June 26, 2015
By LaborPress
The prospect of competition with Uber is pushing Las Vegas taxi companies to demand that their drivers work 12-hour shifts several days in a row, veteran city cabbies say. “I’ve seen guys come in on their shifts and say, ‘Please send me home, I’m exhausted,’ ” said one driver who asked for anonymity.
“By day six, they’re walking zombies.” Cabbies are reluctant to turn down a shift, they say, because companies assign the most lucrative areas to the drivers who make the most money. Drivers also say they often skip lunch breaks and have to show up at least a half hour before they get to take a cab out—and regulators don’t have the resources to monitor excessive hours. “When you’ve been out there for, say, 10 hours straight and you’re not as sharp as you should be, isn’t that dangerous, especially in a city that relies so much on taxis and tourists?” one driver asked. “All it’s going to take is one bad accident to hurt us all.” Read more
