Taxi Driver Online

I assume the h-word in the thread title is permissible, for a change?

Anyway, where to start with this? The usual go-to spokespeople for the trade, such as Anddy with two Ds in Perth, and Magnum Taxis in Fife, who are coincidentally close to the Shell station in Leven who are/were charging 199p per litre of diesel

I suspect Magnum have stopped discounting fares quite so much as a consequence, but that doesn't stop them going to the council for a fare rise

Which probably won't be implemented till December anyway, because Fife Council has other stuff to do, not sure if they're actually back in the office yet, and the councillors need their several-month summer break etc. Good job these people don't have to run a business

But there's the usual stuff about drivers working longer hours etc, which maybe indicates why they're not earning enough, as usual - if all drivers work more hours, they're all working more hours for zero gain, but many in the trade seem to miss that point entirely


Tayside and Fife taxi drivers fear soaring fuel prices could put them out of business

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/fi ... osts-soar/

Tayside and Fife taxi operators fear soaring fuel prices could drive them out of business.

And they’re calling for large increases in customer tariffs just to keep them on the road.

Taxi fares are set and regulated by local councils.

And in Perth, they have stayed the same for more than a decade despite a huge rise in the cost of petrol and diesel.

Meanwhile in Fife, drivers are struggling to make ends meet after a four-year fare freeze.

Companies say the situation is now urgent and many are even considering whether it is worth their while continuing.

Both Perth and Kinross and Fife Councils are in the process of reviewing tariffs but some operators say even a 10% increase won’t be enough.

Perth drivers are ‘feeling the pinch’

Anddy Lothian of Perth-based Ace Taxis said Covid had almost brought the industry to its knees.

And the fuel crisis hit before they had time to recover.

Anddy said: “Right now fuel prices are the worst they’ve ever been and it’s hitting every taxi company hard.

“But we’ve not had a fares increase in Perth for 11 years. It’s ridiculous.

“All the drivers are noticing it and they’re all moaning about it.

“If it gets much worse, it won’t be worth our while turning out.”

A meeting of Perth and Kinross Council on April 7 will discuss the issue.

And options include a fare increase of 5%, 7% or 10%.

Anddy said: “Even 10% will be hit or miss for us.”

And Derek Sweeney of Perth’s A&B Taxis agrees.

He said: “This fare increase hasn’t materialised for one reason or another but fuel is continuing to go up.

“It’s affecting everybody in the transport industry, taxis included.

“And while it was difficult before the price hike, drivers are now really feeling the pinch.

“They’re having to work much longer hours to make a wage.

“We really need to do something pretty quickly.”

Fife taxi drivers have ‘one of Scotland’s most expensive’ fuelling stations

Meanwhile in Fife, Sam Green from Magnum Taxis operates in Levenmouth where one garage put the price of diesel up to £1.99 a litre this week.

“I sent an email to the council yesterday about this,” he said.

“We now have Shell in Leven named one of the most expensive filling stations in Scotland.

“But we’ve not had a fare stage increase for four years.

“When it did go up, it went up by 20p.”

Sam’s reply from the council was less than encouraging, he says.

“I got an email back saying we’re busy dealing with grants at the moment but we’ll get back to you,” he said.

“We’re trying to make savings elsewhere but the cost of living generally is going up.

“I had an email to the taxi office saying our electricity bill is rising from £155 a year to £355.”

The Perth and Fife firms all lost drivers when work dried up during the Covid lockdown.

And they’re struggling to tempt them back now that bars and restaurants have reopened.

Anddy commented: “They’re actually making more money delivering takeaway food than they were driving taxis.

“How ridiculous is that?”

Councils reviewing taxi fares

Perth and Kinross Council confirmed it had carried out a review of fares.

A spokesperson said: “The review has been completed and a report will go before the licensing committee on April 7.”

However, Fife operators will have to wait a bit longer.

Lead officer Gillian Love confirmed a review of taxi fares would take place over the next few months.

“This will involve a consultation with taxi operators to gather their views before any decisions are made,” she said.

£40 a quarter leccy bill for an office?

When my flat in Dundee was unoccupied for [far too long] it was costing me more than that to power just a 15 watt bulb, due to the standing charge etc.

Maybe they've been getting heavily discounted electricity rates, like their taxi fares

fuel would need to reach above 400p per litre before it wiped out our margins completely so there will be some money made just not as much as before




maybe they don't pay directly perhaps the building pays and each business within pays their pro rata bit

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

It's certainly a small office, but doesn't look like the type that would have that sort of sharing arrangement, but who knows, and you can't judge stuff like that simply from appearances:

https://wpcluster.dctdigital.com/wp-con ... 2atruj.jpg

But maybe they do pay some sort of standing charge via a rental, or whatever, so they just pay a bill for the actual electricity usage, or similar.

