Taxi Driver Online

As the above, instead of biding on local school or special needs contracts, you will soon be able to go on line and bid for contracts nationally
I cannot remember the name of the site but it will soon be mentioned somewhere

More needless and expensive guff..

bring it on i say

instead of 4 counties to deal with just the one website? ---- cool

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

It would be good if Skippy went to a hypnotherapist to try to remember the name of the web site!

Dunno about a Hypnotherapist, bet he should definitely go and get some form of therapy.

The tenders and contracts may be easier found thats true...but its the big boys with loads of spare drivers and that tender at ridiculously low prices thats going to mop up. Far from encouraging small businesses to take advantage of the nations tender procurements it will do the exact opposite and deny small business a fair crack at the whip simply because we little chaps need to make more from less in our small fleets as compared the big fleets who only need to make less from more.

Our councils signed up to this, it matters not how good or reliable youve been in the past...the work will go to the most competitive bid, it takes all protection away for the hard working one man bands and hands it all to the 100 piece orchestra owners..on a plate.

doesnt that rely on a modicum of brain+storage capacity?

i.e. would it work on a sheep or goldfish?...

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

Now I take a different view, especially when the fleets/circuits are concerned with owner drivers, because "the base" has to charge the least a car wants to do the job plus thier slice on top, which i dont have to worry about, likewise ading an escort, my missus has an escort badge and i shall bid on the first/next car+escort jobs, and i wont be losing any to a greedy base - my last lot paid 1 month from the end of the invoiced month, i now know the county council (this one anyway) pay 15 days from the end of the month, so the base has the funds for 2 weeks....

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

In that case it will suit you better...It just goes to show that one mans meat is another mans poison.

I wouldnt ever wish to be making a base money by renting a radio PLUS losing 20% off each job on account PLUS waiting 2 weeks after they get paid for them to hand it over..

i saw this for the 3 years i was on a circuit, owner drivers renting a radio at £50 a week, paying weekly for insurance £40 a week, doing £200 worth of account work which the base made and extra £40-£50 off, and them going cap in hand for a "sub" out of what they were owed





In this life, one thing counts
In the bank, large amounts
I'm afraid these don't grow on trees,
You've got to pick-a-pocket or two

You've got to pick-a-pocket or two, boys,
You've got to pick-a-pocket or two.


Large amounts don't grow on trees.
You've got to pick-a-pocket or two.


Why should we break our backs
Stupidly paying tax?
Better get some untaxed income
Better to pick-a-pocket or two.

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

Wannabe I find I am in agreement with you again! Big firms charge VAT & at least 10% more per conract to cover there admin charges. Sole trader can do the same job for at least 25% less[15% + 10%]. Even if the driver added 10% on to cover their own admin, they still 15% better off and no staff to pay out.

Maybe they do charge VAT, but they can also reclaim a fair percentage of that VAT, and say they run 100 cars they can still make healthy profits by making smaller profits on them, they also gain by having more buying clout and can usually get discounts on repairs etc simply because of the scale of their operations.

Your argument would stand up except for the fact that we all know and accept that the big companies can discount more where as the little chaps cant..this isnt just in the TAXI/PHV market but in all markets, its a simple economic fact that big get bigger and the small tend to melt away into oblivion simply because the small have to make a profit from less.

Id much rather be making an annual nett profit of 5% profit on a 100 car fleets turnover of say £4.5 Million than be making a 30% percent nett profit on say one car turning over £45,000..so VAT or not the guy with a 100 cars makes a £225,000 profit where as the little guy makes only £13,500 profit. Put simply Its Profit by Volume.

So I still stand by my argument that when it comes to offering cheaper tenders the big guy will alaways have the advantage..VAT or no VAT..makes no differance.

I think we have a two track discussion here. You rightly suggest that large companies can discount more. They also have larger premises rag ass drivers who speed around burning loads of fuel and higher maintenance costs, insurance costs etc. But I accept they will, and do, discount more.

We are mostly owner drivers or owner driver fleets who are on a PH circuit in the North West of England/Wales. The drivers may do the school run job for slightly less but the company will pay them out every week anyway.
E.G. The pure cost for a 10 mile school run job, based on £1.50 per mile would be £15. Owner driver dealing direct with the council should charge £15+10%=£16.50 to cover the time lag until they get paid. The Circuit PH company will charge £15+10%+15% vat = £18.75. Your company example, based on company vehicles & drivers would charge £15 flat fee, tell the driver the bill was £12 the driver would get £4 they keep the rest. It is the cheapest option for the council but not the best. They are relatively small amounts but multiply by 10 trips then 39 weeks and the profit margin grows exponentially as you suggest.

Don't forget any driver who does a council school contract and does not own the vehicle must be paid the min wage by law, then they can no longer be classed as self employed.

Could you point me to the part of the law which states this skippy please?

CC

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin