Re: Taxi/Limo drivers
any kind of skilled labour in NORTH AMERICA pays really well :k:
Re: Taxi/Limo drivers
Interesting thread. I don't think anyone is speaking from experience here. If that's the case, then as a son of a taxi driver, may I?
First of all, taxi business in NY is different than here in Louisiana. So I will speak about Louisiana and I will speak about my dad and his friends who are also in the cab business.
Unlike NY, a majority of people drive their private cab, instead of working for a company. Depending on the season, depending on the games in town, depending on the gas prices, depending on the conventions in town, and many other factors, an average 8-10 hour shift earns you about $200 per shift. That is if you charge your passengers honestly.
I know some people (young cab drivers who graduate from university and go into cab for money) charge their out-of-state customers whatever they want because those customers don't know the fares. In most cases they are from richer places (North) and south's high prices are okay for them. Then there are special occasions where people want to do private stuff in the car and youngsters don't mind driving the couple around town while they are making out or having sex in the back seat. Someone I know (in his 20s) told me this as he's a cab driver and he has done it (carried such passengers).
So, if you charge your passengers unfairly, of course you can make as much as you want. You control your income. Someone mentioned you are boss of your own and control your working hours. That's true, however, it is really a tough to do it. Sometimes you have to force yourself to go to work because as human, we tend to rest more than we want to work. With taxi, you don't get any paid sick days or vacation time. If you don't go to work, you don't make money.
My dad has fixed working hours. On the other hand I know some people who would work as much as as they can. Then once they get tired, the come home and sleep for 4-6 hours. Get up and run back to work. Mostly singles from Pakistan or people who don't have families living here with them do that. In old age, you can't do this.
**Now coming to expenses:
1. **Gas - If you are honest, doesn't matter whether the gas price is high or low, the fares will not change as fast as the gas prices because the fares are controlled by the taxi authority. Of course there are people who charge whatever they want, but most of them are honest. There are days when most people just keep driving around for passenger and can't find any. They burn all that gas and come home with $30-$50 dollars after working for 8-9 hours. So when you think of $300 per shift, do think of $50 shifts as well.
Insurance - As taxi is a commercial vehicle, it's a big liability. The insurance can cost you about $5,000 - $6,000 per year. That's LIABILITY ONLY! If you get into an accident and your car is totaled, the insurance will give you** NOTHING **as it is liability only. They won't insure you for full. They will only pay the OTHER car for their damage and to passengers. So do keep the high insurance price and buying a new car in case of an accident in mind.
Number - If you notice, each taxi has a number written on it. That number can cost anything from $50,000 - $100,000. Most people can't afford it, so they rent it. The rental is about $500 - 600 per **WEEK. **Since the number is rented by individuals to individuals, rates are not regulated.
**Medical - **When they have to go visit the doctor, there is no company paid medical that's going to cover them. They have to pay for EVERYTHING - from doctor's visits to medicines.
401K - Again, nobody is matching their 401K. What they save now will come in handy down the road.
Maintenance - Since taxi is driven more than private vehicles, more maintenance is required. More frequent oil changes, tire changes, AC breaks down, Transmission problems, and many other unpredictable mishaps and they all can add up.
Taxes
So obviously if they make "a lot", a lot of that goes towards the expenses, and mind you, most of them are valid expenses. Of course there are exceptions like those who charge unfairly. Same people would report less income and high expenses but you have to keep the majority of honest people in mind. Those who end up paying a little bit of taxes, they pay them at once, rather than taken them out of their paycheck unlike most of us.
**Other things to keep in mind.
**So far there's good money and major expenses. In addition, it's a physical labor job. You have to open the door for passengers, put their heavy luggage in the car, get it out for them etc. But hey, it's their job.
Sometimes drunk people also ride the cab. You can't tell them no. So they drink, have fun, vomit in the cab. You end up cleaning their mess.
Sometimes people sit in the cab and have no money and you don't know until you reach their destination and they want to walk away without giving any money. Sometimes fights take place because of this.
I know a few of the cab drivers who were shot by passengers just so they don't have to pay the fare. Sometimes they are robbed of whatever they have made so far that day. Sometimes they are beaten up because they are Pakistanis/Indians.
Social life is not that great. Other "well educated" Pakistani thinks of themselves holier than cab drivers, so they don't like to associate with them. That limits their circle of friends with other cab drivers.
I can go on and on on but the bottom line is that those people work their asses of. It's not an easy job, in fact, it's **A LOT HARDER THAN **my job where I get up in the morning, go to the office, sit in front of the computer all day (weather outside doesn't affect me), and then leave at 5. On top, I get 3 weeks of paid vacation, sick and personal time, matched 401K, medical, dental, and vision benefits.
If they own the house, expensive brands, cars, or whatever, they earned it and they worked very hard for it by putting their lives in danger, literally, for their families.
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Re: Taxi/Limo drivers
they make loads! an average of 300-400 a day or sumthin..
divide by 2, my 2 friends n a uncle drives, i know very well
Re: Taxi/Limo drivers
interesting insight Shikra, thanks for the detailed reply. I agree that they have a lot of expenses etc but if they really are netting between 20-28k per yr then where does all that pricey stuff come from? I have done loans for tons of cab drivers and not a single one had income more than that so we would end up taking them stated income or something. If on an average a cab driver makes 200/day and suppose he works every day of the month that comes to 6000/mo minus expenses etc how do they afford a luxurious lifestyle like sabs mentioned?
