PORT AUX BASQUES, N.L. – Don Gillam waited until later in life to become an entrepreneur. After driving a cab for eight years, Gillam decided to buy out his employer when Scott’s Taxi went up for sale and has since rebranded it as Don’s Taxi.
“The opportunity never arose, and I never was in the financial situation where I could afford it,” said Gillam.
Getting into the taxi service was not an easy decision. Gillam is all too aware of the taxi protests in St. John’s over rising insurance rates. Still, that did not deter him from following his dream.
“One of the things that I had to do before I even got into this business was check out the insurance rates, see what it was going to cost.”
His research was aided by his former employers, Scott and Amanda Strickland, who helped Gillam understand the financial realities of operating a taxi service. He says their unwavering support and assistance has been invaluable in getting Don’s Taxi up and running.
“The insurance rates… it’s outrageous but it’s affordable,” said Gillam, who went with an entirely new broker. “It went down a bit but it’s still astronomical prices that we have to pay.”
Gillam has 12 cars under his command, and some new drivers in addition to the ones that stayed on after the change in ownership. The cabs still run from Rose Blanche to St. John’s, and Gillam still runs the taxi stand out of its previous location, so for now not a whole lot has changed.
There will eventually be a fare increase, likely near the first part of June.
In-town trips will see a flat rate increase of likely two dollars, while rides outside of town will increase by a percentage. Gillam is still figuring out exactly how much the increase will be but notes it’s pretty much unavoidable.
“Because of the high increase (in the) cost of insurance and the cost of gas,” said Gillam.
The financial aspects of running a business, just things like billing bigger clients like Western Health, are among Gillam’s bigger challenges. Having driven a cab himself for so long, he does his best to be a good employer too.
“I love it. It’s a challenge for me but I love sitting at the helm,” admits Don. “That first week was a taxi owner’s dream.”
That was the week of the strike in Labrador, so a lot of lake boat workers returned home, and when the strike ended two days later they turned around and went back again.
That meant a lot of fares between Port aux Basques and the airport in Deer Lake.
When the tourism season hits, the taxi service will also offer tours up and down the coast. Don has done those himself in the past for visitors who want to explore the coastal scenery along Route 470 or the Codroy Valley area.
Since the region lacks a public transportation system, Don considers his taxi service more or less an essential service, one he is happy to provide.
“There’s people here that depend on us to get to work, people to get to their appointments, so much for seniors that don’t drive, that can’t drive anymore. They’ve got to get around, so we’ve got to provide service to them.”
More than anything, Don strives to provide a high-quality experience for his customers, he said.
“We’re trying our best right now to keep all the cars clean and smelling nice, and we just want to provide a good, safe service.”
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