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Drive a taxi. It's fun. Really.
May 21, 2003
Remember not to be 10 months late with your yearly TLC driver drug-test.
Every so often my hack roommate would mention that he had skipped his yearly drug screen, which, since the TLC went to a 2-year license, isn't impossible to do. Trouble was, he knew he had, yet felt like telling me about it instead of actually taking the test.
Of course, the TLC woke up one day and hammered his ass with a suspension. He spent over a week out of work getting his shit together. The moral of the story is, (see above).
Every so often my hack roommate would mention that he had skipped his yearly drug screen, which, since the TLC went to a 2-year license, isn't impossible to do. Trouble was, he knew he had, yet felt like telling me about it instead of actually taking the test.
Of course, the TLC woke up one day and hammered his ass with a suspension. He spent over a week out of work getting his shit together. The moral of the story is, (see above).
May 13, 2003
The taxi I've been driving since Sept 2002 developed a case of the shakes over the winter. It would run fine for 10 minutes, then decide to behave like a slug, acceleration-wise. At idle (red lights) it shuddered, as if one of the spark plugs wasn't firing. When pushed, it would send up a gust of rotten egg exhaust you wouldn't believe. In short, it wasn't running quite right. However, drivers who work for my garage realize when difficult problems involving engine emissions get solved: taxi inspection time! Yes, 3 times a year by the Taxi & Limousine Commission. I'll ditch my normal grab-bag of insults for the TLC for the moment.
Inspection for this taxi, 3G15, is due by May 28, 2003. It will fail spectacularly. While driving Mr. 3G15 last night I found myself simultaneously accelerating heavily and glancing into the rear-view mirror (don't ask). I saw a plume of nasty particles following my taxi that could only be described as wicked impressive. It was so cool that I attempted to replicate it. It wasn't difficult. The cab is way messed up, and both the day guy and I's tentative hypothesis about the nature/cause of the original problem is probably correct: the catalytic converter got clogged/fouled, and has now pretty much ceased being any kind of factor, besides applying excessive back-pressure on the engine (thus the shaking, lame acceleration and lousy gas mileage).
I'm hoping that it isn't anything more involved than that. You may be surprised at how decrepit a taxi can get after only 55,000 miles. Beside some electrical problems involving the power-window control console and some initial 'sleepy meter' problems, 3G15 has been more or less excellent. This emissions problem has been annoying, but hopefully they'll finally fix it, since they can't fake a clean-running car. The days of corruption at TLC inspection are long gone.
Inspection for this taxi, 3G15, is due by May 28, 2003. It will fail spectacularly. While driving Mr. 3G15 last night I found myself simultaneously accelerating heavily and glancing into the rear-view mirror (don't ask). I saw a plume of nasty particles following my taxi that could only be described as wicked impressive. It was so cool that I attempted to replicate it. It wasn't difficult. The cab is way messed up, and both the day guy and I's tentative hypothesis about the nature/cause of the original problem is probably correct: the catalytic converter got clogged/fouled, and has now pretty much ceased being any kind of factor, besides applying excessive back-pressure on the engine (thus the shaking, lame acceleration and lousy gas mileage).
I'm hoping that it isn't anything more involved than that. You may be surprised at how decrepit a taxi can get after only 55,000 miles. Beside some electrical problems involving the power-window control console and some initial 'sleepy meter' problems, 3G15 has been more or less excellent. This emissions problem has been annoying, but hopefully they'll finally fix it, since they can't fake a clean-running car. The days of corruption at TLC inspection are long gone.
May 10, 2003
The overlords/industry lapdogs at the Taxi & Limousine Commission appear to have been working overtime on their website. They have posted a redesigned taxi information sticker. Also of interest, a chart of the value of a taxi medallion over the past 30 years. Oh my. Multiply the 1998 value (don't worry, the 2003 value is around the same) by 12,187 and you've got quite a bit of government-created & supported inertia to work around ($2.7 Billion). I guess reform will have to be put off for, say, forever, because the only folks interested in it are the laborers, and gee, how does that work for the medallion owners? More importantly, how does reform work for the taxi-riding public? What would be reformed? And how much more would it add on to the average fare?
