Taxis?

[sallen]

Evening ecomodders,

I've always wondered why taxi forums aren't full of fuel saving tips... Lots of cab guys are driving proffesionals (and enthuseasts) + MPG affects their profit/bottom line..

Apart from a few posts on student forums about driving for UberX with an SUV, there seems to be very little chat about MPG amongst taxi drivers...

Is that right? Is it the same for other professionals like truckers?

[Ecky]

I drive a lot for work but I'm not responsible for my fuel. My company puts GPS in the vans and monitors us for speeding, sudden acceleration and stops, sharp cornering, and idle time, and we can get reprimanded for any of the above including idling more than 15 minutes. The vans are governed at 74mph. I report the miles between jobs and it needs to line up with the odometer. When it comes time to put gas in it, I have a fuel card.

The company claims van maintenance and fuel costs dropped tremendously since they started doing this.

[Fat Charlie]

Do cabbies care about mpg? Probably not.

Taxis get paid flat rate. A taxi ride is piece work- the fare is the same if it takes 10 minutes or an hour to get there, so it's in the driver's best interest to get it over with and be ready for another customer. When you consider that the rider just wants the ride to be over and will tip, the gas used at the moment is irrelevant. The time to think about mileage is when you're buying the taxi.

[Hersbird]

I have tried a bit of hypermiling at bit in the mail truck. It may or may not have been because I was 10 miles up the canyon and realized I was sputtering running out of gas. My problem was how bad the brakes are when supplied with full vacuum is not near as bad as how bad then get with EOC. Bonus side, coasting distances are much better without the brakes so I made the gas station.
I also sometimes in the summer turn the motor off and roll stop to stop downhill, but that is because I can no longer take the heater constantly baking my aluminum can on those 95+ degree days. I would imagine Taxi drivers keep it running for just the opposite, to keep the A/C going. Cops I know also have to because all their gear will kill a battery in no time.

[Stubby79]

IDK about the rest of the world, but they all drive Prius's around here.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by Fat Charlie

Do cabbies care about mpg? Probably not.

Taxis get paid flat rate. A taxi ride is piece work- the fare is the same if it takes 10 minutes or an hour to get there, so it's in the driver's best interest to get it over with and be ready for another customer.

A fare is not a flat rate. The meter is still running when the car is stopped, or traveling below a certain speed threshold. However, the rate paid for sitting still is much lower than the distance rate, so cabbies will still prefer to make good time. It's better to have multiple fares where you can make good time than to have a single fare that has you stuck in traffic.

I'd be much less efficient driving a cab than I am normally, just because I don't want to annoy my clients. I'm going to get them where they want to be as quickly as I can safely and lawfully do so.

Truckers get paid by the mile, so they get paid the faster they go. It's likely in the interest of the truck owners to have the trucks moving faster too, despite the reduced fuel economy because they get paid for each delivery. More deliveries = more money.