Taxi Driver Online

On the point of keeping your prices up to date.

Every time you forego a year's increase, you make it even more difficult to catch up the income that you have lost, because the increase required to regain parity becomes larger.

In fact small increases, say ~ every 3 months, would be better for the Trade than a biggie every couple of years.

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Don't dream it ~ Be it.

I agree. Unfortunately, this is why an increase in tariff almost never translates into a true increase in earnings. It's simply an excuse for owers to ram up rentals. Drivers end up paying more for less, as has been the case in Edinburgh, for at least the last ten years.

The job is now no longer worth doing.

Then don't do it.

The Market works thus.

The Owners will put up their price so long as there are Renters willing to pay it. The Owners will carry on increasing their Rental price until they find that they can no longer find sufficient Drivers to Rent their vehicles.

If you were an Owner, you would wish to maximise your Income, to do anything else would be stupid.

If you were a Driver, logically, you would stop renting when you found that you could no longer make sufficient income, out of the Cab, to cover the Rental, it's Running Costs and your Living Expenses/Wages.

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Don't dream it ~ Be it.

You don't have a clue how the market works.

A swelling labour pool of drivers competing for a limited number of shifts, against a backdrop of falling customer numbers. What don't you get about drivers propping up vested interests failing to compete in their own market?

The market is about customer service and not daft wee taxi drivers pretending to be businessmen.

Incidentally, I wouldn't drive a taxi again supposing my life depended on it. It's now a low paid industry full of deluded ars*holes.

1 - Thx for the tribute, I have no idea what prompted you to feel the need to verbalise like that.

2 - Customers in any walk of life are the cash cow stupid.

3 - So you're off to see Max Clifford then, I shake in my boots at that, especially if he will even listen to you let alone answer you.

4 - Ripping off? git tha needel oouta yee am mate.

5 - Wait until your proposed de-reg hits home, you'll have more than a cheaper company to contend with I assure you.


I see you as a little boy who thinks he knows it all, 30 ish? been a cabby for a few years and is now a self appointed regulator who the council should honour and obey, you don't have a clue about business, if you did you wouldn't have written this tripe, why don't you start up Charity Cabs or Cost Price Cars, you can then run people all over the place for what it costs you or less.

Facts are, you don't have a clue about anything, you speak from a customers point of view and forget it's a job to earn a living from, I don't owe anyone anything, I provide a service and they use that service if they need to, if you want to be part of mate rate cars then that's your lookout, vent your anger at those under cutting you not us on here, now you know what it feels like I've had 20 years of that from Slave Cars.

Basically I don't know why you do the job mate, your persona stinks of someone who should never be a self employed person, everyone you have to pay to is a villan in your eyes, you basically want a free car to ride around in to park outside your free house while watching your free tv, you are the complete article of what British people have become, jealous expectant lazy fools.


I have to go back to work now, so while I'm gone try not to spill too much of the Tesco Lager on yee shirt tonight.

I take it. You want all the advantages of being in business but none of the risks.

Perhaps, a restricted market, with an abundance of casual labour, artificial plate values, hiked rentals and politicians setting your tariffs?

I don't suppose you recognise a certain inequality, discrimination or exploitation of drivers denied unfettered access to the tools of their trade?

How about actually having to compete in your own market?



Do you ever get the feeling someone is living in a Dream World?

It makes you wonder what real businessmen do?

I'm going to have to stick a pin in you this time and be brutally honest because you simply don't know or chose to ignore the truth!

So here goes.

You, like I have issue's with baron's sitting at home charging the worker?

The Baron normally operates PHC fleets, not Hackney ones, and until de-restriction hit, the fact a Hack was restricted stopped that little game.

You keep pointing at one man owners as the bad guys for charging rent to their DRIVER, but where I am a night drive is £180, it was £150 last time I rented 15 years ago btw, a radio alone on a circuit is now £135, now the circuit sets that price not an owner, so we now have established that the main problem is baron's and company owners, yes?

If you look right into it you will find Baron's are recruiting in Eastern Europe and are still licensing more cars even though the work isn't there, that's more non English speaking drivers who can't possibly know a city knowledge when they arrive, we have a baron waiting to license 50 WAV's should he get the chance, quite where the 1.5M to pay for them is coming from I just don't know, drug money perhaps? so that's 100 more immigrants to house who won't be paying tax who will mine every penny back to their country weakening the British economy further, is that what you want?

Now, lets look at why you want it de-restricted, you think like thousands of others if you can ply you can avoid the excessive radio charge, great idea in theory, but how are you going to get on a rank if everyone else has the same idea, pure chaos and lots more pollution from circling cabs.

