Bill York, 43, retired three years ago as a trucker but since found the home taxi turf to his liking and is back on the road again.

In years as a truck driver, he sometimes was away three months at a time and he said the life took a toll.

“I hauled chemicals and hazardous waste,” York said. “It made me old in a hurry.”

Now, he’s driving his own cab in Gorham. He launched Gorham Taxi & Livery, Inc., in July to fill a void he saw in public transportation in town.

The Gorham town clerk’s office doesn’t have taxi records. Christina Silberman, town clerk, said recently that Gorham doesn’t have ordinances regulating taxis. Code Enforcement Officer Clint Cushman said keeping a cab at York’s residence on Libby Avenue is allowed.

York is considering expanding his service into Westbrook. Lynda Adams, city clerk in Westbrook, said Westbrook charges $100 for the business. Then there’s a $40 fee for each taxi driver with a $25 renewal fee each year. The drivers’ fees cover background checks. Adams said Westbrook Taxi is the one company operating in the city now.

York has a city of Portland license, which he said cost him more than $400 a year. It allows him to wait for fares anywhere in the city except at the jetport where there’s another $600 yearly fee. But he can pick up fares anywhere, including the jetport, if they call him.

Tynnia Staples, director of security for Portland’s Department of Transportation and taxi enforcement, a city has taxi license includes a $30 application fee; $300 annual license per vehicle; and a $15 background check for the taxi owner and each driver. Staples said a taxi driver’s license is $75 per year.

Portland taxis also have to meet insurance requirements and lettering and rates on both sides of the taxi.

Meters are officially calibrated and sealed. York charges the same rate – $1.90 for the first tenth of a mile and then 25 cents for each additional tenth – as other cab companies in Portland.

York, a 1983 graduate of Gorham High School, has a sedan cab and sometimes uses his personal, four-wheel drive Chevrolet Tahoe. He is based from his home on Libby Avenue and he’s on duty 24 hours a day. “If the phone rings at 3 or 4 a.m., I go,” York said.

His business venture suffered an early setback. He said a drunk driver in a stolen car on Nov. 30 hit him head on in front of Cinemagic in Westbrook. The crash destroyed his cab but he was thankful he didn’t have a fare aboard.

York’s head hit the doorpost, knocked him unconscious and he was hospitalized. “I had bruises, aches and pains,” said York, who didn’t suffer any broken bones.

Not waiting for insurance to replace the cab, York three days later shelled out $10,000 to outfit a 2004 Crown Victoria as a taxi but the process was time consuming to get back on the road. “I was without a sedan for a month,” York said. “Not much profit this year.”

He didn’t start the service with a goal just to make money but expenses are costly. He said insurance for the sedan is more than $6,000 a year.

“I haven’t taken a paycheck in six months, not one dime,” he said last month.

Regular customers include Gorham residents without drivers’ licenses who need rides to work, elderly, university faculty or students, and tourists.

York, a Gorham native whose father once owned Neal and York Funeral Home in Gorham, likes meeting the people and hearing their stories and about their families or their jobs. One of his regular customers moves yachts for Hollywood stars, business executives and political figures.

Some fares haven’t been so interesting. Customers have slammed doors, kicked the cab, jumped out without paying and spit on him. “A taxi driver takes a lot of abuse,” York said.

A year ago, York got married in the Philippines and he’s trying to get his wife permission to come to the United States. She was working 12 to 14 hours a day for $2 a day in a factory with no air conditioning when he met her. York said he saw people in the Philippines with nothing, yet they had a smile.

In Gorham, York is enjoying life as a cabbie. “What good is the money, if you can’t smile,” York said.

York can be reached at 839-8333.

(Taxi 6)