INDUSTRY IN REVIEW

By Don McCurdy

So what is a good idea?

It’s been reported that St. Petersburg, Florida has had 16 robberies and two drivers murdered this year, so far. In a meeting with company reps and drivers, Major Mike Puetz, speaking for the St. Petersburg police department is reported to have said, "We don't think carrying a firearm in a cab is a good idea", which, in my sick mind, begs the question, what is a good idea Mike?

Bulls eyes on the backs of the drivers' heads perhaps? Why is it that police departments view the exercise of our Second Amendment rights as some kind of Bozo no no? If the state of Florida issues a driver a permit to carry a concealed weapon how is that “not a good idea” for operators of one of the most dangerous occupations know to exist? Is it the old “they could take it away and use it on you” logic?

Tragically, we recently had a police officer here in Houston murdered with his own weapon and there wasn’t an outcry to disarm the police in order to better protect them. How often does this situation occur? How often does a licensed handgun carrier prevent violence to himself or others? Fact is that we have no idea on either count, although I suspect that the later is more prevalent than the former.

Let’s look at the facts.The police cannot protect taxicab drivers. Drivers go into neighborhoods that police won’t without backup. They’re known to carry cash, they’re alone, and they’ll come to you. Who could ask for a better robbery victim? I believe, like I’ve always believed, drivers should have a choice. And, so should police officers. Feel free to leave your weapon at home any time you like, Major Mike, I know I’ll feel safer.

But seriously folks…

Normally I stick to the North American market, but this blurb from Walsall, England was just too funny to pass up. It’s been reported that new and existing drivers in Walsall with be required to have a 15 minute conversation with regulators to prove that they can keep a passenger “entertained on a journey”.

I immediately had a flash back to an episode of Taxi when Jim Ignatowski started singing a Frank Sinatra tune to one of his passengers. No mention was made of geography requirements or driving skill in the Walsall, England requirement which amazed me to no end. So, I have a quick question, how can you tell when the City Council has too much time on its hands? Hopefully, we can rule out dancers, stand up comics, acrobats, and animal trainers as proper entertainers for cab driving.

Strike, strike, strike!

Well, it’s Nashville taxicab drivers who are striking now. While it hasn’t done much in the rest of the country this time it might be different. Well, at least they have a viable beef.

According to reports, Allied Cab is charging a sublease fee while other local companies do not. Personally, I’ve been against sublease fees since I was a driver and find them to be counter productive from a service and financial standpoint.

What exactly is a sublease fee? A sublease fee is a charge that companies put on owner/drivers when they want to lease their cab to a night or relief driver. Some companies attempt to collect another full lease from owners wanting to put a second driver on their car. Nothing quite like unvarnished greed. When this occurs the results, from a service standpoint, end up being poor service usually affecting night service since owners are discouraged from putting a second driver on their car as there will be no profit in it for them.

My experience has been that such fees are counter productive for the owner/drivers and for the company: the owner/drivers in that they cannot profit from the utilization of their asset, the company in that the financial health of their owner/drivers is critical to the financial health of the company.

I’ve seen the financial statements of companies both with and without a sublease fee and can say without reservation that a sublease fee stifles the growth of the company. I have to wonder how many lost owner/drivers it will take to convince Allied of the error of their ways? No doubt they will weather the storm, but let there be enough noise and the city will “help” in resolving the issue. I’m sure the cure won’t be as bad as the disease, but it certainly could be.

A rose by any other name…

Brookline, Massachusetts is reported to be considering a switch to a medallion system, as are other cities. Conservative estimates are that they could get as much as $65,000 per medallion. Personally, I think that it should be called what it is, a taxi tax.

Why not require every business in Brookline to get a $65,000 business license? Because you couldn’t get away with that. Brookline politicians see Boston and New York City collect huge fees for medallions and ask themselves, hey, where’s our cut? They have absolutely no idea of the magnitude of the yoke they are putting around the neck of the local industry. Why should they care, it’s not their business. All they see is a way for them to cover up their mismanagement of the city’s finances.

When you don’t have the money to afford something you can either do without or steal it from someone else. So the city has decided to steal it from the taxi industry. Suddenly a license that cost a few bucks last year costs $65,000 this year. Who is going to pay for that? Who is going to pay the interest on the notes that will surely be necessary to cover the outlay that the industry will have to produce? The citizens will. Fares will have to be increased to cover the increased operating costs.

