Income for NYC yellow cab drivers?

Wexford96

Hi Folks.
Just a quick question.
Does anyone have any experience of driving yellow cabs in NYC. Was wondering what kind of money they make. Construction work in NYC is plentiful but still only pays approx 150 per day. I've heard all kinds of figures about what the cabbies make. Does anyone have any information?
Thanks for reading.

yew_tree

First question is, are you a US Citizen, have a US Greencard or have you won the US visa lottery?
If you are an Irish citizen just wanting to move to NYC to drive cabs, then I am afraid there is little hope.

Dave1442397

If you want to drive, you might be better off as an Uber driver, but I think you'll make more if you work construction and do some overtime -

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/taxi-pickups-plummet-77-million-2015-analysis-article-1.2327367

http://money.cnn.com/2015/07/21/news/companies/nyc-yellow-taxi-uber/

Wexford96

I should have given more detail, sorry. I am in NYC, have greencard. I watch these drivers and wonder what they make per shift/week. I know the school to go to to get a licence. It's not expensive and takes 80 hours.
Has anyone done this work? Does anyone know approx what they make?
Thank you

TherapyBoy

Ask them next time you're in a cab. Tell them what you're earning & ask if you can make more per day driving a cab.

Wexford96

Dave1442397 wrote: »

If you want to drive, you might be better off as an Uber driver, but I think you'll make more if you work construction and do some overtime -

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/taxi-pickups-plummet-77-million-2015-analysis-article-1.2327367

http://money.cnn.com/2015/07/21/news/companies/nyc-yellow-taxi-uber/

Thanks Dave.
Interesting to read in there that theyre down 10 percent approx on last year. I still reckon I need to go and check it out and try it. As a weekend driver first and maybe just quit it if there's nothing out of it. There's a garage near me that is looking for drivers to lease car off them daily.

Wexford96

TherapyBoy wrote: »

Ask them next time you're in a cab. Tell them what you're earning & ask if you can make more per day driving a cab.

Thanks for reply.
I've been doing that and I'm hearing that they make 3-400 a shift after expenses. I suppose there's only one way to find out for sure.

iusedtoknow

remember it isn't all income.

It's well known in the US that when you lease a car, there are outgoings as well - the main one being a bribe to the dispatcher on your shift. Was talking to a driver in NYC a few weeks ago, and he pays between 40 or 50 to the dispatcher at the lot to make sure of getting the cleaner cars and a priority on calls. He said for the first couple of hours he actually doesn't make any cash.

The other thing is competition. I only took a cab in NYC as uber were on a surge - I remember 10 years ago it was sometimes impossible to get a taxi - now, even at rush hour there is no hassle in getting a taxi as Uber/lyft has taken over the industry.

Thankfully (at least in san francisco at least) cabs are on the way out, and uber is quickly replacing it.