Taxi Driver Online

London cab drivers 'warn of taxi shortage'

London taxi drivers have warned of a shortage of black cabs in the capital during the festive season, one of the trade's busiest times of year.

Hire companies have warned that demand is outstripping supply in the run-up to Christmas, with some part-time drivers - who generally hire in November to work over the holidays - reporting long waiting lists or a complete absence of vehicles.

Renny Raphael-Campbell, owner of a taxi-hire company in north west London told the Financial Times that other would-be drivers are "being laughed at for asking".

“The demand for vehicles completely, massively outstrips supply,” Mr Raphael-Campbell said. “We have drivers who have been out of vehicles for three weeks who can’t find one to work.”

At the end of last month, Manganese Bronze, the maker of London's iconic black cabs, appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers as administrators after talks to secure funding were unsuccessful.

Falling sales, five years of losses and more competition had led Manganese to the financial brink.

The decision to order 400 black cabs off the road because of a power steering fault pushed it over. The company was worth just £3m when its shares were suspended two weeks ago.

Last week, the company's administrators made 156 people redundant with immediate effect.

As well as the recalled cabs, hansom cabs that are 15 years or older are also being pulled off London's streets as part of a clean air strategy.

“We’ve got a perfect storm,” taxi driver Graham Spero told the FT. “All sorts of things have come together at the wrong time.”

Mercedes-Benz now claims around 40pc of the London taxi market, which was supplied solely by Manganese Bronze until 2008.

Mercedes told the FT that it had sold 40 cabs last month, compared with 18 in September. “This has not been sprung on the trade overnight,” said Peter Da Costa, whose company distributes Mercedes taxis. “There’s a shortage of cabs for people to rent, but not for people to buy.”

source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/news ... rtage.html

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

So in the great metropolis of London, taxi barons are in short supply, despite TfL being an unrestricted licensing authority.

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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.

Damn.

What they mean is all the blokes who live abroad and come back for 4 weeks every year won't find a G reg [edited by admin] waiting for them.

I don't know one driver whose cabs been affected by the steering box fiasco that hasn't rented a taxi.

Under the 15 year age limit, these once a year drivers were always going to struggle to find a taxi from this year onwards, its just not financialy viable for garages to have spare taxis laying about for the odd part time drivers who appear at xmas.

Drivers who want to rent on the flat, as in full time, will always find a cab.

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IDFIMH

It's the same round here, there's always the ones that leave the trade for a job in January then schlep back at the beginning of November ready for the Christmas rush. They piss off again until the next November where it all starts again.

we have to hand our badges in if we quit driving "cabs"

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

Mayor backs cabbies over taxi shortage at Christmas

Boris Johnson today backed black cab drivers in their bid to get more taxis on London’s streets over Christmas.

Hundreds of cabbies face a shortfall as a lack of vehicles threatens to ruin their busiest time of year.

Many rent taxis but have had plans foiled after the biggest manufacturer Manganese Bronze went into administration last month. Its collapse came after four years of financial losses and the recall of hundreds of vehicles, leaving many drivers on a long waiting list.

The Mayor said he was “disappointed and concerned” no help had been provided for drivers by the administrators PwC. In a letter to them and the firm he wrote: “As a matter of urgency, I call on you both to take whatever steps are necessary to get replacement cabs licensed and handed to affected cabbies so they can get back to work.”

Transport for London has temporarily relaxed licensing rules for replacement taxis to help drivers find new black cabs to rent. Cabs 15 years old or more were also withdrawn from London’s streets last year as part of the Mayor’s clean air strategy.

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/mayor/ma ... 97477.html

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

So his backing consists of an email to LTI?

That'll move them.

LTI could have hundreds of cabs ready but if no one buys them, there will still be no extra cabs available.

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Grandad,