The Adventure Continues

By: Steve Biddle

Remember that old Monty Python intro: “And now for something completely different…”?  That keeps coming back to me in recent days.

In our last episode, I had just moved to Orlando, without a job, and, for the first time in my life, on unemployment. I’ve spent most of this first month here looking for a job, and applying for, well, at this point, I don’t know how many positions. Let’s just say many…and without much luck. I have a prospect or two, but I hesitate to mention what they are, lest they vanish like my last one did. Let’s just say that at least one of them is much more aligned with what I’ve been doing for the past 35 or so years—broadcasting. But I’ll have to be patient on that one.

But that doesn’t mean I’m completely without work. A few weeks ago, an old high school friend mentioned that a particular transportation company was always hiring drivers. And, long story short, I’m about to embark on a new career: chauffeur. Yes, I’ll be driving well-heeled visitors around Central Florida in a Lincoln Town Car.  
I’ve hooked up with Mears Transportation, an old and well-respected company based in Orlando. They’ve been around for a very long time; I remember them when I lived here as a kid. Mears Transportation got its start back in 1939 when a savvy businessman named Paul Mears bought three taxicabs and turned them loose on the streets of Orlando. Back then, Orlando was a sleepy little southern city. And it wasn’t long before Mr. Mears bought up the other cab companies in the city, and he became the taxicab king.

In 1971, along came Walt Disney World, and then things just exploded. Orlando is now a big city. The metro area sprawls for miles and miles. Now, Mears is the largest transportation company in the southeast U.S. They operate an enormous fleet of airport shuttle vans, motor coaches, stretch limos, taxis, and luxury Lincoln Town Cars. And that’s what I’ll be driving.

I’ve gone through a couple of days of intensive training, and now have my Orlando and Osceola County Driver-for-Hire permits. It’s not quite as easy as one might expect. For one thing, there’s a lot of paperwork involved. There are also stringent security regulations at Orlando International Airport; it seems that the tiniest violation by a driver can result in suspensions and fines.  

But this does sound interesting, I must admit. For one thing, I’ll be an independent contractor, rather than an employee. That means I’ll have to rent the car, pay for gas and tolls, and whatever’s left at the end of a shift, I keep. Tips, too, of course. I am free to take the customers assigned by the company, or to develop my own clientele, or both. We luxury sedan drivers are free to choose our own hours, and work whatever days we want. That’s appealing. The part that is somewhat less appealing is the fact that it takes time for the rookie drivers to build up a clientele, and to get the plum assignments. But drivers who have been doing this for a while make a pretty good living at it.  

Mears is also a company with which I am pleased to be associated. They have a top-notch reputation, great training and they are extremely customer service-oriented. These folks are real professionals in every sense of the word.  

They have a fleet of about 260 Town Cars, either black or white. And that is not an insignificant difference. For some reason, some of the hotels with which we have contracts will accept only white cars, and some will accept only black cars waiting at the curb. Of course, others don’t care which color they get.  

I’m just a bit nervous, because I don’t know the area nearly as well as I used to, and that particular knowledge would seem to be important for a chauffeur. It would be embarrassing to turn around and ask my passengers if they knew how to get to their hotels, so I went out and bought a good GPS system, and have spent a good deal of time entering resorts, golf courses, shopping centers and other favorite destinations into it.

It occurred to me today that in all the years I spent in media, I rarely was required to wear a coat and tie. Okay, when I worked at an ad agency, and on the occasions when I’d appear on TV, sure. But it wasn’t very often. Now, I’ll be required to wear, every day I drive, a white button-down shirt, burgundy tie, black dress jacket, gray dress slacks, and black dress shoes.  

A year ago, if you had told me that in the autumn of 2009, I’d be living in Orlando and working as a chauffeur, I’m reasonably sure I would have doubted your sanity. But here I am.  I think it could be an interesting adventure. I will never take the stability of my life for granted again—that is, once it stabilizes, if ever. And God knows what’s next…

But if you’re visiting Orlando anytime soon, look me up, and I’ll take you where you want to go. For a fee, of course.  • SCM

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