Guest post by Steven Broiles
I have been asked to describe my experiences as a cab driver. Well, here’s my story.
I was a high school English teacher here in New York City from 1984 to 1996. As I did not have a Masters Degree, by State Law, they had to let me go. Someday I will describe what I witnessed there. In the meantime, here is my story as a cab driver, and what I’ve learned about politics and life.
I started driving for a neighborhood car service in Ridgewood, Queens, in 1985. It was the kind of car service that people would call up, the dispatcher would radio the driver and we’d pick the people up at their house or work, restaurant, A & P, whatever. We had a lot of regular customers. So when I’d hear “Number 2 St. John’s Road,” for example, I’d repeat the address and go get ’em. (In this case, # 2 St. John’s Road was the Cat Lady. She had 35 cats living in her house, and she smelled it. Helen was a real character, all right!)
The neighborhood car service was a good way for me to learn the streets. And this particular job was a good one for retired people to supplement their incomes. I worked part-time there before I was fired from teaching. It was a good second income. Now here come the politics of the job.
The car service was owned by Tommy, as we called him. He was a made man in some Mafia family. He had a legitimate business here, and he used it, in part, to launder Mob drug money—so I heard. He won the company from Bubba in a poker game. (As a dispatcher, Bubba somehow thought he still owned the company!) Tommy was pretty fair and gave people a second chance. In a way he did society a favor: He would hire ex-cons and give them a second chance. As long as they behaved they would have a job.
But as for the dispatchers, almost all of them were drug addicts and degenerate gamblers. If you didn’t buy coffee for them or grease them (“give them an envelope”) you didn’t make money. Vito was the top money-maker there—why not? He lent them money to support their habits!
After I was fired from the Board of Education, I was a basket case. I wanted a job where I could come and go as I pleased. So this was the job for me. I had a great clientele, for the most part. (Although the neighborhood had its cast of characters). I had the pleasure or displeasure to pick up a number of famous people, Alex Jones, Bill O’Reilly, Ann Coulter, Adrian Brophy and Nora Jones among them. (Nora Jones was the one I really didn’t care for.) But as time went by, the jailhouse punks in the office made it uncomfortable for me—with their goofs and practical jokes, and their favoritism and all their other games. They used their position to make the car service their personal fiefdom, and almost drove Tommy out of business. (I loved it when Phoenix Car Service called them up and said, Hey, thanks for Ridgewood!) Looked like Tommy sold his business just in time: He went from two bases and 120 cars down to one base and 47 cars. Great, eh?
So I went and drove a yellow cab. At first, I loved it—back in 2006 up until the Crash of 2008, there was so much work, we couldn’t do it all. I had become enamored of driving nights and did the night shift, five to five. This was good, as I could park the car early on slow nights, like Sunday night, for example. I loved the freedom of not having to go get anyone coffee or give them an envelope. The job gave me a certain amount of independence. And the garage I was at was a relatively honest garage: The owner wouldn’t allow tipping the dispatchers until drivers turned in the key. Stan had his own gas pumps and had a reputation for having the best-maintained cabs in the industry. All the other drivers knew about Stan.
But this job had its politics, too. If you took Sunday off, John would give you Monday off, and Richard gave you Friday off. Jerry had his own grift going, too: After the Taxi & Limousine Commission disallowed charging the drivers for credit cards ($10 a shift), he kept collecting it from the drivers. This was clearly illegal, but Jerry said he needed the money for his cancer drugs. (Sorry, Jerry, but you own that problem. It cost me some $250 a month).
I picked up a few famous people in the yellow cab. Martina Navritalova was one of them. She was cool.
But I got sick and tired of the job there, too. I went to one of Gene Friedman’s garages. If your’re a yellow cab driver, you know that Mr. Friedman was known as the King of the Medallion owners: He owned over 800 of them. Friedman owned a wheelchair cab garage. They were desperate for drivers, so they would cut me a discount. But then Friedman got a “great” idea: He started paying drivers by debit card. Friedman petitioned the City Council and Mayor deBlasio to stop Uber, claiming Uber was adding to the traffic congestion. With some 2.7 million vehicles on the City streets at any one time, with Uber’s 26,000 cars totaling less than 1% of that number, his petition fell flat. The latest: Citibank successfully sued Friedman for his bad loans, and a judge, in his latest suit—unrelated to Citibank’s suit—told him to “compete with Uber or die.” Hallelujah!
For the past ten months I have been driving Uber. (I wish to make it clear that I am not an employee of Uber: Almost all drivers are independent subcontractors, as has been the custom throughout the country ever since cab drivers hit the roads over 80 years ago.) I also wish to make it clear that I do not speak for Uber: I merely speak for myself and what I have learned. With Uber, I lease my car, a Toyota Camry, from a garage whose owners see the change coming. I have 24/7 control of the car. There is no “shift”: I start and stop when I choose. There is no begging the “boss” for a day off. There is no “boss” telling me, “Gee, Steve, I don’t have a car for you tonight.” At the age of 59, I need that freedom.
Uber has given me the freedom and control I need. And at a cost of about half of what it takes to lease a yellow cab, what’s not to like? I pick up when pinged by people who use the Uber app. So there is no cash involved, every call is legit, and I get paid directly to my checking account every Thursday morning. I’ve been to the Uber office, and the people are great. Customers have also told me that Uber is also very customer-oriented. Over 20,000 yellow drivers have made the switch in New York City alone! And many of my clients tell me they no longer use yellow cabs. (Why wait for 45 minutes for a yellow cab in the snow and the rain, begging for a ride to Brooklyn, when you can wait ten minutes or less for an Uber who won’t refuse you?)
And although I have not had any famous people in my Uber yet, I have had a greater variety of calls—which I never had with either the neighborhood car service or the yellow cab: I’ve been all over New Jersey, parts of Westchester and Long Island and even Connecticut. It’s really great because it breaks up the monotony (plus I love that cheaper New Jersey gas). My current rating is about 4.78 and I am a VIP driver. I get respect from my clientele. I have freedom from the jailhouse punks in a cab office. What’s not to like? And Uber is creating jobs not only on the road, but in their office, with marketing and software IT.
I have also learned that I was mismatched for a career in teaching. I dropped out, even though I was pushed out. I have also learned from my customers that politicking goes on in every job you can name. Almost everyone has to put up with it. I also appreciate the fact that I am NOT someone else’s employee, being at their mercy. Believe me, a lot of people are jealous of my freedom, even though they make more money than I. But the trend is set, and in the next few years may very well take off: There will be fewer employees and more independent people. And this, I think, will be what the new economy will be built on. (To the degree our Ruling Elite cannot prevent it).
I have also been complimented thousands of times over the years about my driving ability and demeanor. I have also been complimented on my “radio voice,” and hundreds have urged me to get into voiceovers. (It is a long-term project I am trying to prepare myself for). The shape the economy has been in has affected the cab and private car industry, and drivers everywhere are making the adjustments necessary to survive. Uber has given me the freedom of control of my car and my time, and that freedom really belongs to the individual and not the corporation. Everything about being an Uber partner has benefited me. And many people are finding out that many drivers are college-educated, and they are finding out that the tone of things is improving, and they appreciate that, too.
The world is changing (not for the better, I fear) and the market is changing (for the better, so far), and from what I hear about what’s been going on in education, I’m glad I’m out of it. Not bad for a rolling stone!
Steven Broiles’ Commercial Master Reel (Demo):
http://pdrvoicecoaching.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/StevenBroiles-Commercial.mp3
