Want to be a taxi driver? Read This

Safety tips for new taxi drivers in Tampa Bay, Florida and not only........

picture by wnyc.org

TAXICAB DRIVER SAFETY

by Gord Barton

Taxi Training Instructor

GOAL:

To maximize personal safety for taxicab drivers
OBJECTIVE:
To ensure that all new and veteran taxi drivers fully understand and comprehend the basic safety rules that they need to follow and embrace.
MODULES:

• Understanding the inherent dangerous nature of the industry
• Understanding the nature and personalities of people.
• Learning to "read" your customer.
• Learning and understanding the basic safety rules.
• Police relations.
• Weapons - the none use of and why.
• Prostitution - your legal guidelines
• Needles - the extreme danger of drugs/disease
• Hostility and negativism
• You and your part.

Foreword:

It is extremely important that all taxi drivers, especially those of you that are new to the business, to understand the dangerous and complex nature of the industry itself, to understand some of the dynamics, to learn how not to become a victim.

Module 1: The danger of the industry

The taxicab business is a very different one from most occupations, and there is a very real and high risk of personal danger to each driver, and it appears to be getting steadily worse each year, and the statistics bear this out.
The last report on workplace violence and homicide places TAXI DRIVERS in the unenviable spot of #1 most dangerous occupation in North America at the present time, and this danger is rising. There are 20 homicides where taxi drivers are victims to every 100,000 drivers. Convenience store clerks are #2, being out 15 homicides to each 100,000 workers. In contrast, the police ratio is only 7 homicides to each 100,000 officers. This alone should tell you something.
The reasons for this are actually very simple in nature, seemingly unrealistic, but they are true, and they are as follows:

• You work alone
• You work all types of long, 12 hour shifts
• You work in isolated areas.
• You always have ready cash
• People perceive that you have the lowliest job of all, and therefor you are of no human value.
• You are always dealing with strangers.
• The very nature of your business, service, requires you to deal with everyone.
• Very often, you have a language barrier, which is difficult to deal with.
• Your own peers often cheat the public, thus raising disrespect and contempt
• Racism plays a factor

Module 2: Understanding the nature and personalities of people

• No two people are the same, in body, or in mind.
• Some people are psychopaths with no emotions, feelings, or remorse.
• Most people you deal with are nice, but we all have our bad days
• People judge other people by their own values, with little regard for reality

Module 3: Learning how to "read" your customer

• You must read up on and become familiar with "body language". This goes hand in hand with "active listening" to what the people are really saying versus what their "body language" is telling you.
• You must never, ever, underestimate your customer and what they may be capable of doing to you.
• You must never let your guard down when you have a fare in your taxi, irregardless of who they are, or how they are dressed or appear to be.

Module 4: Learning and understanding the basic safety rules.

1) Radio and the dispatcher

• The most important piece of equipment in your taxi is your radio, as it connects you to your dispatcher. The dispatcher is "your lifeline".
• They are the ones who will get you help if you are in trouble.
• They are the ones who will give you accurate information when you need it.
• They are the ones who will "sense" when you are in trouble and assist you.
• They are the ones who will dispatch you for trips in a fair and equitable manner with all the other drivers.
• They are the ones which will keep you informed on what is happening.
• Have a good relationship with all dispatchers - you need them on your side.                                                                                                                                                                                          
• 2) Be alert and aware.

You must keep yourself very alert and aware of what is going on around you at all times, whether you are parked or driving. Take good care of yourself, be rested, eat well, and get lots of exercise. The exercise and movement around you will get by handling peoples luggage, going to doors to get your customers, opening and closing doors all contribute to the enrichment of oxygen in your blood, which is what keeps up your energy and awareness.

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Restaurants Recommended By NYC Taxi Drivers

Restaurant Recommendations, Courtesy of Your Cabbie

By Aaron Rutkoff

Layne Mosler knows how to talk to cabbies about food.

She’s spent the past year asking New York taxi drivers to point her to their favorite restaurants throughout the city, following a two-year stint of doing the same in Buenos Aires. Highlights from her year of cabbie-endorsed eating in New York appeared on her blog, Taxi Gourmet, as a Top 15 list this week.

