"Uniformed Drivers"

This morning, after a couple casually-dressed drivers came into the office, my office manager asked me: "Why don't we make uniforms mandatory for drivers?" Certainly she was thinking that a uniformed driver is more professional, and is more likely to provide a increased level of service. In general, it would make us seem like a "higher end" type of transportation provider, making our customers happier, thereby generating more business.

Here's the issue: Independent Contractor rules and legal precedent. In almost all taxicab companies nation-wide, the drivers are independent contractors. The drivers pay the companies for use of the company vehicle, the company dispatch, company insurance plan, etc, etc and bring home the difference between total fares and total expenses. (There is a fair amount of push and pull among employee/independent contractor set-ups across industries. Which often seems like a grass-is-greener struggle. More about that in a future column...)

Drivers, then, do not have the protection or obligations of employees. That means, drivers have an increased amount of freedom to do what they want, wear what they want (within reason, without breaking company rules -- company rules that do not go outside independent contractor rules), and importantly, EARN what they want. Drivers can refuse dispatched trips, drivers can wear a tank-top, etc..

Cab companies are able to claim that they have uniformed drivers only when they provide enough incentive, bonus, or well-formulated argument for a driver to wear such a uniform. What do we do? We give the drivers a gift card if we catch them in proper attire. We can also provide free uniforms or have a shoe-shine available. We can also convince them that they will get more "flaggers" and more tips if they look better. Some of they guys are convinced, some just want to more comfortable for 12 hours sitting in a car.

So, would you wear a uniform?