Taxi Driving in New York

Night-Shifting for the Hip Fleet

“…It’s Hooverville, honey, so anyone outside the military-industrial complex is likely to turn up driving for Dover…”

By Mark Jacobson

From the September 22, 1975 issue of New York Magazine.

It has been a year since I drove a cab, but the old garage still looks the same. The generator is still clanging in the corner. The crashed cars are still in the shop. The weirdos are still sweeping the cigarette butts of the cement floor. The friendly old “YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE for all front-end accidents” is as comforting as ever. Danny the dispatcher still hasn’t lost any weight. And all the working stiffs are still standing around, grimy and gummy, sweating and regretting, waiting for a cab at shape-up.

Shape-up time at Dover Taxi Garage #2 still happens every afternoon, rain or shine, winter or summer, from two to six. That’s when the night-line drivers stumble into the red-brick garage on Hudson Street in Greenwich Village and wait for the day liners, old-timers with backsides contoured to the crease in the seat of a Checker cab, to bring in the taxis. The day guys are supposed to have the cabs in by four, but if the streets are hopping they cheat a little bit, maybe by two hours. That gives the night liners plenty of time to stand around in the puddles on the floor, inhale the carbon monoxide, and listen to the cab stories.

Cab stories are tales of survived disasters. They are the major source of conversation during shape-up. The flat-tire-with-no-spare-on-Eighth-Avenue-and-135th-Street is a good cab story. The no-brakes-on-the-park-transverse-at-50-miles-an-hour is a good cab story. The stopped-for-a-red-light-with-teen-agers-crawling-on-the-windshield is not too bad. They’re all good cab stories if you live to tell about them. But a year later the cab stories at Dover sound just a little bit more foreboding, not quite so funny. Sometimes they don’t even have happy endings. A year later the mood at shape-up is just a little bit more desperate. They gray faces and burnt-out eyes look just a little bit more worried. And the most popular cab story at Dover these days is the what-the-hell-am-I-doing-here? story.

Dover has been called the “hippie garage” ever since the New York

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.

Florida taxi drivers / writers wanted

Picture by wikimedia.org

Taxi driver stories wanted, - if you a cab driver or person who takes cabs often, write about it from your own experience.
Make $15 per story, each story must be 250 - 450 words long of ORIGINAL content,- have fun, tell the world what had happened in your taxicab or while you were in it as a passenger, get your text published on internet and make money while doing this.


>>> Go to Taxi Stories
We also need taxi drivers / article writers on daily life of cab driver, cab drivers opinions, places worth visiting in Florida, issues concerning taxi drivers in Florida, tips to other cab drivers on how to improve their lifestyles or how to reduce overhead cost of taxi driving business, etc
We are interested about anything related to taxi driving in Florida, either in Saint Pete, Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Gainesville or Miami, just to name few major places.

Articles must be + 400 words long, it will be published with its own link, you will be credited with its creation and you will get paid between $15-25, depending on quality of writing and relevance of content.


We reserve the right to refuse to publish certain articles with inappropriate content and without pay.