Top Driver Acquires New York Master Cabbie Taxi Academy Taxi School
18 November 1999
Top Driver Acquires New York Master Cabbie Taxi Academy Taxi School Acquisition Broadens Training Programs TOP DRIVER PURCHASES NEW YORK MASTER CABBIE TAXI ACADEMY Top Driver's expansion continues with the purchase of New York Master Cabbie Taxi Academy, the nation's largest privately held taxi training company. (l-r) Top Driver chief operating officer Sebastian Giordano and Terry Gelber, owner of Master Cabbie. (PRNewsFoto)[HD] NEW YORK, NY USA 11/18/1999
NEW YORK, Nov. 18 -- Top Driver, the nation's fastest growing
driver education company announced today that it has acquired New York Master
Cabbie Taxi Academy, the country's largest privately-held taxi-driver training
company. This acquisition follows the recent purchase of the
New York/New-Jersey-based Taggart's Driving School, one of the best known
driving schools in the industry.
(Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19991118/NYTH064 )
"This acquisition provides Top Driver with a proven platform in an
exciting specialty training area based in the most visible livery market in
the world," said Sebastian Giordano, Top Driver's chief operating officer,
"and, through Master Cabbie, we see tremendous growth potential in other areas
of the country."
Master Cabbie teaches the majority of New York's nearly 4,800 newly
licensed taxi drivers each year. It provides the required training courses on
topics including street geography, driver-passenger etiquette, a complete city
tour and a defensive driving course. The Queens-based company guarantees
100 percent job placement for all graduates.
All applicants for a New York City taxicab driver's license are required
to attend and pass an 80-hour authorized course of training in taxi-related
subjects. Prior to Mayor Rudolph Guiliani's December 1998 training
modification, drivers were previously required to undergo 40 hours of
training. Applicants must also take a two-part examination testing their
knowledge of the English language, according to the Taxi and Limousine
Commission.
According to Terry Gelber, owner of Master Cabbie, "I have spent the last
three years building a business that the city can be proud of and this
arrangement with Top Driver clearly provides the best opportunity to recognize
my dream of developing a national taxi training academy."
Gelber gained his experience as a ten-year veteran driving a cab on the
Streets of New York City. Before starting Master Cabbie, he founded the "Hack
Poet Society" comprised of actors and poets performing their parodies of
famous characters to sell out audiences in "The Village," "SoHo" and other New
York City neighborhoods. In 1996, Gelber established Master Cabbie on the
premise that taxi drivers would be best trained by a career cab driver such as
himself.
Top Driver is opening training centers nationwide employing the latest
technology in driver training and education. It is the first to deliver
standardized curriculum with automobile product and service information, auto
insurance services and Department of Motor Vehicle services.
A high-resolution photo of Sebastian Giordano, Top Driver and Terry
Gelber, Master Cabbie, is available to download on The Cherenson Group's web
site at http://www.cherenson.com/press_kits. For more information, contact
Top Driver at 1-800-DRIVER-ED or visit its web site at
http://www.topdriver.com.
Top Driver Locations:
Connecticut Ohio
Trumbull Shopping Park, Trumbull 13 locations, Columbus & Dayton
Brassmill Center, Waterbury SouthPark Center, Strongsville
Center Ridge Road, Westlake
Indiana Middle Ave., Elyria
Greenwood Park Mall, Greenwood Cooper Foster Rd., Loraine
Chapel Hill Plaza, Indianapolis
Prestwick Pointe, Avon New York
Green River Rd., Evansville 3 locations, Long Island City
New Jersey
Tices Lane, East Brunswick
(National Calling Center)