CULLMAN – For the first time, Cullman County has a 24/7, on-demand taxi service. Road Runner Taxi Service was started by Michael Pletinik, a former New Yorker, as a response to what he saw as a need for the service in Cullman.
Pletinik started Road Runner Taxi Service about two months ago. The idea, Pletinik said, has been rattling around in his head for longer.
“The idea for a cab company came a while ago, about a year,” he said. “I went to City Hall and they didn’t know anything about it, so I went to the cab company here in town. I talked to the owner, the girl, and she said, ‘Oh, you can’t just [run a cab service] with your car. You have to have licenses, a meter, a light on the top, and the car has to be a certain color.’”
Well, as the world knows from Uber’s success, at least two of those qualifications stipulated by that cab company owner are not true.
Uber, a company that has exploded in popularity across the globe in the past five years in big cities from London to Los Angeles (and recently in Huntsville and Birmingham), allows drivers to use their own, privately-owned vehicles to pick up customers. And, while there is usually a banner or sign in the window identifying it as an Uber, there is never a light on top of it.
However, starting a taxi service wasn’t Pletinik’s first idea.
“It started out as a delivery service,” he said. “I wanted to be able to go shopping for people, you know, pick up their alcohol and bring it to their house so they didn’t have to get on the road. I found out that I couldn’t do that, it’s illegal. But, I realized I could pick people up and take them anywhere they wanted to go.”
Pletinik has a lot of business ideas. “Cullman is open for almost anything,” he said. There were previously two cab companies in Cullman, one of which went out of business, and neither of which operated past 6 p.m. Pletinik not only operates past 6 p.m., he is available at any time, day or night.
But it is not just the times that he is available, he’s committed himself to making Road Runner successful, which means he’ll drive anyone anywhere, allowing him to get into some extreme Driving Miss Daisy-type situations.
“The first customer I had, someone found me on Craig’s List,” he said. I drove about an hour and fifteen minutes to her house, and then drove her to visit her boyfriend in jail. I spent the whole day with her. We went to lunch, and then to the movies. I spent the whole day.”
Pletinik said he will drive anyone anywhere. His rate for driving to the Birmingham airport is $80, and according to him, the competition charges around $108 for the same task.
“I’m like an Uber, I’m just like an Uber. You know, this other cab company charges $8 to pick you up, and $2 per mile. For Cullman-to-Cullman, if you’re anywhere in Cullman and want to go somewhere in Cullman, I charge $18, roundtrip,” he said.
Although Cullman is flourishing and experiencing growth, the area might not be ready for Uber yet. However, Road Runner is the first to test the waters in the 24/7 on-demand service, and time will tell if Cullman is ready to support such a business.
Need a ride? Call Pletinik at 256-636-1926.
