Taxi Driver Online

Cabbie Sacked As Firm Reassures Customers

18 September 2009

The cabbie who blew the whistle on 'dangerous' 24-hour taxi shift patterns has parted company with his taxi firm.

John Koulias' radio was taken back by Apple Central Taxis for bringing the company into disrepute.

This week he was back at work with Woodspring Taxis, while the boss of his former company insisted his taxis are safe.

Mr Koulias told the Mercury last week that a 241 driver increase in the past two years was forcing drivers to work the shifts.

Milton Rise resident Mr Koulias, aged 60, said: "They said I've caused a lot of damage to the firm.

"I feel terrible about it and have made enemies, but what I said needed to be said."

Meanwhile, Apple Central Taxis owner Rob Rowe to reassured customers that his drivers are not working the long shifts.

His company installed a computer system in March that automatically logs off drivers at the end of their day or night shift.

He says this makes it impossible for drivers to work longer shifts for his company, but he can't stop them working as Hackney drivers outside of those hours.

They are then unable to continue without one of the office operators putting them back on the system, a practice that Mr Rowe says does not happen.

Taxi drivers' union representative John Johnstone said he agreed with Mr Koulias that there are too many drivers on the road, but said his claims could be damaging.

He said: "We have regular customers worriedly asking us how long we've been on shifts, which isn't good because it puts us in a bad light."

Mr Koulias has pledged to campaign for a change in legislation to encourage safer taxi driving practices and a cap on the number of licences handed out by local authorities.

Two weeks ago, the Mercury reported how North Somerset Council is considering introducing new measures for cabbies in the town, including street knowledge tests.

At the moment, private hire drivers do not need to complete a knowledge test, while Hackney drivers do.

Private hire taxi drivers are not employed by companies, but rent radios from the firms, who act as agents.

Source; Weston & Somerset Mercury - TheWestonMercury.co.uk

_________________
Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
When debating on the TDO Forum.

WTF was the driver supposed to say, all he said was the truth, mind you if he was renting equipment he could have gone home anytime he wished lol

CC

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

With a bit of luck the Weston & Somerset Mercury will have a readership of about five..with none of those being the Head hand wringer for Brake.

So the drivers can work 12 hours without a radio, then 12 with a radio.

The answer is to change the law.

Now that ain't going to happen for many years, and I account for less the 0.5% of drivers with that view, but doing these crazy hours is pure madness.

_________________
IDFIMH

I agree..24 hours is crazy, but it'd be nice to be allowed to work longer hours over say the 3 days of the weekend and less hours during the quieter mid week days...cos if the spread it out to be 8 hours a day then it'll be hardly worth it...3 days doing B*gger all and then 3 Days of having to turn much needed work away for the lack of driving time..or worse run out of time and leave you having to abandon pre booked customers high n dry for lack of time..

This ain't nothing new y'know, we used to have a firm that would only let you work 24 on 24 off some years ago.

It's wrong and I never worked for them because as a business model it was a failure, smelly drivers who'd worked nearly 3 working days in one, I did however used to have to do a 16 hr shift for one firm one day a week, even as an owner fcs, this was enduced by someone on the radio who couldn't cope with the workload and when it exposed her short comings she insisted we have a shift system instead of open office, the damage that woman did to the trade locally you could not believe, she reduced a 60 car company to 15 cars eventually because no OD would join the firm knowing how bent it was, oh and to cap it all, she once said to me........if I was still an owner I wouldn't do the shifts, what more can you say.

So has anyone on here ever worked a 24 Hr shift ? I have done it on 3 one off occassions many years ago but there was always a couple of quiet hours for a snooze I certainly couldn't do it on a regular basis these days I try and avoid going over 16 if i can these days and even then not 16 driving usually 10 to 13 driving and up to 6 board operating

Cant think many will have ever driven solid for 24 hours, maybe theyd be better looking at how many hours someones driven rather than how many hours they purport to be on duty in any 24 hour period...I advertise a 24 hour service..but that doesnt mean I'll drive 24 hours non stop, it just means im available through out those 24 hours but in reality ive no intention of driving any more than 10 of them...

Not 24 hours in one go, but once I worked 36 hours with a 4 hour sleep in the middle.

Earnt a fortune, but never ever again.

_________________
IDFIMH

I've done a few 24 hour shifts but not now, they aren't worth doing for the amount you take.

Never done one.....never will.

CC

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

Some people have got to do them Cap, like I mentioned in another post we've got drivers sleeping in their cars in the ASDA car park because they dearn't go home because they've took nothing. This has only come about after the local drips at the Council offices decided to de-regulate before that there weren't any drivers sleeping in their cars they were all off home at 4-5am with a decent take in their bags, now days they are lucky to take a a quarter of what they used to take.

There's only one place you can look to for answers and that's the local Council offices.

Seems a bit of an contradiction really..A council De Regulates and they get a flood of new Cabs as well as the existing cabs chasing the same amount of work, now you would think that more Cabs would mean drivers work less hours to service that finite amount of work, yet in real terms it actually means many more drivers working longer hour in the vain hope that they are going to find that work.

quite an Enigma that one.

[quote="Nigel"

Some people have got to do them
[/quote]

I don't except that some people have got to do 24 hour shifts. If the job is that bad then the answer is to either get another job or go on the dole. That may sound like a simplistic answer or harsh depending on your viewpoint but if a driver can't earn enough money in a reasonable time then he should change job.

_________________
Grandad,

Your forgetting the number of people who go into debt to buy new cabs.....should they let their home get repossessed too?

CC

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