A Hillsborough County agency says he manipulates the rules by charging too little.
By BILL VARIAN
Published October 8, 2003
TAMPA - Daniel Steiner came to the United States from Brazil more than 20 years ago to pursue his entrepreneurial dreams.
After driving a cab for years, he built a five-car limousine business that has him and his employees ferrying executives, prom dates and, notably, patients to clinics. He juggles the flow with the help of the three constantly ringing cellular phones he carries.
Steiner, 47, could have it all taken away during a hearing this morning.
His sin, as he puts it: charging his customers too little.
Regulators with the county's Public Transportation Commission mandate that limousine operators, whether they drive limos or Lincoln Town Cars, like Steiner, must charge a minimum $40 a trip. They have written up Steiner for charging less.
"I see this country as being built on freedom to work and equality of conditions," Steiner said. "The strength of the United States is its free market.
"This is against the idea of the American dream."
But the transportation commission's executive director says Steiner is interfering with others' efforts to make a buck.
Mainly, said Gregory Cox, Steiner's DSL Transport Service is undercutting the business of cabdrivers who would otherwise field the cheaper service calls.
Cox says Steiner is taking the business of cabbies, who have a hard enough time making ends meet as it is without having to follow the same rules. He doesn't have to be on call 24 hours and take whatever requests come his way, be they long, profitable routes or short, unprofitable ones.
At the same time, Cox says Steiner's business isn't upholding limousine standards either.
"He's in effect doing a taxi service with what we call a limousine," Cox said. "He's undercutting the market everywhere.
The transportation commission regulates people who run businesses that transport people for hire.
Under a state law written specifically for Hillsborough, the county lumps these businesses into three primary categories.
Generally, there are cabdrivers, limousine drivers and van shuttle services. Each operates under its own set of rules.
The cabdrivers handle calls on demand, and the companies must have drivers available 24 hours a day. They charge based on a meter that clocks distance and time. They wait outside hotels, tourist attractions and the airport, while taking calls from dispatchers in a feast-or-famine business.
Shuttle services work airports and hotels in particular, charging a flat fee that they determine for basic group transport.
Then there are the limousine drivers, though limo is a bit of a misnomer.
These are not necessarily elegant stretch affairs that carry the rich and famous. They can be more modest cars, such as the Town Cars that Steiner owns.
Nevertheless, under county rules, they are expected to be the cream of the for-hire vehicle crop, emulating what Cox says he believes people expect when they call for a limousine. And Cox says he's had his run-ins with Steiner on issues relating to that, because his drivers don't always wear collared shirts and ties, as required, and have been seen wearing tattered jeans.
"He has been on the fringe of passing inspections," said Cox, noting an issue that he and Steiner have debated repeatedly. Steiner says inspectors focus on minor issues, rather than big ones, like whether vehicles and their drivers are safe.
Steiner has carved out a niche. While he does some business transporting executives and prom dates, much of his bread and butter is transporting people to medical clinics. The clinics hire him under contract to pick up patients for checkups, physical therapy and other nonemergency, nondisease related visits and by appointments arranged often long in advance.
The dispute lies with some of those contracts in particular.
Steiner insists he does charge the minimum $40, often more. That's because commission rules say limos must charge $40 an hour with a minimum required charge of one hour.
Many of Steiner's fares take only 15 minutes to transport. He says he might charge $15 or $30. Take an hour to carry four different patients to the same clinic and the net per-hour charge is well over $40 an hour. If his cars pick up a couple of people on the way and charge each of them, he says, the cost is quite pricey indeed per trip.
"He's going under a monthly basis," said Hilary Black, Steiner's attorney.
Steiner said it's not much different from when a group of prom dates hire a limo and make several stops before and after the prom. There wouldn't be an individual charge per person for each stop.
Cox says the commission rules may not contemplate every possible scenario. But he says the intent is clear: a minimum charge of $40 a fare.
"He's trying to manipulate the rules to his benefit," Cox said.
Cox said the dispute has been going on for months. It came to a head recently when Steiner applied for permission to add five more cars to his fleet. He began reviewing Steiner's business practices more closely.
At this morning's hearing, at 9 a.m. at the County Center, Steiner could face anything from no action to revocation of his existing permits.
Cox said he will recommend probation to give Steiner a chance to conform to the rules.
