Taxi Driver Online

Some of the waffle in here

Not to mention the clunky English

A endless barage of complaints, but nothing particularly concrete as regards what he's complaining about. The nearest it gets to anything specific is when he suggests temporary badges for new drivers.

Which in turn reveals what it's mainly about - the post-lockdown driver shortage, and blaming the council for that. And Uber.

The Uber stuff is also interesting, because again there's lots of complaints, but nothing concrete about what he's complaining about. He welcomes competition, but when he's out-competed he doesn't like it.

'Pandemic of regulation'. That's a good one, though


Broxbourne taxi firm owner's plea as he considers closing down business after 25-years

https://www.hertfordshiremercury.co.uk/ ... ea-7638462

Graham Lee wants a "level playing field" for his taxi firm as Uber has soured in recent years

A Broxbourne taxi firm owner has considered shutting down his business after 25-years of operation as he warns drivers are facing a "pandemic of regulation" which has led many to quit the profession. The taxi industry is still facing huge challenges as firms hope for client numbers to return to pre-pandemic levels amidst the cost of living crisis.

Graham Lee, owner of A10 Executive Car Service, has become frustrated with the ever-increasing taxi licensing rules to the point where he's now considering shutting down after operating since 1997. He believes that the rules enforced have "badly damaged" his viable business due to the "unworkable" Council operating barriers.

However, he stated that Broxbourne Borough Council - which is bound by laws the government makes - is not the only council at fault but that many are ignoring the "urgent" need for action to help local taxi firms.

He believes the rise of Uber and other national taxi services has led to local taxi businesses - luxurious or not - to fall victim and become reduced more and more in recent years. The always available Uber taxi service - which was founded in 2009 - has taken over the taxi industry over the last decade and Graham stated that while he is not afraid of competition, there should be a more even playing field.

The need for a 'level playing field'

He said: "There's a legitimate place for [Uber] to be here doing that but over five or ten years local guys who are legitimate taxi drivers have gradually been losing work to these people. I have no problem with competition but numbers in our local area have diminished.

"You've got the council who are really keen to be strict and make our services as safe as possible but they've effectively caused Uber to be the dominant service in the area. It's ridiculous what we have to do, with the sheer amount of paperwork as an operator. Not so much as a driver, although they are still quite extensive.

"It's odd that they're so keen to be controlling over us yet they've welcomed in people who they don't even know. They've got no control over them, it's quite an odd thing. Most of us just want a level playing field, I've never been afraid of competition but equally we're small authorities, we can't recruit the large pool of existing drivers which for example London has."

Graham believes that due to the small pool of local drivers it's difficult to recruit someone who would have to be prepared to wait four months and spend a lot of money - which has become more difficult with the cost-of-living crisis - in order to get a license to work for him.

The taxi firm boss sadly has found it more difficult to provide for his loyal clients as potential drivers look at the "ever-increasing obstacles" and do not believe it is workable. Graham has had numerous conversations with Broxbourne Borough Council's licensing team and has made suggestions but has become disgruntled as he believes they have failed to recognise the issues that are affecting businesses like his.

However the council stressed much of the legislation on taxi drivers is dictated by central Government. Graham believes an "urgent recovery plan" is needed to help him get his business back to its best, which he has offered to the council. He also believes there is a 'guilty until proven innocent' mindset with regards to the licensing process for drivers.

Graham suggests as a way around this that drivers could be issued with a temporary license and then they have a period of time in which to complete the process which could be a "viable" way forward for a driver who may have previously been unemployed.

Graham stated that this could be done for six months with a temporary license issued and, as this will see numbers increase and improve, the council could consequently reduce it further to even less, allowing people in as he feels they have "failed to appreciate the reality of people".

The changes would have to be implemented by the government and made law however, something councils do not have the power to do. But as Graham's business reduces more and more, the taxi firm owner has began to "feel like a failure" as he does not want to be forced to shut his business down after running it for 25 years.

'The time and the barriers involved in that has put me off and made it difficult'

Graham has found it difficult to recruit drivers, leading him to think about cutting back more as he only now operates with three drivers currently. "From the pandemic like many other businesses, my network of drivers and operators has shrunk massively so now on a daily basis you feel like a failure because you're telling people, 'I'm sorry, I can't get you a car'," Graham explained.

