Taxi Driver Online

Theres a new (ish) Taxi Blog out.

http://thenissenhut.blogspot.com/

Not to be confused with Mr A's Anderson Shelter.

seen it though it's very difficult to exercise freedom of speech when you can't leave a comment!!

I'm fast coming to the conclusion that Londons cab trade is full of idiots

CC

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

The sad thing is that they actually believe most of what they write.

Methinks being stuck up one's own a***hole is a KOL criteria.

_________________
IDFIMH

would that be write as opposed to right ? At least we have a grasp of the English language!!

New post.

http://thenissenhut.blogspot.com/

Life ain't so pretty in the City........By Russell Wilson.

The situation that has been allowed to develop in the City of London does nothing for the safety of the most vulnerable of the general public on the streets of the City at night.

Satellite offices inside venues are no more than a legal loophole for unscrupulous and unqualified second rate operatives to work within the black economy.

The United Trade Group are committed to putting a stop to these offices and the wholesale abuse of the word "LICENSED" that mini-cab operators are taking full advantage of. This status they never should have received and certainly never deserved.

There's a very good argument that this status should be taken away and replaced by "REGISTERED" .

The word licenced gives the public a false sense of security and they are often duped into believing they are travelling in or being offered a licensed taxi.

The word "REGISTERED" would create a clear defining line between mini-cabs PH and licensed taxi's.

The harmonisation plan was never accepted by the London taxi trade and trying to create such a scheme was always doomed to failure. Private hire has profiteered and become engrossed in illegal activities to epidemic proportions and has created a case against itself for tighter regulations and an early overhaul of the existing legislation.

The United Trade Group are committed to stopping PH from operating under the umberella of our trade and the good reputation London taxi drivers and our industry has built up over three hundred years, distance must be put between licensed taxi's and this third world industry!

The LTDA took issue with the Grosvenor House hotel over their satellite office operation, then other events took place.
The Febuary 5 demo, the Heathrow airport issue, then came more campaigns by all sections of our trade " Enough is Enough" we were taking it no more !

Leading up to Christmas the LCDC were making waves in the City of London asking some very pertinent questions about the lack of enforcement by the City of London police in the square mile and underlining the ongoing problems associated with satallite office operations.

PH get away with flagrantly breaking the law, illegal parking, parking on pavements, threatening and intimidating behaviour and running their operations with a total disregard for the police or the licensing authority.

Then there's the issue of tax and revenue evation by every venue that operates or allows an illegal clipboard operation on or outside their premises, and last of all, the racketeering of the doorstaff offering protection to these individuals at a price. ie- Organised crime !
I find it hard to believe that London's most repected and professional police force allows these activities to take place on a nightly basis and choose the easy option of turning a blind eye.

Policing by personal preference and not upholding the law seems to be the norm in the City of London when it comes to dealing with touting. Could it be that the City of London police are taking a leaf from the Met's unofficial policing manual ?

Anyone can dress up in a police uniform and walk around being ineffective and unfortunately many in both police forces fall into this catagory and lack the qualities that are required to make an effective police officer !

We keep talking and writing ourselves in circles about this problem that everyone is already aware of.

What we need to ask is why we are in this position ? Who in the cab trade is working for a solution ; who is onboard and who isn't ?

We have seen one attempt from within our trade this last year to betray the working cab driver, RTG failed in their attempt to climb into bed with Addison Lee at the airport. It won't be long before it happens again and there's no gaurantee that others within our trade will not consider a similar venture with PH if the circumstances and conditions can be sold to the gullible amoungst us. It's just a matter of time !

The wholesale harrassment the licensed taxi trade has had to deal with in the square mile in recent years, police enforcement, vehicle checks, cameras, no access to bus lanes, over ranking issues and the failure for police to attend any kind of request made by taxi drivers requiring assistance; either concerning a drivers personal safety or hackney carriage issues, it makes you wonder how and who dictates the policing policy ?

We have members of our own trade in influential positions that have the ear of some of the most powerful people in the in the City of London and have done so for many years. The Worshipful Company of Hackney Carriage Drivers.

Our Company is the 104th Livery Company of the City of London, having received Grant of Livery in February 2004. Our members are all professionals who earn their living through the Hackney Carriage trade and include some of London’s black cab drivers, renowned for their famous Knowledge of London.

The main purpose of the Company is to bring together like-minded people who wish to maintain and secure the long-term interests of those who earn a living within the Hackney Carriage trade. The Company also endeavours to promote public awareness of the extremely high standards of the Hackney Carriage trade and industry.


So why does the WCHCD choose to stay silent and do nothing to promote our trade; after all these people earn their livelihood from within our trade. Why are they not coming to our aid and put forward an argument in defence of our industry and back the trade that they all derive an income or living from?

Could it be that there are members within the WCHCD that have PH interests themselves? Or are at least willing to work with the mini-cab industry on a day to day basis?