What do drivers want, anyway?
Well, a great example of the current state of affairs in taxi-driverland is the drivers' overall reaction to a proposed fare increase, coming as it does on the heels of an increase in the price of a) a slice of pizza, and b) mass transit fares. Overall, it ranges from ambivalence to outright opposition.
Then who proposed the fare increase? Well, two groups, actually, with different priorities, and proposals to match. I'll deal with only one today, 'cause I'm tired. This would be the MTBOT, short for Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade. The MTBOT is simply a cabal of large fleet owners. In years gone by, these taxi fleets dominated the industry, and as a result, more or less got what they wanted. These days, the MTBOT's power is not nearly what it was, because the fleet owners managed to piss away their medallions, even after getting just about anything they asked for. Once, over 50 percent of medallions were run by the fleets. The figure is now under 20 percent, and declining.
To be short, the MTBOT's proposal likely would not benefit anyone except medallion owners. Yes, being a medallion owner counts for something, I'm sure. However, since I'm one of the guys/gals doing the actual work, let me sum up their intentions: a nearly transparent attempt to justify an increase in lease fees paid by drivers without a shred of regard for whether or not the average driver would earn a dime more on any given day (or night).
Since I'm already infuriated by my garage's pricing 'policies' (I'm being very generous with that term), I have little to say at the moment about how much worse it could get, specifically. The last increase, in early 1996, was dropped into a New York City economy that was about to go on a major roll. Coupled with the creation and auction (by the city) of 400 brand-new medallions (an action not taken in 60+ years), the net effect had the feeling of treading water. Since I had only been driving a taxi a year at that point, I took it on faith that a fare increase was a good thing. The garage wanted more money for the taxi, but it was OK. After all, I wasn't making less!
You can probably guess my next statement: This stuff matters now. Dropping 900 (proposed) new medallion taxicabs and a fare increase (with associated lease fee hike to driver) into a city staggering under a wacked economy will kill the drivers in 2 obvious ways.
1) More medallion taxicabs equals more competition between drivers. Ergo, less apparent business. (Please save the 'I can't get a taxi at 4:30pm!!!' whine. They'd have to double the # of medallions to meet peak demand.)
2) Taxi fare increases provoke feelings of disgust and loathing amongst the riding public. I know, I've seen it first-hand. I don't care about that. What I care about is that this time, they'll abandon us not because of some crusade against 'those high-roller cabbies', but because they may simply stop trying to justify spending their hard-earned scratch on a cab. Assuming they even *have* a job.
And that's all for today. I wrote way more than I intended, and wasn't entertaining at all, either. Poop.
What do drivers want, anyway?
Well, a great example of the current state of affairs in taxi-driverland is the drivers' overall reaction to a proposed fare increase, coming as it does on the heels of an increase in the price of a) a slice of pizza, and b) mass transit fares. Overall, it ranges from ambivalence to outright opposition.
Then who proposed the fare increase? Well, two groups, actually, with different priorities, and proposals to match. I'll deal with only one today, 'cause I'm tired. This would be the MTBOT, short for Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade. The MTBOT is simply a cabal of large fleet owners. In years gone by, these taxi fleets dominated the industry, and as a result, more or less got what they wanted. These days, the MTBOT's power is not nearly what it was, because the fleet owners managed to piss away their medallions, even after getting just about anything they asked for. Once, over 50 percent of medallions were run by the fleets. The figure is now under 20 percent, and declining.
To be short, the MTBOT's proposal likely would not benefit anyone except medallion owners. Yes, being a medallion owner counts for something, I'm sure. However, since I'm one of the guys/gals doing the actual work, let me sum up their intentions: a nearly transparent attempt to justify an increase in lease fees paid by drivers without a shred of regard for whether or not the average driver would earn a dime more on any given day (or night).
