Taxi Driver Online :: View topic - A couple of questions from a forum newbie

I am a HC owner driver (Middlesbrough)

I am sure many HC owners/drivers will have had the same battle we are currently having with the largest PH company in the area, but maybe not in the same detail were having.

My first question is regarding to school contracts.

In our local area, we all get invited to tender for a school run each year, the tender lasts for one school year.

In the past, upto last year we have been invited to tender on these conditions.

The 1st 5 miles of any journey is to be paid at £9 and we then tender for any further miles, i.e £XX per mile. This has always worked well, if you get a 1 mile run, your still getting £9 per run.

Now this year we have been informed that "a" PH company complained, because as a HC we cannot charge more than the meter charge, (currently set at £2.80 first mile and then £1.50 per mile or part thereof.

So we get the new tenders in that say 1st mile £2.50, the next 4@ £1.50 and then our tender from that point onwards, which will have cost us 50p per run, which to my mind was the schools telling this big PH company to do one!

We all then put in our tender accepting that it will cost us a quid a day for doing the same run as last year.

Just at the end of the tender process, we received a letter from the Schools dept, saying they have had a change of heart and we now have to tender our own price for the 1st mile, the next 4 miles and then any miles after that.

The PH have of course undercut us all, last year my school run was worth £300 PW, now nothing!

So my questions, were the PH company right, with regards for HC's and the fact we cant agree a price above the initial meter cost, even though 9/10 the total cost of the fair would be below the total meter price?

Can the schools dept, ask for a tender with strict timing for bidders, only to change the rules after the timing has ended, and ask for us all to re-tender?

I have a long list of questions, because this is becoming a battle Royal, This company have a huge ammount of cash to chuck about and have made it very public that there intention is to close down all us HC drivers.

Author:	thelodger [ Thu Aug 19, 2010 11:07 pm ]
Post subject:	A couple of questions from a forum newbie
I am a HC owner driver (Middlesbrough) I am sure many HC owners/drivers will have had the same battle we are currently having with the largest PH company in the area, but maybe not in the same detail were having. My first question is regarding to school contracts. In our local area, we all get invited to tender for a school run each year, the tender lasts for one school year. In the past, upto last year we have been invited to tender on these conditions. The 1st 5 miles of any journey is to be paid at £9 and we then tender for any further miles, i.e £XX per mile. This has always worked well, if you get a 1 mile run, your still getting £9 per run. Now this year we have been informed that "a" PH company complained, because as a HC we cannot charge more than the meter charge, (currently set at £2.80 first mile and then £1.50 per mile or part thereof. So we get the new tenders in that say 1st mile £2.50, the next 4@ £1.50 and then our tender from that point onwards, which will have cost us 50p per run, which to my mind was the schools telling this big PH company to do one! We all then put in our tender accepting that it will cost us a quid a day for doing the same run as last year. Just at the end of the tender process, we received a letter from the Schools dept, saying they have had a change of heart and we now have to tender our own price for the 1st mile, the next 4 miles and then any miles after that. The PH have of course undercut us all, last year my school run was worth £300 PW, now nothing! So my questions, were the PH company right, with regards for HC's and the fact we cant agree a price above the initial meter cost, even though 9/10 the total cost of the fair would be below the total meter price? Can the schools dept, ask for a tender with strict timing for bidders, only to change the rules after the timing has ended, and ask for us all to re-tender? I have a long list of questions, because this is becoming a battle Royal, This company have a huge ammount of cash to chuck about and have made it very public that there intention is to close down all us HC drivers.

Author:	Stationtone [ Thu Aug 19, 2010 11:10 pm ]
Post subject:
Join the club your problem is mirrored all over the country until ph are better regulated we are all going to suffer.

Author:	thelodger [ Thu Aug 19, 2010 11:12 pm ]
Post subject:
I have many more questions because this is starting to become a battle royal, I am sure there are doing some stuff that simply breaks the law, we have a problem because some HC drivers who have spoke out against this company their cars and even houses have been attacked, of course nothing can be proved, but I am starting to get the feeling that the LA licensing dept are now getting sick of this company.

Author:	captain cab [ Thu Aug 19, 2010 11:21 pm ]
Post subject:
How can a tender name a price.......surely the tender should be exactly that? CC

Author:	thelodger [ Thu Aug 19, 2010 11:23 pm ]
Post subject:
captain cab wrote: How can a tender name a price.......surely the tender should be exactly that? CC Not sure I understand your question.

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Author:	captain cab [ Thu Aug 19, 2010 11:26 pm ]
Post subject:
thelodger wrote: captain cab wrote: How can a tender name a price.......surely the tender should be exactly that? CC Not sure I understand your question. A tender should ask you for a price to do a job.......it should'nt say these are the prices you should charge. CC

Author:	thelodger [ Thu Aug 19, 2010 11:36 pm ]
Post subject:
Well yes, but as HC,s are governed by local meter laws, the question I am asking is can we agree a tender above the charge on a meter, if its say less than 5 miles, as what was in the tender for the last 5 or 6 years?

