Taxi Driver Online

Got a letter from the council this morning notifying me of the contracts i had applied going from 2013-2016 but the ones i had applied for was the same one i had last year (£75 per day) i upped the price to £80, the round trip for me going to get my escort and then picking up the boy and going to the school and the same in the afternoon is about 120 mile round trip, and then you have diesel money escort money and i am even finding it a bit tight, but someone else has now got it for........................................ £31.20 how you can make a living off that hell knows, £20 for the escort and then fuel money! unless he is using a nissan leaf or Vauxhall ampera he will be at a big loss

is it a subsidised community transport car?...

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

The escort is probably on the dole and working for a couple of quid cash in hand.
I am up against this all the time.

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Grandad,

One reason why I refuse to bid for council contracts now theres always someone bidding stupid money usually just to get it as a rent payment a lot round here do it

the way it works is they get a contract for silly money then say to a driver you do this contract worth £150 a week plus a couple of other account runs and thats your rental paid the driver has to fund the cost of fuel and the escort out of their cash takings BUT they get a full benefits package as the contract takes them 16 hours a week to do and none of their cash takings are declared !!

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

We can't compete with prices like that, so f*** em.

A living can't be made at those rates, I suspect you will have a similar situation as the [edited by admin] with the buses in Merseyside.

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IDFIMH

I don't know I only know his name but nothing else, within 15 days I can write a letter asking to see a full brief of the new contractor in question which I am doing, but in this area as long as you have a disclosure Scotland badge for drivers/escorts you can do a contract, but there is still more annual contracts to come but next year only ph/taxi drivers and companies can apply,

google his name

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

Got another letter the other morning, saying the man who applied at £31.20 done it by accident and someone else has now got it for £69.00 I put in for £80, applied for more this morning, annual ones but not 3 year ones, I am good friends though with some of the transport people at the council offices and I always manage to get one just before the schools go back, the now private hiring is rubbish waited 3 hours yesterday for a hire, the heat and the holidays are affecting the work I think, but did go into the airport this morning

What's the escort money for??, the council employs them, not the one who got the contract

£15 for the escort, £15 fuel = £30 leaving you £50 for 120 miles

BTW, youd struggle to do it in a leccy car without using the IC engine

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

Nooooooo, not usually

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

Well technically that is correct, but you get a badge from the council and then It is the escorts job to find a contractor to work for, I usually use my daughter have been doing for the past 5 years and my wife is also an escort, so I still have to pay her for her role while transporting the kids, if I don't get one from the council I will have to go to the taxi office and get one, but they take about 8% of the daily amount away and then I still have to out diesel in the car and pay my escort

When ive had a school run from a base needing an escort the base has supplied the escort and theyve paid her

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

We haven't got any after this last lot of schools broke up. The ones we had were half decent paying ones but we have been undercut by the thick squad.

One such job we've lost out on is a £25 contract with a 46 mile round trip from rank to rank twice daily. Someone has bid £14.25 each way and as you can guess, 2has won it".

In the Borders the council employs and pays the escorts, they are also fully vetted like the drivers.
If an escort calls in sick or cannot go that day, they must inform the cab company, and the cab company must contact the council for a relief approved escort.