Mosler’s top five taxi-derived restaurant dishes include:

Baklava at Güllüoglu Baklava & Cafe in Brooklyn and Midtown
Burrito at Puebla’s Chula in Spanish Harlem
Tira de asado at El Gauchito in Queens
Lollipop chicken at Tangra Masala in Queens
Jojeh Kabab with Zereshk Polo at Kabul Kabob House in Queens

>>>Read More

Tampa Bay Taxi Business History / part "Tampa"

How taxi companies Yellow Cab, United rose to dominance in Hillsborough

TAMPA — In 1967, the manager of the only cab company in town told the Tampa Taxicab Commission his drivers made about $112 per week. Adjusted for inflation, that's $742 in today's dollars.

Taxi drivers were employees then, with health insurance, vacations and bonuses, city records show. But in 1975, the Yellow Cab Co. jumped on a national trend and made its drivers independent contractors. The agreement cost cabbies their benefits but let them keep whatever they made.

At the time, Yellow Cab manager Nick Cambas told the Tampa Times: "This should be the answer to those squawking about the little man not having a chance to make it in business."

Thirty-six years later, the little man still awaits his chance.

Drivers today say the system leaves them poor and at risk. Their predicament is compounded by a lack of choices: Two companies control 87 percent of the county's permits..............

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How to become taxi driver in Tampa Bay

Taxi Drivers
You'll have to check with your local government offices or a taxi company. As a general rule, taxi drivers only need to have the standard, Class E driver's license. However, local jurisdictions may impose additional requirements.



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Restaurants Recommended by Rome's Taxi Drivers

Where to eat in Rome – by the city's cabbies

In her popular blog, Layne Mosler seeks out good, cheap eateries recommended by the city's taxi drivers. But how would she get on with Rome's notorious cabbies?

"Are you coming to Rome for a holiday?" the snowy-haired Italian sitting next to me on the plane asked.

"Actually, no," I said. "I'm coming to write about taxi drivers. And their favourite places to eat."

The man, an engineer and hobby archaeologist who was born and raised in Rome, slapped his hand to his forehead. "Our taxi drivers," he shook his head, "are terribili!"

He was not the first person to warn me about taxi drivers in Rome. Year after year, they are voted among the worst in the world. According to a 2011 EuroTest report by 22 European automobile clubs, "Rome's taxi drivers are aggressive, do not respect speed limits and traffic lights, and take long detours off the requested route."

In other words, if there was any city where taxi drivers were going to take me for a ride, it was Rome. But however naive it might have sounded to the Roman I met on the plane, I believed that some of the capital's 8,000 tassisti would show me where to find good things to eat in their city.

I based this belief on a steak. Five years ago I decided to climb into a random cab in Buenos Aires and ask the driver to take me to his favourite restaurant. After the taxista delivered me to a transcendent bife de lomo at a side-street steakhouse called Parrilla Peña, I started hopping into cabs in Buenos Aires, Berlin and New York, asking drivers where to eat and documenting my discoveries on a blog called taxigourmet.com.

In New York, I met two female cab drivers who showed me the way to Jamaican curried goat and Puerto Rican mofongo – and convinced me that I could drive a yellow taxi, too, which I did, for a year, chauffeuring everyone from hysterical brides to ex-New Yorkers searching for pastrami.

No one, my colleagues taught me, knows a city better than a cabbie. And four trips to Italy had taught me that few people know food better than Italians. What would happen if I tested these two truths in Rome – a city with some of the greatest food, and some of the most notorious taxi drivers, in the world?

"Buona sera," I said to the tassista who was parked, along with six of his colleagues, next to the Esso station on Piazza Albania. He winced at my accent and started rolling a cigarette.

"I'm looking for a cheap restaurant not too far from here," I continued.

"I never eat at restaurants around here," he said.................

>>> Please Read More..

Taxi Drivers Fighting Windmills ?

Honking Cab Drivers Demand San Francisco Ban On Ride sharing Services

With horns blaring, a long line of taxicabs circled San Francisco City Hall this afternoon, with cab drivers demanding that the city ban smartphone-enabled rideshare services.

