Taxi Driver Online

Long time reader with my first post..... and its one i realise i may well be flamed to death for lol.

Up untill recently i was a hackney driver renting my hack from a local company.

Due to one thing and another i decided to buy my own car and ended up with a saloon badged as a private hire and continued working for the company, taking jobs from them.

As time goes on the jobs are getting few and far between due to the company owner not promoting the business and essentialy losing interest.. this means my wages are getting lower and lower with no means to increase them as i cant work the ranks anymore.

Anyway onto the crux of the matter.

I have decided to apply to get my private hire operators license and go it alone. I will be operating from my home address as a single car - no office, no other drivers etc and where i live is on the border between two LA's.

As a private hire can i .....

pick up a pre booked job from 200 yrds down the road in the licensing area that i am not badged for ?

Can i put a leaflet through the door of a house in that licensing area ?

Any info would be greatly recieved as i dont want to act illegaly

Oz

As a ph you can pick up 200 miles away if you want, so long as it's pre booked

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

As a one-man-band you may be better off getting a hackney plate rather than PH.

You can still take phone bookings but you can work the ranks as well.

Cheers Toots

As for geting the car hackney plated cabbyman its not that easy unfortunatly. LA made a descision to only allow WAV hackney plates last year and i got a saloon knowing that i could only get it on a PHV plate. Saying that i believe the LA will be changing there policy again come april so fingers crossed i may well be able to change back to a hack

Indeed, I'm PCO (London), and did a pick up at the NEC Birmingham.

if your intent on doing it then get a website, join all the "quote" systems, DONT spend a fortune on advertising, register with your local county council education for schools work, consider ambulance and parcel work, every holes a goal.....

Not quite sure why you would be 'flamed to death'.

Anyway, as long as you are licensed in the area where the jobs are taken i.e. your home, you can take work from wherever to wherever. Bookings via mobiles we will by-pass because basically no-one has a f***ing clue about those.

As for leaflet drops, you can advertise where you like.

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IDFIMH

CHeers for the replies chaps and chappesses,

The comment about being flamed was tongue in cheek but i thought there may be some comments about cross border hiring and the like

Anyway, thanks very much for the info - will be hanging around and posting a btmore id imagine from now on

You asked for the legalities, not if something was morally right or wrong.

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IDFIMH

fair enough sussex

another question for you all.

I know i cant use the word TAXI / CAB etc on my car, but, can i use the word taxi on a flyer / advertising material ?

and if not - how do people go about "describing" what they do ? Do people know ( or even need to know) what the difference is between a hackney carriage and a private hire ?

And im not talking about picking up at the side of the road or sitting on a rank and passing myself of as a hackney - have never done it in my PHV and would never do it but more along the lines of a phrase on flyers to say " I am a local taxi driver" or similar

Hope that makes sense lol ?

That comment get you flamed to death

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

I use the T**i word in some ads, and im in the T**i section of the local paper (when i advertise) cos there is no Private hire section (so its not my fault )

if i get told off ill comply, if not, well.......im ever so sorry

take any booking you want, in our out your LA mate, ive done 7 seater jobs 100 miles north of me down to LHR, well off my patch....

I would offer a 'taxi' service, and try to avoid offering a 'taxi'.

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IDFIMH

What about private hire taxi or minicab ?

I've had it drilled into me that there is no such thing as a private hire taxi I think something along the lines that Sussex was suggesting would be better, maybe 'need a taxi call blah blah private hire for all your transport needs'

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!