Taxi Driver Online

Holy mother of God, part II

This is partly a rehash of some of the stuff in the council areas covered by the Courier newspaper (Dundee, Fife, Angus, Perth & Kinross).

But it's been updated to deal with the more current environment.

But it all makes the Bath drivers seem consistent. One minute there's a massive driver shortage, then drivers aren't coming out because there's zero work, blah, blah...


Book ahead: Christmas message to revellers from Tayside taxi trade driven ‘off cliff edge’ by latest restrictions

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/du ... as-crisis/


Image: Kim Cessford/Mhairi Edwards/DCT Media

Tayside’s decimated taxi trade has been driven “off the cliff edge” by the latest tightening of coronavirus restrictions brought in this week.

Moves aimed at halting the spread of the Omicron variant has already hit the hospitality trade in the lead up to Christmas.

There was further bad news on Thursday [today] when a three-week shutdown of nightclubs from December 27 was announced.

And the knock-on is being hard felt in a taxi industry left in crisis by the pandemic.

It will mean thin ranks in Courier country as an already depleted driving force decide to stay at home rather than chasing trade which isn’t there.

So people going out on Christmas Day have been warned they may face a bit of a wait.

And the advice for festive revellers or folk heading to see loved ones is to book ahead to make sure they’re not left standing in the cold.

Mass exodus of drivers

There are already 500 fewer taxis in Tayside than before the pandemic.

Drivers left the industry in droves when lockdown struck and have not returned.

And Unite union drivers’ representative Chris Elder – a Dundee cabbie – believes the crisis will only get worse.

He says this weekend will look a lot different from Christmas past.

“We lost a lot of drivers, and then there was a slight comeback – but nothing like the numbers who left,” Chris said.

“But things have now fallen off a cliff edge with this latest situation.

“We’ve seen what it has done to the hospitality trade with bookings being cancelled.

“And if people are not going out for Christmas parties then they’re not needing to book taxis.


Dundee taxi driver Chris Elder at the Meadowside rank (Image: Mhairi Edwards/DCT Media)

“And it doesn’t look like getting any better.

“January and February are always quite quiet for us anyway.

“We really need to see some support. We got a bit the last time, but it took a lot to get it.

“The situation still isn’t good and I can see taxi plates being handed back.”

He added: “There’s not a lack of taxi plates – it’s a lack of drivers after those that went to the likes of HGVs and delivery jobs didn’t come back.

“Some operators are now driving their vehicles because they can’t get the drivers.

“But I don’t think they’ll be coming out on Christmas Day to sit on the rank.

He said: “My advice to anyone needing a taxi would be to book a slot – especially people with disabilities and the elderly.

“There’s just no guarantee how many taxis there will be on the rank.

“There will be some – but it will look nothing like it did previously,” Chris said.

‘It’s time to live with Covid’

And another Tayside taxi firm boss says it is now time to “live with Covid”.

Anddy Lothian of Ace Taxis, Perth said: “We are busy at the moment with everyone shopping. My concern is that we will go into another lockdown.

“Our trade is going to be decimated with these restrictions.

“We need to stop all the lockdowns – it’s too political. The government’s damned if it does and damned if it doesn’t.


Image: DCT Media

“We just have to live with Covid.

“It is taking its toll now.

“My phone doesn’t stop ringing.

“We are inundated with calls and we have no drivers and we’re turning people away.

“I think it’s time to say we have to live with Covid now.”

Fife cabbie numbers plunge

Meanwhile, Fife revellers can expect long waits if they plan to travel home by taxi this Christmas.

Driver numbers have plummeted by 40% since the start of the pandemic and firms are struggling to recruit.

Methil-based Magnum Taxis has half the number of drivers it would usually expect at this time of year.

And other firms are in the same boat.

Sam Green of Magnum said: “This week, I would normally have 13 drivers out but at the weekend I had six.

“Last week with it being Black Friday, we had a lot of pick-ups from pubs.

“But we’d turn up and within 10 seconds there was someone in the cab and there were queues and queues of people waiting.

“Every company we spoke to said the same thing.

“It’s leading to long waits for people but there’s nothing we can do.”

‘Not worth it’

Long-time Forfar operator Mitch Murray says the local night-time trade is now barely there.

“A lot of drivers are just not wanting to work late any more.

“With the Covid situation it’s just not been worth it – and a lot of the young ones coming out are not for taking in your taxi.

“We stopped working Christmas Day a few years’ ago.

“There will be some who are operating, but the level of bookings is just not there.

“And the latest changes won’t have done anything to help that situation.”

Another one for the SUD surveyors to ignore


Oh, the ignominy.

(And, as per usual, 'operator' here means 'plateholder'.)

Did you speak to any in St Andrews, 20 minutes up the road? Can't even recall what happened on 'Black Friday', it was so quiet and uneventful

To be fair, it's normally like a graveyard here at Christmas, with the students and tourists almost totally disappearing. But with Omicron, even quieter this year.

Ranks usually dead as a dodo at this time of the year, at least until very late when there's usually a few decent runs from the small number of people on Christmas nights out, but even less of that this year, for obvious reasons.

Waited two hours out at the station on Saturday afternoon, got fed up and left.

On Sunday, waited almost four hours out there until I got a run, so six hours in total at the station without a job, and only got that one by the skin of my teeth. It was a £15 run, but could just as easily have been £5, or even having to wait another hour or two, and in extreme circumstances not getting a run at all.

So wouldn't disgree that there's fewer drivers around, but that's at least partly because there's fewer punters, and it's never full recovered, and Omicron has to a large degree put us back to square one

Sounds a bit more like here. But obviously the 'narrative' from Forfar, Angus is a bit different to that from Methil, Fife.

Can see why the local market and customer demographic might be different between Methil and nearby St Andrews, both in Fife. But I'd guess Methil and Forfar are broadly similar in terms of population and customer base etc.

So the polar opposite narratives from Methil and Forfar I suspect because of the positions and interests of the people in the trade the Courier spoke to rather than any real differences in their local markets


More or less zero rank work here on Christmas Day, which is one reason I haven't bothered for years.

Christmas Eve not a lot different. Used to be like an average Friday night, but has gradually fizzled out, and I started just coming out for the last few hours. But even for that period have just been taking £5/hour or so for last few years pre-lockdown, so not really earning anything after driving into town and spending a lot of time idling the car just to keep warm. So won't be bothering at all this year, for obvious reasons

Without a doubt trade is down since the new variant raised its ugly head recently.

Traffic is down hugely and fewer people are out and about shopping.

But I've done alright (Yipee), however the night lads have defo taken a bash with loads of canncellantions.

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IDFIMH

not here it isn't supermarkets are rammed day in day out and the traffic well

night trade is very poor though

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

Must be non-stop busy in Grantham, though, because they can't get a taxi at night there

that's because Stamford has twice as many as grotsville even though the latter is the bigger town

anyway I thought it used to upset you when threads went off topic and here you are doing it yourself

I thought this was about all the Aberdeen Angus poop being spouted

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

Around here most of us are expending far more energy scratching about for chicken feed than the chicken feed it self offers us.

I think it's time to fly the coup and look for something else to do.

What's Aberdeen got to do with it?

And it's you who introduced SKDC into a thread about Tayside and Fife

But I don't think me making a point about one part of SKDC with regard to your point about another part of SKDC in relation to a wider point about the UK trade is off-topic anyway. In fact, all very on-topic

And I don't think my complaint was really about stuff being off-topic stuff anyway