As their colleagues circled the block, dozens of taxi drivers gathered on the steps of City Hall to call for the regulation of rideshare companies such as Lyft, Sidecar and Uber.

One of the rally’s organizers, Barry Korengold, president of the San Francisco Cab Drivers Association, called the startup companies “unfair competition.”

He said, “legal cabs are getting screwed,” citing a large drop in taxi ridership since the companies began operating.

The taxi drivers are asking city officials and the California Public Utilities Commission to step in.

The CPUC, which regulates passenger carriers, has asked an administrative law judge to compile a report on rideshare companies.

In December, the commission tasked the judge with gathering information to “evaluate the safety of ridesharing businesses that utilize the Internet, social media, and location services to arrange transportation of passengers over public highways for compensation,” according to CPUC documents......

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Snake Oil Seller tries to be oracle on taxi driver business issues

Well,-- another snake oil seller tries to be oracle on taxi driver business issues. Shame on you Mr. Andrew Bender,- you just don;t have slightest clue how things work on the streets.
May be you should become taxi driver in Las Vegas just for one weekend, before you make any statements or try to imprint taxi driver image on you unaware readers

"The Biggest Scam In Vegas May Be Your Taxi Ride

Las Vegas is famous for shady characters who try to stay under the radar: card counters, bookies and, um, others. But some of the shadiest may be hiding in plain sight: taxi drivers.

“We conservatively estimate airport passengers were overcharged $14.8 million in 2012,” reads an audit report on taxi services in Las Vegas, presented to the Nevada State Legislature last week.

The biggest scam: long hauling, taxi-speak for deliberately taking an indirect route. The audit found that long hauling occurred on 22.5 percent of taxi rides from the city’s McCarran Airport.

“Vegas is one of the most popular airports for taxi scams,” says Todd Romaine of IHateTaxis. com, which provides info about local transportation from airports worldwide. In volume of scams, he puts Vegas on par with Rome, Bangkok and Cairo...."

>>> Please Read More about Scam in Vegas

Florida Sunday Concert presented by "Taxi Driver"

Introduction to Dave Matthews Band on 60 Minutes

Dave Matthews Band - Live in Central Park, NYC

Are All Taxi Drivers Crooks?

By JC

For some, thinking of taxi drivers will conjure up images of crooked swindlers and professional con artists.  People think of characters like Louie De Palma and Danny DeVito's Character from the TV show “Taxi” and, imagine that any person in this profession must be just like them; an opportunistic, greedy, and completely self-serving thief who has no issues with stealing the money off weary travelers.  A few trips through a big city like New York can easily make this stereotype seem like fact.  The problem is the stereotype fails when you ask a single question; if all taxi drivers are crooks, why do people still use their services?

The Scams

People who live in cities rarely have issues with local cabbies that tourists and business people do, simply because the locals know the layout of their home.  In New York for example, the use of cab drivers is practically a tradition; it’s hard to swindle someone who knows what the quickest route is and, knows when their driver has suddenly opted for a longer trip.

What visitors rarely realize is that they often stand out as a tourist.  This makes them attractive customers to the few drivers who are looking for an easy target.  It gives “cabbies” the option to take longer routes that eat the meter, or to “assume” that they were supposed to keep the change as a tip and drive off before the mistake can be corrected.

Do Some Research

With scams like these, it's no wonder that some people regard taxi drivers with such suspicion.  Many drivers, however, are friendly, honest, and forthright.  Often, the problem is that tourists and business professionals who use taxi services unknowingly communicate that they're easy marks.  Some research can go a long way in making sure you get honest cabbies and thwart the couple of sneaks you might come across.

In any area where you’ll be spending a lot of time, do research on the taxi licenses that drivers should have.  Know what they should look like and know where the important information should be displayed upon them.  If the Taxi doesn't have a license don't use their service, most of the more dangerous and threatening cons are pulled off by unlicensed cabs!  Once you determine your cab driver has the right papers and permits write down the name and license numbers, the simple act of recording this information will show any dishonest drivers you may be dealing with that you're paying careful attention to what is going on; many tricks require oblivious or unaware customers.

