There are reports of drivers living in their cars, sleeping on the back seat when off duty.

they will get their own back once they get enough experience and work out that if they get together they can open their own offices and undercut onther offices ,are you prepared to work the same hours to keep a cab on the road?

they will get their own back once they get enough experience and work out that if they get together they can open their own offices and undercut onther offices ,are you prepared to work the same hours to keep a cab on the road?

I've always thought that a possibilty, but I've discounted it.

Why? Because the great Bristish public, in the main, don't like immigrants taking work from home born folks. And even if they charged cheaper fares I really don't think it would matter.

Might be wrong, only time will tell.

Cheaper fares are precisely what the punters want. If you take the proliferation of Asian private hire and Asian Taxi firms you will see the public aren't that concerned about ethnic origin.

In the NorthWest private hire trade My own estimation would be that at least 75% of drivers are of Asian origin with at least 65% in the Hackney trade.

There is no reason to believe that a second explosion from Eastern Europeans won't manifest itself. The seeds have already been planted.

In places like Oxford, Asians own 88 of the 106 licensed hackney cabs and it's a similar story around the country excepting for rural areas such as Lincoln etc.

It's no coincidence that Exams such as the London knowledge have proved a deterrent for many applicants especially those of ethnic origin but where entry into the trade is made easy then you are bound to get a massive influx of drivers. Can you imagine what would happen to the London Taxi trade if controls were lifted? What would happen is what has already happened throughout the rest of the country and that is why we are in the situation we are in today.

It's going to get a lost worse if the vested interests who represent our taxi trade don't get around the table and formulate a direction which can take this trade forward and where the emphasis is based on quality driver control rather than outdated quantity controls.

The London model is only based on street knowledge and its about time they introduced other elements to the test such as bylaw and legislative conditions of license, English language tests, written and verbal testing, etc and any other aspect that is relevant to qaulity driver controls. Perhaps if London take the lead the rest of the country might follow.

The future of this trade is in our hands and its about time we took charge of it and looked at the bigger picture and forget about quantity controls because quite frankly that particualr issue has set us back decades.

Regards

JD

I know that this can be a sensitive subject, to say the least, but, I for one believe that immigrant drivers, whether from within the EU or not, are being increasingly abused by unscrupulous employers. (probably "self employed", but no matter) I am hearing increasingly alarming tales of certain firms which turn a blind eye to drivers working 18-20 hour days, seven days a week. This from drivers themselves, at least those with some grasp of the English language. There are reports of drivers living in their cars, sleeping on the back seat when off duty. Though anecdotal, there is some evidence to back up these reports. The driving standards of some drivers are bordering on the reckless to dangerous. Is this happening in your manor?

With the greatest respect, theres an awful amount of pants in that statement

CC

Well I suppose we can look forward to your enlightened reasoning as to what type of pants you refer? Without making this a personal reference I shall use the word "we" instead of "I" and suggest that "we are already titillated by your response so far".

Regards

JD

My Dear JD, I meant pants in the best possible manner, great use of the word ‘titillated’.

The royal ‘we’? , I’m impressed!

I think the main thrust of Jimbo’s point was the influx of East Europeans.

You seem to forget the firms bringing in East Europeans are ensuring the drivers are trained for each area and are passing the standards currently in place.

The quality controls you write of are nothing more than a mirage or Trojan horse.

The fitness and propriety of drivers is a matter for the LA, however, even if the trade manage to get uniform high standards around the country through national legislation, how high do you expect these standards to be?

I presume the standards in place in an area such as Plymouth for example are reasonably high.

I have no idea what the standards in Plymouth are, do you? They certainly wouldn't incorporate the high standards of entry that I advocate? And they certainly won't incorporate the high standard of entry that Go Skills have highlighted. So your presumptions of the quality of Plymouths standards are more than likely incompatible with my own standards, and probably those advocated by Go Skills?

I know that this can be a sensitive subject, to say the least, but, I for one believe that immigrant drivers, whether from within the EU or not, are being increasingly abused by unscrupulous employers.

The driving standards of some drivers are bordering on the reckless to dangerous. Is this happening in your manor?

Cheaper fares are precisely what the punters want. If you take the proliferation of Asian private hire and Asian Taxi firms you will see the public aren't that concerned about ethnic origin.