Author:	captain cab [ Thu Aug 19, 2010 11:41 pm ]
Post subject:
thelodger wrote: Well yes, but as HC,s are governed by local meter laws, the question I am asking is can we agree a tender above the charge on a meter, if its say less than 5 miles, as what was in the tender for the last 5 or 6 years? I'd say no, if the fare is completely within your prescribed area. I'd also say that it was an odd situation, normally the metered fare is way above a 'contact' fare in many parts of the country. CC

Author:	thelodger [ Thu Aug 19, 2010 11:45 pm ]
Post subject:
Well strangely enough, I see this biting the arse off the PH company, we have been told, and we all know that us drivers can spin a yarn or two, that this PH company have tendered less than £1 per mile, I can see lots of very unhappy PH drivers having to travel in peek traffic doing a school run of a mile.

Author:	captain cab [ Thu Aug 19, 2010 11:55 pm ]
Post subject:
thelodger wrote: Well strangely enough, I see this biting the arse off the PH company, we have been told, and we all know that us drivers can spin a yarn or two, that this PH company have tendered less than £1 per mile, I can see lots of very unhappy PH drivers having to travel in peek traffic doing a school run of a mile. Less than £1 per mile is a good deal for the passenger.......sh*t for the mug doing the job.....but great for the passenger. I dont think I'd want a job less than the metered rate, unless it was on my terms and to my advantage. CC

Author:	Chris the Fish [ Fri Aug 20, 2010 12:17 am ]
Post subject:
The tariff in Plymouth includes the words: "Hirings may be undertaken without the use of a meter where there is a prior contract with a Public Authority or for a period in excess of an hour" Perhaps if you don't have this you should press for it's addition at the next fare increase or tariff revue. Having read section 23 of the Plymouth 1975 Act and compared it with section 65 of the Misc Provisions 1976 Act I see no reason you should not have it. From the 1975 Plymouth Act: 23.—(1) The Council may fix the rates or fares within the city as well for time as distance, and all other charges in connection with the hire of a vehicle or with arrangements for the hire of a vehicle, to be paid in respect of the hire of hackney carriages by means of a table (hereafter in this section referred to as a " table of fares ") made or varied in accordance with the provisions of this section. You will find if you check, the wording except for "The Council" which becomes "A District Council" and "city" becomes "district" is pretty much the same. So - get the sentence included on your Tariff smartish!

Author:	skippy41 [ Fri Aug 20, 2010 1:52 am ]
Post subject:
We have all be told to tender through this new thing thats come out this year, dont know the name of it but we where told that anyone in the UK could tender for any council school contract Anyone shed some light on this?? I think this might be it http://www.tendersdirect.co.uk/Search/T ... Categories

Author:	grandad [ Fri Aug 20, 2010 7:12 am ]
Post subject:
skippy41 wrote: We have all be told to tender through this new thing thats come out this year, dont know the name of it but we where told that anyone in the UK could tender for any council school contract Anyone shed some light on this?? I think this might be it http://www.tendersdirect.co.uk/Search/T ... Categories It is not just any company in the UK Skippy. It is any company within the EU.

Author:	grandad [ Fri Aug 20, 2010 7:16 am ]
Post subject:	Re: A couple of questions from a forum newbie
thelodger wrote: I am a HC owner driver (Middlesbrough) I am sure many HC owners/drivers will have had the same battle we are currently having with the largest PH company in the area, but maybe not in the same detail were having. My first question is regarding to school contracts. In our local area, we all get invited to tender for a school run each year, the tender lasts for one school year. In the past, upto last year we have been invited to tender on these conditions. The 1st 5 miles of any journey is to be paid at £9 and we then tender for any further miles, i.e £XX per mile. This has always worked well, if you get a 1 mile run, your still getting £9 per run. Now this year we have been informed that "a" PH company complained, because as a HC we cannot charge more than the meter charge, (currently set at £2.80 first mile and then £1.50 per mile or part thereof. So we get the new tenders in that say 1st mile £2.50, the next 4@ £1.50 and then our tender from that point onwards, which will have cost us 50p per run, which to my mind was the schools telling this big PH company to do one! We all then put in our tender accepting that it will cost us a quid a day for doing the same run as last year. Just at the end of the tender process, we received a letter from the Schools dept, saying they have had a change of heart and we now have to tender our own price for the 1st mile, the next 4 miles and then any miles after that. The PH have of course undercut us all, last year my school run was worth £300 PW, now nothing! So my questions, were the PH company right, with regards for HC's and the fact we cant agree a price above the initial meter cost, even though 9/10 the total cost of the fair would be below the total meter price? Can the schools dept, ask for a tender with strict timing for bidders, only to change the rules after the timing has ended, and ask for us all to re-tender? I have a long list of questions, because this is becoming a battle Royal, This company have a huge ammount of cash to chuck about and have made it very public that there intention is to close down all us HC drivers. You have confused me a bit here. I take it that on your old contract the first 5 miles bit didn't mean much to you because at £300 per week you were obviously traveling a lot further than 5 miles. On some of the longer distance jobs in my county some companys are charging around 50 pence per mile and that price also includes an escort.

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Author:	Sussex [ Fri Aug 20, 2010 7:21 am ]
Post subject:	Re: A couple of questions from a forum newbie
thelodger wrote: So my questions, were the PH company right, with regards for HC's and the fact we cant agree a price above the initial meter cost, even though 9/10 the total cost of the fair would be below the total meter price? If any fare charged is more than your metered tariff allows then you are acting outside of the law. Unless of course the final destination is outside of your licensing district.