My name is Joanna, I am the General Manager of Yellow Cab. I have been with Yellow Cab since I was born. Yes, really. I used to come with my mom, now owner, Tammy, when she came to work. I’d visit my Grandpa, then owner, Corky. I’d listen to the radio and all the calls that would go out. Occasionally, if my dad was here and we were short drivers, I would go out and ride along on calls and meet our customers face to face. I remember a lady in Triangle, almost across the street from our office, right off of route one giving me a quarter tip one day when I was probably 3 or 4. I don’t recall her name, but if she is reading this, thanks again! I remember there was a cot in the office then, we were still required by law to be open 24 hours a day, but there weren’t ever many calls that came in overnight, so napping was allowed. Often, in the early days, it was my grandpa sleeping on the cot, waking up to take a call, getting in the cab and getting a customer, then coming back to take more calls or another nap. He’d go home and shower just to come right back to work. We could walk across the street to McDonalds for lunch, and I remember also getting candy from the 7-11 with my grandpa. All of those buildings, even our first office, are gone now. Then, the drivers would hang out in the office and a few of them I remember. What I remember the most about all of it was laughing. My Grandpa, my mom, the drivers, and other people who worked there, we laughed. It was hard work getting started, a lot of long hours, most of which I was too young to remember, but it seemed to me a fun place to be.
When I look back on it now, I am proud of the work that my family has done. My family is the people I am related to, obviously, but it is also the people that walk through these doors every day. We have drivers that have been with us for 30+ years, call takers and dispatchers who we’ve been blessed to work with for 15+ years. These men and women are my family. We have accomplished so much together. We have watched our industry change from writing down trips on paper, cash transactions, and radio dispatching, to apps, and computers, and GPS, and backseat swipes. We have implemented those changes sometimes with a happy heart with no problems what so ever. Although, I will admit, some of those changes had us sleeping at the office, crying and screaming. Once we figure it all out, we’re right back to where we started, laughing with our family.
I wrote this blog so you could see the personal side of all this. I wrote before that when you need us you can chose to talk to a machine, book through an app, or online. We are so much more than the technology we have, though. We are my sister, our office manager, who is getting married soon to our daytime dispatcher, and our overnight dispatcher who recently got married, and our daytime operator who is getting married even sooner and better hurry up and get everything done in time! We are the driver whose wife just had twins last week. We are the Duke graduate that works here part time. We are the band that make up the daytime operator and midnight dispatching shifts. We are the single mom who has supported three amazing kids that we all love. We are the dad working here and another job to support his kids. We are the driver who has put his kids through college and just went home recently to say good bye to his mom. We are the operator who sang kick butt karaoke the other night! We are the college boy who worked here while he finished school and just became a dad. We are the operator and wordsmith of emails that always entertain. We are the dispatcher who is trying to get a job with the 911 operating center and we are all pulling for him! We are the driver who fled his country at a young age with his mother who dressed as a man to keep them safe and had no shoes as she walked over mountains to protect her children. We are people. We are a family. We have grown together. I want the best for all these people. I appreciate them all. I am proud of every single one, even if they are not listed here.
We have an app! We have several to be exact. We have our Yellowcabpw app, we have the Mars app, and we also use GATA hub (all available in the google play store and in the apple store as well). You can text us for a cab if you need to. If you prefer to call and NOT talk to a real live person, you can book a cab through our automated service by selecting three. We are working as hard as we can to make sure we have the latest and greatest technology on a small business budget………some things are obviously easier than others when it comes to owning your own business.
One of the awesome things we do have here, for when you need them, are REAL, LIVE PEOPLE! People that are breathing and can talk, some even know a few languages! This is our advantage in the ever changing transportation industry. When you have a problem, (Yes, we know we should be perfect every time, but problems do happen less than occasionally) you can call us, a real person will answer the phone and help you, or put you in touch with the person who can, and we work to resolve your issue. Whether it’s a complaint, leaving something in a vehicle, a compliment (we like those) or anything, really, there is someone on the other end of the line here to help as best they can! The best part about all of this is that you will get someone who cares. Family owned and operated means our name is on the line. We are a part of the community. We want you to have good things to say about us and say hi when you see us out and about! We want to be more than an app and a stranger, we are part of your community, we are your neighbors!