If you have a smart-phone, use a GPS application to track the route they're taking.  When the driver diverts from the most efficient route promptly ask why.  You don't need to be suspicious right away as there can be completely legitimate reasons (such as closed roads) to change routes.  While you can use a paper map for the same thing, a cell phone is less obtrusive and maps kind of defeat the object of not drawing attention to yourself.

These few steps will help you thwart the handful of dishonest drivers you may come across on your travels.  Just pay attention to any red flags that come up during

Saint Petersburg FL Taxi Etiquette & How to Flag a Taxi

By Danielle Antosz

Whether you are native to Tampa Bay or just in town visiting, taxis are a convenient way to get around town and avoid dealing with parking fees, terrible traffic or unfamiliar public transportation system.
If you are in the Saint Petersburg FL area (or most any major cities) and want to get where you are going fast and without an issue, you need to treat your  taxi driver well! Here is how to successfully flag a taxi and get where you are going quickly.

1. Pretend you aren’t as drunk as you are. Your friend told a joke, and it was just plain hilarious. Awesome, but while you are bent over double laughing it up,  taxis are driving right past you. Picking up drunk people is part of the job, but if we get the idea you are going to be a huge pain then you aren’t worth it. We will keep on driving.

2. Know where you are going and be able to communicate it clearly. We can’t hear you when you mumble. Be ready to tell the driver where you are going, preferably with an exact address.  Please don’t discuss it with your friends for five minutes and make me wait. (with that being said  don’t be afraid to ask. Tampa taxi drivers

Benefits of Being a Taxi Driver in Tampa Bay

By Danielle Antosz

People become taxi drivers for many different reasons. No one is born knowing they want to be a taxi driver, usually circumstances push them to the job. With that being said, there are a lot of perks of being a taxi driver, and most of us love what we do. The hours are long, and slow shifts are tedious, but there is a reason we do it year after year. If you are considering becoming a Tampa taxi driver, here are a few things you can look forward to.

Be your own Boss!
Starting a business is expensive – you have to pay for overhead, taxes, licenses, equipment, and product. If you are looking for an easy way to be your own boss, taxi driving is a great place to start!

Your employment situation can vary based upon how your company is set up, but most Tampa taxi drivers rent their car from a taxi company or they own their own car and pay for dispatches from a company. There is no boss leaning over your shoulder all shift, and once you cover your fees the rest of the profit is yours. Which means the harder you work, the more money you make. And, unlike other startup businesses, the startup costs are relatively low.

Every Day is Payday
Instead of waiting for payday, you get to take home cold, hard cash after every shift. No more extreme budgeting to make sure you can last to next payday. However,

The Effects of Taxi Driving on Your Health & How to Improve Your Health

by Danielle Antosz

Tampa Bay taxi drivers have a tough job. While sitting down and driving a car all day might not be as physically demanding as, say, a construction job, it can still wreak havoc on your health. What is even worse is that many taxi drivers do not have health insurance or paid sick days. If you drive a taxi it is up to you to cover your health costs - even if your poor health is caused by your job.

The Effects of Driving a Tampa Bay Taxi on your Health

The fact is Tampa taxi drivers often spend as many as 12 hours a day sitting down while working a high stress job. This type of lifestyle is terrible for your health. In fact, medical studies show that sitting down for most of the day increases the chance that you will die by over 50%. Add the stress of the job and a poor diet eaten on the run, taxi drivers are at a serious risk of heart attack or stroke. So what can you do to improve your health? You don’t need to overhaul your entire lifestyle – even just a few small changes to your day will make you happier and healthier.

Eat Better

The poor diet of many taxi drivers is only part of the problem, but is still very important. First, you need to eat less junk food. It is awfully convenient to drive through during a quick break, but try packing a light lunch a few times a week. Even a sandwich and a few chips are better than a greasy burger and salty fries. Also, try substituting water for soda or coffee. Water contains less calories and also helps flush toxins from your system.

Get Exercise!

As humans we are not meant to be sedentary. Our bodies are designed to walk, hunt, and run. Sitting behind a steering wheel all day increases your stress level, causes heart problems, and results in weight gain. But, you don’t have to spend hours pumping iron at the gym. The Mayo Clinic says that a daily brisk walk can help you maintain a healthy weight, improve your mood, strengthen your bones, and help prevent heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.

