merely guesses, as I've never actually driven a cab, and all my experiences in cabs are as a passenger.

Pretty good guesses, really.

Until, of course, I look for you, find you, and kill you. But that can wait.

For now.

[Jester]

I'm a pushover, I'll admit it. Besides, once she was in the cab I accepted the call, it didn't really matter. 1 mile, 3 miles, my cost is about the same.

It's not about your cost. It's about their Asshole Tax, Idiot Penalty, or whatever you want to call it.

Green Cab Co actually has an exclusive contract at the Glendale stadium; we're the only company that can pick up there. (We've got the stadium, Yellow has the airport... I rather think Yellow wins, there.)

Hell yeah. Business-wise, they definitely do.

Most successful cabbies are nice guys. Jerks don't get tipped very well, if at all, and find it hard to show a profit

My basic philosophy about food service. I've never understood people in my line of work who are assholes to their customers. And I'm not talking about someone having a bad day, I'm talking about the people who are generally just rude, mean, and obnoxious with the people who are paying for the "pleasure" of being served by this person.

Usually when this type of people is my coworker, I hear them complaining about how little they got tipped on this table or that table, or how little they made that shift. And all I can think is, "Gee, can't imagine why THAT might be!"

I believe I already mentioned that I tend to avoid Mill (and the heart of Old Town Scottsdale). Too much competition for not enough money.

Oh, as a cabbie, I can totally understand that. I wouldn't want to go near Mill, either.

But I'm not a cabbie. I'm a drunk, and I'm from Tempe. Mill is my old stomping grounds, and I love it. Even with many of my old favorite places being a distant memory, there are still many cool places that are there that have become my new favorites, such as Bison Witches and Rula Bula.

But yeah, lots of lonely Sun City-ers. I found this story not long after I started driving.

Yeah, I've seen that story before, and I am not even slightly ashamed to admit that every time I read it, it brings a tear to my eye and my heart. You ever get anything like that? I know that in all four of my major "careers" (waiter, bartender, DJ, magician), there have been some special moments that were things I never expected and that touched my heart. Maybe not on the level of the linked story, but special and heart-warming nonetheless.

A quick example is the best tip I ever got in over a decade of doing magic professionally. I had done magic at a table in the where I plied my trade, and at the table had been an adorable little girl, about 5 or 6 years old. She had been enthralled by my magic, which in itself is pretty special, but her party was on the way out of the restaurant. I happened to be walking by the exit, and saw this little girl push the door open, then stop, pausing and looking back. And then, out of nowhere, she bolted right for me, wrapping her arms around my leg, giving me a great big hug. I was slightly embarrassed, but more than that, I was deeply, deeply touched, as clearly I had brought something special into her life, something that transcended mere card tricks, at least to her.

Not all tips are money. That little girl gave me the best tip I ever got as a magician, hands down.