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PostPosted: Fri Jun 24, 2022 2:45 am 
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Not that unusual, I suppose, but can't really recall any kind of strike or demonstration against a specific firm up here in Scotland??

Anyway, as far as I'm aware there's still an HC rank at the airport, although obviously this is about the 'taxi rank' operated by a private hire firm, and the actual HC rank isn't mentioned :?


Edinburgh Airport passengers form massive queue for taxis as Capital Cars drivers take strike action

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/ ... on-3743147

Edinburgh Airport passengers were left waiting for taxis, as private hire drivers striked against high charges set by Capital Cars.

Image
Image: Edinburgh Evening News

On Wednesday evening, around 140 drivers for Capital Cars gathered in the feeder taxi rank at Edinburgh Airport to protest against charges set by the taxi company.

Seven Sevens Cars Limited, who trade as Capital Cars, are charging a 25% commission rate, on top of extra airport charges, which drivers have described as “unfair”.

One cabbie, who took part in Wednesday’s strike, told the Evening News: “Drivers are struggling so much.”

“We used to work for around 30 to 40 hours a week.

“Now, every single one of us is working 60 to 70 hours a week, just to make a living.”

He said that the situation has been made worse by the increase in fuel prices, and added: “After paying all this, we don’t have anything left”.

The strike affected many airport customers, who were seen waiting for cabs in a massive queue. The cab driver estimated that some passengers waited for “hours and hours” to get a taxi ride.

One fed-up passenger said: "Trains are largely unavailable and we needed to get back home so it was pretty disappointing to see a taxi rank in the middle of a dispute and a queue of people waiting to try and get away from the terminal building. Making the passengers suffer is not going to solve any issue these drivers have."

However, the cab driver justified the action, saying: “No-one wanted to go on strike. But nobody is hearing us at the moment, nobody cares.”

"Every single driver is suffering".

He has urged Stephen Rose, the company’s director, to come up with a solution quickly. The group of striking drivers are threatening to continue the strike action next week, if their demands are not met.

Image
Image: Edinburgh Evening News

A spokesman for Edinburgh Airport said: “It’s disappointing that passengers were inconvenienced by this protest from taxi drivers. We hope drivers and their employers can resolve their differences quickly and continue to offer a good service for passengers.”

A spokesperson for Capital Cars said: “First and foremost, I would like to apologise on behalf of the majority of our drivers being unable to attend Edinburgh Airport last night due to the disappointing action taken by a small minority of our drivers. This is not a situation that we condone and indeed have been in dialogue with these drivers for quite some time to determine a solution to their issue.

“In response to the driver’s comments of our charges being "unfair", we don’t agree with this at all. Our charges have not changed since the start of the Covid epidemic when many of our driver were struggling to survive. Now the average driver take home income has increased significantly past pre pandemic levels.

"We have, and always will support the majority of our drivers who want to work with us going forward. We are currently conducting a survey of drivers views into our charges with the results due to be through in the next few days, and we will be guided by those views from the majority.”


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PostPosted: Fri Jun 24, 2022 2:46 am 
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A spokesperson for Capital Cars wrote:
First and foremost, I would like to apologise on behalf of the majority of our drivers being unable to attend Edinburgh Airport last night due to the disappointing action taken by a small minority of our drivers.

So Capital Cars effectively saying it's a small group of troublemakers, but the article says earlier that 140 drivers took part in the demonstration :?

So who knows.

Of course, there could be 1,000 drivers serving the private hire 'rank', and to that degree 140 is a 'small minority', but I doubt it :lol:

Good signs they've got, though :-o


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PostPosted: Fri Jun 24, 2022 11:02 am 
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well if uber can charge 25% I suppose they feel they can BUT is it a case of paying the airport a huge wedge for the rights to work it and the high fees area reflection of that ?

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PostPosted: Fri Jun 24, 2022 7:01 pm 
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Quote:
A spokesperson for Capital Cars said: “First and foremost, I would like to apologise on behalf of the majority of our drivers being unable to attend Edinburgh Airport last night due to the disappointing action taken by a small minority of our drivers.

Is this fella saying the strikers stopped the non-strikers working?

If so that's got to be a first for the taxi/PH trade.

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PostPosted: Fri Jun 24, 2022 7:06 pm 
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edders23 wrote:
well if uber can charge 25% I suppose they feel they can BUT is it a case of paying the airport a huge wedge for the rights to work it and the high fees area reflection of that ?

I would be amazed if it's not a case of that 25% going to the airport.

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PostPosted: Fri Jun 24, 2022 10:39 pm 
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The airport travellers could always phone for a PH from one of the other Edinburgh operators rather as hang about the mess that is Edinburgh Airport.


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PostPosted: Sat Jun 25, 2022 6:41 pm 
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or even go to the taxi rank and get a REAL TAXI,
edinburgh p/h are fitted with meters set to the same tarriff as the hacks so it not a price issue

:idea: :idea: :idea:

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PostPosted: Sun Jun 26, 2022 11:13 am 
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Are all Edinburgh Licensed PH vehicles fitted with meters or just the larger companies cars?


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PostPosted: Sun Jun 26, 2022 8:26 pm 
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all of them

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PostPosted: Sun Jun 26, 2022 8:45 pm 
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Why would every single Edinburgh licensed PH vehicle have a meter when they are under no obligation to do so....what about the one man bands, are they all metered too.


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PostPosted: Mon Jun 27, 2022 6:44 pm 
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all licenced vehicles must have a meter,regardless of wether they are p/h or hacks
no one man bands in private hire
remember in scotland the rules are completely different from england,we operate under different legislation

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PostPosted: Mon Jun 27, 2022 11:45 pm 
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That's not correct, I'm a Scottish PH and a one man band and cannot be forced to use a meter and the use of meters in edinburgh PH vehicles is not compulsory either as far their own regulations imply, the wording difference is subtle but it's there....one reads "Shall have" the other reads "where"

Edinburgh Taxi Regs:

The Licence Holder shall have affixed to, and used on their Licensed Vehicle, a
Taximeter which has been stamped or sealed by the Council, after testing and
approval to the satisfaction of the Taxi Examination Centre as to distance and time
in accordance with the approved taxi fares and charges, and no other Taximeter
shall be affixed or used. Such Taximeter must be electronic and capable of multi
tariff operation

Edinburgh Private Hire Regs:

Where a Licensed Vehicle has a Taximeter affixed to, and used on their Licensed
Vehicle
, the Licence Holder shall have a Taximeter which has been stamped or
sealed by the Council, after testing and approval to the satisfaction of the Taxi
Examination Centre as to distance and time in accordance with the approved taxi
fares and charges, and no other Taximeter shall be affixed or used. Such taximeter
must be electronic and capable of multi tariff operation.


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PostPosted: Tue Jun 28, 2022 7:56 am 
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Well I think you're both right to an extent. I think there is a degree of compulsion in the likes of Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen, but precisely what the rules are and the legal basis of it, I'm not sure.

But certainly in Aberdeen and Dundee the offices are generally mixed HC and PH, and to that degree you can see the point of having them all charging the same fares.

On the other hand, Edinburgh isn't mixed fleet, so there's not so obvious a rationale there.

Of course, it might just be a traditional thing in Edinburgh, but hasn't quite caught on in Glasgow.

So the PH firms have decided to use meters in Edinburgh, and under the Scottish legislation, when a PHC is fitted with a meter they can't charge more than the council set HC tariff.

But recall that hoohah in Edinburgh a few years ago when one or more of the firms wanted to set their meters at below the HC tariff. Nothing to stop PH (or indeed HC) charging below the council tariff, but setting the meters at the discounted rate was a different matter. As I recall it, the Edinburgh Council eventually allowed it.

But it's stuff like this that could usefully be considered when the Scottish Parliament has reviewed the legislation, but when they've done that in the last twenty years or so I think it's all just been ignored, or at least brushed over.

(Locally, I recall that when I started in East Fife more than twenty years ago the office I worked for had a mixed fleet of HC and PH. The PHCs used their odometer and mileage charts, I think. But even if this worked as it should, it was obviously a recipe for confusion and inconsistencies. I recall at least one journeyman driver telling me that he preferred PH to HC because it gave him, er, the opportunity to charge a higher fare :-o

But I think the council eventually said that the PHCs would have to fit meters. Not sure what their precise legal argument was, but of course often things like that are just done by decree, and unlikely that anyone is going to challenge it in court, so any objectors are just supposed to suck it up.

And plenty of one-man-band PHCs here as well, but unless they actually want to fit a meter, the council isn't going to force one on airport transfer and golf tour specialists, etc.)


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PostPosted: Tue Jun 28, 2022 7:58 am 
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By the way I, er, arranged to have most of the quotes in the thread removed. There was about 16 of them (including nested quotes), and they make the thread look a bit untidy, so there [-(

Never see the point of quoting the *whole* of the previous post in the next post, particularly if there's a huge amount of quote, and only a few words of reply :idea:

There's even worse than that, though. I mean, some people posting the *first reply* in a thread quote the whole of the *first post* :shock:

Never really see the need to quote the *whole* of the first post of the thread *anywhere* in the replies, at least in normal circumstances [-(


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PostPosted: Tue Jun 28, 2022 5:44 pm 
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StuartW wrote:
By the way I, er, arranged to have most of the quotes in the thread removed. There was about 16 of them (including nested quotes), and they make the thread look a bit untidy, so there [-(

Never see the point of quoting the *whole* of the previous post in the next post, particularly if there's a huge amount of quote, and only a few words of reply :idea:

There's even worse than that, though. I mean, some people posting the *first reply* in a thread quote the whole of the *first post* :shock:

Never really see the need to quote the *whole* of the first post of the thread *anywhere* in the replies, at least in normal circumstances [-(


Sometimes the quotes are there for a good reason


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