Whether it’s cold or wet, winter and spring prove difficult seasons for student workers. Especially Joyride drivers. 

All over the University of Alabama campus, they buzz down the streets with passengers yelling over their rattling frames and sputtering engines. From a typical student’s first week, they know of golf-cart taxi companies like Joyride and Kwik Kart as cheap, fun options of transportation. 

Some call it a staple of the college experience in Tuscaloosa, or at least a great way to catch a breeze. When temperatures begin to fall in December, though, much of the appeal disappears.

Joyride driver Ava Ferrara, a junior major in business at the University, understands why business drops off this time of year.

“When it’s like 20 degrees, I don’t wanna be on a golf cart either,” she said.

Ferrara started as a driver in September of last year. She said that on better days, she can make hundreds of dollars driving one or multiple shifts. On one gameday Saturday in October, for example, she brought in over $1600 in ride fares, of which she got to keep a significant chunk as commission.

Many businesses and their employees in Tuscaloosa look forward to football season, from restaurants to tailgate tent-assemblers, to taxi services and ride-share drivers. Because of the cold, Joyride and Kwik Kart suffer, especially after the season ends. 

Tuscaloosa Joyride’s general manager, McKenzie Land, said January’s earnings did not even amount to a third of October’s. She did add that October included two home games against other SEC teams.

At Joyride, drivers are considered contract workers. They make no wages, only commission and tips, and can either pick up shifts whenever they choose or not at all. With less demand for rides, the employees might feel less incentive to work.

“I was working, like, every single night basically since I started,” Ferrara said. “And then I stopped in December because it’s cold.”

So, what does this mean for the companies?

“[Revenue] is pretty bad from, like, December until after spring break, and then in the summer it’s a dropoff, too,” Land said. Summer begins with nearly a month without students on campus for classes, and with fewer of those who are present going out.

Other cities with Joyride franchises include Knoxville, Tennessee; Nashville, Tennessee; and Houston, Texas. Compared to the others, Tuscaloosa’s businesses rely the most on seasonal tourism. Houston’s branch, for example, has covered carts, and sightseeing tour packages bring in more business. Nashville’s branch even offers party buses.

Joyride Tuscaloosa relies more heavily on individual rides for transportation and only uses uncovered golf carts. That means they depend on employee loyalty to keep carts on the streets in the cold months. 

“The people who stick around over the winter, those are the people who are in it for the long run,” said Land, who began as a driver in April 2018. “I never liked working in 20-degree weather at night, but it’s the people who made it bearable.”

Angelina Montaldo, who drives for Joyride’s in-town rival Kwik Kart, said she still makes decent money in the low season.

“Darty time, like 2-8 [p.m.] on a Saturday, is the best time right now,” she said. “You can make a lot of money, but obviously not as much as, like, a game day.”

Montaldo began shortly after talking to a Kwik Kart driver who gave her a chilly ride home one night last January. She said she appreciates the gritty frugality of those who ride with her in the winter.

“People are still going out when it’s cold,” she said. “They’re still wanting cheaper rides, even though it’s cold, because they’re already out. I’ve picked up girls wearing, like, tank tops and shorts, and it’s kind of cold, but they’d rather have a $3 ride than a $10 Uber. So I guess if you suffer through it for five minutes, it’s not so bad.”

Rain or shine, warm or cold, drivers have to do their shifts for the same rate of pay. So the next time students take a cold ride from someone wearing five coats and multiple blankets, consider factoring some sympathy into an optional tip amount.