Sweetest Irony: Ain't That Funny? Taxis In Seattle Now Cheaper Than Uber And Lyft & "Get Sick And Die," She Shouted & US Labor Department Withdraws Trump Era "Independent Contractor" Rule & Hey! Amazon, What Are You Doing? & Road-Rage Deluxe & Small Typos---Big Consequences

HaHa Uber, the Joke's on U

As the saying goes, turnabout is fair play but it's shocking that the very scoundrels who nearly destroyed Seattle's taxi industry by lowballing fares, are now more expensive than us cabbies, evidenced by all these previously faithful ride-share passenger rats abandoning Uber and Lyft's sinking ship.  And as I have mentioned in previous posts, we Seattle cabbies can thank our dysfunctional City Council for forcing Uber and Lyft rates up into the stratosphere, their misguided efforts taking away the very reason they were initially successful.   God knows what the City Council will do next once they understand the damage done to those they loved and coddled and tucked nightly into feather beds, whispering reassuring prayers to their bereaved gig economy children. 

A recent example of this new disparity came last Saturday night when the passenger going from  North 44th & Stone Way North to 2nd West and West Galer told me Lyft quoted her $25.00 for the relative short journey.  My meter rate to her apartment building?  $9.80.  Now that is enough to get any customer's attention, and it has, meaning a once dead love affair un-expectantly blossoming green rose petals before my jaded eyes.  And just last night, a passenger went from north Ballard to Montlake Terrace. My meter? $31.00 Uber quote?  $45.00.  Picking her up on the rebound, my meter read $28.60, the route back slightly shorter.  Each time she gave me a ten dollar tip. Thank you very much!

Now if we only had more cabs working to cover all the bells, it would be a perfect world.  Sunday night, when business flew at an insane pace, there was YC 8 _ _ standing outside his cab at 12th & East Jefferson gabbing away with friends.  I wanted to ______! him, I really did but I was too busy attending to all those waiting passengers in the taxi night.  Our current total is 150 cabs, with a cap of 160.  I think it's obvious we will need more than that if our business continues to grow, which seems to be true, as summer and a post-pandemic boom approaches, tourists and others seeking quick transportation. 

She wants me to die

Coming back from a fare to Maple Valley,  I took a Federal Way call, wanting to help out.  Upon my first call to the passenger, she said, since Yellow had kept her waiting for over an hour, she would call me back, deciding if she could make her appointment.  Not hearing from her, I called again and got this screaming "Get sick and die! Get sick and die!" proving she was upset Yellow had failed her and now it was all my fault.  As I will always say, when someone calls for a cab, they expect it to arrive, and when it doesn't, they are not happy.  More and more this kind of failure is happening regardless of day and night and time of day.  Can we do better?  I don't know.  At one point last night we had 25 fares waiting.  How many cabs were working?  Whatever the number, clearly not enough to adequately cover the calls, once again translating into hour-long waits and numerous no-shows.

Tossing Trump out of the TNC window

Labor Secretary Marty Walsh said,  "By withdrawing the Independent Contractor Rule, we will help preserve essential worker rights and stop the erosion of worker protections that would have occurred had the rule gone into effect."  

What the Labor Department is rescinding are rules that made it more difficult for gig and contract workers to claim they are entitled to minimum and overtime protections, former President Trump not believing in the eight-hour work day unless there is time off for playing golf, Trump hitting the greens over 315 times during his time in office.  "We Like Eke" Eisenhower played golf 800 times during his 8 years occupying the upper reaches of American government.  Yes, the GOP motto for American laborers: you work while we play ( and get huge tax breaks, too!)

And funny yet sad, so many of Trump's most ardent supporters being folks barely making it financially, working their butts off only to earn an early grave.  For decades, "reading literacy" was considered foundational to opening people's minds to the obvious reality operating around them.  Guess that isn't true, given what most people say and do expressing the opposite, ignoring opportunities to open a book and understand, instead embracing fantasies perpetuated by fools and ciphers more than willing to imprison a follower's brain, removing any possibility for real and legitimate clarity. 

Amazon wants to control EVERYTHING

While was were all asleep, Jeff Bezos decided to take over the world, step by step simply by taking advantage of America's lust for material goods, Amazon a new Walmart ruling the internet Universe.  Not unlike the People's Republic of China's using all its profits selling to Western Democracies to fulfill its autocratic agenda,  Amazon uses its hundreds of billions to both buy and control what Americans eat ---Whole Foods---the news we read---The Washington Post---and now controlling the very people delivering Amazon packages, even mandating how they smell.  Farfetched but no, reality made manifest in all those blue Amazon vans patrolling America's urban and rural neighborhoods.  And surprisingly, all those vans owned and operated by small delivery companies, what Amazon calls "Delivery Service Partners" or "DSPs." 

Here is the contradiction Amazon wants you and me and everyone to accept.  While deciding to avoid the liability of operating a vast fleet of trucks and drivers, Amazon has encouraged the creation of over 1300 American and European sub-contractors to deliver all those billions of packages minus any personal legal or fiscal responsibility while simultaneously maintaining an iron-fisted control.  Be shocked as you read a quote from recent policies governing DSPs.

"Personal grooming must be maintained at an acceptable level, including but not limited to prevention of body odor, modest perfume/cologne, and clean teeth, face/ears, fingernails and hair."  

The DSPs are required to strictly adhere to Amazon's policies, policies that it can unilaterally change whenever it wants.  In other words, what applies today may not apply tomorrow, but regardless, you better jump to it whether you know what our rules are from day to day or not.  Amazon also tells its DSPs that they must have "employment at will" policies allowing management to fire workers for almost any reason or with no stated reason whatsoever.  Is this China or Russia in real, live Technicolor but plying the streets of America today?

Now the courts and the Biden administration are beginning to examine all this but that kind of legal change takes years, and in the meanwhile, Jeff Bezos will continue to rule like the KING he is.  Hail Caesar!

Road-Rage Seattle-style

Near the train station, all I did was pass a driver who had slowed to a crawl searching for a parking space.  This prompted his chasing me and attempting to ram my cab.  With this happening in clear view, I shouted for help to some nearby Seattle police, who appeared disinterested.  Finally, one started his motorcycle and drove up to the offending driver.  What he told him I can't tell you, as I got a call and left, having my time wasted over nothing whatsoever.  Madness Seattle-style.  And commonplace.

Our across the seas dispatch

Addressing errors are not innocent mistakes, as they can have consequences.  This week I got the Zone 285 address of 1650 14th Avenue South.  That didn't seem right but upon calling the passenger, he said it was.  Getting there, found that the 1600 block of 14th S. doesn't exist.  Calling the guy back, he was at 165 14th Avenue, about 1 1/2 miles away in Zone 240.  Where was he wanting to go?  A very important court date that couldn't be missed, the guy just recently released after 84 months in prison.  I now had 20 minutes to get him there.  I did.

I keep telling dispatch, please, correct addressing is completely necessary.  It isn't optional. And it never will be.

Also last week, I picked up a guy at 1760 4th Avenue South.  He shouted that "I had kept him waiting for a hour."  How did I do that?  Because dispatch had first put out the call as 1760 4th Avenue West.    

Please, dispatch, get it right the first time.