Happy to have ACDC’s “Back in Black” song booming from the radio, PDQ taxi owner Brad Luttrell jokingly tells one of his usual customers he’s going to snatch his Buffalo Wild Wings chicken because it smells so good wafting through his cab. It’s just another night in the life of a taxi driver.
But there is a dark side to the taxi business that is not always apparent behind the joking around with customers, jamming to music after dropping someone off, or being friendly to everyone he meets.
“I sit there and tell them [my drivers] do not get out of the car, lock your doors and wait for the money to come,” he said, referring to the sides of town with higher crime rates. “We’ve already had several robberies.”
People call the cabs and use them for a variety of purposes, some of which could risk the driver’s safety.
“It’s not a fun job, it really ain’t,” Luttrell said. “You gotta know how to defend yourself. This is not a job for just anybody to come out here and do.”
As long as the driver gets paid and is safe, Luttrell said the best thing his drivers can do is to keep their mouths shut.
“You don’t see no evil, you don’t speak no evil,” he said. “It’s sad, but it’s true. That’s how you stay alive.”
Luttrell returns to the office when he has no pickups waiting on a slow Tuesday night. Clad in jeans, a T-shirt and a light blue long-sleeve, his long hair sticks out from under his hat as he sits in a lazy boy chair smoking. His wife is at the desk on dispatch duty tonight.
The two have owned PDQ taxi for five years now and cater to the Ball State campus as well as all of Delaware County.
Read more about how Luttrell operates his business over at BallBearingsMag.com
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