Taxi Driver Online

hi,cant decide wether to set up a firm or just plod on working for the same company ive been at 4 what seems like the last 50 years!would like to hear from anybody who took the plunge and has it been worth it?know most of the costs involved but no idea bout the costs of a basic 2 way radio system and the licence to operate it or can u really get by on the mobile phone method bearing in mind im thinking of just 3 cars to start with.

I've nearly owned 3 Billy, the first one I was to be a 25% partner with 3 others, it all went to the wall within 2 years resulting in 2 buying one out, blatant feeding and meddling with things that had run perfect for 15 yrs previously saw it fail, the second I missed out on because the one who sold out in the previous office became a partner with 2 other drivers, they managed to run it into the ground for the same reasons as above between them, and finally a 150 car firm that due to bad management had whittled away to 30 cars within 5 mths, also due to the above reason *feeding* and the air being jammed at 8pm every Fri & Sat, I tried to get the premises and rebuild it from the ground up when I was told I could have it on condition that I had Mr #1 from the above examples as a partner, as I'd seen how he worked I wasn't busting it so he could sit on his lazy arse all day taking 50% so I bought the plate instead.

If you are only planning a small number of cars I'd go PDA on this occassion, the licences aren't that expensive, if you use 2 way radio you will need a telecoms licence, not sure if it's required for PDA delivery though, you need to have a chat with the council regarding fees but iirc it's not much more than the licence for a car pa, cherry picking will cause resentment, and you should be competitive, get a good phone number and aim to have about 20 cars minimum to be profitable and cover office and staff costs, look for a unit to rent and leaflet drop one area at a time and try to observe regular custom and look after it regardless if they have to jump the queue. hth.

I'd steer clear of the PDA's Doom.

So would I tbh, but if he's only gonna run 3 cars it might be his cheapest option to get going.

use mobile phones all on the same network, check the cheapest calls within 1 provider.

if you wish to know where they are get tracking

what "council fees" are you refering to?

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

Operators licence.


Just had a thought, if you go on 3 you can Skype between 3 mobiles, this could be a free way to transmit.

Just get 3 radios, its only £75 a year for the licence car to car, 3 mobile phones on the same network, domestic vodafone is best for that as you can get vodafone family and friends so you can call each other for free.
a domestic land line diverted to one of the mobiles, then if that car goes out of radio range on a job they can divert that phone to one of the others.
to get a good number keep an eye out for a small business place that is closing down that has a good number go in and see them and ask them to transfer the number to you on the day of closing then get it made domestic

You can get unlimited calls between 4 vodafones for £5 a month or 6 for £7

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

if al lthe cars are base-owned with no fighting between em for work then i cant see the problem, plus CBS "text service" can be used

I used to use that to run 5 subbies in vans here when i was on holiday in greece... and they could reply back too...

http://vip.cbfsms.com/

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

To get a DOT radio licence requires installing one, with mast (with permission) then a check for interference to local services and users

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

I would PM Mr Wrexham who has just done what you are thinking about.

And if you do take the plunge, best of luck.

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IDFIMH

You can also go car to car now without the need of a permanent base
We have about 5 or 6 small company's doing just that

thanks 4 replys lads, re doom. what i reckon to be the best advice ive read on this forum was make sure the company is yours and dont bother with a partner,after reading your reply it just backs up what ive been thinking,if i do start up it will defo be on my own. was thinking of gettin a couple of mates involved but it looks like a recipe 4 disaster!

base in what respect? here i can have 2 PHV run from home on my PH ops licence, in theory i could have unlimited HCs as thier place of standby (whatever) would be the rank

can you have a radio system of small numbers without a radio licence, i certainly couldnt obviously though in theory i could use a repeater .... PMR walkie talkie.... i think

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

Why not try These people. Some lads round our way use them and they swear by them, they give you a great number which is routed to your phone by the company when the customer rings for a cab.

Here's a link from the BBC regarding Taxi-Call.

http://www.taxi-call.info/video/LookEas ... adband.wmv