My name is Rob- I have owned, maintained and driven Limousines and Taxicabs in the NYC metro area for many years- I have worked as an owner and driver- and fleet manager for over 3 decades. Millions of miles. Lots of repairs.
We used to double shift our cabs- that meant 24 hours per day- 7 days per week- before the “gig economy” came in and “ruined” the taxi business. People ask me how “Uber” has affected me? It allowed me to buy out my competition and turn their broken taxi business around and make a profit. It allowed me to stop working insane hours and concentrate on serving certain accounts and realize that I always wanted to be in the repair business- In between owning and running taxi and limo businesses (for myself, and others) I also managed both a franchise “big box” auto repair shop with 5 bays- and over $30,000 per week in gross sales (sometimes $50,000 per week!)
I made my boss very wealthy.
I worked for another privately held chain store- in different branches as a manager- and know exactly how they work- and how ridiculous their pricing is. They also have people I would not trust with chees, let alone your keys working on your car.
My dream was to retire to a little shop and tinker with old muscle cars and buy and sell cars. Not to get rich, but to work with my hands and build some cool rides. I bought the little garage and started fixing the garage- the opportunity to buy the assets and accounts of the bigger local cab company came into play- and derailed my opportunity to pursue my retirement goals.
LUCKY FOR YOU!
I had some health issues (open heart surgery which required a median sternectomy) that caused me to be unable to lift more than 10 lbs with either arm- due to risk of breaking the wires (and the sternum) which could cause serious pain or worse.
With the cab company- I changed business models and created a “car service” which Scranton never had before.