Don Ramiro has been driving a taxi for twenty-eight years. He knows every street in the city, has customers who only travel with him and has never needed a phone to earn a living. When the fleet tells him that from now on trips arrive through an app, he folds his arms: "I don't work like that." Almost every fleet has several like him, and they tend to be the drivers who know the trade best and whom regular passengers trust most.
The thesis of this article is that veteran taxi drivers' resistance is almost never to technology itself, but to the fear of losing income, autonomy and respect. Whoever understands that stops arguing about the app and starts resolving those fears one by one. We'll look at why they resist, how to begin, how to teach them without humiliating them, what to do about their regular customers and what to do with those who flatly refuse to change.
What's behind "I don't work like that"
Before planning anything, it's worth sitting down to listen. When asked calmly, the longest-serving drivers tend to mention the same concerns, and almost none are about the phone as a device:
- That the app will take away their regular customers.
- That they'll be charged commission on trips that used to be only theirs.
- That they'll be monitored and told which way to drive.
- That a new driver will get more trips than they do.
- That they'll look bad for not knowing how to use the phone.
- That digital payments will take a long time to reach their pocket.
Each of these fears has a concrete answer, and none of them is "that's progress". If the fleet responds with a speech about modernity, the driver hears that their experience is no longer worth anything. If it responds with facts about how much they earn, how trips are distributed and what happens to their customers, the conversation changes completely.
It also helps to remember that for many of them the taxi is more than a job. It's the trade with which they raised their family, and they've spent years feeling displaced by the big platforms. If your fleet is the one proposing change, it first has to make clear that it's on their side.
Start with those who are already willing
The most common mistake is trying to convince the most difficult one first. What works better is starting with two or three experienced drivers who are curious and well regarded among their colleagues. They don't need to be young or tech-savvy: what matters is that the others respect them.
Stay close to those first drivers for a few weeks, resolve their questions quickly and keep track of how many trips they make and how much they earn. When a colleague with twenty years in the trade says at the rank that this week he made more trips with less waiting time, that convinces more than any presentation from the fleet.
It's best for the change to be gradual wherever possible. If phone and rank trips continue for a while as the app comes in, nobody feels their livelihood is being taken away overnight. The date on which the app becomes mandatory, if it comes, is announced well in advance and when most drivers already use it.
During those first weeks, share the results out loud: in the fleet group, at the rank, at the monthly meeting. There's no need to dress them up: it's enough to say how many trips each person made and how long they waited. If the numbers aren't good yet, it's also worth saying so and explaining what you'll do to improve them, because experienced drivers notice straight away when someone is selling them something.
Teaching without humiliating
Many veteran drivers don't resist the app: they resist being seen making mistakes. A group training session, with a young person explaining quickly in front of everyone, is the best way to make someone with decades of experience decide not to come back. What works is one-to-one teaching, calmly, on their own phone and in their own car.
Start with only the essentials: going online, accepting a trip, reaching the passenger and finishing the trip. No menus, reports or settings in the first session. A printed sheet with large text and photos of each screen helps more than it seems, especially for those who wear glasses. And it's very useful to make a test trip from start to finish, with someone from the fleet as the passenger, before the first real one arrives.
Many don't have a suitable phone or a sufficient data plan. Before assuming they don't want to, check whether they can. Helping them get a simple phone, a dashboard mount and a car charger usually removes more obstacles than an hour of explanations. And make clear who to call when something goes wrong: the number of a person they know is worth more than a manual.
Their regular customers are still theirs
The strongest fear is usually losing customers who have been calling them directly for years. That fear deserves a clear and honest answer. It's worth the fleet defining in writing what happens with those trips: whether the driver can keep serving them, whether those passengers are encouraged to move to the app and how they're invited to do so without the driver losing the relationship.
Many of those customers are older people who don't use apps either, and for them continuing to call their trusted driver or the dispatch centre is perfectly valid. What matters is that the driver feels the app adds to what they already have and doesn't take it away. When they see trips arriving at times when they used to be waiting at the rank, they stop seeing it as a threat.
The oldest drivers were the last to join, and now they have the best ratings. They know the city, treat people well and no longer spend hours waiting at the rank. I had to teach one of them three times how to accept a trip; today he teaches the new ones.
Transparency about money and rules
Nothing breeds more distrust than not understanding how much you earn. Before asking anyone to use the app, explain with a real example how much they receive from a trip, whether there's a commission, how much it is and when card payments reach them. If the driver can see their trips and earnings on the phone, show them that first: it's usually what interests them most.
The same goes for how trips are distributed. If a driver believes the system favours others, they'll lose heart. Explain in simple words how they're assigned and what makes someone get more or fewer. And also clarify what location is used for: assigning trips and providing safety, not monitoring where each person goes in their free time.
What to do with those who won't change
Despite everything, some won't want to. It's worth respecting that without drama and deciding in good time what place they have in the operation. If your fleet keeps a telephone dispatch centre, they may go on serving those trips for years, and that's service too. If the fleet is going to depend entirely on the app, say so in advance and give a reasonable deadline, without threats or last-minute pressure.
If someone decides to leave, say goodbye respectfully. In a small city everyone knows each other, and the way you treat a driver with thirty years in the trade is seen by all the others, including those still deciding. Often, too, the one who left comes back months later, when they see how their colleagues are doing, and it's worth keeping the door open.
What to take away
Veteran taxi drivers don't resist technology, but losing what they've built over the years. Listening to their fears, starting with the willing, teaching one to one, looking after their regular customers and being clear about money turns many of the most difficult into the app's best drivers.
If your fleet is going to run on its own app, you have an advantage over the big platforms: you can support each driver by name. Start this week with a conversation with your two or three most respected veterans, and let them help you convince the others. Their experience is exactly what passengers will notice.
