Taxi Driver Online

Oi Bloodnock, I happen to be one of those PSV operators who uses an under 9 seater on an O licence, I have written permission from the Traffic Commissioner to do so. Even shearings use under 9 seaters as feeders for their tours.

and those of us with D1 and CPC will be able to command a high price for our services from that day!

What does that mean?

Every 4 to 8 passenger seat volunter Vehicle will be either PH or Hack? or that no Volunteer using a 4 to 8 seat Vehicle can get away with using their own unlicenced car?

Or does it Simply mean that the Volunteers cant abuse a Vosa operators licence by driving a vehicle with fewer than 8 passenger seats and for which did not require the driver to have a D1 category licence entitlement?

It'll more likely boost the Minibus Self Drive hires, the ones that you get a mate to drive and whom has never driven anything bigger than a Fiat 500 with 4 people on board it before..that's another loophole they should be closing.

I can't say I've ever noticed a volunteer-driven car displaying a PSV operators licence. The licence holder would be risking the wrath of the TC if they did.

Oddly enough, Kent CC's contract states that vehicles with 8 seats or less must be licenced as hackney or ph. I was approached recently by a very reputable operator who wanted to use an under 9 seater on a KCC contract, so I advised him of the KCC terms and the legal side of the PSV licence (he holds over 80 psv licences). He ummed and aahed, then found out that KCC's very own Top Travel company were indeed using an under 9 seat car on their PSV O licence to cover the contract! Pot, kettle, black springs to mind!

In my view the hire companies have a "duty of care" not only to the hirer but to the passengers who may be conveyed in their vehicles and road users in general. They really ought to check what the vehicle is to be used for before hiring it, but then they'd be doing themselves out of business.

I think the original idea of a community transport minibus taking the elderly around was probably a good Idea when it was introduced in the 1970's, but things have moved on since then. The whole idea has grown out of all proportion with CT companies such as Hackney CT now running international operations, steam railways, TfL bus services, all "not for profit"

Well, to re-open this thread, I've just had a lengthy chat with Martin of MC Cars in Mansfield following a letter I've had published in routeOne bus trade mag this week. In that letter, I mentioned the fact that CT groups were exempt from various licencing regs which I mentioned earlier in this thread.

Martin has put a substantial amount of his own money taking this case to the EU and a judgement is due later this month. there has already been some movement regarding CT bus drivers. It has been deemed that they WILL need D1 entitlement and a Driver CPC to carry on driving over 8 passenger seat vehicles. I understand that VOSA will be at a lot of schools from 10th September when the CPC rules kick in. Basically any CT driver who does not have the CPC card will have a PG9 (immediate prohibition) issued on the vehicle and he will receive a hefty fine, as will the CT operator.

Various other matters were discussed; I wondered how this will affect the ph/taxi trade with community transport cars. The EU ruling, if it goes in "our" favour, and there is a very strong likelihood of that as the EU is against government subsidies, will mean that most "voluntary" groups offering cheap hospital trips will be outlawed. This is based on the premise that if a CT bus driver needs a D1 plus CPC as he's driving for hire and reward, a car driver, doing cheap hospital trips (for hire and reward) will need a ph or taxi licence and be properly licenced. (See Rout v Swallow Hotel for the link on that matter!)

Excrement is likely to hit the air circulation equipment fairly soon, and the government will have to rethink its transport policies.

What has further angered the EU is the fact that Hackney Community Transport (turnover £50m+) recently tendered and was awarded the contract to run all the buses in Jersey, having ousted the previous French-owned company. HCT receives a hefty government subsidy for its operations.

No doubt further clarification will appear soon.

VOSA were out in force in our town on Friday. I think they were targeting certain vehicles because although our minibus was at a school where they were checking vehicles we were not stopped. My wife saw one of the said target vehicles stopped in a lay-by just out of town with VOSA crawling all over it whilst the worried looking driver was talking very animatedly on his mobile. This vehicle and several others belong to a playgroup and take kids to and from school. They were asked about a year ago by our council regarding licensing and they claimed to be working on S19 permits but I have never seen one displayed in any of their vehicles.