"These would be loyal customers who know the drivers and the only way I can do my best in this situation is to have more availability of drivers for my vehicles. Over the years that's become more and more difficult, so I look at it and think I could get a chap through but it might not be enough work for him, so I won't do it.

"If the process was easy that would easier for me and the respective candidate but, given the extent of the process, I've got to give some serious commitment to him in what I can offer. The time and the barriers involved in that has put me off and made it difficult."

Graham's high-end vehicles have gone up in value which has led him to think about selling the cars and stopping entirely which is a serious consideration of his. But he has loyal customers which he does not want to let down, as he feels there will be nowhere for them to go otherwise.

Graham's main customers are in the 50 to 90 age bracket but he does take people to Gatwick Airport and the occasional prom or wedding, who want a safe journey. He recognises the ease of larger national taxi firms with high quality apps, but feels customers lose the sense of a "familiar face" and the three-way relationship between the customer, office and driver.

The taxi firm boss believes his service is "really important" to those elderly generations with poor mobility. He believes in today's society that this elderly generation would not be able to book an Uber and stated that many local taxi firms are in a "managed decline" which he does not feel is fair as he is as "entitled to be here as anybody".

Many drivers have become frustrated with the amount of paperwork that is required and simply want to do the job. Graham has seen the industry change hugely over the last two decades, as previously the services were regulated by the competition meaning that if your firm was good it would remain and if it was not it would stop operating due to better competition.

Graham enjoyed being able to provide cabs to men and women who could go and do their shopping once or twice a week, but now that has changed. This is because of the increasing amounts of information which is required to be logged by taxi firms.

Increasing regulations mean firms have to have in place agreed fares prior to journeys as well as other in-depth details. Graham believes it's difficult for businesses to provide these instantaneously while operating "as-directed". He says it's difficult to have an agreed fare for a traditional operation like his.

He believes that a "pandemic of regulation" has occurred, which would be impossible to log prior to the journey as the driver would provide it sometime later. He stated: "I'm not sure in these instances it is the business of the council but obviously they're looking at it if something bad happened in a private hire vehicle, which can happen. It happened before licensing and continues to happen since licensing and likely always will.

"But where this is an umbrella for the whole industry, you've got these rules which are damaging the biggest part of the industry, a lot of this is aimed at picking up off the street late at night and that's where these protections need to be.

"But it doesn't necessarily prevent it. They need two umbrellas or a spread of rules maybe specific to the area."

Broxbourne Borough Council's statement

A spokesperson for Broxbourne Borough Council said: “Broxbourne Council’s Taxi Licensing team has had a number of correspondences with Mr Lee where they have offered to guide prospective taxi drivers through the application process, as we do with all people looking to apply for a license.

"Much of the legislation on taxi drivers is dictated by central Government, and is to best ensure the public is safe when using those vehicles. While the Council cannot make changes to those laws as suggested by Mr Lee, the Taxi Licensing team will always help people to comply with those rules, while also doing its best to safeguard taxi users.

“Like many other industries, the taxi trade has faced an incredibly challenging time since the COVID-19 pandemic. There was a massive decline in the number of people going out socially, resulting in a large drop off in taxi usage on Friday and Saturdays especially.

"While these numbers are returning, the situation has been impacted further as people reassess their spending habits in the face of a Cost of Living crisis.”

For more information about A10 Executive Car Service, visit their website here. Uber has been approached for comment.

What does all that even mean?

Sounds like the wine-producing fruit has passed its sell-by date. It would be helpful if he could state what regulations are proving to be a problem. Why run "luxurious cars" if your client base is between the 50-90 age group? As for airport runs, he needs to learn the cost of doing airport runs doesn't usually cover the cost of running the car let alone paying the driver.

Yes, Roy, the firm's website makes it look like it's a chauffeur drive operation, but the article above makes it sound more like a bog standard cab firm.

And if you look at the website in isolation, you wouldn't have thought that Uber would represent the kind of threat that he's portraying it as.

https://a10exec.com/

Can't be a driver shortage if Uber is growing.

Maybe it's just that drivers prefer to be on Uber than his mob.

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IDFIMH