Money doesn’t just appear. The good citizens of Brookline will be paying the taxi tax forever while the $12 million the “city leaders” hope to gain from the sale is already spent. Instead of just owning up to the fact that they’ve overspent the “city leaders” are sneaking in a back door tax that they will most certainly herald as a “windfall” for the city. Pathetic.

Sorry, you didn’t dot that i,

According to sources in Denver the local upstart taxi company filed their request for a license too early. The new law easing restrictions on new Colorado taxicab companies is reported to have taken effect on August 3rd, which means that Union Cab filed too early and will have to start all over.

Gotta love bureaucrats. So much for the idea of “fast tracking” their application. I guess you have to understand that when you are dealing with a government agency there is no such thing as “fast tracking”. When it comes to fast action by government agencies, well, it doesn’t come to fast action by government agencies. So, I’m a little confused here.

Did the law say that you couldn’t consider applications prior to August 3rd or is this an interpretation of the new law? If so, who interpreted it? The intent of the law was quite clear and no doubt will be delayed by the same bureaucracy that has been stifling the industry for years. But, hey, at least they’re consistent.

It passed, it passed!

The Seattle City Council is reported to have passed a new ordinance governing taxicabs. While the politicians are beating their chests about, yawn, the “green” aspects which is so much in vogue in the political world a true taxi industry junkie like myself couldn’t help but notice the modified method of license distribution.

Apparently any new licenses will be issued to taxicab drivers who must drive 30 hours a week for 40 weeks in the year. At least, that’s the current story as I’ve gotten it. The new license holders will be allowed, contrary to a previous article of mine, to lease out their green machine in their off hours making the entire proposition a lot more feasible in my mind.

The companies, who now hold the permits valued at around 100k each, are reported to have said the new ordinance is “unnecessary and onerous”. Duh, no doubt, especially the part where they don’t get the new licenses. There were a few alarm bells for me in the report though. Like the verbiage “through a lottery or public bidding” as a method of choosing who gets the permits.

What exactly does “public bidding” mean? If it means that anyone off the street can put their name in the hat to get a license then I would have to say they missed the mark a bit. How about you start with anyone who has been an active driver for 5 years as a bid criteria? One would have to wonder if Seattle will end up with police captain’s wives, à la San Francisco, getting coveted licenses and pretending they’re driving for 5 years then selling the license. You’re on the verge of doing something positive there gang, let’s not step on a doggie land mine now.

Kettle black reports pot!

Five day after being elected president of the newly formed United Taxi Workers Alliance Ron Blount has had aggravated assault charges reinstated by a local judge. Initially the reinstated charge was reported to be simple assault, but that’s really not what caught my eye about the story. What caught my eye were the comments attributed to Parking Authority official James Ney. “We’re quite concerned with the president they’ve elected who has outstanding charges against him. We’re wondering why the drivers would elect someone like that.” Gee, Jimbo, let me count the reasons:

This is America, you know, innocent until proven guilty.

Perhaps taxicab drivers know that any passenger can say anything at any time in an attempt to cause misery for some slight, real or imagined. You’re the Parking Authority Jimbo, not the moral authority.

I must not be keeping up with the news, I didn’t realize that any of the Parking Authority had made parole. Blount is reported to be allowed to work while out on bond as long as he reports in to the “enforcement department”.

Enforcement department? What do they do, check him for blood residue? While the charges are serious, and I have no idea whether the woman’s testimony is true, what exactly is Blount reporting in every day supposed to be achieving? It sure looks like a transparent attempt to demonstrate that the “enforcement department” is really on the stick keeping an eye on those rogue taxicab drivers. As long as he’s under the careful eye of the “enforcement department” I guess we can count on there being no strikes, right?

Shouldn’t he get a chance to do something wrong?

Like I said, I usually don’t comment on international news, but a story out of Jerusalem that caught my eye is that 18 of 24 taxicab drivers working at a “station”, whatever that is, have quit the station because it had been purchased by an Arab businessman. Now I certainly don’t claim to have a solution to the conflicts in the Middle East, but it seems to me that if the guy is legally there, works there and purchased the “station” he ought to, at least, get a chance to screw up before everybody quits.

Now, close your eyes and imagine that a black man bought a taxicab station in Birmingham and 18 of 24 white drivers quit without giving him an opportunity to even show up. What would you call that? Looks the same to me. The root of the problem is pretty obvious to me, they need more Catholics.

—dmc

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