I took the picture of the United Cab emblem yesterday. As I was leaving a driver was going into the office and we got into conversation. He claimed that it is a little slow. Now this was Saturday afternoon and there were about 20 cabs in the lot. He told me thata if it weren't for his specials he would have a problem. Now that brings us to specials. Before I got sick I had a few specials. What my co-host and Tim from Taxi Shots call left handed specials. Two that come to mind were Pedro, whom Tim mentioned in his blog and Frank. I picked Pedro up at 6:00am every morning, Monday thru Friday. I took him to work at the Woodlands Center on Waters, the fare was 13.00 + but he gave me 15.00. Now this is in Town and Country almost anyway and I live in Town and Country, but I don't work in that area. On my way back Frank would call and I would take him to work downtown. Another 14.00. You are thinking hell not much. Take off your shoes and count. 29.00 a day, for 5 day=145.00 a week X 50 weeks., Oh yeah, 7250.00. Nice left handed specials. Then Susan would call me a couple of times a week, she was in the medical field and would go to the airport for 25.00, thats 50.00 more a week, I had been taking her for 6 years. I am the only one she would ever call. Why because I was dependable and safe. Could I make a living out there with the gas price like it is. Damn right. Would I sit in those long airport lines, hell no. My system was very simple, I had goals set for the day. When I met those goals, no matter what time it was I went home. They used to have a hit list, drivers that hadn't dropped their lease by 10:00am. To this day I can't understand that. In 24 hours can't make 95.00, maybe they are in the wrong line of work. I would get to McDill and Kennedy and park in the Bank of Ameria parking lot at 4am and wait for calls. Maybe talk to Tim from Taxi shots. From 6am until quiting time, usually around 11:00 am I would be around the Burger King at Dale Mabry and Columbus. I did that for 8 years. By working 7 days a week and no more than 6 or 7 hours a day. It worked for me. Driving a taxi was a great way to make a living and get fat. UC157 Larry
I took the picture of the United Cab emblem yesterday. As I was leaving a driver was going into the office and we got into conversation. He claimed that it is a little slow. Now this was Saturday afternoon and there were about 20 cabs in the lot. He told me thata if it weren't for his specials he would have a problem. Now that brings us to specials. Before I got sick I had a few specials. What my co-host and Tim from Taxi Shots call left handed specials. Two that come to mind were Pedro, whom Tim mentioned in his blog and Frank. I picked Pedro up at 6:00am every morning, Monday thru Friday. I took him to work at the Woodlands Center on Waters, the fare was 13.00 + but he gave me 15.00. Now this is in Town and Country almost anyway and I live in Town and Country, but I don't work in that area. On my way back Frank would call and I would take him to work downtown. Another 14.00. You are thinking hell not much. Take off your shoes and count. 29.00 a day, for 5 day=145.00 a week X 50 weeks., Oh yeah, 7250.00. Nice left handed specials. Then Susan would call me a couple of times a week, she was in the medical field and would go to the airport for 25.00, thats 50.00 more a week, I had been taking her for 6 years. I am the only one she would ever call. Why because I was dependable and safe. Could I make a living out there with the gas price like it is. Damn right. Would I sit in those long airport lines, hell no. My system was very simple, I had goals set for the day. When I met those goals, no matter what time it was I went home. They used to have a hit list, drivers that hadn't dropped their lease by 10:00am. To this day I can't understand that. In 24 hours can't make 95.00, maybe they are in the wrong line of work. I would get to McDill and Kennedy and park in the Bank of Ameria parking lot at 4am and wait for calls. Maybe talk to Tim from Taxi shots. From 6am until quiting time, usually around 11:00 am I would be around the Burger King at Dale Mabry and Columbus. I did that for 8 years. By working 7 days a week and no more than 6 or 7 hours a day. It worked for me. Driving a taxi was a great way to make a living and get fat. UC157 Larry
1 comment:
You are absolutely right Larry. Specials(we call 'em P.C.S her in Pinellas) are a big help when it is slow. A good example is a guy I ride every 2 months who flies in from Geneva. He calls me when he gets to town and I pick him up at the Don Cesar monday morning and take him to North St. Pete. Being a generous tipper he tells me to run his credit card for the whole week. Thats 50 bucks twice a day for 5 days...500 bucks!!! that is almost my lease here. A few more trips a week to restaurants and back is at least 100 more. He flies out of Orlando airport Saturday afternoon but prefers a towncar, so I hook up with a Mttrocar driver who gives me a good "kickback". This adds up to at least 6 bills a week, just a drop in the bucket for this guy who tells me his cell phone bill is at least 3000 a month. WOW!!! As for shorter specials here in Pinellas with the Computer dispatch we can run them off the meter and stay booked in and not lose our out. One of the many benefits of the computer, but believe me it has its downsides as well. Short specials usually understand if you are busy and have a few other drivers direct number as well. They call Me, just like they called YOU because we are dependable,personable, and appreciate the fact that they hand up money over the back seat for riding around and enjoying it. It certainly beats a real job and has been good to me for 10 years. My specials ALWAYS pay my lease and then some. So, that driver was right on...As slow as it is they make my day a LOT easier!!! That is why some drivers, especially the newbies can't make it out there. Good post Larry!!!
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