Taxi Driver Online

Kirklees taxi drivers terrified they will lose their jobs as fuel costs spiral and customers vanish

The spiralling cost of fuel is threatening to put taxi drivers out of work, one of Kirklees ' leading representatives has claimed.

Akooji Badat, joint chairman of the Kirklees Hackney Carriage Association, spoke out after the revelation that filling the tank of a diesel car now typically costs more than £100 after fuel prices hit record levels. The average price of diesel in the UK rose to 182.59p a litre on Sunday, according to the AA. At the same time, petrol hit a new record of 172.73p a litre, it said.

Mr Badat, who operates mainly in the Batley and Birstall area, said: "It's terrifying what is happening at the moment. It's not just the price of fuel that is rocketing, it is everything else as well including insurance and there is nothing we can do. Costs will have to be passed on to passengers and some of them are understanding but others are not.

"Costs in private hire vehicles have already increased from £3 to £3.20 when the metre starts and for hackney carriage drivers - the white vehicles - we are waiting for Kirklees Council to give the proposed increases the go-ahead. It's not so bad for occasional passengers but for customers who use our services for regular trips, for transport to work and back, to schools etc, it is more difficult."

Huddersfield town centre driver Suhail Rashid who has been driving for over 20 years said he was worried about the future. He said: "It's going to put a lot of people out of business. It's not just fuel costs that keep going up and up, there's hardly anyone in the town centre, we are not busy. It certainly keeps me awake at night with the worry of it and I'm sure I'm not alone."

And Balwant Bassi, who is rightly proud of being the first Asian taxi driver in Huddersfield and who has been driving cabs since 1973, said: "Everything is very hard, it's terrible. I remember when we charged 22.5p a mile and it's the first time I can remember when things have been quite so bad."

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IDFIMH

Well if you are 332nd out of 355 it's no surprise drivers are worried about spiraling costs.

Maybe a decent rise in those fares might help. Who knows?

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IDFIMH

I was reading the other day that High fuel prices have spurred a surge in activity in oil exploration and investment so maybe things might now peak and the supply to demand dynamic will start to tip in the consumers favour

after all once wholesale prices fall a little there is bound to be a supermarket price war

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

Sadly, even if your hypothesis is correct, it ain't happening for years.

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IDFIMH

262 when I looked just now.

And looks like they're staying there

Some of this makes even me look hawkish on fares

However, looks like they had £1 on the flag a few months ago, and T2 brought forward by a couple of hours


No Kirklees taxi fare hikes as drivers fear for trade in cost of living crisis

https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/wes ... s-25187621

The £2 bus fare cap and private hire minicabs both threaten licensed taxis' business

Taxi fares around Huddersfield won’t be hiked over fears that struggling customers will turn away from expensive fares, putting cabbies out of business.

With the cost of living crisis raging, Kirklees councillors have decided not to put standard fares up so taxi firms don’t suffer as swathes of customers instead opt for cheaper transport. One driver even warned of “many losing their jobs”.

Kirklees Licensing and Safety Committee met on Wednesday morning to discuss the possibility of a further increase to hackney carriage fares. However, this was decided against amidst fears that an increase in pricing would force customers to turn to other methods of transport leaving drivers with dwindling businesses.

Fares were increased following a request from trade representatives for the hackney carriage association earlier this year. This saw a temporary £1 increase placed on the start price of journeys and the start time of two more costly tariffs brought forward to 8pm rather than 10 pm. That temporary increase will now remain, but there will not be a further hike in prices.

At today’s meeting, Huddersfield taxi driver Suhail Rashid spoke in support of maintaining the current fare structure describing how upping the prices even further would “result in a loss of trade,” and “many losing their jobs.”

The driver, who is also a representative for the Kirklees Hackney Carriage Association for Huddersfield, went on to say, “The current fare structure has been working well over the last few months which is fair and reasonable for the trade and customers.

“We strongly believe that the proposed fare increase cannot be justified at present and should not be implemented.

“We have to be careful not to price ourselves out of the competitive market.”

The £2 bus fare cap and the flexibility of privately licensed vehicles were just two of the threats identified to the appeal of taxis as a means of transport with councillors and drivers alike sharing in these concerns.

Taking this into account, a unanimous decision was reached and it was agreed that the once temporary measure of a £1 increase to fares will remain in place indefinitely. Additionally, the matter of taxi fares will be up for discussion yearly.

Councillors also discussed the controversial “suitability” policy, which could see taxi drivers subject to sanctions if they accumulate more than seven penalty points. This issue is set to be investigated for a further three months before a decision can be made.

That sounds quite unusual, but can't find anything about it

But I'd guess it was because of the fuel hikes, but a bit more crude than the more usual variable fuel surcharges. And now permanent.

I think you maybe right russia has done a deal with the saudis to cut opec production to bump up prices

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