Driver Buys Ninja Cab From Hudson Businessman

Hudson businessman Paul Rode announced Sunday, April 1, that he has sold Ninja Cab & Airport Services to Rick Erdman, one of the company's drivers.

"Ninja Cab has been busier than I thought it was going to be, and it just needs more attention than I can give it," Rode said. "The sale allows me to focus on my next project."

Rode, who owns and , declined to talk about what his next project will be. But he said he sold the business to Erdman, financed the purchase for him and will remain an advisor in the venture.

Erdman admitted he was a little nervous about taking over the business as an owner/operator, but said he has been working with Rode over the past few months to get trained in the managment side.

Erdman already has one change he plans to make to the company's operations.

"We're going to open up the hours and that's the only change we're going to make," Erdman said. "We primarily do the bar-close time from about 8 to bar close. We're going to try to cover a lot more of the daytime hours from like 10 a.m. to 4 or 5 p.m."

Ninja Cab will still operate its latenight hours and it will still offer runs to the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport. 

"I want to reassure people that nothing is going to change as far as our policy," Erdman said. "We look forward to doing business with all of our existing clients."