This past weekend we were involved with the Independence Empowerment Center’s ADA Fair. This event celebrates the signing of the American’s with Disabilities Act by President George Herbert Walker Bush on July 26th, 1990. This law was the first inclusive civil rights law that addressed the needs of the disabled population of the United States. The law was created to eliminate the obstructions that existed for those with disabilities in the areas of employment, public services, public accommodations, and telecommunications. The sweeping legislation tore down the barriers that limited those with disabilities from being active and involved citizens in their communities.
Being a part of the ADA Fair is something that we always look forward to. Dr Mary Lopez, the director of the I.E.C. (Independence Empowerment Center) has become a friend of Yellow Cab and our family. She is a wonderful, fun, and spunky lady who always makes us laugh, but has also been essential in fighting for the rights of those in the county with disabilities. It was through our interactions with the IEC, its partners, and Dr Lopez, that we decided to purchase our first accessible vans.
When you seek to be a part of something, like we do this community, and you see there is a huge unmet need, you do whatever it takes to address it in the best way you can. Our accessible vans cost more to purchase, more to insure, more to train drivers to use properly, but we pushed all of that out of our minds, went with our hearts, and did what we knew was needed and right. It was one of the best things that we have ever done. The vans have been an amazing asset to the people that need them. People now have the ability to get where they need to go without being charged the astronomical rates that previous non-emergency medical transport companies would charge. The people who drive the vans have formed friendships with the people they are driving. In some cases they have been all but formally adopted into their passenger’s families. We are servicing people who truly need this transportation to be a part of their community. We cannot express in words how grateful we are to be able to provide the much needed service. We also cannot say thank you enough to the IEC and Dr. Lopez for showing us how important and necessary these services are to this community.
While hot, very hot, I mean BLAZING hot, the event was as wonderful as ever. Dr Lopez and her team at the Independence Empowerment Center always get together just the right mix of people, companies, and organizations that really care about the disabled population of Prince William County. The vendors this year were no exception. We were able to meet with our customers and discuss things we are doing to help, and things we can do to better help. There were many people there that have become old friends of our company and we were able to make new friends as well. We love the smiling faces and caring hearts we always encounter at this event. The auction is also one of our favorites and while we didn’t spend as much this year, we think we were the big winners yet again!
Thank you Independence Empowerment Center and Dr. Lopez for the invitation to participate in your event again this year. We look forward to coming to many more and if you keep inviting Phat Yummies you may have to fight us not to come!
When you walk into just about any McDonalds in the United States, you know what you are getting. The McNuggets in California are the same shape as the ones in Virginia, the special sauce on the Big Mac is the same (it’s some form of thousand island, right?), the food is the same. The employees all wear similar uniforms, the décor is mostly the same, some are older, some are newer, but most people know a McDonald’s when they see one. I can say with 100% surety that this is not the case with taxicabs.
So, what do a Grandma from Virginia, a Belgium immigrant and a former factory worker have in common……no they don’t all own a McDonald’s, but they all own Yellow Cab Companies. Much like McDonald’s anyone can own a cab company, but unlike McDonald’s, most people who own a cab company are not franchisees. These are all independent, mostly small businesses. The cab drivers are for the most part independent contractors that are licensed by the jurisdictions they are operating in. There is no gigantic Yellow Cab building in New York City telling every Yellow Cab that they have to buy a certain vehicle and paint it a certain color. There is no Yellow Cab marketing team that provides us with commercials and marketing tools. It’s just the grandma from Virginia, the immigrant and the former factory worker, standing alone, making decisions that affect their business and their family. The bottom line is sometimes whether or not they will get to cash that paycheck this week, or hold it to pay employees, if they have made enough for their kid to go to that football camp this month, or if they can afford that picnic to let their drivers know how much they appreciate what they do to keep their companies good image.
When you see our commercials for “shop small, shop local” know that, this is what you are getting, Small and Local. We paid for our commercial ourselves, sure we got it on Fivver and it wasn’t THAT expensive, but it still cost our family to let you know what we are all about.
Ok everyone, here we go!
The people in the know tell us we need to blog to increase our online presence so we are going to give it a try. Think of this as sitting a talking to the owners of a small business. We are family owned and operated so one day you may hear from the “Matriarch” Tammy and the next from the “General Manager” Joanna. Some stories will come from our “Driver Manager” Monica or our dispatch staff, garage staff, drivers and maybe even our customers. We try to treat everyone as family and we want to welcome you to our great big extended family too!
You won’t believe the things that happen here in Yellow Cab land. We hope to enlighten you about on demand transportation, small businesses, working with family, and anything else that comes up as we travel down this road together. We will share pictures and stories, laughs and tears, and hopefully have lots of fun!
