Taxi Driver Online

As far as I recall, no one paid the permit fee last year until late summertime, the reason being was because the annual fee was going to be scrapped. This meant that for several months access to the Airport was free. The proposed new payment scheme was eventually put on hold and it was then that permit payments were re-introduced. I think we even discussed it on TDO.

It is my understanding the 40p charge was introduced when permit payments re-commenced in late summer? The 40p must have been negotiated by you guys at the Airport because the Airport Company wouldn’t introduce it without prior consultation, therefore anyone working the Airport on a regular basis should know what the 40p is for. Perhaps it was to compensate for the months when drivers paid nothing? Whatever it is for it certainly won't be a mystery so I suspect everyone up there knows its origins.

From a post that started out asking a lot of questions without presenting any factual detail its taken a long time to get to were we are now, which quite frankly is nowhere, except for exposing the fact that the original post is a little threadbare.

For someone who works the Airport not to know what the Airport charges amount to, is too bizarre to contemplate. The new payment scheme has been on the cards for quite some time so there is nothing new on that score, the 40p charge you are on about is down to you guys at the Airport who accepted the terms last year so there is no misunderstanding about that. Therefore just exactly what is it you want to achieve?

You ask about “human rights” but it is plainly obvious to me and probably everyone else on here that none of your rights are being violated. You ask if these Airport charges are legal, the answer to that is yes, you also ask about council assistance in paying part of the new levy of 1.60, I’m afraid the council do not have to allow any financial relief if they don’t want to, therefore your representatives are going to have to do some fancy footwork with the council to achieve your aims.

I suppose you are aware that many of the Airport old school wanted the permits to go up to at least 500 pounds to keep out what they see as undesirable elements. In other words they prefer to see the status quo re established as it was before it got overrun by Asian drivers. Where as at one point there were no Asian drivers at the Airport apart from those you could count on one hand, there is now twice as many as the old school white drivers. This doesn't sit well with many of the Old School.

I’ve never been a fan of rank Marshals but I understand that most Airport drivers are happy with the new arrangements, many believe it might stop a lot of the feeding that goes on with particular elements. That’s no concern mine because you sew your own seeds up there and you eventually reap what you sew.

If I was you I would join a trade organisation or set up your own, it might not get you very far but at least you might get to know what’s being traded on your behalf before the deed is actually signed sealed and delivered.

Sorry to be so forthright but that’s me.

Regards

JD

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It is my understanding that the rank Marshals used to be paid for by the drivers.... but now they are paid for by someone else.... and 40P is to pay for them...

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Justice for the 96. It has only taken 27 years...........repeat the same lies for 27 years and the truth sounds strange to people!

As far as I recall, no one paid the permit fee last year until late summertime, the reason being was because the annual fee was going to be scrapped. This meant that for several months access to the Airport was free. The proposed new payment scheme was eventually put on hold and it was then that permit payments were re-introduced. I think we even discussed it on TDO.

There has always been a time period when the Airport was ''free'' of permits...this allowed ''new'' drivers to taste it for free in the hope that they would actually buy a permit after getting a tasty job or two....but in reality most ''new'' drivers left after the ''free'' period.

It is my understanding the 40p charge was introduced when permit payments re-commenced in late summer? The 40p must have been negotiated by you guys at the Airport because the Airport Company wouldn’t introduce it without prior consultation, therefore anyone working the Airport on a regular basis should know what the 40p is for. Perhaps it was to compensate for the months when drivers paid nothing? Whatever it is for it certainly won't be a mystery so I suspect everyone up there knows its origins.

No, the Airport wanted to introduce a ''pay per trip'' charge but there wasn't the money sanctioned to put up the barrier so around sept they asked for drivers to pay for a permit which was £300 or £270 if paid before a certain date.
The 40p came in after the permit fee was paid for. This was because when the Airport/drivers approached the City council about a proposed barrier fee of £1.00 the response from the council was that this amount was ''extortionate'' and would not be allowed. However a fee of 20p would be allowed (same as Piccadilly Station) and 20p to be borne by the driver.

From a post that started out asking a lot of questions without presenting any factual detail its taken a long time to get to were we are now, which quite frankly is nowhere, except for exposing the fact that the original post is a little threadbare.
Not true J D....I think it has achieved a lot.....looking at this post its one with the highest responses and views in recent weeks.....so it must have aroused a lot of interest !!

For someone who works the Airport not to know what the Airport charges amount to, is too bizarre to contemplate. The new payment scheme has been on the cards for quite some time so there is nothing new on that score, the 40p charge you are on about is down to you guys at the Airport who accepted the terms last year so there is no misunderstanding about that. Therefore just exactly what is it you want to achieve?

Accepting something that is thrust down your throat is not the same as being happy with it ..is it ?
I say that the majority of drivers (in excess of 350 out of 530 that work at the Airport)...have not been consulted by the Airport.... so it makes the whole exercise questionable. By consultation I mean that every driver should have been at least ''notified'' in writing about the proposed 40p and has not been.
Now, we are in the same situation where the proposed ''fee'' is to go up to £1.60 and again this is just via rumour and innuendo. Nothing from the Airport itself. That is what I believe is questionable.

