Cabdrivers say system squeezes them

A drivers group is attacking taxi companies for raising lease rates and increasing their costs by as much as 10 percent a week.

By JOE HUMPHREY

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 19, 2000

TAMPA -- Ken Steadham Jr.'s workday began, as usual, around 10 a.m. He pulled his United Cab into Tampa International Airport and waited for a fare.

On this slow summer Tuesday, Steadham was lucky. He sat idle less than 30 minutes and left the terminal on a $46 trip to St. Petersburg. Steadham and his passenger, a businessman from New York, bantered about politics and the weather as the cab zipped across the bay and then through the streets north of downtown St. Petersburg.

Steadham dropped off the passenger and headed back to Tampa, where he joined more than 75 other cabdrivers at a meeting of the Tampa Area Cabdriver's Trust. About one-fourth of the county's cabs were parked outside the Florida Aquarium as TACT held its monthly meeting.

Steadham is vice president of the organization, which seeks to reshape an industry some drivers say doesn't care about them. A fellow United driver, Frank Dunn, is president of the group, which was founded last year.

"We are not at war with the cab companies, but we are attacking the system that has been very, very good to them -- a system that has absolutely no regard for you, the driver," Dunn, 49, told fellow TACT members.

Most recently, TACT has attacked a decision by United and its sister companies to raise lease rates. Drivers now pay about 10 percent more a week, in most cases around $40, to drive for United, Thrifty and other companies owned or operated by Gulf Coast Transportation.

United general manager Nancy Castellano said the increase was the company's first since 1983, and a necessity to offset the higher cost of doing business. "What did a newspaper cost in 1983?" she asked, offering a comparison.

Some drivers, however, compare the lease increase to a landlord raising rent just because a tenant got a raise.

In April, the county's Public Transportation Commission increased fares for the first time in 13 years. Drivers work strictly on fares, so it was essentially their first raise since 1987. The increase raises the cost of a 6-mile trip by almost $1.75 to $11.40.

Yellow, the county's other major cab company, raised rates by 7 percent for about 40 percent of its drivers. Those who own their own car now pay $317 a week. Drivers who use a car from Yellow's fleet continue to pay $455, as they have for several years. General manager Phil Genco said Yellow had raised its rates a few months before fares were raised. Yellow, like United, cited increased costs.

Castellano said drivers can earn enough in one day to offset the increase and that a few vocal drivers are trying to get attention by complaining.

Raising rates "is never an easy thing to do," she said. She later hinted that unhappy drivers can find work elsewhere.

"Everybody knows what the state of employment is," she said. "There are opportunities all over."

Leaving isn't an option for Steadham. The 44-year-old was first drawn to cab driving after an unfulfilling career in retail sales. The retail sales pay was bad, he said. The hours long.

So he switched jobs. "I had a lot of bills. I said I'll drive a cab, and I'll drive it till it kills me."

He's still driving, and his hours are longer than ever.

For $390 a week, up front, he gets to use United's cab. Until early May, he had paid $350 a week. Steadham is responsible for the gas, which costs about $1.50 a gallon.

He estimates a take of $10 to $12 an hour, meaning he works nearly 40 hours a week just to pay the company. He works another 30 to 40 hours each week to make ends meet. His $46 airport fare was atypical, he said.

Usually the airport wait is more than an hour, sometimes longer in the slow summer months. And then, a trip could be a $6 ride to a Westshore hotel.

"We're not mining for gold, not drilling for oil," said Steadham.

It's not likely anything can be done about the lease increase. The Public Transportation Commission controls cab rates, but not the fees cab companies charge drivers, said Gregory Cox, the commission's executive director.

TACT, the cabdrivers group, wants to see the rules changed in Hillsborough County, where two companies control 96 percent of the 484 available taxi permits. Companies lease the permits from the county; drivers then pay the companies for the right to use those permits and services offered by the company, such as dispatching and marketing.

TACT wants increased industry competition. It wants the commission to let drivers have direct access to permits, without going through a company. It seeks the end of a quota in the county, which allows one taxi permit per 2,000 residents. TACT, according to president Dunn, wants re-regulation, not deregulation.

"We're not here to destroy the cab companies," said Dunn. "They'll always be around. Not every driver wants to be a private owner. But for those who want to be independent, we believe they should have that right. They are the ones who will keep the industry in check, because they will provide competition, and that is the only way leases will ever go down."

Cox isn't sure if changing the system is the right answer, but he'd like to study it further.

"If one of the problems is that drivers don't have enough mobility between two companies, there may be merit to that," he said. "There's nothing telling these drivers they have to drive a taxi cab."

In a rare moment at Wednesday's commission meeting, the companies and their most vocal critics came together to oppose a plan to grant Resort Shuttles Inc. luxury taxi permits to serve the new Marriott Waterside Hotel.

There is some speculation, though denied by Resort Shuttle's attorney, that the company wants to pay a per-customer commission to Marriott. That would make Resort Shuttle the favored company, and essentially shut taxis out of the city's newest luxury hotel.

Cab companies and drivers alike rallied against the plan, which the commission tabled until at least August. Commissioner Rich Glorioso said he wanted to make sure taxi drivers weren't getting cut out.

"You're not going to make money taking Granny, who is 85, to the grocery story every other Tuesday," he said.

-- Contact Joe Humphrey at (813) 226-3403 or humphrey@sptimes.com

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