Tampa Taxi Shots

I'm sitting at the Wall Mart at Hillsborough & 15th and can't get a cash fare. It's Friday folks. Let's get going. Just got a bid. This new Blogger app must have changed my luck.

A short documentary about my day working Tampa International Airport. It was a slow day as we move closer to the holidays. That is really a bad time for cab driving in Tampa. No business travel and no medical charges for most of the doctors don't even work the last two weeks of the year. Today was decent. I can only take it one day at a time.

This is "Ghost Box" a film I did using a lot of symbolism and metaphor. Most of my audience seems to get it, so that was encouraging. This is a new field for me and I am trying my best to learn a form and style. Let me know what you think.

Saturday afternoon at Tampa International Airport taxi holding area The average wait at Tampa International Airport is about 2.5 to 3.0 hours. This is the slow time of the year. But what makes it worse is it is also the hottest time of the year and that can magnify your woes. The hazy, lazy days of summer are never good for the mind of psyche of the taxi driver. You try to curb cost by not running the air conditioning when you are on the deck but you really have no choice. Unfortunately, the money you need for gas has to be used to keep you cool while you wait and miserable wait on the sun deck. Come on autumn. The lady you see standing by her taxi told me I was beginning to smell. No doubt. I was covered with sweat. I felt disgusting and could not to get a fare and go home, shower, and change into clean cloths. I  can't imagine how I'm going to continue doing this when I am living out of my taxi when I get evicted from my apartment. That is gong to be a bitch.

Thunderstorms loom over downtown Tampa I actually had a good day today and it was not because of U2 playing tonight at Raymond James Stadium or the thunderstorms building up over the bay area. It had to do with the three part approach I use to try to book like the old days. 1) I live in Clearwater, so I get out early to rack up some liquid gold. That is the increasing number of people that are going to PAR on Logisticare charges. That tends to slow down by 8'oclock. 2) I work Tampa International Airport in until the lunch hour. 3) I work the hood until late afternoon. That is where a taxi driver can still get cash fares because these people are not good enough for Uber or Lyft. They don't have bank issued debit cards and the ride share folks do not want them. You also get many Logisticare charges from the poor areas. That's about it. Adapt or perish is the rule of the jungle. Forget about getting any U2 people like we would have in years gone by. Those folks w...

HULA Girl goes with me everywhere I have been fighting it spiritually for some time. The reality that I am not a taxi driver anymore. I have become a medical transport driver. That is nor what I wanted to do. That would be a job. Cab driving is not a job. It is a hustle. You get customers who use you to go buy drugs, go to the bars, the clubs, the massage parlors, the grocery stores, work, the airport, football games, church, and so forth. Along the way you meet a variety of interesting people. They all use Uber now. We load walkers in the trunk for elderly people with oxygen tanks. Seriously. God love them but that's not my calling. I want my whores, drug addicts, business people, jerks, sports fans, hipsters (I really miss the hippies), computer geeks, college students, degenerates, gay duds, the confused band the lost back. There are only a handful left as the gig slowly dies.

What is going on now in the taxi business in Tampa is not just having "a bad day." Most drivers are getting somewhere between two to five calls a day. That's it. "Don't worry, it will be better tomorrow." a customer told me. I am worried.  Each day is just the same. For example, this morning I came out at Five a.m. and did not get a call until Nine. There has never been a time when a driver during the morning hours would not get a call for over 4 hours. The new dispatch system is inherently unfair. If you are not close to a call, it will not give you one, nor will it even send you a f *g bid. Without the bid, I cannot make any money. Paul Hinton says I simply need to park my cab where the calls are going to come out. How in the hell do I do that? The calls could come out from anywhere. I have no psychic abilities, so I guess I am screwed. Talking to Paul Hinton and Eddie Munster (the computer guy) has proved useless. They don't even know what the a...

Once in a great while the storms of change will overshadow the plans of man. That would happen today. A cold wind blew over Tampa Bay this morning, a brief repose from the subtropical heat ever-present most of the year. The cool air felt good on my face and brought my spirits to a new high. I needed a lift. I had a ride out to Boco Ciega which is a beautiful part of the area. I had a scheduled ride of some significance and I felt hopeful. This ride I was on would put some serious money and my pocket. I was excided because I needed a break. Today was going to be a good day. Would I at least have an auspicious start?  It is believed Desoto once landed in this area. It was all jungle prada then. It had to have been very inhospitable to his gallant crew. Today, it is airy homes, many built in a time of no air conditioning. The natural winds off the bay during storm season will cool a house off. You just need to be near the shore. Its the end of winter in Tampa Bay. Winter ...

Why can't I teleport to other places? Maybe I'll go purse snatching at WallMart! The business on all fronts has finally kicked in. The airport is off the hook and Pinellas country is going bat shit crazy. The problem I have is I can't be in two places at the same time. I could have really used the Clearwater business a few weeks ago, but now, I have to work the airport. That is what I have always done this time of year. I've been getting hauls to the beaches and all over the place. The wait times at the airport are not long right now. It is moving and you will get rides. While I am waiting,  I take a look at the tablet and can see they are begging for drivers in St. Pete and Clearwater. That is too bad for I am not in a financial position to do that and that really sucks. I need cash and the only way I can get it right now is by working streets and the airport. You have to Look at the calls on this board! have gas money to work the charges all da...