Since I'm already infuriated by my garage's pricing 'policies' (I'm being very generous with that term), I have little to say at the moment about how much worse it could get, specifically. The last increase, in early 1996, was dropped into a New York City economy that was about to go on a major roll. Coupled with the creation and auction (by the city) of 400 brand-new medallions (an action not taken in 60+ years), the net effect had the feeling of treading water. Since I had only been driving a taxi a year at that point, I took it on faith that a fare increase was a good thing. The garage wanted more money for the taxi, but it was OK. After all, I wasn't making less!
You can probably guess my next statement: This stuff matters now. Dropping 900 (proposed) new medallion taxicabs and a fare increase (with associated lease fee hike to driver) into a city staggering under a wacked economy will kill the drivers in 2 obvious ways.
1) More medallion taxicabs equals more competition between drivers. Ergo, less apparent business. (Please save the 'I can't get a taxi at 4:30pm!!!' whine. They'd have to double the # of medallions to meet peak demand.)
2) Taxi fare increases provoke feelings of disgust and loathing amongst the riding public. I know, I've seen it first-hand. I don't care about that. What I care about is that this time, they'll abandon us not because of some crusade against 'those high-roller cabbies', but because they may simply stop trying to justify spending their hard-earned scratch on a cab. Assuming they even *have* a job.
And that's all for today. I wrote way more than I intended, and wasn't entertaining at all, either. Poop.
May 07, 2003
The news: My roommate, who is also a taxi driver, looks to be getting serious about purchasing his own taxi. He seems to think that it would solve a raft of problems. To me, it looks to be a recipe for disaster. But then again, I've largely disposed of the notion that I'd be getting ahead in the world by driving a taxi more often. I have my reasons, which I've been more than happy to share with him.
But he is not dissuaded by the incredible clarity of my logic, because he is a taxi driver. Here's one theory about this job, one of many. Almost anyone can be a taxi driver. Pay your fees, get your hack license, and get to work. However, a *good* taxi driver tends to be almost insufferably opinionated. Why? Well, like most jobs, driving a taxi lnvolves making decisions about what to do and how best to execute it. However, there are no set rules, or even guidelines, about what might constitute a job well done. How is it measured? Those decisions are made by the taxi driver, unless preempted by the customer. They are made with the implicit understanding that 'a job well done', as far as a taxi ride goes, means different things to different people. So it would follow, then, that decisiveness is a good trait in a taxi driver. Apparent indecision is not rewarded with blind confidence in New York City.
But that attitude doesn't necessarily help a driver in non-taxi situations. (It'd help me, sure! But I'll get to that later.)
To me, one of the last remaining advantages of driving a yellow cab is the ability to make my own schedule. If I wanted to work every day for the next 4 months, nobody would say 'Stop'. If I dropped off the face of the earth and suddenly reappeared at my garage four months later, they'd send me to work. And every scenario in between. Such is the apparent miracle of the leasing arrangement. The taxi garage has little practical interest in its drivers, for it does not write the paychecks. We write our own. We employ our former employers (of another age, more on that later).
So, from that standpoint, taking out a loan on a new taxi ($30,000) and leasing a medallion (the right to pick up street hails) puts a driver in a must-work situation, regardless of whether all the other bills are paid. It's another thing to worry about. In fact, it just might become the main thing.
And when you're finished paying off the taxi, you are still leasing the medallion. The medallion is the only equity worth having in the industry. Everything else is chaff and vapor. If you're no closer to a medallion, then you've accomplished nothing worth knowing about. That's not intended as an endorsement of the medallion system. It's simply how it is.
However, my roommate is of the opinion that the money will outweigh this factor and all the others I haven't named yet. OK. He's not yet 40, in good health, with his wife and daughter currently back in his country of origin. Nothing much to do but work, I guess, right?
