Taxi Driver Online

Newbie here so, sorry if this has been asked before but i will only be starting to do a private hire taxi around January

Totally alien to me so any info would be much appreciated with regards to best way of going about my working day

What do the vast majority of drivers do? Do you go straight back and sit at rank after dropping customer off and wait for another job normally?

Or would you sit near local shops , wait in housing schemes, wait near town centre etc?

I know everybody will have their own way of working so any info you could give will be more than welcome

Cheers in advance

This one is easy. You say you will be working private hire, so you can only do pre booked work. You can't sit on any rank, you can't pick up off the street. You can only do work that has been pre booked through your operator at their booking office.

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Grandad,

Yeah i understand that and cheers for replying but i see many taxis seem to be sitting all around the area and i have been keeping my eye out on the rank for a while now and it would seem there are never alot if any at all sitting in a Q which has me wondering why

If I were you I would get a psychological evaluation to find out why you wanted to drive a Ph/Taxi in the first place. Then supposing you are found to be clinically insane, you can apply for a Ph licence and possibly a taxi licence. Your next step is to join all the other lunatics working a ridiculous amount of hours for very low pay.

Now supposing you’ve managed to master the above you'll be able to sit around for hours doing f8ck all.

I hope this advice helps you on the road to a new career, and if you've got any sense it won't be driving taxis.

?? Do you mean you don't see any private hire sitting on the rank, or you don't see any hackney cabs on the rank ?

Firstly there won't be any PH on the rank because they are not permitted (by law) to sit there, secondly there isn't any hackneys on the rank because they are a) Really busy or b) they dont get much work off it.

If you mean you see lots of hackneys sitting around the area then they shouldn't be, they can only sit and wait on ranks if available for hire. But as you will find when you start in January, what both PH and hackneys should do and what they actually do are two different things.

As he's in Scotland, that is not accurate.
He can do any prebooked work, it does not need to be booked through his office. (mobile phone, internet etc)
He must not wait for work anywhere outside the area for which he is licensed.

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

The most unsociable hours you work, the more you will earn.

Don't expect to earn much for the first few weeks, because you wont.

If a lot of cars sit in an area there is usually a good reason for it, the same applies for areas where no one sits.

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IDFIMH

Haha , yeah i know m8 what i am getting myself into but at this precise moment i have no desire to work a 9-5 job where, i am told when i can eat, take a break, take a holiday etc etc

Want to do my own thing for a bit and see how it pans out

So your thinking of starting in January, now think put yourself in the punters shoes, its just after Christmas and new year, the utility bills come in and your skint so cannot go out and p iss up what you don't have.
Now put yourself in the drivers seat your left sitting there with your finger in neutral for the first 4 months

Fair comment m8 tbh but what do other taxi drivers do then?

Surely if it was that bad there would be no taxis on the road at all?

Mate, driving a taxi is now a job of last resort.

Perhaps, twenty and even ten years ago, the job was, at least in some places, still worthwhile. However, now with the economy the way it is, it’s completely f8cked. And there’s every chance it’s going to get a hell of a lot worse, before it bottoms out. Quite frankly, there is no light at the end of the tunnel, and if there is, it hasn’t got here yet.

If you make a start in January, and you make it through to May, you’ll deserve a pat on the back, that’s for sure.

Have to agree with the others, things are pretty dire in most places ATM and January is the worst time to start anywhere.

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Cheers for the info lads

Its just by the time the whole application process is over with and car is purchases etc it is looking like January is going to be the earliest i will be able to start

Nothing else in the pipeline atm anyway as am sure you are all aware the current job market is dire to say the least so might as well see if i can make some sort of living out of it

Rather be earning something than nothing but if it doesnt pan out then its onto the next big adventure

Whatever that may be though is anybodys guess

If I were you, I would see what private work you can drum up. Get your own cards made up and a price list you can use to quote cash work from, miles = £= time. Furthermore, check out the local hotels and B&Bs to see if you can make a deal on the side with maybe a little bung to sweeten the pot. You are learning on the hoof so don't be put off.

Oh and make a list of everyone you know that might be able to put work your way. Think quality rather than quantity. You have to work smarter to survive in this economic climate, rather than wasting your time chasing scraps like everyone else.


Oh and good luck, I think you are going to need it.

Best of luck with the venture.

You got some good advice here, and you won't be going into it now with wide eyed expectations. So you have half a chance at least.