Taxi Driver Online

Hello Everyone.

I'm currently working as a self-employed courier in the East midlands, but even though i love what i do changes made by the company i work have made me think about getting into Taxi's.

Anyhow, instead of trying yet again to search through all the useless websites which have basically told me nothing, i thought i'd see if you guys could help a little. I'm guessing alot of you run your own business , with your operators lisense and what not.

Obviously starting now i need to get myself a Wheelchair Accessible car if i want to run a Hackney Carridge, i've tried looking at the Peugeot E7 and Eurocab and found out everything i need to know, apart from the price of the bloody things. Also, how easy is it to get finance when your first starting out? A business plan seems daunting to make when you can;t get any info on certain things.

How much do you guys expect to make a week? The district i'm intersted in has three decent sized towns near Mansfield, but there dosen;t seem to be alot of companies, just generic self employed cars.

Thanks~

i dont know the area up north, but where i am i expect tp take after fuel anything between £850 - £1200 per week on a night shift.

You can get a cab on finance for about £400 per month, a plate might cost you £500 if its in a de restricted area or anything upto £80000 if its restricted.

Insurance is about £2000 grand, and the rest is your luck!!

If you work 14 hours a day, 9 days a week.

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IDFIMH

I would go and work in Mansfield.

There the council look after drivers by giving them a good increase, they also have lifted taxi restrictions to make it easier for chaps like you wanting to join the trade.

One thing though, if some mush from the T&G offers any advice, then just tell him to f*** off.

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IDFIMH

Like getting finance in general it's a lot easier than it used to be, but you may be stuck if you have a bad credit rating.

As for the earnings question, that's impossible to answer, but have a look at a recent thread, which also links to a couple of earlier threads which may help you.

But in general terms, the more difficult it is to get into the job, the more you will earn, and the more undesirable the work is (eg nights, weekends, drunks, puke, abuse etc), the more you will earn.

http://www.taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/vie ... php?t=1993

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

Basically you will earn what you need, but not necessarily what you want.

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IDFIMH

actually mate i work six days a week and 8-10 hours at most - remember i work in a restricted area and that is what you guys dont like - excess profits for a few.

but if you get your way and de reg then yes i guess then your statement might well be true.

I just can't work out how all those cabs in 65% of the country, that is quota free, make any money.

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IDFIMH

65%? Don't you know that 354% of statistics are wildly innacurate?

Only those quoted by the braindead of the T&G/NTA.

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IDFIMH

Belvar, what do you make of this: www.postalandcourier.co.uk

Cheers for the replies.

In my mind i think i have things planned out more clearly. What i want to do is this....which may seem wrong to you, but i have questions on the way.

1. Buy three vechicles on Finance
Simple enough, my credit rating is fine and the bloke on the phoneline at the taxi dealer assures me the payments will be easy to make (he would say that)

2. Employing Drivers
What i still can't find out is what is normal for taxi firms and their drivers. I understand that alot of people i have asked rent the radio systems owned by ceratin firms and getting work from them that way, and the drivers can swap and change whenever they please.
Another guy i have asked at my workplace says when he was a taxi driver he was employed and kept 40% of what he earned while driving a company car. Is this what alot of firms do? It seems simpler and more profitable to the company then just taking the £100 for the radio. Does it depend on wether they are Hackneys or Private Hires?

3. A Building
Seen a few, looking at one tomorrow infact in a busy(ish) area. Think thats a good idea? For walk-in customers like.

So thats Hackneys with Employed drivers taking home 40% of what they take..... good or bad? I'm confused on wether to go for it or not....so many positive comments, and yet so many negative.

I would be inclined to get the customers first for one car, before you think of buying any more.

Whatever the local trade charge for rental, beit radio rent of fixed %, then I would follow suit.

Or maybe its best you invested your money in property.

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IDFIMH

These Radios....

I've been thinking (oh dear!) about how people rent them from you and then accept bookings which are made to your office/operator.

Would that be better? Say having one of your cars and three self-employed cars? It would save on insurance.upkeep afterall to begin with.

How much are these radios to install and connect to your system?

There are various set-ups, and it doesn't really matter if it's hackney or PH, but of course some hackneys aren't part of an office at all and just 'work the streets'.

Most bigger offices tend to leave ownership of the vehicles to individuals, who in turn may drive themselves or hire drivers or do both. But the individual owner will pay the office rent for the radio. But the office itself may own a few cars and hire drivers.

Some smaller offices may own all the vehicles, or they may have a mixture.

The hired drivers may either pay a rental for the vehicle (this seems to be more common in the bigger cities) or be payed a percentage. Some drivers may be paid an hourly wage and be actual employees, which means lots of paperwork and bureacracy, but these are very much in the minority in the trade - most hired drivers are technically self employed.

There are many reasons for the different structures - for example, professional drivers generally won't work as someone's minion, so they tend to own their own vehicles and pay an office (often a co-op of some kind) to find them work - offices may find it difficult to recruit drivers otherwise.

Smaller offices may prefer not to own cars because they could breach the VAT threshold with cars, because the takings would be part of their turnover, but if they only rent radios then only this income will be included in their turnover. From the office's point of view, this gets rid of things like the hiring of drivers and problems of vehicles, which would be the individual owner's responsibility, at least in most cases. On the other hand, some offices may operate a driver pool, and the owners will fight like cat and dog to get their vehicle 'covered'.

By the same token, if you operate three cars your turnover could exceed the VAT threshold, in which case at least 10% of your takings would be lost to VAT.

If I was you I would start off by working for another firm, either as a driver or as an owner driver, until you get a feel for the trade. I think it's a bit over-amibitous to buy a few cars until you know what you're doing - you may find it difficult to recruit drivers, for example, and could be left with three vehicles and no drivers. There's generally a 'shortage' of drivers in the trade because there are lots of owners like yourself who want to hire them, but the number of available cars often exceeds the supply of drivers - it's not as if there are unemployed taxi drivers just waiting for people to put more taxis on the road to give them a job.

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk