Taxi Driver Online

Another article from Glasgow that reads like it could do with a bit of editing. Surprise, surprise it's the same author as last time round

Apart from the article's length, it's also a bit confusing, and not entirely clear what's going on in terms of precise numbers at least.

But, I mean, £13k to convert a cab to LPG?


Glasgow taxi crisis worsens as 'around 50' cabs forced off road due to LPG fuel shortage

https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/glas ... d-23599687

Desperate drivers drove as far as Kilmarnock to try and get their hands on LPG fuel to no success at the weekend, amid reports that all of the petrol stations in Glasgow were out of it.

The crisis surrounding the shortage of Glasgow taxi cabs has been worsened by the news that 'about 50' cabs were off the road at the weekend as they were unable to get fuel.

The issue concerned all the city cabs that run on LPG fuel, which is regarded as more environmentally friendly and allows the taxis to comply with the forthcoming Low Emission Zone rules that come into force in June next year.

Desperate drivers drove as far as Hamilton and Kilmarnock to try and get their hands on the fuel, amid reports that all of the petrol stations in Glasgow were out of it.

Glasgow Cab Section, who provide a collective voice for the entire Glasgow Hackney trade, say the issue has been "ongoing for months now" and is exacerbating what is already a crisis for the city's taxi trade.

Steven Grant, Secretary of Unite Glasgow Cab section, told Glasgow Live: "I was told there were 54 cabs off at the weekend because couldn't get fuel. This has been ongoing for months now. A couple of drivers contacted us to tell us that it wasn't available out there at the weekend and they were running as far as Hamilton to try and get it.

"There's about four of five different outlets in Glasgow and there were all completely dry of LPG. I think the closest at the weekend was Kilmarnock. But it's not sustainable. Cabs were just off the road, they just couldn't work because of it.

"It's an ongoing problem and it's not to do with the crisis in Ukraine or any sort of protests at the refineries, this is something I've been getting contacted by members for a month or two now, saying that the stocks are, if they are not just about to run out they are dry. It's not plentiful at all at any of these filling stations in Glasgow.

"It's more to do with the companies, the likes of BP and Shell, that are now moving away from providing LPG because it's just not a fuel that's used very much. LPGs a dying technology it seems, they are just not stocking it. I think 1 or 2% of fuel types for cars is now LPG so it's definitely something that is dwindling at fuel stations."

The 50 or so taxis in the city that run on LPG fuel do so after taking up the chance to have their cabs converted via a government scheme, which means they will be able to operate in the city centre once Glasgow's Low Emission Zone starts next year.

However, given the problems they are facing with sourcing fuel to run their taxis, Steven called the LPG-powered cabs "dead technology" and called on the Energy Saving Trust - who part-fund the taxi conversions - to bring a halt to them.

He said: "It's now looking like a dead technology and the guys just won't do it because of the horror stories they've been hearing as far as accessing the fuel and there's also been some technical difficulties with the engines overheating.

"It was sold to us as an alternative for drivers but it's certainly not looking that way now, the trade will just reject it completely. It's such a shame because there's been a lot of money put towards it - it cost £13,000 to have the conversion done and the Government were providing an 80% grant towards it so the guys were getting around £10,000 to do it and paying £3,000 themselves for having it done. Now they can't work. I can't see the situation getting any better because they are at the mercy of big fuel companies, who, if they are moving away from LPG I don't know how there's any future. It's just not sustainable to continue with LPG conversion.

"We've actually contacted the Energy Saving Trust who provide the grants and told them that they should be looking at this, if they can't guarantee the supply of the fuel they should suspend any more grant payments towards LPG conversions."

The concern now is that the Glasgow taxi trade could be plunged into further crisis with drivers of the remaining fleet of around 900 cabs that require to be retro-fitted with LPG engines "shunning" any plan to do so for fear of being left unable to work.

Steven added: "There's a wider issue here. There's 900 cabs within the fleet (out of the 1,000 that are currently non-compliant with the Low Emission Zone rules) that we believe will be able to be retro-fitted. We believe that there's hundreds of those cabs that LPG is the only solution for them to be retro-fitted. That was with the 900 figure included.

"If LPG is the solution for those cabs, and the only solution. Word gets round between the taxi drivers in the trade and they will just shun it. We have never rejected the LEZ as a solution for clean air, we've embraced it, but things have conspired against us and it's just a perfect storm at the moment. The only solution we can see at the moment is a delay in LEZ enforcement for the cabs or else there is going to be a dramatic fall in the number of cabs available after June, 2023.

"The average age of the drivers is 57, there's absolutely no way that they are going to sink themselves into £61,000 of debt for an electric vehicle if they could and that's really the only choices available to them at the moment."

No, me neither

When I had vehicles that ran on LPG I had a transfer pump and used 47KG propane cylinders.

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Grandad,

so why did you ditch LPG then ?

and was it because the engines kept blowing up ?

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

Think that's the situation throughout the UK, drivers just are not going to be able to finance electric WAVs. It's just not going to happen.

Maybe some hackney drivers will change to the dark side, but many will either retire or change trades.