I may have found the escape hatch Regulated Taxi driving is now dead. Uber has taken over. The current situation is no longer tenable for drivers who face an old model of cab leasing, and can no longer continue paying a Pre-Uber lease. Today was the tipping point. This time of year we should be very busy...EXTREMLY BUSY. We are not. It is dead as a doornail with drivers at the airport waiting up to 5 hours to a ride. It should be off the hook. It is for Uber. They pay no fee to the airport, yet they are allowed to operate. I made a good living for years. Transportation was regulated in Hillsborough County. This insured uniformity or rates, insurance, and accountability. But no more. The HCPTC has now allowed a gypsy cab company take over. Uber has not only taken some or part of our business - they have taken it all. This is because they are low balling the market in an attempt to establish a monopoly. They are well on their way to doing that with the compl...

I can honestly say that in the 22 years I have driven a taxi in Tampa, that I have been treated more than fairly by the company. In fact, I consider the management friends. As I have stated repeatedly on this blog, the problem is not the ownership of United Cab. The problem is the HCPTC which, in my opinion, has been compromised by the deep pockets of Uber. This is why the commission treats them with kit gloves and makes tremendous concessions that would never be made in another industry. Drivers gathering at United Cab Tampa Running a cab company is costly. That is where Uber has an absolute advantage. They have managed to shift all the cost onto the worker and Uber takes no risk. This is an anti-labor practice that has gained ground under the stagnation of the Obama administration. Fortunately, that may soon end. I read the other day that the leading employer in the United States is Wall Mart. Most of their workers make minimum wage. I also read that nationwide over one ...

NOTICE NO CALLS ON THE BOARD DURING THE PIRATE INVASION! This is an image of my tablet at around noon on Gasparilla day 2017. It was a clear board. In years past, there would have been 1,500,000,000 calls on the board. The business is gone. There is not anything more I can say about that. I used to blame the HCPTC for taking no action to stop a gypsy cab operation. They were compromised early in the process of negotiations, and with the billions behind Uber, is that a surprise? The only mystery now is why do so many drivers continue to work for a leasing operation. There are no real perks to that anymore. The airport will soon be open season. When that happens, you won't be able to find a taxi in this town anymore. I did pick up a couple south of Gandy who told me the reason they called United Cab was they did not want to pay 10x surge. A 10 dollar fare would now be over 100 bucks. Apparently many were willing to pay that instead of getting into a taxi. Its over fo...

Tom and I have a discussion about Uber and the problems we don't think they can avoid, such as laundry, groceries, and asshole customers. Uber drivers will soon find out that all that glitters is not gold. Vomit on the back seat with Big Mac sauce mixed with French fries is so nice. You drive all night and your cab will smell like sex and livestock. How could Uber avoid this?

It seems most customers will give you a twenty dollar bill no matter what the amount of the fare. The first two fares I had today went short, and they did not let me down. They gave me twenties for 5-6 dollar fares. Yikes! That wipes out all of my change (cab drivers do not begin their day with thousands of dollars on us). I went on my third fare. He is going from Albany and North B to Howard and Mississippi (I could only spell this because of the jingle I learned in 5th grade). I ask him if he has exact change. He says no, he was going to give me a twenty. So we stop at the convenience store at Howard and Morrison. He goes inside, gets some cigs, and comes back. We are set. When I get him to his house, he hands me a twenty dollar bill! What! We just went to the store. He was a little drunk and said just keep it. I was not trying to rip him off. When he got out of the cab I looked at it and it was a 1928 twenty gold backed bill. You don't see many of th...

Marshall Law downtown Tampa 2012 I produced a documentary film about my experiences during the Republican National Convention was in Tampa. I am rather proud of that doc even if it does not have many hits on YouTube. Tell me what you think. Kevin helped me out with much of the video and still photography. He got some awesome images. Check it out.

The sun sets every night For years I lived on Island time. That is why I became a cab driver. I did not want to punch a time clock. I wanted to forge my own way, and come and go as I pleased. Things have changed and I've had to reorganize my life so I am sort of getting a weekly pay check. The major reason for this is Uber. They have cherry picked all the good business and left us with poor people at laundry mats and grocery stores, going around the corner for 3-4 dollars. You can't make it on that. When I was a real cab driver, each day was an adventure. I got to pick up all kinds of people and see the world thru their eyes. It was actually fun. When I was in the newspaper business, I had to arrive when they wanted me to. I had to work the days they made me work. I could only make the income they dictated I would make. I was actually glad when my department was downsized out of existence for I could now take off in the direction I was meant to go. Since I knew I wanted...

It was raining but not a lot of damage In 21 years of driving, I have never been at fault in an accident. Yesterday I was. My foot slipped off the brake causing a low speed rear end. Fortunately, nobody was injured. I was really traumatized by this event because I have never been in this situation before. I have been hit by others but I have never been at fault. I found out today that I still have my job which is good. I do need a gig. What I want to do now is put this as far behind me as I can. The bumper did get knocked a little loose

Abandoned building in south St. Petersburg I have started a new business of running medical charges. My activity is all in St. Petersburg and my first two days have been a resounding success. Since I am new to this area, I did notice some abandoned buildings with a theme graffiti. I have no idea what those buildings were (except the bank) but the birds and the word loser are on two of them. A customer of mine said they may have been the old welfare buildings. Not sure. Graffiti on the building next to the one above closed down bank across the street

My Twitter Page My Twitter site for Tampa Taxi Shots is taking off. I only have 65 post but I now have 123 followers. Big things are in store and you need to be on board. With my new computer with Windows 10 the ability to do more work on this blog and market it is exploding. I have never been in a better position. Now that Uber will be banned from the Sunday night NHL Hockey match between the New York Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning, we will have the chance to show how superior our service is. And I mean Uber WILL NOT BE ALLOWED NEAR THE STADIUM. Go to my Twitter to see the video I just put up and it is getting traction.

Sorry, but I have been very sick and have had no energy to even turn the computer on. Today was the first day I put in a full days work, and even did a swimming workout. I am finally on the rebound. I feel much better now.