Taxi Driver Online

INTRODUCTION


I have been a Private Hire driver for only 5 weeks and I thought the game wasn't for me but I might just be with the wrong company. Since you are reading from my point of view, understandably my post will slant in favor of my indignation. Having said that, I will try and be as impartial as I can and to help give some balance to this post I would like to hear from both taxi drivers and taxi owners to give either empathy or criticism with what I am saying.


THE PROS

The taxi company I am with is small but with big ambitions. The owner's goal is to operate at the high end of the market with eventually all the cars being Mercedes so the drivers can work as taxi drivers and chauffeurs for weddings etc. His customers seem really well-to-do and are normally very pleasant. Instinctively, I think one day he will be a big success as he has tons of experience, lots of good key accounts and a very strong work ethic. However, my experience as a driver with him has not been what I expected. Here is why, with what I perceive as the cons.


THE CONS

The reason I became a PH driver is because I like the idea of being self-employed. However, working under this company doesn’t seem like I am self employed. It feels like I am an employee with no rights. In that, I work the hours the owner wants, and have to respond to the owner within an instant without the security of a regular paycheck, holidays and sick day entitlement. I have nothing against being treated like an employee if I get the benefits employees get. Under this rule I feel I can’t relax as there has been countless times were I have been having my lunch or dinner and he has called to get me to pick someone up considerably before our agreed start times, so I can’t finish my bloody dinner! Also on occasions I have done 16 hour shifts when we agreed it would be 12 and on 2 occasions in these mammoth shifts by the 11th or 12th hour I have been given a fare of a 2 hour journey time there and back! The last time I did that I nearly put the car into the back of a stationary Police Van!! If it is a slow night you cannot make wise decisions like, ‘I will clock off now, go back home and get a good kip and rattle it tomorrow when the weekend starts.’ Instead you have to wait to the death of your shift in-case the phone rings, which because his company is small it invariably does not.


On the other hand, the company ‘over the road’ seems to work differently. They have 170 drivers compared to the 12 at my owners company. I recently vented my frustrations with one of their drivers hoping for some sort of camaraderie but instead got a response, ‘that’s not the way it works here’. He told me he that he starts and finishes when he wants. If he wants to watch the ‘big match’, he does. If he wants to play a round of golf before he begins, he does. If he wants to go on break to eat, he does. If he wants to go home for a couple of hours kip then out again, he does. That is what I thought taxiing would be like for me!!

So the question remains the same as the title at the top of the post – Can we really choose the hours we work, or is my situation the norm and I should stop whining and get on with it?

Work out how much your making Financially a week, then Divide it by the hours you have put in and see what your Hourly rate is. If its less than Minimum Rates tell your Pseudo Boss to stuff his work. if its Double the Minimum rate of pay stick with him.

More important though is how you feel, if your posting this its obviously a case of your browned off with this guy so why not just take the plunge and PH for yourself...damn, you already know the best clients to go after so why let this guy get rich off your back...turn the tables and get rich off of his back...youve nothing to lose that you havent already lost.

One thing I have learnt is that high end customers want high end cars, but DON'T want to pay high end rates!

I suppose your guvnor has to be strict about the hours you work as he only has 12 drivers and has to get the work covered.

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stressed controller!!!

The bigger the firm the less need their is to dictate your hours of work- the amount of cars takes care of itself in a big firm, because if there's work there'll be drivers out to cover it, and although it might need tweaked to some extent (eg to provide 24 hour cover on quiet nights) at most times simple supply and demand takes care of it.

Of course, other aspects of control - such as your dress and conduct - aren't related to the size of the firm.

I work in a company with over 350 drivers. The joy of being able to work as and when I want has to be balanced against how much work there is to go around 350 drivers. The company will keep taking on drivers cos thats money in their pocket and thats what its all about to them. I did however work for a smaller company when I first started taxi-ing that had a lot of contract work and if they weren't able to cover it they would ring you on your night off and ask you to cover it. The only way I could get out of it was to say I'd been drinking. Obviously there are pros and cons with every job you just have to work out which way suits you but you should always remember that a dead tired driver is no good to anybody and you need to be firm with the company owner about this, no job is worth risking your or anybody elses life for. Good luck with your decision

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

To me that appears you are an employee of that company, just that your not getting your rights under employment law.

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IDFIMH

It is, leave the small firm and join the big one. Of course try and leave on good terms, just in case he does get big and you want to go back.

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IDFIMH

according to HMRC...

self employed?

do you dictate when you work?

no?

your not self employed then

It think you've answered your own question, go over the road and enjoy your free time, there's more to life than being out on the road.

I employ my drivers. They have a written contract of employment stating what hours they are expected to work and when those hours are. There is a clause in the contract that states that any hours that I request outside the normal hours can be refused. No ifs,buts or maybe's. My drivers seem happy enough with that.

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Grandad,

The other side of the coin is that you are being just too available - as Toots indicated the odd white lie would not go amiss, you are entitled to a life outside and of course you may have had a drink!

Going in at the drop of a hat has probably made you first on the list and of course number one boy, probably a nice feeling to start off but it will grind you down and I have to say the owner will not care to much as all he is concerned with is getting the jobs done after all he is building a business.

If as indicated you came into this so that you can come and go then you need to join a big company or become an independent hackney driver. After many years of running pubs which is the penultimate in bed to work and work to bed situation with no quality time whatsoever, I can honestly say that I wish that I came into this job 15/20 years ago as I now have the penultimate job in terms of flexi time - I literally come and go as I please.

If you get it right there is no reason as to why you cannot within reason start, stop, come in, or go home whenever you want to. A lot will depend on how much work is in your area and how many companies of a reasonable size are around, if you get chatting to the right guys they might just tell you what kind of money you might be able to earn.

One thing you will have to bare in mind is that some will tell you stories about their earnings and that there are taxi drivers and there are taxi drivers, some want to come in and suck their thumb and read their newspapers and then moan that they have not earned enough, and others will go out and find the work themselves and as such can earn a decent living - a lot will be up to you but you do not sound lazy so you should do all right.

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if you cannot be yourself, then who can you be.

I was lead to believe that if you don't actually have a financial risk in the business then you are not self employed, and therefore you should have a contract of employment and be earning at least £5.73 per hour before stoppages.
We had to stop our 40% drivers some years ago, and now they are all employed by the company. This is good and bad for both sides but it does seem to remove some of the enthusiasm on the drivers part, as they don't seem to care as much about the job as they did when they were on 40%, but hey that's progress i suppose!

Thanks guys. Please don’t think I was being rude or unappreciative by not responding sooner. I was just waiting to see if there was going to be any further respondents from the great world of, ‘Taxi Driver Online’. Since none has been added since Saturday, it seems not. To be honest, with the excellent level of information that each of you provided I don’t know what anyone could say to add to that. Let me take this opportunity to say thanks to each and every one of you. Thanks; dinkidoo, bloodnock, rambo, fae fife, toots, sussex, wannabeeahack, nigel, granddad, cabby john, westside1. You guys have helped me achieve a very clear head in a relatively short space of time and I don’t think you can overestimate the value of that.

It will come as no surprise to learn that I have left the smaller company and joined the bigger one. I am going to be renting a car through the bigger company and it should be ready for me by Thursday. Sussex, I took your advice, we parted on good terms. Hopefully now I will be able to enjoy the ‘real’ taxi experience. Ciao for now. Fudbaws.

A satified customer!!! It must be Christmas.

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Grandad,