Wilmington North Carolina Business Law and Litigation Attorney Blog

Brunswick County At It Again: Regulating Taxi Fares Through the Roof

Brunswick County recently had a problem:  taxi drivers weren't charging their passengers enough.   Licensed taxi companies from New Hanover County complained that they couldn't compete with Leland's unregulated jitney brigade - never mind the fact that they have to travel several miles one way just to reach Leland.  Brunswick County now regulates taxi fares, which is sure to cost travelers more. 

According to police chief Osey Sanders, "It's not fair to legitimate taxi companies to let the gypsy cabs roam free."  Why?  And how do you define "legitimate" against "illegitimate"? 

As was the case in the recent roadside shrimp scare -- it's for everyone's safety!  Sanders told the Star News that "it might not be safe for customers". So based on this unsupported bit of hand-waving, Leland concluded that it had to require taxi companies and drivers to get an annual business license to operate in town. For that, "the police department must inspect the cab, it must be metered and have insurance, and its driver must have satisfactory driving and criminal records." 

What's odd about this is that every driver has to be insured by law anyway, whether driving a cab or not; and having a "satisfactory" driving and criminal record is also required of drivers.  "Unsatisfactory" records might include DWI or Driving While Revoked convictions; convictions for which drivers would already lose the ability to drive, at least to some degree. 

So the only real change is having the police inspect the vehicles.  But the question is:  inspect them for what?  The state already inspects vehicles.  We get that done every year.  What exactly is Leland's proposal doing that the vast bureaucracy of the DMV isn't doing already?  Besides costing entrepreneurs a lot of money on wasteful bureaucratic exercises?

But at least Leland is Doing Something.  And the result is that passengers will now pay a "causeway fee" of $15 for taxis coming over the bridge from Wilmington.  No matter how short the trip from point to point within Leland, if the cab has to come over the bridge, a $15 fee will be added.  Small wonder then that of the 34 permits issued in the last month, most have come from Wilmington companies. 

Brunswick County to Regulate Shrimp Sales?

The Star News is reporting today that shrimp retailers - those with fixed, brick-and-mortar locations - in Brunswick County want to see the county place regulations on roadside shrimp vendors. 

As is often the case, the retailers who favor these regulations cite "safety concerns" in support of their position.

But roadside shrimp vendor Glenn Williams takes the more plausible view that the retailers just don't like the competition from guys in pickup trucks with their coolers on the tailgate.

As alluded to in a previous post, it may be true that there is a competitive advantage to being exempt from the myriad of rules and regulations that hamstring many businesses. 

But the appropriate course of action is always to fight against the excessive rules that apply to you, rather than demanding more rules for others.  Demanding rules for others creates a "culture of regulation." Once that starts, the only way to "win" the game is to maintain influence over the regulators in a way that favors you and disadvantages your competitors.  Over time, that becomes a very difficult and expensive proposition.  The better course is fight tirelessly against the source of the regulatory power that's hurting your business, so that all market participants can operate their businesses freely.

PS -- I have to mention, I was very impressed by this quote from Pam Overstreet, the county environmental health supervisor:

"It's pretty much self-regulating," she said. "Most anyone can tell when seafood isn't fresh."  She said people should make sure the seafood they are purchasing is stored properly and at the correct temperatures.

Amen!  It's refreshing when anyone - especially someone in government - takes the position that people aren't stupid and can figure things out for themselves.