Taxi Driver Online

At least the AA can see through the need for such boxes:

"An AA spokesman voiced misgivings about the EU proposals. "In reality, police investigators are already able to get much of this information from existing engine management systems, if they need it after a crash."

It will severely restrict the self employed taxi driver from being able to service the needs of his customers and would be open to abuse from certain less reputable sections of the trade who would be able to change tachos regularly claiming cousins/uncles etc were driving the car

As for black boxes in taxis this has been proposed before and access to the boxes would be available to the police to check if you have been speeding at any time not just after an accident which would make our ability to perform miracles when customers don't allow enough time to catch their trains/buses/planes or get to their doctors appointments null and void

not all vehicles with tachos simply cruise the motorways A-B, i drove a 300 mile day doing 30-40 drops a day, after 4.5hrs id take 45 minutes off, is that too difficult to comprehend? after a nother 4.5 hrs id have to take another 45 mins then have 1.5hrs work left = 10.5 hours driving in a 12 hour day, thats enough for anyone i think

Yes...being forced to take 45 minutes off at 4.5 hrs is hard to comprehend, more so if your 35 miles from the airport with 20 minutes driving time left thus making it impossible to reach the airport that the guy wants to fly from before your times up.

The guy you might have just picked up on an hour before, and who if you allowed for that 45 minute break you would have had to turn down and who would have had to use another Taxi or PH firm at a cost to you of around £100 for work you turned away to appease the EU.

I cannot run my business on short 4.5 hour bursts...mostly because even the simplest of airport journeys takes me just over 3.5 hours to complete, a lot more if it is a pick with a delayed flight involved or rush hour traffic to contend with...therefore in the peak travel season I would could only fit in at best 2 airport runs...and if a flights delayed then possibly just one airport run. That means I could end up with only a £100 of airport runs instead of £300 of airport runs in a day simply because of a forced 45 minute breaks every 4.5 hours...

Its not a delvery van full of boxes and other inanimate objects, its real, living passengers that need to be where they want to be on time....if it were a delivery van then the route would be carried out in a logical manner based on the drop off points of the route...Id have no problems with that...again though my clients usually want to go direct from point A to B and not be forced to take in points D, C and E simply because of my driver time limitations dictate that.

What part of that argument can you not understand?


Unlike A box the undelivered passenger cannot lie in the back all night until your next run....you may be held up in traffic in which case taking on any run over 3 hours might just end up with a stranded passenger sitting in you vehicle until you can drive again....who's he going to blame for his missed flight or business meeting.........you

I fear although you may work in a taxi/ph environment but your mindset is still that of delivery driver

im a PH operator and owner driver, and a tacho wouldnt bother me, if you feel the need to work 22 hours a day maybe you need a career change? i remember all the scare stories when truckers feared tachos being introduced, now most wouldnt be without it

speeding stops when you start using one, theres no get out
working stupid hours and taking insufficient breaks is also a thing of the past

just those two points increase customer safety, im sure a passenger would rather get in with a legal and rested driver

i hope it comes in, lets be fair 16 passenger vehicles already REALLY require one by law, why not 8 or 4?

and ive been on coaches that had to park at dover waiting fresh drivers to arrive, and it was accepted cos its the law

Don’t talk wet....I would not work 22 a day either, but I do need the ability and option to work at least 8 hours before I have to take anything like a 45 minute break...A couple of short tea breaks is just fine.

The Difference with Minibuses and larger PSV is that the make more ££££££s per distance travelled so they have the luxury of a business more suited to Tachograph invasion.

Here is a Scenario:

You work for yourself with no other driver to help; a look at your Diary tells it’s a fairly busy morning but zilch bookings for afternoon.

Starting at 8.00 am the 3 runs in the morning are all Back to Back and add up to roughly 3.00hours of driving time...a comfy day but not a huge earner….you’ll be home by around 11am

You carry out these runs and are just about to turn into your drive and your mobile rings...the guys desperate, His Dads ill in Spain and he has to catch a flight… the only available flight requires him to be at the check in within 3 hours at an airport which is 130 miles away…..all in that’s a round trip of 260 miles…A nice little earner which would make you around £190.00…the trouble is that this run will take you at least 2 hours 30 minutes at best to get too the airport.

Combine the 2.5 hrs of this run offer and add that to the 3 hours of driving that you did earlier…hmmmmmmm!! that’s 5.5 hours of driving….you know full well that you by your own admission you ethically consider 4.5 hours of driving is all your prepared to do before a 45 minute rest..thats going to make the guy miss his plane.

So…would you say no, sorry I’m not prepared to take that run on as it goes against my principles?

Or would you do what everyone else in here would do and take the guys hand off to get a decent run like that so early in the day.?

Bear in mind also...you might be his only option!


You can always have a we nap before driving home…..however if you had a Tacho then this type of run would be killed off stone dead…..and quite often these good runs just come out of the blue.