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No more night shift, only 24 hour rentals....

7K views 32 replies 10 participants last post by  Stevie The magic Unicorn 
#1 ·
Gahh...

It's official...
(it's actually been official a while i just didn't notice)

Night shift is gone, only 24 hour rentals (by the day or by the week)

Now i MUST drag my furry behind into the shop at the ungodly hour of 8:30 Am to 10:00 am to start a shift...
 
#5 ·
Why'd they do that. Could get someone to split and drive the day shift?
Only if we went in on a weekly rental together, but not going to do that.

Monday i worked a shift (not knowing night was gone derp) from 8:30 am to 4:00 whatever PM then tuesday 3:00 something AM to 8:00 am.

That's ONE 24 hour rental...

HONESTLY i think it could be a lot less hard on me that 12 hour shifts.

But tomorrow i'm going to do 10:00 AM to whenever i feel like going home.. because it's Friday. so probably 10:00 am to midnight or 2:00 if i hold out.
 
#7 ·
taxi rentals is the way it's done in Orlando these days.

The theme park taxi ranks and most of the biggest hotels are dominated by one company.

And the airport as well.

I used to be a "fortune teller" but that was pre-Uber. It's a lot harder to get fares these days.

The cabs I rent have access to the Disney/universal studios cab ranks and the third biggest/best dispatch in Orlando. (After Uber/lyft)
 
#8 ·
I tested the taxi market again here, back in January. 24's only, and the cage was only open a couple hours.
That's an inconvenience I would have dealt with, if there was enough fares.

Also what had changed was the company was now watching your every move on camera. The also installed an extremely annoying lane departure warning and nagging speed limit system.

I ended up having a pax high on something waving a gun around. Unfortunately, I couldnt get help because The panic button was moved onto the dispatch tablet, which flashes red when used (defeating the purpose).

I'm done for good with cab.
 
#9 ·
I ended up having a pax high on something waving a gun around. Unfortunately, I couldnt get help because The panic button was moved onto the dispatch tablet, which flashes red when used (defeating the purpose).
That's a terrible place for it, and been there done that...

our dispatch has been moved to the tablet and i need tot point out that the cabs have been wired with cameras for over 15 years so they know how to put it together properly. Our panic buttons are still under the steering wheel and outside of view from even the front passenger seat and not tied to our dispatch tablets at all.

The cameras are there for EVERYONE'S protection and i can guarantee that they don't bother watching them at all unless they have a reason to.

The times i used it (not going ot lie, it's happened) the "customer" didn't know i pushed it until the cops told them i pushed it when they were dragging us out of the car. (Procedure is to swarm the car and drag everyone out and sort out who is who when the car is empty).

But it's a different market for sure. I get 366%- 500% (3 1/2 to 5 times) of the uberX rates driving a cab.

for the record it's 53c a mile 8c a minute VS 2.20-2.40 a mile and 45c a minute under 20 MPH.
 
#11 ·
Took out a car for Friday.

Land vehicle Speedometer Odometer Trip computer Vehicle


let me say... cleaning it up was really polishing a turd man.

but it's 24 hour rate is only $60 so I'll take it lol.

And our time Ticks when the speed is under 20 mph.

so heavy traffic it's like $3.00 per mile.
 
#12 ·
So for Friday I started at 9:10 am and turned in the car just after 2:00 am Saturday.

made $280 and walked home with $190.

$280
-$60 (cab rental half rate dispatch only car no theme park stands, airport ect)
-$20 gas
-$10.17 tolls, and gas charge back from not completely filling the tank, $5.00 in background check payment. Ect.

for 190 profit.
 
#14 ·
So for Friday I started at 9:10 am and turned in the car just after 2:00 am Saturday.

made $280 and walked home with $190.

$280
-$60 (cab rental half rate dispatch only car no theme park stands, airport ect)
-$20 gas
-$10.17 tolls, and gas charge back from not completely filling the tank, $5.00 in background check payment. Ect.

for 190 profit.
Thats crazy man. Way to much work for that little profit. Your not truly making those rates if the rental cost that much.
 
#15 ·
Worked Saturday, 9:30 Am to midnight, my profit (after all expenses) is just shy of $200. Well I didn't walk home with it, they didn't have any cash to give me and told me to come back at 9:00 am if i REALLY needed it.

I'm paying $75 for the taxis that have access to Disney/universal studios Orlando taxi stands/hotel stands. ($15 than the ones that are dispatch only)
 
#24 ·
Your market conditions allow for it. In this market, where you can get so many customers from bumping the kerb, it is much easier to pull off this stunt. Given the current COVID-19 conditions, it is somewhat more difficult, as there are not that many street hails out there. If the economy ever does come back, the street hails will return.
I think it has more to do with Disney's badge checks and dispatch calling the drivers personal cell phone when they need to get a hold of us. Knowing the system as well as i do, If i put someone else in my cab while I had it signed out? Yeah that's not going to last very long at all. That and the driver assistance line is staffed by like under 4 operators, If multiple people are working a car around the clock those guys will notice. And if your working dispatch you can't really avoid talking to them.

"Hey this is 801, i need a gatecode off my current customer"

"OK Stevie, giving them a call"

"Hey this is 801, what entrance is the customer at, My fare screen says both the main entrance and the ER of this hospital"

"GAhh... yeah it does say both, i'll call the contact"

WHen it's two guys running that line late night you get to know them REAL quick, the customers usually talk to the Calltakers, they are the ones who get the customers pickup info and phone number to put into the system, there's a lot more of those.
 
#25 ·
And the taxis are back up to full rates, however i can go back to the cheaper 12 hour night shifts.


So i'll more than likely be doing the $66 for 9:00 pm to 9:00 am, no disney world, no airport pickups dispatch only cars.


The math on that is a goal of $190+ in revenue with $100+ profit.

Compared to a goal of $400 revenue on a 24 hour rental giving $220 in profit.

12 fares at about $17 a fare is really all that it takes to make that shift worth while. Based on the numbers i've been getting in the hood late night i shouldn't have much of a problem pulling that off.


And i'll be dropping the disney pickup option for a few reasons, firstly the number of guests in town is already plummeting, secondly the hours they are open are getting cut way way back from 11:00 pm yesterday to 7:00 pm.

But thankfully the early morning business seems to be picking up as well, plenty of fares in the hood to keep me busy.


So back to working hood calls through the night and dealing with the crazies... YAY.. *face palm*

or i could just quit until summer...

choices choices...
 
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#28 ·
Easy...

UBerX rates are 53c a mile
Ubertaxi is $1.71 a mile
Taxi at the credit card rate is $2.30
Taxi at the cash rate is $2.40 a mile

I'd much rather shell out for a taxi when I'm making $1.20-1.87 MORE per mile.



AS far as owning my own taxi?

That doesn't work here anymore. Only company taxis can queue at Disney world and I depend on dispatch outside of closing time at Disney and queuing at the hotels...

I also don't do it enough to justify $500 in monthly insurance premiums for taxi insurance, but that's very secondary to the above.



So today I shelled out $76 for a taxi. (9:00 pm to 9:00 am)

$235 in gross revenue on $20 in gas and I have about 2 hours more to catch another fare.

So no more than 32% to the cab company today... a lower % than uber takes these days for sure. And it's not my car.

My last 2 fares were trips to the airport. $30 and $25 (including tip)
Neither would have broken $10 on uberX.


Yeah i'd rather have 60% of 2.30 or 2.40 a mile than 10% of 53c a mile thank you very much.
 
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