Since the formation of the WCHCD, I can’t remember them ever openly supporting any of the issues affecting the licensed taxi trade in London, nor promoting the standards of our trade that they say they want to increase public awareness of ! ( where were they on Feb 5 )
However, they are very good in promoting themselves and the dinner and dance aspect of their worshipful company!

It might be said that the purpose of this worshipful company is to bring together like-minded people who wish to maintain and secure THEIR own long-term interest within the hackney carriage trade. While the rest of us fight to preserve and maintain the high standard they have never promoted!

The time is right for change in our industry. It’s time for us all to put an end to this mini-cab epidemic, a disease that is trying to infiltrate and infect our industry!

And with stupid comments like that the black cab trade shows how out-of-date and pathetic they are.

The reason PH operators in London called themselves licensed, is because they are licensed.

Elements of the black cab trade might not like it, but they are going to have to lump it.

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IDFIMH

2010, the wheel turns and another year begins and we edge a little closer to addressing the issues and confronting once and for all the people that are responsible for helping PH gain a foothold within our industry.

Why would anyone within the licensed taxi trade in London want to help our competitors to profit from us and take our business away ?

You can blame the trade organisations all you like for the existing problems we have and we will get nowhere. They are not the ones putting our livelyhood into PH vehicles they make an easy and soft target for the angry and narrow minded amoung us !

Some time ago John Griffin was demanding that licensed taxis should only be allowed to pick up street hiring's, adding that an overhaul within the London taxi industry was required and we should not be allowed to do both street hirings and radio work.

As we all know a certain amount of consultation and legislation would be required to achieve this, fortunately nobody was listening to his rant anyway!

However, his wildest dream became a reality when the self proclaimed, so called gate keepers of our industry created a "virtual back door" to our business and gave PH the long awaited access they had been hoping for !

The more I dig into the membership of the Worshipful Company of Hackney Carriage Drivers, the more it looks to me than no more than an annexe of the now defunct London Taxi Board ( LTB ).
It seems that the resignations from the London Taxi Board were no more than a charade, as it's business as usual at the WCHCD.

Let's take a closer look and maybe we can get a clearer picture why the WCHCD is failing the London Taxi trade.

Take for insrtance someone that runs a knowledge school that also trains mini-cab drivers, helps candidates applying for PH licenses with their applications, advises them and receives payment for doing so; but also derives an income from the licensed taxi trade. This person is obviously an advocate of PH. Is this morally wrong? maybe , but to me it's definitely a conflict of interest by somebody that is an ermine wearing member of an Honourable Company that was founded on the ethos of promoting the hackney carriage trade!

Then there are those that are voted in as board of management of "taxi friendly societies" who are put in possitions of trust to run the society in the best interest of the members, who then create and design a system that helps and benifits PH 100% , creating a "virtual back door" to our industry; one to this day I fail to see how the members can possibly benifit from, an activity that's hardly in the interest of a taxi friendly society! A system within a London licensed taxi radio curcuit and friendly society, where members of PH can obtain work and profit at the expense of the subscribers; morally wrong and a conflict of interest from someone who as chairman resigned from the London Taxi board on a matter of principle over RTG'S proposed joint venture with Addison Lee PH at Heathrow airport. The same chairman sits on the public relations panel at the WCHCD !


The chairman of RTG, who led the board of management on a successful campaign to demutualise RTG, he then gets heavilly involved in puchasing PH Company's, a man that sees nothing wrong with negotiating with BAA and getting involved with the taxi trades biggest competitor from the PH industry in a scheme that would have seriously damage licensed taxi's business in London. In my veiw a definite conflict of interest from someone who is involved with the WCHCD !


Lastly the chairman of Londons largest retailer of taxi's, that resigned from the London Taxi board ( LTB ) also on a matter of principle over RTG proposed venture with PH at Heathrow airport.

It would appear to me that the same man sees nothing wrong with being involved with all of the above in the WCHCD, which includes the same chairman of RTG ! Incidentially, until recently this taxi retailer was Master of the WCHCD !

The Worshipful Company of Hackney Carriage Drivers ethos is.

To bring together like minded people who wish to maintain and secure the long- term interests of those that earn a living within the Hackney Carriage trade. The company also endeavours to promote public awareness of the extremely high standards of the Hackney carriage trade and industry.



As far as I can see the WCHCD has NEVER promoted the hackney carriage trade in London and some of its members are STRONG ADVOCATES OF PH and have interests in the PH industry.

It's time for the WCHCD to put its house in order!

Warning signs and Cornerstones, a personal view...........By Russell Wilson.

