At $3 per person for each ride, drivers thought it wasn’t worth a trip to the college town just for a few dollars, but Biller saw an opportunity.

“No drivers wanted to go out there back at Spartan Yellow Cab, so me and my brother went out there,” Biller said. “We’re the ones who had the vans, and we actually started to head to East Lansing back before Big Daddy (Taxi) or any of them were there.”

Compared to when no one could get a cab in East Lansing, the city now is full of companies. Consumers are in an ideal situation because they usually can get a ride within 15 minutes of calling any company, Biller said.

As a veteran in the business — who now works for Shaggin’ Wagon Taxi — Biller started driving cabs because he heard it was good money with flexible hours, and today, he feels the same way about the job.

“I did try a couple other things,” Biller said. “I owned a pizza place for a while, and I did factory work. But … I could always go back to driving cabs and ended up going back.”

Over the years, Biller has found himself in uncomfortable — and even dangerous — situations with some of the people he’s picked up, particularly when he spends a lot of his time working in Lansing doing what he calls “real cab driving.”

But as long as the job’s positives outweigh the negatives, he’ll continue driving.

Among the many talents he’s acquired throughout his 15 years, Biller said drivers have to learn how to handle the stress of the job — whether it’s answering the constantly ringing phone while working with the people in the back of his van or avoiding pedestrians who randomly cross the street.

“You’re dealing with things going on in the cab, and you’re usually dealing with inebriated people,” he said. “You’re driving and trying not to hit anybody or get in an accident. … You’ve got to know how to multitask and be going down the road safely at the same time.”

Cowboy, baby
After spending several years behind the wheel of a taxi, Chris Fuller has become a modern-day renegade.

Following a breakup of a year-long relationship, Fuller, a driver with White Star Taxi, said he needed a job to devote a heavy portion of his time and energy to. Fuller started driving a cab in 2008 and has since built up a clientele of several hundred people in East Lansing.

For Fuller, the great part about the job has been the ability to control his own destiny by setting his own hours and working independently.

“It’s the closest thing to being a renegade or a cowboy or whatever we have now,” Fuller said. “The freedom and the closeness — there’s a very close relationship between the things I do and the money that I earn. I have a big say every day in the money I make or don’t make.”

As college students take to the bars and restaurants of East Lansing on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, Fuller is on-call, waiting to provide a service to more than 25 riders throughout the evening.

Even as he waits for potential riders on slower evenings across from Harpers Restaurant & Brewpub, 131 Albert Ave., Fuller said he works efficiently each day to make money and help customers however he can.

“I’ve had a weekend where I’ve made $2,000 in two days (or) three days,” he said. “I make an asinine income for what I’m doing.”

As for his future as a cab driver, Fuller said he understands the job will take a physical toll on his body. In having to work mostly nights and eating poorly as a result, Fuller said the day could come when he might have to step away from the job he loves.

For now, Fuller said he’s going to continue driving and setting his own schedule until a better opportunity comes his way.

“I love the job — it’ll be hard to quit when I do. It might take something big to get me out of it. I’m going to work until it’s not time to and move on to something else.”

Party Cab like it’s 1999
Driving a cab can be similar to a circus, and Brad Lentz is the ringleader.

In working shifts that can range from 10-12 hours in length, Lentz, co-owner of Shaggin’ Wagon Taxi, looks to chauffeur people to and from destinations in the area.

By creating an atmosphere that allows of-age customers to drink and smoke in the cab on the way to and from an event, Lentz said the company is able to increase the amount of business it sees on a nightly basis.

“I always saw the cabs always full, always busy,” Lentz said. “I thought that would be a good opportunity to try and test it. … I needed a job, so I thought I would make my own job.”

Lentz said he started Party Cab in 2008 to promote a fun and safe way for customers to navigate the area in style.

For customers who would like to travel without the stress of driving, Lentz said Party Cab offers its customers an opportunity to travel wherever they would like to go, including areas outside of East Lansing. By growing a list of clients and providing quality service, Lentz said the Party Cab vans are able to move “50 to 150 people” during the peak hours on Friday and Saturday nights during the week.

Having started his own business, Lentz said being patient and versatile are critical traits for those looking to follow in his footsteps.

“You have to be like a duck, man. You’ve got to let the water roll off your back,” Lentz said. “You’ve got to treat everybody with respect and hope they’re not so hammered that they actually know where they’re going.”

Kickin’ it Old Skool
Like many cab drivers, Bryan Smythe has driven for several different cab companies.

After his start in February, Smythe now drives for Old Skool Taxi and already has had his share of interesting altercations in his van.

While he was on his way to pick up a group of customers, a man from the group was defending his girlfriend in an argument with another person, and the argument continued as Smythe arrived. Eventually the argument forced him to call the police to resolve the situation.

“I showed up just as everything was getting really heated, and they were in my van,” he said. “I had seven people get in the van, and one of the guys (the couple was) arguing with came up and started punching one of the guys in the passenger seat.”

Although incidents like this happen only on occasion, Smythe said he doesn’t enjoy being the mediator and focuses on safety for him and the passengers above all.

He said the goal of his job is to make sure everyone — usually MSU students on their way home from the bars — arrives safely at their destinations without drinking and driving or hurting themselves or someone else.

While always promoting safety, Smythe once found himself in an emergency situation — an exception where speeding was necessary.

Responding to a call at Spartan Village, he picked up a husband and wife on their way to Lansing’s Sparrow Hospital.

“As I’m driving to Sparrow, she’s in the back screaming, and I look at the guy and ask, ‘What’s wrong with her?’, and he goes, ‘She’s pregnant, and she’s in labor,’” Smythe said. “So I threw my four-wheels on, and I had the horn blaring. I just sped.”

Stuck in the same boat, business in East Lansing for cab drivers decreases in the summer as students move away or go home for the summer, and many are forced to spend more time in Lansing to make ends meet.

Because business can be slow, some drivers resort to different jobs during the summer to subsidize their income, but Smythe is convinced there is still plenty of business in the summer for everyone.

“We all understand that because summer means graduation for some students, and other students go home or go somewhere else,” he said. “But we can still make a living out here.”