Take a Vacation

If you are a taxi driver, you know how stressful the job can be. And without paid vacation time, taking time off can be difficult. Think of it as an investment in your future – taking a few days off to relax (along with a few other lifestyle changes!) can result in better health for years to come.
Driving a taxi is not an easy job – drivers deal with long hours, high stress, and most drivers eat a poor diet. If you drive a taxi, it is important to take the time to take care of yourself. For your friends, and all those who love you.

Crashing Cabbies: Las Vegas, Nevada by Sasha

Taxi Cab Crashes into Garage at Fashion Show Mall

Stories and news articles on taxicabs are about awkward passengers, sticky situations; For the most part, it is rare that taxi drivers make headline news for their indiscretions or odd behavior. However, one taxicab driver in Las Vegas, Nevada managed to change the way in which people look at the expectations of a cab driver.
Shopping malls across America are filled with people shuffling around looking for the best bargains or the newest trends to hit the market. The parking lot is filled with cars smashed into tiny spaces; or taxi cabs lurking around searching for a passenger, picking up lunch, or simply running the meter while their customer is inside exchanging an expensive ugly sweater they got as a gift.

Fashion Show Malls

Fashion Show mall is another typical shopping mall in Las Vegas, Nevada and on April 11th, 2013, the stores were filled with people, cars were parked like sardines in the lot, and cab drivers did their normal run. However, an unidentified cabbie drove his taxi into the wall of the parking garage instead of fulfilling. According to investigators, the driver was taken to the hospital with serious injuries and yet there was no particular reason reported for the single-car crash.
Although the story is quite disturbing, it leads to the question of whether or not taxi drivers are held to a different standard because they are supposed to be the levelheaded ringleader. Whether or not the driver intentionally drove his (or her) car into the wall is irrelevant. In specific professions, there are standards that allow no room for human error. For example, patients in the medical profession hold their doctors and nurses to the highest regards, and students in a classroom think their teachers know everything and they expect to learn everything their teacher knows.
When these professionals make a mistake, it does not stop people from going to the doctor or to school; it just makes them more cautious. Is this accident going to make people at Fashion Show mall stop riding in a taxicab? Probably not, however, it will allow them to make a change in how they perceive their driver. It does not matter what their ethnicity, race, religion, or gender is. What matters is that they can drive and they know the difference between a cement wall and a paved road.

The Strange Tales of London Cab Drivers

picture by i.telegraph.co.uk

Taxi Tales: London Cabbie Confess All

For most cab drivers, their only responsibility is safely maneuvering their way throughout the city, drop off passengers, and get paid. Occasionally, the cab driver looks in the rearview mirror hoping to get a glimpse of the person he or she decided to give a ride. It is in that moment they realize they are not doctors or lawyers; they are street priests and their cab is the confessional. Along the narrow streets of London, taxis stop to scoop up tourists, women, executives, and young students trying to find their way home. The driver asks ‘where to?’ and zips along the streets of London fast enough to drop off their passenger and slow enough to run up the meter. They often look at the reflections of their customers in the mirror and shake their head in amazement at the oddity of others.

Experiences

The interesting thing about people is that regardless of how peculiar they may be there is someone shortly after them that were even more peculiar. A woman asking her cab driver to stop at a convenience store in order for her to purchase another pair of stockings to hide an affair from her husband, for a cab driver like Terry, may be a reasonable request. It is the moment when Terry glanced at her in the rearview mirror and saw she had her new stockings scrunched in her hands and putting them, on that may have seemed to be a little much. In the life of a cabbie, the next passenger after a woman like her is probably more fascinating. For example, the account of the anonymous driver who watched as a much older gentleman and two young women began a rendezvous in the back of his cab. John, a London cab driver whose last name is unknown, once noticed something strange on the floor of his backseat. When he pulled over, he realized that the last passenger did not leave a briefcase, bag of money, purse, or phone. Instead, the passenger left a living snake and according to his account, it was the same length of his taxi and he had to drive to the police station and requested that they removed it.

