Uber?

Quote: petroglyph

Like I used to tell the guys, " experience gained is directly proportional to the amount of equipment ruined". [tm, petro]

Oftentimes it felt like me and the vehicle
were one, that we're joined. I had never
had that feeling on anything but a
motorcycle before. You spent so
much time behind the wheel that
you intimately knew exactly what
the car was capable of. We used
ex county police cars mostly, that
has the beefed up suspension and
bigger engines, all were Chevy
Caprices. They looked just like
this, mine were red white and blue.

The 80's Caprices made great taxi's.
Lots of room inside, big trunks.
They had the 305 engine with the
4 barrel carb, so they were pretty
fast out of the hole. The police
suspension made them corner
like a dream, lots of fun to drive.

Quote: Evenbob

The 80's Caprices made great taxi's.
Lots of room inside, big trunks.
They had the 305 engine with the
4 barrel carb, so they were pretty
fast out of the hole. The police
suspension made them corner
like a dream, lots of fun to drive.

Cool. Ex-cop cars I think they have to de-tune a bit, and take some of the police package off?

Fun stuff. I haven't owned anything that would burn rubber in quite a while.

I remember those yellow cabs were famous for longevity. My personal rigs go a long ways.

Quote: petroglyph

I remember those yellow cabs were famous for longevity. My personal rigs go a long ways.

We got 400K and more out of the ex cop
cars. Didn't change the package at all.
Changed the oil once a week like a religion,
that was the secret. Always had half a dozen
junkers in the back that the mechanics stole
parts from. They were never idle.

Quote: Evenbob

We got 400K and more out of the ex cop
cars.

That is pretty impressive, especially considering those were stop and go, in town miles.

I have had plenty of people come up to me at the fueling stations and want to talk about my 94 7.3 diesel. Many have said they get some pretty high mileage with them.

I not only change oil often, I don't change kinds either. I couldn't get more than around 86k miles out of 350's using Valvoline for some reason? The reports said it was best. I haven't had a problem since switching. I was just about always hauling a load though, maybe a bit under powered?

I knew a guy in the 60's who had a 55
Merc and he drove a couple hundred
miles a week and changed the oil
every Saturday. It's the secret to engine
longevity. He had Wards deliver a
55 gal drum of 30 weight every 6
months. I think it was 60 cents a
gallon if you bought it in bulk.

I am fascinated by the rise of Uber and Lyft. I am a believer in free markets, but I still don't quite understand.
- Why is it that every city in the industrialized world has opted to regulate taxi service?
- Why is Uber allowed to operate essentially unregulated?
- Why hasn't some US court found that it violates governments obligation of equal protection?
- If an unregulated cab company is good idea, why not deregulate the existing taxi companies? Just let them decide what kind of background checks are appropriate, whether or not to drug test, what a fair price is for the current demand etc. They could even be required to use an app.

Quote: JimRockford

I am fascinated by the rise of Uber and Lyft. I am a believer in free markets, but I still don't quite understand.
- Why is it that every city in the industrialized world has opted to regulate taxi service?
- Why is Uber allowed to operate essentially unregulated?
- Why hasn't some US court found that it violates governments obligation of equal protection?
- If an unregulated cab company is good idea, why not deregulate the existing taxi companies? Just let them decide what kind of background checks are appropriate, whether or not to drug test, what a fair price is for the current demand etc. They could even be required to use an app.

Isn't it the same push and pull between security and freedom?

Old traveling fairs ended up regulated (most likely) every time some kids went flying out of a poorly designed or maintained rides.

Things are always fine until an accident.

I suppose some restaurants could advertise cheaper but uninspected food just to give people more choices.

We will likely keep going that route, back and forth, probably forever.

Quote: JimRockford

I am fascinated by the rise of Uber and Lyft. I am a believer in free markets, but I still don't quite understand..

Ride-share companies are prepaid by the
passenger. The driver owns his own car,
he's not working for any city owned company.
The ride is a pre paid contract between the
driver and the passenger, how do you make
that illegal. It's like your brother calls you and
says he'll give you 5 dollars to take him to
the store. How can that be illegal.

Ebay is the same. If I buy something for $50 at
the store, I pay 6% sales tax. If I buy the same
thing on Ebay from a guy in Calif, no sales tax
is involved. Perfectly legal, I don't live in Calif
and the tax doesn't apply to me.

Quote: JimRockford

- Why is it that every city in the industrialized world has opted to regulate taxi service?

This goes way, way back to when you might get killed in a cab war. They showed a cab burn-out in "Goodfellas." Once regulated, cab companies could buy off politicians to keep the franchise.

Quote:

- Why is Uber allowed to operate essentially unregulated?

This is common when new thing pop up. They ask forgiveness and not permission, by the time they are too popular to kill the rules change, or sometimes not. Lots of poker and casino sites came online before they could be killed. They did not per se violate a law since no phone was used and were not located in a place where gambling was banned.

Uber is new already Uber drivers hate the
same thing cab drivers hate. Short runs,
picking up drunks and rude people, sitting
for long periods without a ride.

'When you dance with the devil, the devil
doesn't change, the devil changes you.

This will happen to Uber drivers just like it
does to every fresh faced new cab driver.
The nature of the job will change them, it
has to. If it doesn't change you it will eat
you alive. Out of every 20 new drivers I
hired, 1 was still there after 6 months. We
always had an influx of new drivers and new
fleeing drivers. Uber will be no different.