Taxi Driver Online :: View topic - is the recession hitting you ?

i was just wondering what the trade is like in general where other drivers are ? here in east cheshire the rank and station work as virtually dried up for a few reasons ,passengers would help for a start and the ever increasing number of taxis never seems to stop ,how you survive without contract work and just sitting on the ranks is beyond me working 12 hr shifts and if your lucky taking £40 ,the drivers answer here was to ask the council for a 10% meter rise which they got :roll:

you would of thought they would of asked for fares to be reduced to encourage the public to use taxis not frighten them off by increasing fares in the worst period i have known since i have been in the trade

Quote:

There is no need to ask for a decrease in fares drivers can discount til their hearts content

toots wrote:

Quote:

There is no need to ask for a decrease in fares drivers can discount til their hearts content

I discount and my takings are up, along with fuel and insurance and other things, like the schools off for summer and the uni closed until Sept
But I still get by, last week I took an all time record that even surpasses Christmas and new years takings
If some one asks you to take them local for say £4.00 and the fare is £5.00 on the meter take them
If you work for yourself like owner driver, and have no rental to pay your quids in, you can cut the comp out of the game

Quote:

There is no need to ask for a decrease in fares drivers can discount til their hearts content

toots wrote:

Quote:

There is no need to ask for a decrease in fares drivers can discount til their hearts content

i was just wondering what the trade is like in general where other drivers are ?

2leftfeet wrote:

i was just wondering what the trade is like in general where other drivers are ?

After the Easter break in 2008, the trade went downhill, I even had to go out for another nights work (unheard of) but overall it wasn't as bad for the London trade as the 1990's one was. Far from it.

But certainly for the last year, things have been fine, I worked tonight and done just fine.

There are still the story tellers who claim to make £500 for a Sunday shift, but I work most Sundays and don't make that. Similarly there are the doom and gloom merchants who would have you believe they've worked all day for £50.

It's Ok would sum it up, no real complaints.
Fuel prices are the biggest worry if they do start to shoot up towards £2 again, that'll put the brakes on peoples spending money.

what is your percentage down time on an average shift in 'the smoke' Mr GBC?

Author:	2leftfeet [ Tue Jul 05, 2011 9:22 pm ]
Post subject:	is the recession hitting you ?
i was just wondering what the trade is like in general where other drivers are ? here in east cheshire the rank and station work as virtually dried up for a few reasons ,passengers would help for a start and the ever increasing number of taxis never seems to stop ,how you survive without contract work and just sitting on the ranks is beyond me working 12 hr shifts and if your lucky taking £40 ,the drivers answer here was to ask the council for a 10% meter rise which they got you would of thought they would of asked for fares to be reduced to encourage the public to use taxis not frighten them off by increasing fares in the worst period i have known since i have been in the trade

Author:	Brummie Cabbie [ Tue Jul 05, 2011 9:35 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: is the recession hitting you ?
2leftfeet wrote: i was just wondering what the trade is like in general where other drivers are ? here in east cheshire the rank and station work as virtually dried up for a few reasons ,passengers would help for a start and the ever increasing number of taxis never seems to stop ,how you survive without contract work and just sitting on the ranks is beyond me working 12 hr shifts and if your lucky taking £40 ,the drivers answer here was to ask the council for a 10% meter rise which they got you would of thought they would of asked for fares to be reduced to encourage the public to use taxis not frighten them off by increasing fares in the worst period i have known since i have been in the trade Join the club!! There's no registration fee and no annual subscription. The only prerequisite is being a taxi driver!!

Author:	Sussex [ Tue Jul 05, 2011 11:04 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: is the recession hitting you ?
2leftfeet wrote: i was just wondering what the trade is like in general where other drivers are ? here in east cheshire the rank and station work as virtually dried up for a few reasons ,passengers would help for a start and the ever increasing number of taxis never seems to stop ,how you survive without contract work and just sitting on the ranks is beyond me working 12 hr shifts and if your lucky taking £40 ,the drivers answer here was to ask the council for a 10% meter rise which they got you would of thought they would of asked for fares to be reduced to encourage the public to use taxis not frighten them off by increasing fares in the worst period i have known since i have been in the trade I compared what I'm taking now to what I did in previous years, and it is down, but not as much as I expected. At worst I would say 10%. But then again I do offer the girls in the office the biggest bungs.

Author:	toots [ Tue Jul 05, 2011 11:31 pm ]
Post subject:
Quote: you would of thought they would of asked for fares to be reduced to encourage the public to use taxis not frighten them off by increasing fares in the worst period i have known since i have been in the trade There is no need to ask for a decrease in fares drivers can discount til their hearts content

Author:	skippy41 [ Wed Jul 06, 2011 12:55 am ]
Post subject:
toots wrote: Quote: you would of thought they would of asked for fares to be reduced to encourage the public to use taxis not frighten them off by increasing fares in the worst period i have known since i have been in the trade There is no need to ask for a decrease in fares drivers can discount til their hearts content I discount and my takings are up, along with fuel and insurance and other things, like the schools off for summer and the uni closed until Sept But I still get by, last week I took an all time record that even surpasses Christmas and new years takings If some one asks you to take them local for say £4.00 and the fare is £5.00 on the meter take them If you work for yourself like owner driver, and have no rental to pay your quids in, you can cut the comp out of the game

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Author:	Brummie Cabbie [ Wed Jul 06, 2011 7:21 am ]
Post subject:
skippy41 wrote: toots wrote: Quote: you would of thought they would of asked for fares to be reduced to encourage the public to use taxis not frighten them off by increasing fares in the worst period i have known since i have been in the trade There is no need to ask for a decrease in fares drivers can discount til their hearts content I discount and my takings are up, along with fuel and insurance and other things, like the schools off for summer and the uni closed until Sept But I still get by, last week I took an all time record that even surpasses Christmas and new years takings If some one asks you to take them local for say £4.00 and the fare is £5.00 on the meter take them If you work for yourself like owner driver, and have no rental to pay your quids in, you can cut the comp out of the game Come to Brum Mr Skippy41 and start doing that. Your cab would need a neutralising agent and respray within days after it had nitromors poured all over it in the middle of the night!!! Worse still, you might get sugar lumps (granulated or demerara) in the tank added for good measure!!

