Taxi Driver Online

HI All,

I am rather new here.

I have been studying Access to write my own database for my Taxi compnay.

We only have 3 cars and all the booking / dispatch system are far to technical.

Has anybody got access knowledge that can help.

Regards r

With only 3 cars I'd stick to pen and paper.

You should be 101% focused on getting your business off the ground rather than getting side tracked into areas where you have little experience.

You're either a taxi proprietor or a software writer and you need to make your mind up which, because at the moment your not exactly either.

What Nidge2 said.

Bill

Thanks for your comment Bill,

After being a TAXI Proprietor for 25 years my Company has been well established.

Although we only have three cars we subcontract a lot of work out.

we have approx 10 - 15 jobs each day so this is why i have asked about a database
to compile bookings, send jobs sheet and invoices.

i have found your comment rather rude and after being a member for 1 day did not expect this.

Bill's not rude, but sometimes it pays to be a bit mean.

I know nothing about the finer details of radio/data despatch systems, other than being mugged into using Auriga sh** for far too many years.

But I fail to see any benefit in spending time building a system for three cars, especially when most of those jobs will be long distance.

Exactly what do you want from a system that a big diary couldn't cope with?

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IDFIMH

How have you managed for the last 25 years?
What has changed in the last 25 years that makes you think you need to change systems now?
I certainly don't think Bill was being rude to you. The time and effort that would be required to write your own software would probably be extensive and best left to an expert in these matters.
I personally use Cab Vista. It allows you to input all your work and will create an invoice for each customer at the end of the month.

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Grandad,

ha ha ha welcome to taxi driver online. get a grip its only words and while im still a newish member i really dont think bill was being nasty to you. before we got a dispatch system we used a office spreadsheet to log jobs and print bills and to be honest it worked fine for 5 years oh happy days. if it wasnt for customers wanting ringback wed probally still be using it

I work for a company with over 75 drivers and lots of accounts and we still use pen and paper (and lots of tippex).

If you think Bill was rude, stick around and see what rude really is on here. or if you can't wait, try the Scottish section for a taster, or six.

_________________
My heart is heavy, but my consience clear,
I voted Yes, without any fear.

Bill is one of the nicest guys on here.

TBH if you think that was rude, you're in the wrong trade.

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

BournmouthTaxi

R

Sorry if you found my reply offensive, it certainly wasn't meant to be. When I’m here, I normally end up writing quite lengthy explanations to try and explain technical issues or to give what I hope is an unbiased view of the general taxi trade. In this instance though, I didn't have a great deal of time and my posting was a bit brief and blunt. Still, the message clearly hit home and probably a lot more so that it would have had it been wrapped in politeness.

I’ve literally spent years of my live being polite to people wanting to expand their “fleet” of vehicles from two to three and listening to their reasoning for why they couldn't do this without computer software. Fortunately, I've managed to stop such calls these days but if I get any, then the advice, as always, would be to get a good pencil and a notepad. Your initial post made it appear that you were no different than any of the usual wannabe start-ups and had you explained things a little more then I’d have probably given you a somewhat different reply.

My experience of Bournemouth is that it probably has the greatest number of taxi drivers past the normal retirement age, where earnings are not the be all and end all of their life. With this thought firmly in my mind and considering that (unlike most) you don't seem to have any grand plans to monopolize the town, I’m forming the impression that you might have time to spare and simply want to see what you could achieve yourself.

Ordinarily, for businesses, I’d recommend looking for one of the many small packages targeting the owner driver market but if you have the time and the enthusiasm then yes, Access can be used to make something that meets your needs. It’s all very doable, in fact we use Access databases in our core software but to try and advise you how to do this is well beyond what we could reasonably do here. Quite possibly there may be some good help available from the local colleges or maybe even a little direct appeal for help in the local paper? I’d bet there are many retired gentlemen programmers that live in Bournemouth who’d welcome the chance simply to help you out at no cost.

Bill