We have now moved into the final year of the first decade since the turn of the millennium. There’s an air of uneasiness within the rank and file concerning our industry and its involvement with private hire.
As I am writing, news has just reached me that negotiations have been held with one of the big three radio circuits by yet another “Johnny come lately” PH outfit trying to join the feeding frenzy that has been caused mainly by demutualisation within our industry. To me and you, that means PH stealing food from our plate!

http://chauffeur-1st.com/Chauffeur-Firs ... letter.pdf

PH are getting more and more organised, they are utilising the latest technology; advertising themselves blatantly as Taxi’s and operating under the umbrella of the licensed taxi trade. Take a look at the example website below.

http://www.londoncitytaxis.co.uk/?_kk=l ... 4wod0jLpJw

They are fully exploiting our industry and capitalising on our weaknesses and by the looks of it creating their own network to exploit us even further.

Martin Cox hails from within our own industry and holds a green badge, in my opinion he is driven by financial gain; he is a motivated individual and has no conscience when something comes between him and his objectives. He is very much of the same ilk as John Griffin, but not in the same league!
If anyone has the ability and knowledge to damage our trade and mobilise the competition it’s him! Believe me the only thing he will bring to our industry gates is a Trojan horse, compliments of him and his PH friends!

So far to date we have lost two thirds of our radio circuits forever to demutualisation. This in itself means that the drivers on those circuits no longer have a say how those companies are run and what policies they may choose to adopt.

Com Cab, if you check out their website, makes no attempt to hide that PH is an integral part of their business. They offer licensed taxi's as well as all the other attributes that PH offer ; hotel/airport transfers, airport meet and greet etc and it’s looking like this work is all going through the Com Cab system!

Radio Taxis Group's website offer similar services to customers; they are also openly promoting a PH facility, although it is offered in a different wrapper. i.e.:- Ground transportation service, one stop- shop etc.

Dial a Cab however doesn’t actually promote these services on their website, but they do have a system that’s tailor made to facilitate PH to access work through Dial a Cab's "virtual backdoor", and this system is quite possibly being used as a selling point to customers!

Dial a Cab is the last cornerstone of our industry that is still in the hands of the drivers, once it is lost, the face of our industry as we know it will change forever!
We will be overrun by private hire, night- time drivers will decrease due to the lack of account work and the current epidemic we are seeing now with PH will turn into a plague!
Dial a Cab’s board of management only operate on the basis of short term gain, they seem to be oblivious of the dangers of the long term loss their involvement with PH could bring to its business and most of all, to the drivers.

For more than ten years these individuals have been riding on the crest of a wave of a buoyant economy, bragging at times that they are running a 50 million pound business.
It's the only 50 million pound business I can think of that doesn't invest, promote, advertise, nor exploit the latest APS and technology to generate, increase work and open new accounts. In fact Tweet a London Cab on a shoe string are achieving more, and making them look rather pathetic.
The current BOM at Dial a Cab are spent, dry and clueless, with a betting office punters approach to business!

Computer Cab's great success was built on the back of cash work and them embracing new technology, the theory that a short term loss would lead to a long term gain; as lots of its accounts were generated through the cash system.

The word loss leader doesn't exist at Dial a Cab, and we can see already that the rot is setting in. The BOM are floundering, the lack of drive, initiative and innovation is everything you would expect to find in a poor management team, their negative attitudes, comments and articles are all they have left to offer!
Their only avenue of expansion and increasing revenue revolves around PH; once again a short term gain for Dial a Cab as a business, and a long term loss for the drivers and our trade!

London Taxi's should be operating out to the boundaries of the six mile radius, utilising the latest technology and hitting the likes of Addison Lee for six, basically beating PH at their own game. We should be fighting PH for every last piece of ground; not helping them gain credibility and a foothold in our business, but hitting them where it hurts, cash work, cash work and more cash work.

Unfortunately the radio circuits have no interest in promoting our business, and to an extent can be no longer trusted!
Two thirds of them have no affiliation to us or what we care about; to them it’s just business and money.
The other third Dial a Cab hasn’t been run as friendly society for many years.
Most of the drivers are afraid to speak out and the BOM have far exceeded reasonable behaviour and attitude towards the drivers, in fact they have been intimidating to an extent. Dial a Cab’s BOM relies on complacency, fear and driver apathy!

The question isn’t how we can take back our work; first we have to take back what’s left of our industry and then protect it at all costs!

For those of you that are willing to lie down while the PH parasite embeds itself ever deeper into the body of our trade to feed, “with a little help of the radio circuits and a few other individuals.”

I suggest you all think twice, because the old mantra of “just take your money, go home the job will be there tomorrow, next week and next year!” well, I have news for you, “IT WON’T”!

STOP PRESS: Mon 1st Feb 01:00pm "Chauffeur First website taken down!"

RMT refused recognition by TFL.

Official.

http://thenissenhut.blogspot.com/

LTDA, LCDC, and Unite continue negotiations.

Not sure that's a good thing for TfL, makes the RMT lot look like martyrs.

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IDFIMH