You ask about “human rights” but it is plainly obvious to me and probably everyone else on here that none of your rights are being violated. You ask if these Airport charges are legal, the answer to that is yes, you also ask about council assistance in paying part of the new levy of 1.60, I’m afraid the council do not have to allow any financial relief if they don’t want to, therefore your representatives are going to have to do some fancy footwork with the council to achieve your aims.

The council ''did'' allow an amount of £300 in our fare structure and this has now been removed in favour of ''Marshalls'' money. This means that whereas the council allowed us for the permits this has now been taken off. I am also challenging the legality and validity of this.
What is to stop the ''Airport'' charging £3.00 per pick up next year and £5.00 per pick up the year after ?. This will effectively drive thehackneys off the Airport in an indirect way. Not fair competition is it ? Effectively this will allow their company ''Airportcarz'' to have a monopolyto run a taxi service using a bus licence.

I suppose you are aware that many of the Airport old school wanted the permits to go up to at least 500 pounds to keep out what they see as undesirable elements. In other words they prefer to see the status quo re established as it was before it got overrun by Asian drivers. Where as at one point there were no Asian drivers at the Airport apart from those you could count on one hand, there is now twice as many as the old school white drivers. This doesn't sit well with many of the Old School.
I can tell you that one thing that has happened recently at the Airport is that ''old school'' white drivers and ''asian'' drivers work hand in hand as they now perceive the Airport as the common enemy and only by working together have they any chance of survival.
Sure there elements in the old network who would wish that the ''nuisance'' drivers left but its not happening any time soon.




I’ve never been a fan of rank Marshals but I understand that most Airport drivers are happy with the new arrangements, many believe it might stop a lot of the feeding that goes on with particular elements. That’s no concern mine because you sew your own seeds up there and you eventually reap what you sew.
Its sow J D... but I can tell you that Marshalls do a wonderful job for the drivers and passengers. I wont go into details but believe me the ranks would not function smoothly at certain times but for the Marshalls.


Sorry to be so forthright but that’s me.

No worries, its just what I expect.
Thanks for all the inputs from everyone.

Regards

JD

That's quite right and now the Airport propose to have their own rank marshals paid for by the cab trade. When you introduce rank marshals you start on the slippery slope of a never ending cycle of self financial Haemorrhaging of ones own pocket.

I suspect one of the main purposes that lead to the introduction of Marshals was to guide passengers away from unlicensed vehicles and into those that are licensed. The system worked well enough without Marshals for decades so maybe they should go back to the old system and save themselves ten pounds a week.

Regards

JD

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Copyright notice © The contents of this post are copyright of JD and are not to be reproduced outside of TDO without written permission.

I must admit, it's the first I've heard of a, "try me and buy me policy", at the Airport. Is this something they advertise as official Airport policy for all new prospective permit holders?



We are aware that the Airport wanted to introduce a barrier system in 2007 and that is why they put the permit paying system on hold. They couldn't get the system off the ground at that particular time for one reason or another which meant they had to reintroduce the permit paying system, isn't that right?



Whether the 40p came in at the same time or shortly after the reintroduction of the permit payments is immaterial, the point about the 40p is that you say you didn't know what it was for or how it came about? My observation was that the 40p just didn't appear it was negotiated by way of discussion with trade reps and therefore everyone at the Airport should have known about it.

Unless I've missed something it appears to me that the 40p is for the Marshals but it is my understanding that at that particular time the Airport hadn't yet taken charge of the Marshals. Therefore if the charge was for the purpose of paying Marshals then it was imposed because previous attempts to secure voluntary funding from drivers, had failed. Then again not knowing the payment method for these marshals leaves me at a slight disadvantage.



I don't know about that but its certainly been a struggle for me to finally get to where we are at present. I would have thought that with all the free time you have at the Airport that you might have obtained all the relevant information from your colleagues. I somehow get the feeling that someone is being wound up here.



What exactly do you perceive as being "thrust down your throat"? Is it the full future package of 1.60, or the existing 40p?



I sympathise with you in that respect but those who do negotiate with the Airport supposedly on your behalf, have regular meetings with the Airport personnel in charge of overseeing Taxis. By rights those persons doing the negotiating should keep you all informed as to what is being negotiated and why. The Airport won't normally deal with individuals they will only deal with those who represent the individuals.



I must admit it seems strange that only a handful of people were aware of this charge prior to it being introduced. There will be many people reading this thread who will no doubt wonder the same thing.



When did you learn negotiations were taking place between the taxi trade and the Airport over the new setup? It was published in the December Bulletin so anyone reading that issue of the bulletin should have known about it. In any case the new system was known about from last year so you were aware of the situation then. The Airport never said they were scrapping the barrier payment system so you must have been aware of its possible implementation this year?



I don't get this at all, what do you mean when you say, "the council did allow an amount of £300 in your fare structure"? Can you be more specific? The council don't set fares for the Airport. When permits were first introduced back in the early nineties the Airport laid down the law about excessive fares being charged for journeys that ended just a few miles from the Airport but outside the boundary limits. I understand a special local fare chart was introduced at that time but whether it still applies I don't know.



