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Old 10-11-2009, 02:49 AM
 
226 posts, read 975,534 times
Reputation: 84

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[SIZE=2]Ok so I've seen that some cab companies are asking between $350 to $450 a week fee to rent out their cab (that comes with everything: insurance, repair, maintenance, everything). The cab driver is basically renting out the cab. There are reports that cab drivers can take in $1000-1500 a week, not sure about that in this economy. So let's say I take in $1000 a week, pay almost half of that for the cab rent. This seems like a bad deal since who is to know how much you can work and make in a day or week to even make ends meet and pay for the cab rent? Are there taxi cabs out there that just take a percentage and or 50% out of what you make instead of taking upfront money ($350-450 a week?) that is not even guaranteed you can make (look at the economy).

Being a cab driver is flexible, work your own hours, be your own boss, from what I know so far. Any other info. I should know?
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Old 10-11-2009, 07:01 AM
 
Location: Wicker Park, Chicago
4,789 posts, read 14,700,194 times
Reputation: 1966
You'll barely get by when gas prices become expensive again. I'd rather be a top notch bike messenger which can pull $1000 weeks but it sucks biking in all weather including a full day in rain at 38F - freezes you up!
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Old 10-11-2009, 07:22 AM
 
Location: Chicago - Ukrainian Village
367 posts, read 913,433 times
Reputation: 114
Ya, I have some friends who did the bike messengering thing. I hear it's really easy to get a job doing it in the winter.

1000 a week? I didn't know you made that much driving a cab. I have a buddy that used to do it. I'll have to ask next time I see him.
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Old 10-11-2009, 11:35 AM
 
Location: Wicker Park, Chicago
4,789 posts, read 14,700,194 times
Reputation: 1966
I was a failure at both bike messenger and car messenger jobs; I did deliveries ok but never made much money to make it worthwile. The bike messenger job was the worst job I had ever had - worked so hard and barely made money - $900 in a month! Plus I worked in 2 full days of rain and got frostnip. Only good thing was the exercise - lost 5 lbs while eating good food!
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Old 10-11-2009, 01:35 PM
 
36 posts, read 102,466 times
Reputation: 32
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jesse69 View Post
I was a failure at both bike messenger and car messenger jobs; I did deliveries ok but never made much money to make it worthwile. The bike messenger job was the worst job I had ever had - worked so hard and barely made money - $900 in a month! Plus I worked in 2 full days of rain and got frostnip. Only good thing was the exercise - lost 5 lbs while eating good food!
So out of curiosity, if you only made 900 bones in a month, where did the 1000 clam week comment come from? Is it really possible to make that kind of money as a bike messenger? And doesn't business slow down drastically in Winter?

As far as the Taxi thing goes, I'm interested in the answer as well. Hopefully we can get a cab driver in here to get the straight scoop yo!
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Old 10-11-2009, 04:44 PM
 
Location: River North, Chicago, Illinois
4,620 posts, read 8,115,485 times
Reputation: 6321
I've never seen anything claiming that cab drivers in Chicago earn $1,000/week. The union claims many drivers don't earn much more than $1,000/month.

Salary.com says Chicago cab drivers earn about $34k/year. A recent University of Chicago study reported that cab drivers were working 13 hour days and only pocketing the equivalent of $4.38/hour for their efforts. While I think most taxi drivers earn more than the $16,000/year that would work out to, I also think if it was actually common to earn $50/k year, you'd have a lot more American drivers.

If you want to be a driver, I think livery drivers (limo drivers, hired cars, etc) probably make more money. At the very least, their job is safer - driving a taxi is very dangerous.
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Old 10-11-2009, 08:19 PM
 
Location: Wicker Park, Chicago
4,789 posts, read 14,700,194 times
Reputation: 1966
$1000 a week was made by the best bike courier at Standard Courier but he was loyal and stuck out through a cold winter so they gave him the good runs to make lotsa money. And some bike messengers suffer damaged nerves or frostbite during winter.
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Old 10-11-2009, 08:47 PM
 
Location: Barrington
63,919 posts, read 46,456,708 times
Reputation: 20674
Most cab drivers work a 12-16 hour shift.

Two drivers often share the cab and operate it 24/7.
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Old 10-12-2009, 08:05 AM
 
Location: Chicago - Ukrainian Village
367 posts, read 913,433 times
Reputation: 114
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jesse69 View Post
And some bike messengers suffer damaged nerves or frostbite during winter.
I don't think I've known a messenger who did not, at some point, suffer broken bones as the result of collisions with cars.
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Old 10-13-2009, 01:43 PM
 
36 posts, read 102,466 times
Reputation: 32
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