Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Why I Have No Sympathy for Taxi Drivers

First of all - the title relates to taxi drivers who complain about a lack of wages and not in relation to violence towards drivers.

Taxi drivers complain about not getting paid enough money etc. Here is a tip don;t refuse a fair that will generate $30 to $40 income in about 10 minutes rather than sitting in a queue in the city.

On Friday night I was out with a few friends in a last gasp xmas catch up. At the end of the night we all rolled out of the Northcote Social Club in search of transport to get us home. It was decided that 4 of us would catch a cab as we we're all heading in the Preston, Coburg, Reservoir general direction.

Cab Driver One "You going to the city?"
no
screeching tyres

Cab Driver Two - finger pointed towards city
my finger pointed opposite direction
driver does not stop
my middle finger pointed skywards

Cab Driver Three - locked doors, window opened a crack "You going to City?"
No Preston, etc..
"For $50 I will take you"
Looks like you are going to the City by yourself sunshine.

Cab Driver Four - same event as two, maybe he did a block and came back around?

Cab Driver Five got the cash. Nice work Abraham.

Of course i did not include the other drivers who did not even slow down.


So the driver who picked us up had a nice fare, got some income and would have been back in the city 20 minutes later than the other guys. It is illogical to me why a cab driver would want to drive around empty looking for the big fares when they can do a great deal of work running around the 'burbs. No doubt those guys who were looking for the big fare picked up someone to go to Melton only to have them do a runner on them.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I understand your irritation, but I can understand why they are grumpy and protest a lot. They do a fairly stressful job with many risks and under relatively low wage. And unlike Japan, the Australian work ethic does not involve a modicum of pride in one's career no matter how menial or small.

Incidentally, I've added you to my blog roll and will be 'following' this blog using the blogger tracker.

dam buster said...

RVB - That is my issue. I know what you do is not the most glamorous job in the world but, show some pride in your appearence and the cleanliness of the vehicle.

Having cabs on the road 24 hours a day with non licensed shift drivers who do not care only makes the issue worse.

Cabs are public transport. Would you be happy if an un licensed driver was on a tram / train or bus? I certainly wouldn't be. And if I was a proffessional taxi driver I would not be happy either.