Taxi Driver Online

Oh so we have to wait for another day !!

How many more, I wonder.

Plate values have only risen recently though SM, after the OFT failed to deliver your dreams in fact.

The DDA has been around for ages, its had implimentation dates for taixs on more than one occasion and stand as much chance of changing things as your beloved OFT investigation.

DREAM YOUR DREAMS.

B. Lucky

Of course plate values rise, due to the fact that those in the know are selling to those who haven't a clue i.e. Mr Guest saying some poor sod should blow his redundancy on one.

But would you pay £30,000 for a plate?

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IDFIMH

Sorry SM but your wrong AGAIN.

Of the last 6 saloon plates sold 2 have gone to drivers who previously jockeyed WAV's, 3 went to "leeches"(multiple plate holders), the other was sold to a P/H operator.

NOT ONE PLATE WAS SOLD TO A PERSON WHO DIDN'T HAVE A CLUE.

The "leeches" will, I expect, look to increase their value by bargaining with potential buyers, it is likely to be from these 3 plates that the unsuspecting, recently redundant people will enter the trade as the other 3 were sold to people who will look to build a business not profit from the plate. Remember though they are NOT part of the H/C trade.

So your argument that delimitation loosens the grip of the leeches has proven to be inaccurate, in Gateshead anyway, and I suspect in many more areas accross the country.

Dream your Dreams SM

B. Lucky

How come you return no comment.

Or did I just dream it.

Dream your dreams.

B. Lucky

But the big difference in your manor is that people can license a taxi without buying a £17.5k plate.

The fact that some operators think there is value in saloon vehicles is down to them. I think they are unwise, but as I said a licensed driver can license a taxi in your manor without having to feed a leech.

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IDFIMH

The P/H operators are calling for a maximum age, if they succeed then people will either have to spend £17.5k on a WAV or £17.5K on a saloon. Which would you buy, if that is you could afford to buy either. One thing is for sure though, the same P/H operators who are shouting the loudest could all afford to buy large numbers of WAVs, they have demonstrated that by the increasing number they are currently licensing.

You see the restriction on numbers restricts the number of leeches, delimitation opens the door for more leeches to earn more money without even applying for a drivers badge, these new leeches are ivolved in the trade at least, licensed to OPERATE P/H offices.

Dream your dreams.

B. Lucky

If there is no work, then why would a business man wish to buy more WAVs?

But they can buy as many as they like, because they don't drive themselves.

Thus drivers in your manor have a choice, to drive for an op, or not to drive for an op.

I have no choice, unless I wish to queue jump my fellow colleagues and pay up to £40,000 for something that will be worth f*** all in a year or so's time.

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IDFIMH

So no-one jockies cabs down there?

You do have a choice Sussex, the thing is because of your thoughts of leeches and other plateholders your PRINCIPLES would not allow you to pay them to work. And no-one can do anything about that.

B. Lucky

Just because some jockey down here drive cabs, doesn't mean they do it out of choice. Because they don't have a choice if they wish to work the streets.

This of course leads to the 'not enough drivers' senario, when infact there is enough drivers, but they want to be their own boss.

Fancy that, in a mainly self-employed trade.

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IDFIMH

Well we will just have to wait to see what the gov guidance says, but I do find it strange that those who work in an open cab system, yet wish to stop other to do like-wise.

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IDFIMH

SM when I started the market was not open mate.

Saloon plates had a "premium" of £6k, jockies were paying £150 per week for an inclusive 24hr car. There were 87 H/C.

Following deregulation 7 years ago.

Saloon plates have a "premium" of £17k+, jockies are paying £200+per week for a 24hr car + insurance. There are now 260 H/C.

Your asumptions that delimitation delivers "free" plates only applies to those people who can afford to purchase a WAV or obtain finance to do so.

Dream your dreams mate.

B. Lucky

But isnt that going to be the case in most of the counctry soon. Well at least the next few years?

I'm more than willing to accept that parts of your trade is not that ticker-tee-boo. But that's down to the number of customers you have, not de-limitation.

However, just because the lads in your manor are not doing as well as you would like shouldn't stop the rest of the country de-limiting and allowing drivers to choose.

For every Gateshead, there is a London. Standards is the way forward, not restrictions based on an out-dated law, and an out-dated flawed assessment formula.

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IDFIMH

SM has always argued that people should have a choice and that exclusion on financial grounds is discriminative. Therefore delimitation offers no more choice than the current position in regulated areas.

Even when plates are released by the councils they stipulate WAV's, and if a driver can't afford £30k for a saloon plate then any fair or resonably minded person would deduce that the same person couldn't afford £30k for a WAV.
What should also be considered is the position of the "leech". He does have the monet to buy more plates however, in regulated areas the leech struggles to find available plates whereas in delimited areas he only needs to buy a WAV. He can also find more jockies as the majority of taxidrivers struggle to obtain finance and therefore cannot purchase their own.

Still SM has always argued whats best for him, not whats best for his fellow drivers or the trade generally.

BIG changes coming soon in Gateshead.

Dream your dreams.

B. Lucky

I refer you to an article from todays edition of The Rocky Mountains News. With particular reference to the last couple of sentences.

Don't restrict number of taxis at DIA
Limiting licenses would be restraint of trade

June 16, 2004

Taxi drivers are complaining about a "glut" of cabs at Denver International Airport, but most ideas floated as solutions - such as limiting the number of vehicles - amount to little more than restraint of trade.

It's true there are a lot of cabs at DIA. They often overflow the holding lot, which accommodates 125 vehicles, where drivers can wait up to four hours for a fare. But the last we heard, no one is holding a gun to cabbies' heads and forcing them to head for the airport. In fact, no one is forcing them to drive cabs at all. "I work exclusively at the airport," says Adam Bartolik, president of ProTaxi, an organization for drivers. "None of us would be out there if we didn't make a living at it."

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IDFIMH