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IDFIMH

But it's the poor women councillors who aren't standing again that are having it really, really bad. I mean, the one the other other day who was being called 'sweetheart' etc. Maybe they should try a few weekend late-night shifts in a Glasgow PHV.

And this one is complaining that councillors have no powers. I mean, hello? Her Green colleagues on the 'sustainability' committee (or whatever it's called) have just voted for a financial bloodbath. But it's late 50s 'gammons' who are suffering. So that's OK then


Scottish Green councillor calls for better deal for local representatives

https://www.thenational.scot/news/20040 ... entatives/

A RESIGNING councillor has said working at HMP Barlinnie was “nicer” than her time in local government, as she demanded a fairer deal for councillors.

Kim Long, who will step down as a councillor at the upcoming local elections, has said local government representatives are effectively paid less than the living wage and have little real power.

The current state of affairs in Glasgow, where Long represented Dennistoun for the Greens, has seen 34% of all female councillors choose not to stand for re-election this year.

Long says this is because the poor conditions endured by councillors put off younger people and especially women – more likely to have caring responsibilities than their male counterparts.

Along with councillors from across the political spectrum, Long put forward a motion at the last full meeting of the council before the election to highlight the “sewer” of local government which puts women off staying involved in council politics.

Despite moments of pride, such as helping a constituent facing deportation remain in the country and helping others suffering from domestic abuse or housing problems, Long said she can no longer tolerate the “toxic culture” of local politics.

Asking questions of the administration, she said, resulted in reactions “like I’d just punched somebody’s mother”.

She said that collaborative approaches were “the exception” and that “tribal politics” were a barrier to solving local issues.

“In workplaces I have been before I was elected, it is completely normal that you work as a team, you give credit to people for their ideas, that you don’t try and undermine people – all of these behaviours, that are totally normal in politics, are really alien in a modern workplace,” Long added.

“Having worked in Barlinnie, that was much nicer.”

Long works two jobs to make ends meet as the sole breadwinner in her home – but feels the demands put on her mean she does neither “particularly well”.

A decent wage that reflects the work put in by councillors is the top of her priority list for improving local government – believing it would encourage a far more diverse cohort of representatives that “look like” the communities they serve.

“I have to work two jobs, which I hate and I don’t think I can do either of them particularly well which is really frustrating,” she said.

Prior to her current working arrangement, she was a carer for her grandmother who now lives in a care home.

Long added: “There needs to be a wage that is competitive – at minimum a living wage.

“The single biggest barrier to gender balance in local councils is the pay.

“Currently we’re on £18,500 and there was a Cosla survey that showed on average Scottish councillors were working 37 hours per week, so when you do the maths, we’re not earning a living wage.”

The real living wage is £9.90 per hour. By Long’s calculations, most councillors are making £9.61 per hour – which is above the legal minimum wage.

Low wages combined with a heavy workload are more than enough to put people off entering local politics, especially women and people from underrepresented backgrounds – something acknowledged by Glasgow City Council.

Long – a member of the LGBT community – said asylum seekers fleeing persecution because of their sexuality were able to open up to her.

And one of her constituents, a woman from Africa not fluent in English, could have been helped faster, Long believes, had more diverse staff been able to intervene.

She said: “She had gone to the doctor and had to invent all of these things because she actually wanted to talk about her sexual health but her interpreter was a friend of her husbands, so she couldn’t.”

But Long believes the problems with Scotland’s councils run deeper than individual pay and conditions.

Scotland was called the most centralised country in Europe by a Cosla report in 2014 and large council areas having little real power was identified as a key part of this.

“We’re not local and we don’t really have any authority either,” said Long.

“We’re at the end of the decision train, we’re just enacting other people’s policies a lot of the time.

“Local government needs to have the power to make decisions.”

Glasgow City Council said it is not responsible for the pay of councillors, as this lies with the Scottish Government.

A spokesman added: “We recognise that terms and conditions – including pay and allowances – may limit the accessibility of elected office and, in turn, narrow diversity and representation. The council has also welcomed the recent commitment by the Scottish Government and Cosla to an independent review.

“Locally, the council is looking at how initiatives like hybrid working can address problems.”

A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said ministers had, along with Cosla, committed to a review of councillor pay which would “be undertaken at pace”.

They added: “The review will commence as soon as possible after the forthcoming local government elections to ensure that terms and conditions truly reflect the responsibilities of the 21st-century councillor.”

The Scottish Government said it recognised poor pay was a barrier to increasing diversity on councils.

Don't talk to me about councillors.

Some are brilliant, they know the trade inside and out and understand what the trade is saying when they say something.

Doesn't mean the local trade gets their way all the time, far from it, but some licensing councillors are really good supporters of the trade.

However too many haven't got a f***ing clue about the trade, and that drives me mad.

But what really gets my goat is when councillors stand in for licensing committee meetings just to fill the numbers.

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IDFIMH

No, we didn't have any problems with the engines. We just changed to buying 1.5 Renault Meganes because they were cheap to buy and very good on fuel. The first LPG vehicles we had were our stretched limos. They ran very well on it. Then when we bought our first taxi, a Peugeot 406, was converted and was great until I took it for a swim and smashed the engine. .

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Grandad,