I don’t think all taxi drivers work with a dispatch company. Most just pick people up at the side of the road don’t they?

I think that's a mis-categorization - I do agree that these exist (and a lot of them fall into the "airport taxi" class since that's a reliable place to get business) and a cab operating in such a manner sounds plausible to be an independent contractor. But organizations like Yellow Cab exist and is the way most folks hail a cab, even at hotels - when you ask the concierge to get a cab for you they'll almost certainly call a local company and ask for a cab to be sent over - someone actually needs to be monitoring that phone, and the logistics of each cabbie having a phone in the car is kinda crazy "Oh ernie is currently driving someone, bart might be available I'll call him" so there is a central dispatching center with a few employees that just help make sure that the cabs are well distributed to quickly respond to calls.

> they'll almost certainly call a local company and ask for a cab to be sent over

In my experience they just step outside and wave one down.

Those mostly also belong to a bigger company that handles call in dispatches.

I don't think they've ever had radios in though, doesn't seem likely that they also take dispatches.

You don't need a radio now because of cell phones...

I said they never had radios in the past. These aren't radio taxes. They pick people up from the side of the road. That's most taxies in my experience.

Most will do both dispatched pickups and hailed pickups as I understand it.

No… no, they don't. O-o