Taxi Driver Online

'Introduce peak surcharge to attract more taxi drivers' – Hull Six 0 Cars owner



THE owner of a Hull private hire firm says he is in favour of introducing a "peak surcharge" to tempt more drivers to work busy Friday and Saturday nights.

David Smith, of Six 0 Cars, made the suggestion after Hull City Council's licensing committee rejected appeals to simplify the process involved in obtaining a licence.

Cab firm owners claim would-be drivers are being put off applying because of the requirement to gain a Btec qualification and pass a knowledge test.

Now, in a letter to Keith Fenner, the city council's licensing manager, Mr Smith suggests "drastic measures" are needed.

He said: "What we are seeing at the moment is a severe shortage of drivers available to be hired by the public at busy times.

"This means that there is regularly a three-hour wait on Friday and Saturday nights, and a one-hour wait during morning and afternoon rush hours.

"We often turn away more work than we take and I hear this from all other office owners in the city.

"The time for talking is fast running out. I am in favour of 'surge charging' – increasing tariffs substantially at busy times – to alleviate the present shortfall in drivers. This would encourage drivers to come out and work extra at busy times. I know that this would not go down well with the general public, for obvious reasons."

Self-employed private hire drivers are charged a "runner in" fee by cab firm offices, in return for the lease of radio systems.

Some drivers say owners want the rules around the Btec and knowledge test to be relaxed so a greater number of licences will be issued, resulting in extra "runner in" fees.

In contrast to what owners say, drivers have told the Mail there is generally a shortage of work in the city, leaving most struggling to earn a living.

Mr Smith said: "Drivers now work shorter shifts in order to earn their 'target' income. Drivers doing shorter shifts puts even more pressure on me as a private hire operator."

Last month, the Mail attempted to order a cab from a number of cab firms on a Saturday night.

Waiting times ranged from "about an hour" to three hours.

Mr Smith claims the public are being put at risk.

He said: "How can it be safe for individuals having to walk the streets in the early hours because they cannot get a taxi?"

In a statement, Mr Fenner said: "The decision of the licensing committee was to retain the current application criteria for private hire and hackney carriage drivers.

"The average time taken for applicants to be granted a hackney carriage or private hire driver's licence is to be monitored and a further report, detailing any delays in the process that were identified through this monitoring, will be brought back to the licensing committee at a future date."

Magnus Murray, of the Hull Private Hire Association, said it intends to complain about the committee's decision to the local government ombudsman, in the hope of obtaining a judicial review.


Read more: http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/Introduc ... z433GGtHJc

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

So Magnus Murray wants a judicial review i take it he's not a Driver

Well done Hull Council stringent standards are the way forward other drivers in other areas should take note and organise such standards in their area ====more money for less work

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All posts by this contributor are made in a strictly personal capacity

I AM PROUD TO BE A CITIZEN NOBODY'S SUBJECT http://www.republic.org.u

F88K EM ALL WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND

BOOZE BOOZE BOOZE

I bet if you tried to ring for a taxi on a sat night anywhere, there'd be a long wait. The other 6 days and 20 hours, drivers are sat around waiting for work..

This, every office no matter how big/small is rammed on a fri/sat night at chucking out time

[quote="captain cab"]'Introduce peak surcharge to attract more taxi drivers' – Hull Six 0 Cars owner



THE owner of a Hull private hire firm says he is in favour of introducing a "peak surcharge" to tempt more drivers to work busy Friday and Saturday nights.

David Smith, of Six 0 Cars, made the suggestion after Hull City Council's licensing committee rejected appeals to simplify the process involved in obtaining a licence.

Cab firm owners claim would-be drivers are being put off applying because of the requirement to gain a Btec qualification and pass a knowledge test.

Now, in a letter to Keith Fenner, the city council's licensing manager, Mr Smith suggests "drastic measures" are needed.

He said: "What we are seeing at the moment is a severe shortage of drivers available to be hired by the public at busy times.

"This means that there is regularly a three-hour wait on Friday and Saturday nights, and a one-hour wait during morning and afternoon rush hours.

"We often turn away more work than we take and I hear this from all other office owners in the city.

"The time for talking is fast running out. I am in favour of 'surge charging' – increasing tariffs substantially at busy times – to alleviate the present shortfall in drivers. This would encourage drivers to come out and work extra at busy times. I know that this would not go down well with the general public, for obvious reasons."

Self-employed private hire drivers are charged a "runner in" fee by cab firm offices, in return for the lease of radio systems.

Some drivers say owners want the rules around the Btec and knowledge test to be relaxed so a greater number of licences will be issued, resulting in extra "runner in" fees.

In contrast to what owners say, drivers have told the Mail there is generally a shortage of work in the city, leaving most struggling to earn a living.

Mr Smith said: "Drivers now work shorter shifts in order to earn their 'target' income. Drivers doing shorter shifts puts even more pressure on me as a private hire operator."

Last month, the Mail attempted to order a cab from a number of cab firms on a Saturday night.

Waiting times ranged from "about an hour" to three hours.

Mr Smith claims the public are being put at risk.

He said: "How can it be safe for individuals having to walk the streets in the early hours because they cannot get a taxi?"

In a statement, Mr Fenner said: "The decision of the licensing committee was to retain the current application criteria for private hire and hackney carriage drivers.

"The average time taken for applicants to be granted a hackney carriage or private hire driver's licence is to be monitored and a further report, detailing any delays in the process that were identified through this monitoring, will be brought back to the licensing committee at a future date."

Magnus Murray, of the Hull Private Hire Association, said it intends to complain about the committee's decision to the local government ombudsman, in the hope of obtaining a judicial review.


Read more: http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/Introduc ... tory.html#

You think Mr Murray, that the ombudsman will obtain a judicial review on your behalf? Not a chance.

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Former taxi driver

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

The fella has a point.

Up the money folks can earn and that will a) increase the number of drivers prepared to work those hours, and b) encourage more into the trade.

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IDFIMH

We have not found this to be the case. Our drivers can earn very good money because of the way we work. This does not make them work more hours, it makes them work less hours so there are times when we don't have drivers available. The company's that have drivers earning peanuts have the cars out because the drivers have to work more hours just to make enough to live.

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Grandad,

He's a private hire operator so there's nothing stopping him from increasing his fares is there

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!