What do you mean by, "the council allowed you for the permits"?



Legality and validity of what, exactly?



I wasn't aware the charges at the Airport were in consideration of competition. I understood the charges were for the facility of parking and using the Taxi rank.



Yes I know, and that's the very first time I've ever made that mistake but it just proves that no one is infallible. lol



Would they be busy times?

Regards

JD

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Copyright notice © The contents of this post are copyright of JD and are not to be reproduced outside of TDO without written permission.

I must admit, it's the first I've heard of a, "try me and buy me policy", at the Airport. Is this something they advertise as official Airport policy for all new prospective permit holders?

Yes, it has gone on for years and usually drivers get informed by ''mates'' of theirs and as such it multiplies. Also, there are professional ''freeloaders'' who run off as soon as a payment becomes due.



Whether the 40p came in at the same time or shortly after the reintroduction of the permit payments is immaterial, the point about the 40p is that you say you didn't know what it was for or how it came about? My observation was that the 40p just didn't appear it was negotiated by way of discussion with trade reps and therefore everyone at the Airport should have known about it.

Unless I've missed something it appears to me that the 40p is for the Marshals but it is my understanding that at that particular time the Airport hadn't yet taken charge of the Marshals. Therefore if the charge was for the purpose of paying Marshals then it was imposed because previous attempts to secure voluntary funding from drivers, had failed. Then again not knowing the payment method for these marshals leaves me at a slight disadvantage.

No, now it seems that the Council are using the 40p to say that this 40p is for marshalls and that is all they are prepared to allow....so they have just jumped on the bandwagon....the 40p was to be split as 20p on the meter and 20p to be borne by the driver....

What exactly do you perceive as being "thrust down your throat"? Is it the full future package of 1.60, or the existing 40p?

Both but certainly the £1.60 of which only 40p will be allowed on the meter, specially when the large majority of drivers still haven't been consulted.

I sympathise with you in that respect but those who do negotiate with the Airport supposedly on your behalf, have regular meetings with the Airport personnel in charge of overseeing Taxis. By rights those persons doing the negotiating should keep you all informed as to what is being negotiated and why. The Airport won't normally deal with individuals they will only deal with those who represent the individuals.



I must admit it seems strange that only a handful of people were aware of this charge prior to it being introduced. There will be many people reading this thread who will no doubt wonder the same thing.



I don't get this at all, what do you mean when you say, "the council did allow an amount of £300 in your fare structure"? Can you be more specific? The council don't set fares for the Airport. When permits were first introduced back in the early nineties the Airport laid down the law about excessive fares being charged for journeys that ended just a few miles from the Airport but outside the boundary limits. I understand a special local fare chart was introduced at that time but whether it still applies I don't know.



What do you mean by, "the council allowed you for the permits"?

Okay, I am surprised that you are not aware of this....but I only found out myself about 10 days back.
The method in which taxi fares are decided upon in Manchester (and I am sure it applies elsewhere) is that cost of running are added up and then divided between two drivers (one day and one night) and various things are factored in and then the ''meter fare'' is agreed at.
For many years this has included an amount for a permit to work at the Airport. For the last year this amount was £300....(the cost of the permit)...this was given to ALL drivers irrespective of whether or not you worked at the Airport.
This amount was 0.6% of the fare.
So, now instead of getting an increase of 3.1% our increase will be only 2.5%.Sorry its long winded but I hope it explains my point.



Legality and validity of what, exactly?



I wasn't aware the charges at the Airport were in consideration of competition. I understood the charges were for the facility of parking and using the Taxi rank.

If the charges are for ''parking'' only then its very hard for the Airport to justify charging what they are proposing as this will amount to more than £1 million.....By competition I am talking about the likes of ''Airportcarz'' who are not paying anything as far as we are aware.They pay the Airport a percentage of their takings (we are led to believe 10%) so the Airport have a vested interest in this matter.
Another question for the brains out there.....
The charge is for going into the feeder park at the Airport. This is really a ''courtesy'' by drivers to other drivers. What is to stop drivers going straight to the ''ranks'' as legally they are entitled to ??

The fact is Mr Cheshire best there has never been a try me and buy me policy at Manchester Airport. In fact before the early nineties there were no permits.



The 40p came in last year when the new permit charge was introduced after everyone had several months grace from paying the permit.

Considering you work the Airport I'm somewhat surprised that you are rabbiting on about the legality of such a charge when all you need do is ask Pat Connor or any of the other reps up there as to the legality of such a charge?

Regards

JD

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Just had the quote for courtesy parking for the next 12months to access all three terminals, £975.72, robbing b********. For this unique parking you get to walk your clients in the pouring rain.

Just 2 years ago we paid £475.

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you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.

Is there a strike looming then just like Aberdeen

I can sell you a good umbrella.

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Grandad,

The same privilage in Aberdeen costs £60 per week (x 52 = £3120 per year)

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

Gus, admit it you would not have known how much it was up there, if i had not of told you, and I saved you from stinking the place out by taking your shoes and socks off