Basically Skull, you are anti Addison Lee and co, but you don't know it, you instead think the restriction is your enemy, the restriction is actually your friend, take down that restriction and you will get swamped, and not only that you'll never be able to convince a now worthless plate is worthless to someone whose heard plates can have a value, they will still arrive in their droves I assure you, you play a dangerous game infact, you should appreciate the term better the devil you know, the problems haven't got to Scotland yet, but they will, our wells are running dry and the speculators will be looking for pastures new soon, you open it up, you invite them in mate.

I still stand by it that a small increase isn't going to hurt the customers nor trade, been here also before, we held off for 7 years before, when we did go up we had to go up such a noticeable amount it did cause trouble, now you imagine telling Jimmy McSnappit the fare is now £3.50 rather than £3.20, or hang on and tell him it's gone from £3.20 to £4.80 just like that.

I must also add, for a man that is done and dusted with cabbing, you sure can't stay out of the workings of it can you? answer the above sensibly this time, and have a think before you do, digest what I've said, if you are a clever man, or at the very least a man with learning capabilities you will know I'm right, try to reply objectively on this one, some insult or sarcastic reply will just indicate to me you didn't have a reply or didn't want to openly agree with me.

The above is exactly how your market works, and that's the way you want to keep it. It has nothing to do with Baron's or Addison Lee but everything to do with a qualified driver's right to exercise his choice, to compete in his own market.

Stop looking for everyone to prop-up your little fantasy.

That isn't an answer, you constantly moan about how much driver rent is, Addison Lee is well known for slaving their drivers, or is it ok for PH to rip the strides off a man but not a Hackney in any shape or form?

If a driver rent on a one man owner is too much, how do you explain or justify the figures I posted above, a man who provides 7 shifts and a fully documented car is a villain, yet a man who provides just a radio for £45pw less isn't, c'mon, get real, trust me, you get your way, there will be no Skull and co driving a cab soon after, it won't be worth your while to do so, don't say I didn't warn you when it happens, cos it will and you know it but it just doesn't fit your argument right now.

Your way = more Baron's and more part timer's, a cherry pickers paradise.


p.s, I notice you like to use discrimination rather a lot, well working on your theory, I feel discriminated against that I invested to provide a service and everyone else seems to think they have right of passage for nothing in to my job, many occupation's require a qualification that takes many years to obtain, try going into the local hospital and demand a job as a specialist doctor, by your logic you should be in your white coat in minutes, and you probably will be if you try it, the back to front one and a soft padded walled office.

It's not about you, me, taxi baron's or Addison Lee or how you feel in your pretend little world.

Mines not a pretend world, I bought it so I had employment until the end of my working life, it's rule bending that is causing all the issues we never had before, I can understand anyone not wanting to join a circuit, but if everyone thinks they will go Indy there just won't be enough to go around, you forget I'm seeing your future right now, my job is destroyed, and it's Baron's and the now lack of firms that has done it, along with a council that seems to have shut the place down in favour of social housing instead, you will get the migrants eventually, they will work 18 hour days and you won't be able to function as a cabby anymore, and if you can only cabby then you are going to be up creek using your hands aren't you, this de-restriction has ruined 3/4 of Englands cab trade, it's proven and before long I guess we are going to have to go to the European court to seek some sort of protection, there are many models in life to look to for examples, take the football disaster's at Hillsborough and Hysel and even one close to you in Glasgow many moon's ago, too many rushing in and people died, there are restrictions in many walks of life, mainly for the safety of the public, you simply can't just say hey ho and away we go.

It's getting to the stage where the job is a loss maker, you have firms charging less per mile than a company car is calculated at in the tax brackets, the sort of person in the job now would rather do a job for nothing than let someone else do it for profit, it's getting ridiculous, or if I tell you the truth it's become a benefit con job where the unemployed figures can be reduced by allowing someone to do part time and claim still, maybe if I can't beat em I should join em? nah I like to fight.

Gotta go bed, cya in the am for a reply.

Doom You have hit it right on the head and I like 95% of the cab trade would agree! Its only the small 5% lefties who think the world owes them a living who would say otherwise

You guys are like the Christians lining up to be eaten by the lions.

Only difference is that you bozos would be covering yourselves in gravy, salt and pepper to make sure the Lions enjoyed their meal to the max.

What you've described is how stupid 95% of the trade is.

Very entertaining though.

Not constructive, but entertaining never the less.

Just the sort of fayre an owner a baron would like to read with his sunday breakfast.

Allowing a taxi driver a plate is like dressing a monkey in a suit and expecting to act like a business man.

Doom writes:



Your business illusion depends on inequality, discrimination and exploitation to prop it up. You wouldn't last five minutes in the real business world without your council holding your hand.

Oh and btw, what you think you bought owns you.