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how much undercutting on regular long distance contract?
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Author:  jonsnow [ Sat Jan 21, 2017 5:00 pm ]
Post subject:  how much undercutting on regular long distance contract?
just over 100 miles (so just over 200 return distance), meter just over 160. twice a week.

i've not done a contract before as i'm fairly new, ie under 6 months on taxis. i put a bid in but the person in the office said it might be too low. i went low because i assumed other taxi firms would also try and undercut. i took into account of mpg and time taken. i didn't take into account of wear / tear because I don't have past data on that.

what % would you guys undercut by to get the contract?
Author:  grandad [ Sat Jan 21, 2017 6:09 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: how much undercutting on regular long distance contract?
jonsnow wrote:

what % would you guys undercut by to get the contract?

Why undercut to get the contract. If you can't get the proper price, why do you want the job. Any fool can work for nothing.
We do a lot of Council school runs and we always quote the same price that it would be if we used the meter. We don't win them all but we do win our fair share.
Author:  jonsnow [ Sat Jan 21, 2017 6:22 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: how much undercutting on regular long distance contract?
grandad wrote:
jonsnow wrote:

what % would you guys undercut by to get the contract?

Why undercut to get the contract. If you can't get the proper price, why do you want the job. Any fool can work for nothing.
We do a lot of Council school runs and we always quote the same price that it would be if we used the meter. We don't win them all but we do win our fair share.


well, i was told for a start that another firm often undercuts to try and get contracts. so i thought it was implied metered fare might not get it.

i put a price in on the basis of shorter amount of time to drive the miles at faster speeds so better earning per hour as it's long distance. so i put in a quote that was a bit over 75% of the meter fare, i got a call back advising it might be too low. certainly no one from my firm has put a price remotely like it or I don't think the office would have called me. i couldn't really think of how much to raise the quote by so i said keep the price. after wracking my brains somemore on whether the price could have been higher, i remembered that I didn't factor in wear and tear for the distance but I don't really know how to either vs the time spent on jobs, as i usually wouldn't earn on average that much per hour. so i made this post?
Author:  grandad [ Sat Jan 21, 2017 7:06 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: how much undercutting on regular long distance contract?
jonsnow wrote:
I didn't factor in wear and tear for the distance but I don't really know how to.

The AA have a good guide to the running costs of a car. It would be worth your while having a look at that. However don't forget to factor in the cost of your licenses, the additional cost of insurance as well. It may only make a couple of pence a mile difference over 30,000 miles but needs factoring in. When you have your cost per mile you need to add in how much you are charging for your time per hour.
If you want my advice you must never under sell yourself. Let others work for nothing if they want but this is a business not a hobby.
Author:  Nidge2 [ Sat Jan 21, 2017 7:18 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: how much undercutting on regular long distance contract?
jonsnow wrote:
just over 100 miles (so just over 200 return distance), meter just over 160. twice a week.

i've not done a contract before as i'm fairly new, ie under 6 months on taxis. i put a bid in but the person in the office said it might be too low. i went low because i assumed other taxi firms would also try and undercut. i took into account of mpg and time taken. i didn't take into account of wear / tear because I don't have past data on that.

what % would you guys undercut by to get the contract?



Why cut your own throat for an Authority that might have for instance a £10million transport budget? The money you are losing will only go into another drivers pocket who's bid high on a job and got the contract. Never ever ever undercut.
Author:  wannabeeahack [ Sat Jan 21, 2017 9:09 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: how much undercutting on regular long distance contract?
Loved the email sent to all contractors recent


"Contractors submitting excessive rates on emergency tenders may be asked to explain and may be removed from the Framework"


In othet words... "do rip us off"

fck you talullah
Author:  Sussex [ Sun Jan 22, 2017 3:48 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: how much undercutting on regular long distance contract?
It's akin to driving on the motorway, no matter how fast you go someone will overtake you.

Thus no matter what you quote someone will always undercut you, or they will get a mate to do it for beer money.

So give a reasonable price based on making a living and if you miss out, so be it.

We have a firm nearby that has Mercs who run to Heathrow (round trip of 136 miles from their office) for £80. #-o

Do I care? Not at all I just pity them when the cars start to fall apart and they can't afford to repair them.
Author:  jonsnow [ Tue Jan 24, 2017 5:06 am ]
Post subject:  Re: how much undercutting on regular long distance contract?
Sussex wrote:
It's akin to driving on the motorway, no matter how fast you go someone will overtake you.

Thus no matter what you quote someone will always undercut you, or they will get a mate to do it for beer money.

So give a reasonable price based on making a living and if you miss out, so be it.

We have a firm nearby that has Mercs who run to Heathrow (round trip of 136 miles from their office) for £80. #-o

Do I care? Not at all I just pity them when the cars start to fall apart and they can't afford to repair them.


very philosophical. anyway, on advice of the operating manager the bid was raised from 75% of meter fare to 84%. still undercut, but he thought it would be more balanced between getting security of a contract and making it worth it. and yeah, if i get it, that extra will be banked towards future car repairs as it's my car so it's not "free money" for someone renting.

the normal office staff no longer put prices in for drivers or even give an advisory figure to avoid "aggro from the drivers" they said. I am told my firms main competitor will undercut on every contract to get it then it is rumoured they will take a further cut from that before passing on to the driver as the drivers are kept out of the bidding process. And if no driver wants to take it voluntarily, they push it out on air on demand for a mystery driver (where the contract allows) at a mystery fare so they are not "locked in" to the times. To be fair, a lot of the contracts are rubbish even on metered fare, I saw one contract that went half a mile down the road to a primary school.. I only put 2 bids in for the longest trips on offer.
Author:  wannabeeahack [ Tue Jan 24, 2017 11:15 am ]
Post subject:  Re: how much undercutting on regular long distance contract?
meter less 10%

at the most..er...least
Author:  ven2112 [ Tue Jan 24, 2017 6:41 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: how much undercutting on regular long distance contract?
:lol: :lol: :lol:
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