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Have two situations/questions.

1. I did my first drop-off/pick-up at O'hare airport this week. when i went through the "commercial lane booth" and told the attendant that i was new to this and wasn't sure where to get the arrive/depart $2 sticker that Chicago loves to tax us with he was cluesless and just let me through. As much as i don't like paying ridiculous taxes i'd rather not have it come back to bite me in the ass later by not paying it.
----So can someone inform me where to acquire the stickers and the process for using them at O'hare and Midway?????????????????


2. I am a suburban plated{white plates}, insured, and safety-inspected limo business owner. As of right now i am doing the driving till i find drivers to create a on-call list.
--------Do i as the driver need a restricted chauffers license to drive in the city of chicago??????
---------Or am i legal to operate with just a regular class drivers license??????

Thank you for all who help.

Dan @ Fusion Limos

Im in an 05 black towncar stretch btw

You probably already figured it out, but you get the stamps from the "D" lot by the car rental area at ohare. They are $20 for 10 and they do check often. What year/color is your car?

I do runs in the morning and sometimes wait in the D lot for a few hours waiting for another order.

quote:

Originally posted by Fusion Limos:
Have two situations/questions.

1. I did my first drop-off/pick-up at O'hare airport this week. when i went through the "commercial lane booth" and told the attendant that i was new to this and wasn't sure where to get the arrive/depart $2 sticker that Chicago loves to tax us with he was cluesless and just let me through. As much as i don't like paying ridiculous taxes i'd rather not have it come back to bite me in the ass later by not paying it.
----So can someone inform me where to acquire the stickers and the process for using them at O'hare and Midway?????????????????


2. I am a suburban plated{white plates}, insured, and safety-inspected limo business owner. As of right now i am doing the driving till i find drivers to create a on-call list.
--------Do i as the driver need a restricted chauffers license to drive in the city of chicago??????
---------Or am i legal to operate with just a regular class drivers license??????

Thank you for all who help.

Dan @ Fusion Limos

you buy the tags at the limo staging areas

The lincoln towncar actually went north of the border into canada.

The parts are still made in mexico.

i hope the time will never come when the true american car will be the Toyota Camry MADE IN
THE USA.

What you didn't see dave were all the empty clothing plants and other various shops that went to mexico. Oh and You missed the it by staying on I55 that grand monument to 30,000 jobs gone the shrine to worldcom that sits on I20. So we've lost some to NAFTA as well.

Yes he would if I did not have work to give him. Because I was not what you would call a high volume operator (most of the work on weekends) all I had was part time people who worked other jobs. I did most of the week day stuff myself. Because of the low volume of work, it was necessary to keep a long list of people I could call on to work because many of my employees had other plans for the week ends or worked other part time jobs. In Michigan, it is all computerized. You call into to file a claim and the computer asked you if you worked at XYZ employer. If you say yes, that Guy is on the "Hook" to pay a portion of your unemployment.

By the way Shad I went through Jackson MS last April when I was on my way to New Orleans driving the Bus. Now I know where all of the Michigan Auto industry has gone. Driving down the interstate past your Nissan plant reminded me of what Michigan use to look like. Just to let you know, Wixom Michigan Ford plant (where the Town Car was built for years) is now history, I beleiv it is now being built in Mexico. Now you can see what Ross Perrot met when he talked about the giant "sucking sound". Michigan jobs going south. Keep up the good work down there Guys.

Dave if you were still up and running would the guy still get unemployment? Or would he be S.O.L. if you worked him three or four hours a week? I don't know how it works up there but down if he had employment after the last date in your shop you would be off the hook. And you could contest his claim.

Fusion Limos: You mentioned you were new and doing your own driving. I would suggest you continue to keep doing the same. I don't know about your state but here in Michigan, if you hire some one part time (on call) and you report wages to the state (like you should) and that on call person gets laid off from their full time job and you have no work for them, you will end up paying part of their unemployment.

Even though I have gone out of business, I am paying part of the unemployment of a Guy who only did one run for me last fall. Unless you grow to the point you have to have another person, try to avoid hireing too many part time people. If you can hire a family member or something like that.

Now the up side to this. My full time job is working for the area school Dist.. My part time job is driving an OTR Motor Coach for a Bus Company. In Michigan, A school Employee cannot collect unemployment during summer break as long as they have reasonable assurance they have a job in the fall (which I do). However, because I work the part time job as a Bus Driver, I can collect unemployment on their account if they cannot provide me with enough work that would exceed what I would be able to collect in unemployment. With the economy here in Michigan and the down turn in tourisum in Michigan, I expect to collect some "Rocking Chair" money this summer.

Hello, I am new to the limo business as well here in the Chicago area. It is my understanding that if you have suburban plates as opposed to city plates you do not need a chauffeurs license to operate legally. If you have city plates it is required. We just switched to city plates from suburban plates and this is what we were told by consumer services. The MPEA stickers are still on sale at a booth in the staging area. Hope this helps and good luck to you!

DISCLAIMER:
All info I give is relative to 10 years ago when i used to operate a company in Chi-town. Things may have changed since then.

To operate within the city limits, you need a hard-card, or a 7-plate. Consumer services can stop you and arrest you if caught otherwise.

It is, however, legal to pickup and drop-off via a suburban location without a 7 plate and a hardcard.

For example, Elgin to Chicago -- legal.
Versus
Pickup at Drake Hotel (chicago) and take clients to Shedd Aquarium = ILLEGAL.

The MPEA stickers could be bought at the limo holding area at ORD. Just ask anyone sitting around in the holding area where the booth is. Years ago, it was the same booth that sold snacks and refreshments.

Again, all info was pertinent to 10 yrs ago -- things / rules may have changed since then.

Hope this helps.