Author:	Nidge [ Wed Jul 06, 2011 11:48 am ]
Post subject:
toots wrote: Quote: you would of thought they would of asked for fares to be reduced to encourage the public to use taxis not frighten them off by increasing fares in the worst period i have known since i have been in the trade There is no need to ask for a decrease in fares drivers can discount til their hearts content And still be worse off than they are now. The dingbats in our manor have decided to drop £1 off the tariff 2 flag so that people use us more. If you charged £1 for a 10 mile journey they still won't go out.

Author:	jimbo [ Wed Jul 06, 2011 6:03 pm ]
Post subject:
skippy41 wrote: toots wrote: Quote: you would of thought they would of asked for fares to be reduced to encourage the public to use taxis not frighten them off by increasing fares in the worst period i have known since i have been in the trade There is no need to ask for a decrease in fares drivers can discount til their hearts content I discount and my takings are up, along with fuel and insurance and other things, like the schools off for summer and the uni closed until Sept But I still get by, last week I took an all time record that even surpasses Christmas and new years takings If some one asks you to take them local for say £4.00 and the fare is £5.00 on the meter take them If you work for yourself like owner driver, and have no rental to pay your quids in, you can cut the comp out of the game Do you get a discount from your council on tests and licences? Do you get a discount from the garage that supplies your cars? From the tyre fitter? From the fuel supplier? From your insurance company? At the supermarket when the wee woman goes shoppping? You're buying work and making a living in Skippyworld? well bully for you. How do you find time to be the test driver for the electric Metrocab, with all that work piling up?

Author:	GBC [ Thu Jul 07, 2011 3:46 am ]
Post subject:	Re: is the recession hitting you ?
2leftfeet wrote: i was just wondering what the trade is like in general where other drivers are ? After the Easter break in 2008, the trade went downhill, I even had to go out for another nights work (unheard of) but overall it wasn't as bad for the London trade as the 1990's one was. Far from it. But certainly for the last year, things have been fine, I worked tonight and done just fine. There are still the story tellers who claim to make £500 for a Sunday shift, but I work most Sundays and don't make that. Similarly there are the doom and gloom merchants who would have you believe they've worked all day for £50. It's Ok would sum it up, no real complaints. Fuel prices are the biggest worry if they do start to shoot up towards £2 again, that'll put the brakes on peoples spending money.

Author:	Brummie Cabbie [ Thu Jul 07, 2011 6:49 am ]
Post subject:	Re: is the recession hitting you ?
GBC wrote: 2leftfeet wrote: i was just wondering what the trade is like in general where other drivers are ? After the Easter break in 2008, the trade went downhill, I even had to go out for another nights work (unheard of) but overall it wasn't as bad for the London trade as the 1990's one was. Far from it. But certainly for the last year, things have been fine, I worked tonight and done just fine. There are still the story tellers who claim to make £500 for a Sunday shift, but I work most Sundays and don't make that. Similarly there are the doom and gloom merchants who would have you believe they've worked all day for £50. It's Ok would sum it up, no real complaints. Fuel prices are the biggest worry if they do start to shoot up towards £2 again, that'll put the brakes on peoples spending money. Forgetting how much you do or don't take on an average shift on any particular day of the week, what is your percentage down time on an average shift in 'the smoke' Mr GBC? Because in Brum it is anything between 65-75% of a daily shift on an average day and some occasional days can be worse. Those figures / percentages can be easily confirmed by taking the time readings off the taximeter at the end of each day, provided of course the power to the meter is never switched off during the shift.

Author:	sasha [ Thu Jul 07, 2011 7:29 pm ]
Post subject:
2002 ; Midweek average =£12 p/h, bad night £10 p/h. Sat+Sun average =£20 p/h, bad night =£15 p/h. 2011 ; Midweek average = £10 p/h, bad night £5 p/h. Sat+Sun average £18 p/h, bad night =£14 p/h. This isn't profit, just the average meter take before any deductions. So not a massive drop on the good nights, but one hell of a drop on the bad nights. But once you factor in the four fare increases, fuel and insurance rises etc. a definate big decline in earnings. The biggest drop has been midweek, people seem to be saving themselves for the weekend now, and the decline has been going on since I started although much more in the last two years. Bottom line, since 2002 I'm taking home about £100 less a week now than when I started. Of course £60 of that is due to the increase in the cost of fuel, still a drop of £40 a week income even after the fare rises.

Author:	GBC [ Fri Jul 08, 2011 4:35 am ]
Post subject:	Re: is the recession hitting you ?
Brummie Cabbie wrote: what is your percentage down time on an average shift in 'the smoke' Mr GBC? I'm not a good example on this, as I'm very fussy about who I stop for. If I stopped for everyone on a Thu - Sat (5pm - 2am) shift, I'd probably be busy for most of that, but as I say I select who I stop for quite carefuly later in the evening, plus I like to take long breaks. I parked up today as the city was in chaos because some [edited by admin] decided to shut half of the west end for a Harry F'in Potter premier. I had two hours off and went for a walk and food. Cost me a bit in earnings, but saves me blowing my top at the utter chaos and gridlock that surrounded me today. The joys of self employment. Also Easter and August time the percentages would vary greatly as the world seems to stop then.

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