The forgotten Sheffield taxi drivers earning £15 a day in lockdownThree Sheffield Hackney Carriage drivers have revealed their woes as they struggle to make money in lockdown
Struggling Sheffield black cab drivers have revealed they are making as little as £15 a day and are barely earning enough money to pay their rent and bills.
With the country just days into lockdown, Hackney Carriage drivers are continuing to try and earn some money but they are facing an uphill struggle after a huge slump in trade.
Drivers waiting for fares outside Sheffield Train Station revealed they can wait up to three hours sometimes just to pick up a fare with scores of cabs seen waiting patiently in queues for passengers to exit the station.
Every year, they have to pay £618 for a permit which allows them to park outside the station and although they asked for a reduction, this was not granted.
Now, they must continue to work and hope trade picks up but the situation is looking bleaker by the day.
'I'm really struggling'
Wajid Hussain has had to borrow money to pay his bills
Wajid Hussain has been a taxi driver for over 15 years and has never faced a period with so much uncertainty and anxiety.
"In nine to ten hours we can do just two to three jobs and we can't survive on that, the 50-year-old dad-of-two said.
"When I see it's really bad what I mean is that I'm behind on all my bills and I'm really struggling. I'm borrowing money off friends, I've had to take out credit cards and to tell you the truth, I don't know when this will end."
Sometimes, in a ten-hour day, Wajid will make just £15.
He says taxi drivers were doing "OK" during the summer when businesses reopened and people were making the most of the government's Eat Out to Help Out scheme.
However, that trade has now disappeared and they are now relying on commuters arriving in Sheffield on trains from bigger cities such as London.
It is a scary time for Wajid and other drivers struggling to make ends meet, and even though he has applied for other jobs as delivery drivers he is yet to get any replies.
"Coronavirus has caused our trade to collapse and nobody will give people like me jobs because they all want younger people," Wajid said.
"I've applied for driving jobs and delivery jobs with Amazon and Tesco but haven't got a reply. I thought this would last about three months but now we're into eight and I just wonder how we are going to survive.
'I haven't got money - I'm skint'
Parwaiz says he is skint
Another cabbie lined up outside the station waiting to grab a fare was Parwaiz Khan.
In a recent eight-hour day he failed to earn more than £25 and he admits that all taxi drivers are struggling to make enough money to pay their bills.
The 58-year-old from Sheffield said: "It's really bad and I'm behind [with payments] because there's no trade. Where do we get money from?
"It's nearly midday and I haven't done a job yet today.
"I haven't got money and I'm skint. The permit costs us over £600 a year but I haven't got that money."
'Some drivers aren't coming out to work because it's a waste of time'
Shoukat says some drivers aren't bothering to come to work because they're not earning enough money
Taxi drivers plying for trade at the station pay £618 to East Midlands Railway for a permit.
Shoukat Hussain, 55, is one of those drivers who asked for that fee to be reduced but that request was refused and some drivers feel aggrieved at having to pay so much when trade is dwindling massively.
He said: "I've just had paid out over £600 for a licence and we asked for a reduction but at the end of the day they said no.
"I think some of the drivers aren't even coming out to work. They are just sitting at home because it's a waste of time coming out to work to do a two to three jobs across a 10 to 12 hour day."
Shoukat said it has been "really hard" for him and fellow cabbies and said it can be painful to sit for so long in their vehicles waiting for a fare.
"You get pain in your legs from sitting in your cars," he said. "You have to get out and do a little walk.
"It has been really hard and people are sometimes waiting two to three hours here at night and then leave the station empty."
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