Wednesday, November 28, 2007

The Cab Guy Jumps Ship

Well, I had a very full and interesting day today.

But unfortunately, not enough time to write about it.

Yesterday, I was threatened with being fired, but was spared the ax. Today, after reviewing my options, I decided to quit. I didn't do anything that was really wrong, but was caught being a little too curious about why the company was allowing certain drivers to grow fat (financially) at the expense of all the rest of us, even though we all pay the same lease, and how it was being done. Watch for all the sordid details in up-coming posts over the next few days.

Speaking of fat, don't worry about The Cab Guy not being able to buy groceries and being forced onto a diet due to a lack of funds. I've already been hired by another taxi firm, which at 300+ cabs is the major competition of the firm I used to work for. The President of the new company welcomed me personally to the new firm!

I'm going to work a shift tomorrow to activate my contract, then take a few days off to visit Johnny Wraith down in Tucson. I'll be taking along my notebook computer so that I can keep up with this blog.

I hope to see you out there on the road.

Sincerely,

The Cab Guy

6 comments:

Kyt Dotson said...

Have fun down in Tucson!

It is sad to hear that your ex-employer was so asinine as to threaten you with a shove – but it does sound good and proper to simply shove off from them therefore.

If you cannot see that they value you, then it is just wisdom to find someone who shall.

Ronald Matthew Kelly said...

Kyt,

Thanks for your kind comment. I was disappointed at the way my relationship with the old company ended, but am happy to be remaining in the industry that I love.

While in Tucson, I'll be consulting with Johnny Wraith on the legal aspects of disclosing "the sordid details."

Yes, Johnny really is a lawyer, if anyone doubts it (see "Legal Disclaimer" link on sidebar).

But mostly, we're just going to have a few days of fun, chess games, movies, food and deep conversations about the nature of the universe.

Or whatever else we come up with after having a few glasses of wine.

I'll send some postcards from the road.

The Cab Guy

Mad Cabbie said...

Fuck the old cab company,

Enjoy the new one and get yourself a scanner and hijack calls from the old firm.

Be good!

Ronald Matthew Kelly said...

Mad Cabbie,

Thanks for your comment. I'd love to be able to do as you suggest, but both companies, the new and the old, use a computerized order-taking/dispatching sytem from Digital Dispatch Systems. Since the information transmitted on the radio is digitally encoded, I don't have access to it. Nor would I want it. A huge percentage of their calls are on pre-paid accounts, which pay less to the driver anyway.

I'm planning an article, which will have to be vetted by my legal counsel, Johnny Wraith, explaining why doing this (virtually forcing drivers to provide services at less than market rates, and probably below the margin of profitability), in the manner that they do it, might be a violation of the Internal Revenue Code as it relates to the so-called 'independent contractor' status of the drivers.

However... the old company has a lot of cab stands (at casino, bars, hotel, etc.) that they consider to be for their exclusive use (at least this is what they tell their drivers). But I've checked with a lot of those venues, and found out that the 'best' stands are, in fact, not exclusive. So I might go over to these venues and try a little 'scooping.'

Maybe if enough of their drivers get frustrated at the lies they've been told, they'll also jump ship. Some new fools will always take their places, but the cost of training new drivers will erode the profit margin.

I love this industry, and would love to see everyone it it succeed, as long as they do it ethically, with an even playing field. Right now, I just want to see my old company crash and burn!

Thanks for visiting. Please keep coming back to stay on top of new developments as I disclose them.

The Cab Guy

Lugosi said...

I'm going to guess some dispatchers were "feeding" certain drivers. That's happened at our company on occasion, but the powers that be are usually fairly quick to get rid of the offending dispatcher.

Ronald Matthew Kelly said...

Lugosi,

Oh man, that's a good guess, but it doesn't even cover the half of it. As near as I can tell, the company encouraged it, or at least tolerated it.

Johnny Wraith and I are still working out the 'details of disclosure.' I really did intend to write something about in for my December 1 post, but got distracted.

By a box of Franzia wine! And a couple of boxes of Marlboro Red cigarettes.

Don't try this at home. I'm a trained professional degenerate!

The Cab Guy