Re: Taxi/Limo drivers
Shikra, very nice post. Thanks for the info :k:
Unfortunately I can’t giev you any Repu since I already have awhile back 
Re: Taxi/Limo drivers
Femme jee **I answered this part in my post. There are some people who charge higher fares. They have a little notebook provided by the company in their car and they are **supposed to write down every customer's transaction. Date, picked up from, desination, fare charged etc. and they use those to sum up their annual income. At least that's how my dad does it, perhaps that's why I never had any expensive brands and expensive cars and they didn't let us do a lot of stuff that we wanted to do because they couldn't afford it?
Anyway, so yes, there are people like that out there who will scam the system. There are also desi CPAs who will take their word for it and file their taxes. But as a rule, you need to have those transaction histories to back up your income claims. Oh, they also have receipts provided by the company that they have to issue to their customers. Customers know about them and they ask for those receipts. That way they must write down each transaction and can't "not write" any income.
**Edit: **The "company" that I am speaking of is not the company they drive the cab for, that's their insurance company who lets them use their name on the cab. This system is different than NY Cab Co.
Re: Taxi/Limo drivers
ahhh i see! i guess ur dad is one of the rare few honest ones :)
its basically what self-employed pl have the liberty of doing, not disclosing their income fully and then writing off most of it in expenses. Interesting. Thanks.
Re: Taxi/Limo drivers
My dad believes that the money that comes in the haram way will go out the haram way. This is what he always told us (kids): If I charge them higher prices based on gas prices or whatever and bring home, lets say, $1000 additional per month, then one of you gets really sick and I end up taking you to the hospital and spend $3,000 on you, did I really make more money?
I believe he is right. I have seen those people who charged others more were never satisfied with their money and were never content. Whereas Alhamdulillah we are very content. We had 3 meals a day and lived a very good life. We may not have had up-to-date video games, or brand new cell phones or expensive cars, but we were all healthy, we did well in schools, we now have great jobs (I am in Capital One's management and My younger brother is an Engineering consultant - 3rd brother is in college and sister is in high school). Overall, we have peace in our family and we are content. :)
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Re: Taxi/Limo drivers
All you people ranting and raving about the luxuries taxi drivers enjoy, you will never know the real picture or whats on the other side of the fence until you go drive one for yourself for a week atleast. As for the chick wearing pricey jackets and living in expensive houses, she forgot to mention that she doesnt even know what her dad looks like because he's out on the road working 80-85 hours a week.
Re: Taxi/Limo drivers
to your dad
Re: Taxi/Limo drivers
That is why cabbies often put a bumper sticker saying 'jalnay walay ka mooN kala'
Re: Taxi/Limo drivers
:D hahahah
Re: Taxi/Limo drivers
when ppl are saying cabbies make 300/day its gross, u take out fuel, insurance, maintenance etc and all its a different number, and then taxes
so if we say their pretax income is an avg of 250/day and they work 26 days a month on avg thats 78K/yr
not quite an amount that a single eaerner family can have to live in some posh locale and have expensive cars and clothes.
and in teh end it comes down to how much the family spends versys saves. are ppl trying to keep up with teh joneses and not saving at all? are they buying bargain basment brand names from discounters just to keep up etc.
Re: Taxi/Limo drivers
That is why cabbies often put a bumper sticker saying 'jalnay walay ka mooN kala'
lol.
Re: Taxi/Limo drivers
when ppl are saying cabbies make 300/day its gross, u take out fuel, insurance, maintenance etc and all its a different number, and then taxes
so if we say their pretax income is an avg of 250/day and they work 26 days a month on avg thats 78K/yr
not quite an amount that a single eaerner family can have to live in some posh locale and have expensive cars and clothes.
and in teh end it comes down to how much the family spends versys saves. are ppl trying to keep up with teh joneses and not saving at all? are they buying bargain basment brand names from discounters just to keep up etc.
Also, a lot of people don't have control over the spendings using credit cards. So are they paying off their balances every month or are in they in debt and are making installments? NOBODY can can come from Pakistan and pay cash for a house in Brooklyn, unless you are really really rich in Pakistan (but then I don't see why you would come to the US and drive cab for a living). So I don't see what the big fuss is if they took a loan to buy that house and are making monthly installments.
We don't know how much debt they are in for those jackets and cars. We don't know whether it's the dad only who's driving cab or it's the mom also who's working at the convenient store and the siblings on carts?
Re: Taxi/Limo drivers
or even doing somthing like home based day care. Some ladies make pretty good money doing that. I know that the lady who my kids went to made 70K/yr or so watching 8 kids.
oh and I seriously doubt that she reported all the income on taxes
Re: Taxi/Limo drivers
This is the first time i've ever heard of taxi drivers having a luxurious lifestyle. Personaly I feel the dangers outweigh the benefits of it but then when there's a family to support one has to do whatever they can do...
Oh and also I totally doubt that that luxurious lifestyle is b/c of the taxi driving, hwo do you know for sure that there's not money coming in from somewhere else? Generally speaking , you never know the financial situation of any other family....
Re: Taxi/Limo drivers
My dad was a Taxi driver when they first moved here in the late 60's before moving into construction, although nowadays many desi are in this line of work, the reason they bring in so much, is that they don't show what they're really making when it comes to filing their tax returns for the year.