Seasoned Drivers

As in any profession, there are the more seasoned drivers. The ones who are in tune with their city and have a laundry list of streets to avoid. For example, London’s popular Clampham High Street turns into fraternity town on the weekends according to cabbie John Kennedy. By his account, the worst season is the summer because it is the time of the year when he is driving around an intoxicated passenger with the windows rolled down and the mixture of alcohol and vomit permeating his cab.
Regardless of the city, country, or continent taxi drivers will often encounter bizarre people and attention grabbing conversations. For them, it is not the odd people that are odd, but the people considered normal and sane by societal standards that may cause their driver to lift their eyebrow and shake their head.

Texas taxi Drivers / LNB Taxi Cab serving SE Houston +

Tex's LNB Taxi Cab, Courier,  Van Service serving SE Houston areas to include: SE Houston * Friendswood * Webster * Clear Lake and the Bay Area * League City * Dickinson * Kemah *


Southbelt areas I-45 & Beltway 8 Neighborhoods * Memorial Hermann  SE Hospital * San Jacinto College on Beamer * Taxi trips to  all area airports, downtown Houston, The Texas & Clear Lake area Hospital and Medical Centers, the Galleria, Sporting events, shopping trips, and out of town destinations.

Are you talking to ME?!- What Taxi Drivers Don't Like about Passengers

Are you talking to ME ?!!!

10 Clients Taxi Drivers Hate 
By DA

Driving a taxi in Tampa Bay is different than in Manhattan or Chicago, where clients just flag a taxi down on the street. That gives drivers the chance to ignore people they can tell will be trouble.
Here in Tampa Bay, we mostly rely on dispatching systems to get us calls, either old fashioned radio dispatching or computer system based on GPS. Some companies are toying right now with taxi booking applications for smart phones which supposed to connect potential passenger to nearest cab. The point being, most taxi drivers in Tampa Bay don’t get to choose their customers, which allows Manhattan drivers to avoid some particularly high maintenance customers.
At some point between calling a cab and getting in, many people seem to lose common sense and generally forget how to act like a human being. While many clients are polite and tip, there are a few that we all hate picking up. Here are the top 10 clients taxi drivers hate.


The “Executive”
This person is convinced their time is more valuable than anyone else’s. I get a call and get to the address in five minutes and blow the horn. The “Executive” shows up at the door and says “Give me a sec! I’ll be right there!” After another 5 minutes, I blow the horn again. They stick their head out the door “Give me another minute!” A full 10 minutes later they finally get in the cab with an attitude like I ruined their freaking day. WTF?!

Mother Knows “Best”
I pull up in front of a house and a lady with a baby in her arms tries to get in the cab. I ask, politely, if she has a car seat. She replies “I don't use car sit for my baby and nobody in your company ever ask me to have a car seat!” I say “Ma’am, I cannot take you and your baby without a car seat”. I hear slur of insults followed by "What is your cab number and what is your name? I am going to report you to your company! I am never using your company again!!" She doesn't realize, or doesn't care, that not using a car seat is not just unsafe for a baby, but also illegal!

The “High Roller”
Sorry ass loser comes out of Derby Lane Poker Room and

Future of Taxi Booking Applications

By Athan Rebelos

Are taxi booking apps on death's bed? The troubles of the taxi industry

A lot of noise is being made about taxi and car service booking apps. The saying is that hindsight is 20/20 and thanks to the rapid pace of technology we can already look back at some business models and review them after just four quarters. The app market is on death's bed. Well maybe that's too strong of a statement but maybe not.
It was just a short few years ago when the advent of the iPhone created the market for apps. As we move closer to every phone being a smart phone we see an app for just about everything. There are apps for controlling the locks on the front door of your home, you can start your car from overseas, you can monitor your travel itinerary and you can hail a taxi. It's the last one that we're most interested in so let's just focus on that. What does it mean that I can hail a taxi with my app? Once upon a time taxis could only be had by either hailing them or by locating a taxi stand. When the telephone was invented it became the new way to summon a taxi in many cities. Phones were set up at taxi stands and taxi drivers would answer the phone and then go pick up the fare. Soon after that radio technology became available to taxi companies and the radio dispatched taxi became all the rage. The consumer would call a dispatch center and a taxi would be summoned by the dispatcher. It appears that this model is still in place decades later but in reality it has greatly evolved. At major fleets the number of phone operators has either been limited or they've been replaced by data dispatch systems and interactive voice response systems (IVR). Typically a caller dials an advertised phone number, they are placed into a phone queue and then either a live person answers or an IVR system answers. Once the order is placed it is usually being offered to a taxi within seconds via a GPS or zone based dispatch solution. If there are no empty cabs within a reasonable distance the order becomes a "trouble" order and a dispatcher will usually intervene. Every cab company seems to have their own way of dealing with that latter problem. Customers have two issues with this type of system, waiting on hold and then not getting a cab in a timely manner, if ever.