But even at that, £40 a quarter seems a modest sum, and would definitely indicate they don't use electric heating, unless of course they're freezing to death in there

But, at recent prices, £40 per quarter would barely power an (old-style) 100w bulb for 20 hours per day, so suspect there's more to the quoted figures than meets the eye.

(Removed the photos from the article because they were too big for the forum, but they've been on here previously at a more manageable size.)

By the way, Edders, you missed a trick with my earlier clanger, now amended. I said it was Anndy with two Ns, whereas it's actually Anddy with two Ds

Indeed.

A 20-30% increase can be viewed as a hike, a 3-7% increase cannot.

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IDFIMH

At a rough guess, I would say I'm paying about £20-£25 a week more for my diesel since the start of these recent hikes ( ).

Yes that's a pain, and I would sooner it was £25 less, but it's a million miles from putting me off the road.

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IDFIMH

Well I've decided not to post any more stuff about fares, nor to comment on them. (And since, for obvious reasons, a lot of articles at the moment are about fares, I haven't been posting many )

But found this one by accident earlier, and it's consistent with what I said above about how ludicrous it all was when costs for the trade are changing rapidly, but the council tariff-setting processes aren't what you'd call dynamic and responsive.

By the way, when I earlier mentioned councillors' several month summer break, should have used the proper term, which I think is 'recess'. But certainly not several months of summer *holiday*

To be fair to the councillor who wanted a delay, though, this article is two months old, so before the fuel stuff.

On the other hand, to that extent, he wanted it delayed for almost six months because of the elections.

And it's more about the elections rather than councillors' holidays. But I recall a few years ago, when it was planned to extend our main night rank, the decision was delayed for months because of elections *and* the summer recess

(But it didn't matter anyway, because the rank wasn't extended, and several years later it's still the same )


Under pressure Angus taxi trade could see first fares rise in four years

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/an ... es-review/

Angus taxi fares could facing a hike for the first time in four years.

A review of rates has been launched for a trade which one local operator said has seen business “fall off the cliff”.

The process is now underway after a failed bid to put the brakes on the review until after Scottish council elections in May.

It is less than six months since Angus councillors decided there shouldn’t be a price hike.

But civic licensing committee councillors agreed another review should take place.

The current standard daytime hire rate is £3.50 for the first 1,660 yards – just under a mile.

The next 1,660 yards are charged at £3.50, and then 10p for every 85 yards thereafter.

Waiting time is 10p for every 15 seconds.

Evening rates go up to £3.80. And there are higher charges over the festive period.

Delay move thwarted

Council legal manager David Thompson told them: “We’ve had representations from the trade.

“They highlight what I think everyone in the meeting already knows – that there have been significant increases in costs.”

But Arbroath councillor Alex King said he wanted to delay the review.

Mr King said: “The last one was only completed in August 2021.

“And we’ve an election for a new council in May.

“So I think it would be better for this to be deferred for the first meeting of the civic licensing committee in the next administration.

“I don’t want to be committing people to doing a whole lot of work which might be rejected by the next committee.”

Committee vice-convener Richard Moore said: “If taxi drivers are having a difficult time now, I don’t want to wait until May/June time to start the process.

“We can start the process and leave the decision to the incoming civic licensing committee.”

Operator’s doubts

But one Angus operator fears the latest review will be a “waste of time”.

Scott Ferrier of VIP Taxis in Forfar said: “We haven’t had an increase since 2018.

“I’ve made representations in the past.

“But it seems every time Forfar operators say they want a rise that the trade in Arbroath say they don’t and it’s kicked out.

“The level of trade has fallen off a cliff.

“We’re running at about 45% capacity.

“As far as Friday and Saturday night weekend work is concerned, there’s just nothing there.

“Fuel, insurance, maintenance and the cost of parts have all gone up.

“So, yes I’d like to see a rise.

“But at the same time the people we are carrying have also seen their costs for fuel, food and everything else increase.

“The public just don’t have the money.”

A review is also on the way in neighbouring Perth and Kinross Council.

It comes after the trade there said it is “on its knees” having not seen a fares increase in a decade.

Indeed, which is sort of why I'm on about a flexible app-based charge, which could be a way around the snail-like pace we have with the current legislation.

Of course, we have a few numpties down here who vote for a rise in committee and then ask officials to come back with a plan to reduce fares should fuel come down in price.

Sadly that's the level of person we have on our licensing committee.

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IDFIMH