From the Chicago Dispatcher, January 2009
The Three Corruptions of Cabdriving and Using Them to Your Advantage (originally printed Oct. 2003)
By: Dan Van Hecke, Master Chauffeur
When you start driving, it seems pretty good, despite being a little scary when you first start. After a while these three corruptions (so named because they change your viewpoint and lifestyle) creep in.
1. The Corruption of Cash
So named because after you stuff it in your pocket it seems unnecessary to keep good records, which hurt you in the long run. You think you are doing well because you booked $100.00, “conveniently” forgetting that at least $75- $80 is going for lease and gas, and $8 to $10 is spent per day on average eating out, which you probably wouldn't do if you were not driving. So, after seven to eight hours on a slow or average day you might have $15 to $20 left in “real money”. Yes, you can work longer and make more but it has to be disciplined and paced. What to do? Treat it as the business that it is and drive the first hours of the day or days of the week to book your nut (e.g., expenses) only. A smaller goal like this is more easily achieved if you seal this in a nut or bank cash station envelope, and label it clearly with a marker. Don't worry, these are free.
This helps you to not spend the money that isn't your in the first place. Take a break in a well lit location (this is important) completely away from the cab, to reward yourself and recompose (restaurant, Dunkin Donuts, etc.) This would be a good time to record the present, and plan your driving strategy for the rest of the shift. Write down all of your “hunting options” - routing neighborhoods, radio dispatch, conventions, sports games, shows, including matinees, etc. Once you get into the habit of this, it should only take 20 minutes. Any money you make now is yours, except for gas and taxes.
2. The Illusion of Freedom
The worn-out rallying cry “I am my own boss” needs to see the whole picture. In a regular job, you have a boss, maybe his boss, and company rules. Driving a cab you have many more bosses: Cab owner/ managers, association rules, city rules (by the bucketful) police officers, fly tickets, demanding customers, etc. The list goes on and on and I'm sure you could add a few. What freedom a driver does have is only of timing and where and how he or she wants to work. You do not have freedom of time because even if you won the cab (more bosses) you will still have to work nine to ten hours dally to make a living. Possible solution:
Use your timing freedom to develop the most profitable hours or type of area/ customers you like. This should not include following the other cabbie herd pattern, unless it works. Like golf, you are only responsible for your results, not the results of others. They different patterns of driving at least three times. Mix and match all possible areas, radio, reverse routing, etc. Always have a B & C plan so when your A Plan doesn't work, it doesn't devastate you. When taking a customer to a train station, especially later in the evening, offer to take them all the way home. Give them a ten percent discount on book rate or meter, which ever is lower. The prospects of a safer, faster and more comfortable ride along with the discount may be enticing to some customers. I have seen this work in about one of ten trips. Asking doesn't cost anything. In all of your trips you want to give them a reason to say yes to stay with you or give you more money. This is done by your driving, appearance, and personality and is the best use of your personal freedom.
3. The Comfortable Rut
Taxi driving absorbs your life if you drive full time. Nobody says they're going to drive a cab full time, but it does erode to that for some. The career or life purpose goal gets put on the back burner, and then the burner gets turned off. The first two corruptions probably blur the fact that you probably have
greater talents than just driving.
The Rut Test:
1. Are most of your friends cabbies?
2. Has your health deteriorated doing the same repetitive driving?
3. Does it seem that you're no longer getting personal appreciation from your customers?
4. Are you starting to “glaze over” more often?
5. When you're on a date or spending time with your family, do you start to think about the money you could be making if you were working?
6. “I need this as a personal car.”
7. Do you tell yourself, “In this economy what else can I do?” or, “Who else would hire me?”
Try this:
In a 24-hour cab, discipline yourself to work a fixed schedule each day and fix a total number of hours to work over the week. Any hours over 50 to 60 tops is counterproductive but if you are “married” to the cab, try to find a partner to share in order to have two full days off. Having a cab for a personal car 24/7 costs you between $100 to $150 more per week and simply makes the rut deeper. Figure out all of your bill realistically, add 20 to 25 percent for taxes and unforeseen emergencies. Set up a pattern per week to only work those hours and strive to pay off your smallest debt first. The more debt-free you are, the easier it is to make this rut filled in to make it a foundation on which to build.
On those days off, with or without the cab, strive to meet and associate with people who will expand your awareness of the rest of the world, besides television and newspapers. Driving a cab is a profession to be proud of but you have to take the pride first so that others will recognize it and you. This will be your biggest obstacle of getting out of the rut.