>>>Read More

Taxi Drivers and Their Religious Opinions

by Sasha Brown


Eight Florida 'Star Taxi' drivers claim their boss made them choose between prayer and their job
For a practicing Muslim, prayer is as important as the daily sustenance on food is for people. Understanding this fact has brought about laws that protect both employers and employees against discrimination. Employees losing their jobs because of their race or religion often sue for financial damages and sensitivity awareness against their employers. Some win, some don’t. Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion and freedom in America is not to be stepped upon by anyone, native or not.

In Orlando Florida, eight taxi drivers working for a certain cab company were given the option to choose between practicing their religion or their jobs. These drivers are Muslims that need to pray in certain areas for five to seven minutes, five times a day. This means that time on the job has to be sacrificed because it is to their opinion that it is their right to practice their religion regardless of what they do for a living. With this case, the taxi drivers filed a suit against their employer because of the clear violation of state, federal and local laws that sates that employers must give reasonable leeway to drivers as long as it does not become a major draw back for the business.

Taxi Drivers: Easy Targets

Taxi Drivers: Easy Targets
by Sasha Brown

Taxi cab driver Annuel Delicieux shot during robbery speaks to 10 News

For cab drivers, there is always this one unforgettable ride at least in a day’s work; but for Annuel Delicieux, it was the unforgettable ride of his lifetime. At around 3 am on Dec 18, 2012 in Tampa Florida, two assailants aimed a gun at a cab driver, took his money and shot him. The two shooters, although now sitting in jail have changed his life significantly because the father of three who was just trying to make a living, who fortunately survived the shooting, now has to undergo therapy and could not work for at least a year because of the incident.

According to other cab drivers, Tampa is considered a safe place for taxi drivers. In fact, the city’s crime rate has gone down 46% for the past 6 years. Nevertheless, it does not make it any safer for cabbies working late nights to the wee hours of the morning from robberies or senseless shootings. They may have safety procedures to follow in such circumstances but readings from articles show that most of the taxi related crimes are not solely based on the intent to rob. More than half of taxi driver killings are showing an act of senseless murders due to the assailant acting out for his/her self-esteem. In the case of Mr. Delicieux for example, he already gave the robbers the money they demanded but they still shot him brutally. For wanting to create chaos from the situation, the suspects in this case still killed him even when he followed orders quickly and without a fight.

These taxi drivers working round the clock face risk factors everyday such as being defenseless working alone, late at night with cash in public and high-risk areas.

Training Taxi Drivers in Tampa

Hospitality 101: Tampa Bay & Co. training taxi drivers




TAMPA — Polite or gruff, informed or oblivious, a taxi driver can make a big difference in a visitor’s first impression of a city.
Recognizing the value of this interaction, and its larger impact on tourism, Tampa Bay & Company will jump start its new guest services training program with training for drivers of vehicles for-hire, such as taxis, limousines and vans.

"I think it’s a good idea and it’s long overdue,” said Brook Negusei, president of Cab Plus Inc. in Tampa. “The first thing you see, coming into Tampa, is the cab driver, and when you leave, you see a cab driver.”

The initial training is slated for mid-August, in time for the Republican National Convention and the 50,000 visitors it will bring. Further ahead, the program will expand to include other types of tourism industry employees.

The program will provide an “enhancement of the total guest experience that the delegates, media and other attendees will witness first hand,” as opposed to being a traditional economic development tool, said Kelly Miller, president and CEO of Tampa Bay & Company.