Carte Blanche Cabs

Also known as Hack's Cabs in regards to the nickname of its owner.

Hack's main office and depot is well down a few back roads and outside the normal belt of hustle and bustle of the NW Reisterstown Road area. Hack's family owned part of the property and when an adjacent lot came up for sale in the last decade, Hack snatched it up.

Also on the property is a roughly rectangular expanse covered with gravel. The original purpose (and the purpose it is still put to occasionally) is to sharpen and hone driver's skills with obstacle courses. Hack originally had it put in to give him a discount on his insurance, but several times a year it becomes the host for racing, demolition derby, and other Motorsport amusements by the staff. Most of the rest of the property is divided into two types of terrain.

The first is an outer perimeter of woods and brush. The interior of the property is mostly cleared of all trees and has been artificially leveled. More than half of this area has been fenced off with a chest-high wooden fence to provide pasture for the horses.

The bulk of the main building is made of unpainted, grey cinder block with a flat metal roof and seven large and tall garage doors. The doors are about 14'-15' high and about a car and half wide. Once the doors open, you can look into the large open area inside. The seven doors form seven lanes with matching garage doors on the opposite side of the building. Each lane could easily hold 2-3 tractor-trailers inside the building.

Lane 1 is slightly down slope from the other lanes and has numerous drains along its length. It also has water lines leading into that side of the building. This is where vehicles are washed. At the very end of the lane is a small area dedicated to auto-detailing and reconditioning.

Lanes 2 and 3 lead into a maintenance area, complete with a smallish, portable painters booth with doors opening front and back, so it is possible to drive a vehicle straight through. The booth is clearly a newer installation than the rest of the building, maybe only 1-2 years old, if that. The rest of the maintenance lanes are lined with rolling tool chests, racks holding tires, stands holding bumpers and tables with doors atop them. Even an entire engine hangs suspended from a hoist.

Lanes 4, 5 and 6 hold an assortment of vehicles, from town cars to small limousines and a few specialty vehicles as well. Each lane is nominally for each shift (1st, 2nd, and 3rd) with lane 7 acting as temporary and guest parking. Lane seven's outer wall also happens to connect through several doorways with the structure built onto the side of the 1-story garage. At the front and rear corners of the wall along lane 7, stairs lead down to a basement with bathrooms, lounge, lockers, sleep cubbies, showers, kitchen and multi-purpose room.

Great care has been taken to make and keep downstairs as nice as possible. New dehumidifiers remove moisture, negating the feeling of being underground. In addition, an effort has been made to use a variety of paneling, paint colors, and wallpapers to personalize the space along with wall-to-wall carpeting. There is one door down here that leads to the under bay of lanes 2-3. Most access to the under of 1-2-3 is found from staircases leading down from the corners of lane 1.

There is a new long metal building with a slightly peaked roof connecting the garage to the three story red and white house that sits nearby. The house has an extensive front and back porch, with motley of chairs and couches sitting out. The front room and hallway serves as the dispatch office. Also on this floor are the clerical offices. At the back is a fair-sized eat-in kitchen. Some of the upstairs rooms have been remodeled as offices, others are empty awaiting purpose, and some are filled with items shoved into them for storage.

In the house's backyard are the remains of a small stable. While not falling down, it would take some effort to refurbish it. Luckily, the metal building was built to replace it.

The garage, the house and the metal building that connect them are enclosed by a 7 ft. high stonewall with one gate in the front, one gate in the back and a side door near the house as well. Outside this perimeter is a small wooden hanging sign proclaiming the name of the business as Carte Blanche. The sign is black and the letters are white.

The metal building is the stable. CB cares for a small number of horses. They are used to pull carriages when needed. They are usually transported off the property on a trailer with the buggy riding behind another vehicle. When not in use, the trailers are kept along the outer back perimeter wall.

CB is far overstaffed for the business it does. It employees 1 full time detailer, 3 full time car runners, 6 part time runners, 2 body and paint girls and 4 mechanics. The car runners are responsible for moving the cars around the property and making sure each is ready to roll, fully stocked with all the supplies it needs. The runners are also used to clean the vehicles interior and exterior at the end of each shift. The detailer is supposed to help with running if they are slammed, but he is notoriously standoffish and always claims to be busy with his own projects, which of course, have a higher priority. So at any one time there should be about 7-10 people in the garage during daylight hours. It has far fewer on second and third shifts.

One full-time groom works at the stable. His wife is a part-time groom. In addition, there are a varying number of stable-kids depending on the time of year and the temperament of the kids themselves. The main house has a full-time office manager, accountant, and clerk. Also employed are five full-time dispatchers and a few part -timers that work on an irregular basis. One caretaker and a cleaning service complete most of the staff.

Except for the drivers of course…