If he was completely devoid of ideas and interests, sorely lacking in motivation, intelligence, wisdom, you name it, I'd not care a whit if he drove 18 hours a day, 7 days a week. After all, he'd be doing what he's capable of doing. No harm there.
But he is capable of more. So sealing himself in a yellow coffin is just a delaying tactic. This intelligent man is gambling on sharply declining odds of 'success' greater than if he just stayed at the garage, options open. I hope he makes out like a bandit.
But he is not dissuaded by the incredible clarity of my logic, because he is a taxi driver. Here's one theory about this job, one of many. Almost anyone can be a taxi driver. Pay your fees, get your hack license, and get to work. However, a *good* taxi driver tends to be almost insufferably opinionated. Why? Well, like most jobs, driving a taxi lnvolves making decisions about what to do and how best to execute it. However, there are no set rules, or even guidelines, about what might constitute a job well done. How is it measured? Those decisions are made by the taxi driver, unless preempted by the customer. They are made with the implicit understanding that 'a job well done', as far as a taxi ride goes, means different things to different people. So it would follow, then, that decisiveness is a good trait in a taxi driver. Apparent indecision is not rewarded with blind confidence in New York City.
But that attitude doesn't necessarily help a driver in non-taxi situations. (It'd help me, sure! But I'll get to that later.)
To me, one of the last remaining advantages of driving a yellow cab is the ability to make my own schedule. If I wanted to work every day for the next 4 months, nobody would say 'Stop'. If I dropped off the face of the earth and suddenly reappeared at my garage four months later, they'd send me to work. And every scenario in between. Such is the apparent miracle of the leasing arrangement. The taxi garage has little practical interest in its drivers, for it does not write the paychecks. We write our own. We employ our former employers (of another age, more on that later).
So, from that standpoint, taking out a loan on a new taxi ($30,000) and leasing a medallion (the right to pick up street hails) puts a driver in a must-work situation, regardless of whether all the other bills are paid. It's another thing to worry about. In fact, it just might become the main thing.
And when you're finished paying off the taxi, you are still leasing the medallion. The medallion is the only equity worth having in the industry. Everything else is chaff and vapor. If you're no closer to a medallion, then you've accomplished nothing worth knowing about. That's not intended as an endorsement of the medallion system. It's simply how it is.
However, my roommate is of the opinion that the money will outweigh this factor and all the others I haven't named yet. OK. He's not yet 40, in good health, with his wife and daughter currently back in his country of origin. Nothing much to do but work, I guess, right?
If he was completely devoid of ideas and interests, sorely lacking in motivation, intelligence, wisdom, you name it, I'd not care a whit if he drove 18 hours a day, 7 days a week. After all, he'd be doing what he's capable of doing. No harm there.
But he is capable of more. So sealing himself in a yellow coffin is just a delaying tactic. This intelligent man is gambling on sharply declining odds of 'success' greater than if he just stayed at the garage, options open. I hope he makes out like a bandit.
May 01, 2003
Welcome to the blog. I can't believe you'd read such drivel, but I'll try to be semi-entertaining.
The purpose of the blog is to provide an outlet for this driver's observations about his job. I'll make little to no pretense to omniscience here; the pursuit and revelation of objective knowledge of 'taxi' a) is covered somewhat by other sources; and b) might well be the subject of a free-standing website of my own in the future.
See? That last paragraph was lame! What a bunch of crap! No, I know *everything* about this job. Believe only me, everyone else is totally lying to you. They know nothing and revel in ignorance like the ass-clowns they are.
The purpose of the blog is to provide an outlet for this driver's observations about his job. I'll make little to no pretense to omniscience here; the pursuit and revelation of objective knowledge of 'taxi' a) is covered somewhat by other sources; and b) might well be the subject of a free-standing website of my own in the future.
See? That last paragraph was lame! What a bunch of crap! No, I know *everything* about this job. Believe only me, everyone else is totally lying to you. They know nothing and revel in ignorance like the ass-clowns they are.
