Taxi Driver Online

No I don't, but what I do complain about is owners fighting to keep the status-quo, thus leaving non-owners no other choice but to pay rent.

In many many de-restricted areas drivers choose to work other peoples cabs, and good luck to them. But it should be their choice.

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IDFIMH

All I ask is for you to point out de-restricted areas were it happens.

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IDFIMH

That is an astonishing statement, I trust you have evidence to substanciate your claims. If not, it really should be withdrawn.



If you are unhappy with your conditions of license, appeal against them, I am certain allied vehicles and such will give you every assistance.

If your unhappy with the PHV ages, then approach the council and ask for age restrictions.



I dont quite understand this bit, so perhaps you could explain.

Is the driver paid 40% of the cash takings or is he paid a set wage?

Whats the problem with 60/40, you have a bad day, so does the owner, you have a good day, so does the owner, and if you dont like it, get another job. Seems fairly simple



lol I saw that program too, it was called death of the high street I think. Although if you are suggesting that supermarkets are responsible for the habits of people disliking the routine of shopping in town centres and purchasing everything under one roof, you may have missed the end of the program. As supermarkets in many places are returning to the high streets.

Regards

Captain cab

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

The situation at Manchester Airport has got nothing to do with PH. Those that are accused of acting illegal are not PH, and for that matter are currently being viewed as acting legally by those that count.

It has nothing to do with P/H ?
Well, it has everything to do with P/H as the operation is definitely NOT H/C is it. It is a P/H operation without the requisite licence and drivers off the street without any kind of qualification whatsoever other than an ordinary driving licence.
I suggest you try and do that locally and you will find that the L/A will come down on you like a ton of bricks.

You thought you had won the lottery when Mr Crouch left, but you got a lot worse.

Not at all. Mr Crouch ran a LEGAL operation with which we had no problems at all.
He quit as he could not compete with the H/Cs at the airport !

That is the real world, the one you brought upon yourselves.

Perhaps you would explain how ?

I dont quite understand this bit, so perhaps you could explain.

Is the driver paid 40% of the cash takings or is he paid a set wage?

At present drivers get a ''wage'' of £300 per week. I dont know how many hours they are required to work for this.
It is now being put to them that they go on 60/40 % of the ''takings''.
i.e. the driver will get 40% of the takings cash or credit.

Whats the problem with 60/40, you have a bad day, so does the owner, you have a good day, so does the owner, and if you dont like it, get another job. Seems fairly simple.

I very much agree with you, if you guys dont like the way hackneys are licensed or run get another job ! Or stay in private hire !!



lol I saw that program too, it was called death of the high street I think. Although if you are suggesting that supermarkets are responsible for the habits of people disliking the routine of shopping in town centres and purchasing everything under one roof, you may have missed the end of the program. As supermarkets in many places are returning to the high streets.

I did NOT see any programme.
Its not people dis-liking shopping in town centres but just that the rules are set to benefit the ''rich'' operators.
Again, in Manchester like most parts of the country, there are double yellow lines outside local shops and certainly in the city/town centres.
On the other hand supermarkets provide free and large car parks.
So, where would you go ?
You might recall the govt proposing a ''tax'' on supermarket car parking spaces but this was withdrawn hurriedly after a few strings were pulled and no doubt few brown envelopes changed hands.
Look around and you will see a lot of ex ministers politicians and spouses in some cases (e.g. Neil Kinnock) working in big businesses or high places .
So, what I am saying is that they get looked after for their ''assistance'' whislt in power.
Yes, supermarkets are taking over local shops as well so they will have a complete monopoly.
Ask some of their suppliers and see whats happening.
In one case recently suppliers were asked to supply 20 new stores with ''FREE'' stock to fill the shelves.

So, my point is that the big operators will replace the small ones and nothing will really change for the driver.
If anything the P/H customers will lose as no-one will cover the local work as was pointed out in the OFT report .

As we all know HC do pre-booked fares and immediate hirings, PH just do the former.

Thus for a someone to be an illegal PH, then they must be doing un-licensed pre-booked fares. I believe at the airport the hirings at issue are immediate, thus they are illegal (we say, but no-one else does) HC hirings.

As I said, nothing to do with PH.

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IDFIMH

Cor what a short memory some have.

When DC arrived at the airport, it was the end of the world for some of your collegaues. Maybe you should go to your local rags archives and type in Checker Cars, and recollect.

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IDFIMH

Hehe CB, you seem to be selective in the points you respond to.



Im not private hire i'm hackney in a delimited area, and was hackney before delimitation, from my own perspective I dont see delimitation as the be all and end all of the argument.

