Taxi Driver Online

....yet

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Black Cab Drivers Talking Themselves Out Of A Job?

18th August 2009

The London Daily News has supported the black cab fraternity of the capital throughout and has been quick to defend some of the actions of the more militant cab driver organisations, but when a proposal is put on the table to limit the number of hours a driver works, so that both passenger and driver is safe, the response has been one of vitriol and rejection.

It seems that the black cab drivers are hell bent on becoming a militant group of angry men who are not prepared to sit down and actually engage calmly in a debate in London anymore. Callers during the popular late night "Big George show" on BBC London bombarded the switch board with outright contempt to place a cap on the number of hours a driver can work in a day.

So that we are clear illegal mini-cab drivers must be removed from the roads of London, but on the other hand black cab drivers must accept that if one law is passed that affects other "professional drivers" then this must also be applied to the 25,000 drivers with the "Green badge". This does not mean a restriction on men wanting to work, but it should prevent the growing percentage of irresponsible black cabbies that are driving 13-15 hours per day.

What the fractious black cab groups need to do is unite into one movement to analyse the needs of London. We need more night drivers, more flexibility from drivers to agree a blanket ban on drivers refusing fares because "its in the other direction of where I want to go". More black cab stewards need to flood London with satellite offices setup to help the public and tourists obtain a legal black cab.

Only early this morning at Kings Cross one of the staff at the London Daily News was approached by a young lady as to where to find a minicab. It transpired the lady believed that minicabs where cheaper than minicabs, this was false and was later directed to take a black cab ranked outside St Pancras station.

If black cabbies want to become militant then they will ultimately lose the support of London and face becoming a tourist attraction that employs a rump of drivers.

Source; TheLondonDailyNews.com

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
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Max duty time for a hgv driver is 15 hours so that wouldn't change, without reading all that has been posted doesnt the WTD for self employed drivers which comes in september affect taxi drivers?

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now a licensed hackney driver

No..That WTD was only ever aimed at Self employed PCV and HGV Drivers.

anyways..how can they restrict drivers hours in the likes of a Taxis or PHV when some of that vehicles usage may be for private use, or to Restrict a self employed Hack who might take on a Job 4 hours away at an airport at the drop of a hat..only to get there and then discover he has not the time left in hand to complete the run. No way can any vehicle that carrys so few people at any one time such as a PH or a Taxi and who for the most part do so with the minimum of prior warning because the booking is made last minute ever be regulated in the same way as a PCV that has a regular service or an HGV that operates with several days or even weeks of notice before they set out.

PCVs and HGVs just simply dont spontaineously set off on a journey like we have to do..that means they can Plan in advance for extra drivers when needed or busy. they also have far larger Profits per Vehicle and Drivers that help absorb the Extra costs of Extra drivers...its lot easier to afford to pay a relief driver if your shifting 50 pre booked customers than it is to afford to pay a Relief driver from the profits of shifting Mrs Jones and her Pet poodle in a PH or a Taxi that may or may not be the only customer of that relief drivers shift, we just do not have the luxury of a fully filled drivers shift unlike PCV and HGV operators who know beforehand Exactly what Runs and Runtimes that they need to Plan for.

Taxis and PHs can only work if we are left to fullfill our role of a 24 hour fast response and flexible passenger transport provider...any infringements on our ability to do so will kill the business stone dead or at best make the few surving operators prohibitively expensive and hard to come by when needed in a hurry.

Its a real shame that the Happy Clappy do gooders only focus on the one in a 10 million fatality that may be as much Victim caused as tired Driver caused whilst they never mention all the countless lives saved by the Middle of the Night runs carried out by our trade because NHS 24 wont allow them access to an ambulance to take Ill relatives to an A and E unit.

Its far to one sided I fear.

No.

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IDFIMH