However, I see your points, as thought out but flawed, the same arguments have and are being used throughout the country, and guess what.....they dont seem to be working. The solution must obviously be that either they are the wrong argument or that they are put across in such a way that people do not understand them.

Regarding the company in question changing the way they operate from a set wage to 60/40, what is the problem here? Why should it be a concern of anyones except the company involved and the drivers, if the drivers have a problem, they can vote with their feet.

I know from experience the best way to get any productivity is by incentive pay, we have people who are paid a set wage and guess what....they'll take a fare to Manchester Airport and take all day about it, why? simply because they are being paid the same amount for the hours they work, so why bother rushing back to do another?



With the greatest respect, that is a load of old cobblers, your twisting the point and making unfounded claims about brown envelopes.

As for the free goods from suppliers to stores, where is the relevence to hackney carriage operations? And if this was nothing more than standard business practice, as stated by Homebase, the business in question, why have the OFT refused to investigate?

As for the suppliers, are these the same suppliers who threaten to get and make their products from countries that pay a pittence?



Dont really see it that way, it will empower the former PH driver, which is not necessarily a good thing, if anything it leaves the PH operator with less control of his vehicles.

Its strange how your argument made here is the opposite of what the NTTG claims but result in the same answer. They claim less operator control leading to a worse service from PH. Where you claim more operator control will lead to a worse service.

As stated earlier, I an no fan of delimitation, but the trade in limited areas have to come up with better arguments than the ones being currently used.

regards

Captain cab

_________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

I always thought that drivers working for an O licence holder had to be employees. I would have thought that a 60/40 split ( whichever way it is) would negate that ruling.
Ged

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taxi driver @manchester airport

We must be talking at crossed terms, if CB was talking about that and me about HC / PH then I apologise.

Regards

Captain cab

_________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Cap,
Sorry I was just making a general observation not replying to you. I should have made myself clearer.
Ged

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taxi driver @manchester airport

Can you just clear up how far in advance bookings have to be, I witnessed on Saturday a client enquire, then book, then go outside and get in a vehicle, total elapsed time 7mins. As the client did NOT approach the vehicle/driver directly but went to the "desk", surely this would be a legal ph. ????

In my humble opinion yes.

In fact I believe the time lapse could be seconds i.e. you send one driver to the job, and the customers request another one ASAP. The driver will book via his radio, and the job despatched within seconds.

Now some who know not a lot about the PH trade say that a booking should be 24 hours in advance. Well what do you think the customers would say if the answer to the above senario was "yeah no problems mate, wait here and the car will be with you same time tomorrow"?

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IDFIMH

We are not complaining about anything that is booked through the office,we kick up a fuss when the driver accepts the booking roadside.
Of course we are not discussing P.H here are we? this company is supposedly operating as a bus company.
Tulsa your question highlights the thing that I keep banging on about, just what part of the legislation do they adhere to? which licensing authority should take responsibility? operate in a grey area and you will leave the bureaucrats scratching their heads.
Tulsa if you are going up on Wednesday introduce yourself to Joe Thorley, I will tell him who you are.
Ged

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taxi driver @manchester airport

Hi Ged
I am still hoping to get to Lancaster so will look out for Joe.



One of the problems of which part of legislation to adhere to.

The following is just how hard it may be to prove a case.

This happened to me just before xmas, guy from USA emails me wanting pick up at Man, (he has used us several times before) I have to tell him sorry but I only have a 16 seater available at the time he is due but I am willing to take him at normal cost. Guy makes booking no problem but outwardly I am seen picking up one passenger in PSV Ops disc minibus.
It might be assumed (wrongly by some) that I am doing something illegal or in a grey area. There is nothing in the rules and regs to say I can not carry one passenger in a larger seated vehicle.

Strange anomaly of the stupid rules is a chap who lives near me has a couple of Off Licence shops. He has just got a 16 seater to do "odd jobs in" and has got a restricted licence (which means he doesn't have to go through all the normal formalities).


What is a restricted licence? Restricted licences are used by small-scale operators since they only allow the operator to use one or two vehicles. Neither of these vehicles must be constructed to carry more than: 8 passengers; although vehicles carrying up to 16 passengers may be used if either:

a. the vehicles are not used as part of a passenger transport business (e.g. they are used in connection with a hotel business), or
b) your main job is not the operation of PSVs which are able to carry 9 or more passengers (ie the operation of the minibus(es) is a sideline and not your main occupation).

You do not have to satisfy the requirement of professional competence to get a restricted licence.

Now that really is stupid but perfectly legal

Good Luck
Mike[quote][/quote]