Taxi Driver Online

Wondered when this might veer into the cross-border cars angle. And blame-shifting in that regard, too


‘Umpteen’ taxi drivers literally ‘falling asleep at the wheel’ says concerned councillor

https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/202 ... ouncillor/

Councillor Corrine Chikandamina (Labour, The Nedge) asked what Telford & Wrekin Council could do to stop drivers who have been ‘pushing their luck’ by working too many hours.

Councillor Chikandamina told a meeting of the Regulatory Committee that she is an “avid taxi person” but has been in “umpteen” taxis where the driver has been “falling asleep” at the wheel.

“I have been in umpteen taxis where the driver is falling asleep,” said the councillor.

She added that she had reported incidents to the company but hasn’t heard anything back.

“How do we know that it has been dealt with?” she asked at the meeting of the regulatory committee on Thursday, June 26.

“Is there a policy in place which prevents a driver saying I’m going to push my luck here and potentially could cause an accident?”

She added: “I’ve heard that there is a mechanism but they can override that.

“I just think how is that regulated to ensure that drivers are safe to drive?”

The meeting heard that such incidents can be reported directly to Telford & Wrekin Council.

If a driver is working an “inordinate amount of hours” that could break a rule that says drivers need to be a “fit and proper person” for the job.

“It is really, really worrying and it should be reported to us and we will do what needs to be done,” a council officer told councillors.

“Companies should be monitoring it.”

The officer said he hoped that taxi drivers who have their permits from Telford & Wrekin Council were not responsible for such actions.

The meeting had heard that drivers who had their permits granted by the council have a good record of knowledge and compliance. But drivers are allowed to get taxi licences from other areas and work in the borough.

Is that maybe the Uber thing she's alluding to? Can't recall the exact details, but last time it was mentioned it sounded pretty meaningless and ineffective - something about actual driving time? So you could be logged on waiting for who knows how long, but that wouldn't count. It's like I'm waiting an hour on the rank for each job that takes ten minutes or so there and back

So I could be on the ranks 18 hours, but only actually 'working' three hours of that, or whatever

There's quite an interesting article on TaxiPoint on drivers' hours, linked to this...

https://www.taxi-point.co.uk/post/what- ... -tired-and

But it soon veers into the capping grift

This is classic HC-cap propaganda, but just applied to PHVs...


I mean, 'increase occupancy' has nothing to do with reducing driver numbers - it means packing the same drivers into a smaller fleet of vehicles, double/triple-shifting etc. I wonder who benefits from that?

And how does that mean 'less time spent sitting idle' if it's the same drivers in a smaller fleet? The reference to 'sitting idle' must be referring to the vehicles rather than the drivers.

And how does 'better earnings per hour' equate with inflated rentals or buying a plate? Wasn't it TaxiPoint who weren't that long ago dreaming about worthless London HC plates becoming worth $1m or whatever like the New York medallions?

Don't forget the driver suicides etc in NYC when they were hoodwinked into taking out unserviceable loans to buy these plates

And I'm sure I've read stuff on TaxiPoint about people buying HC plates in the UK then suffering mental health issues etc because Uber and private hire generally has destroyed plate values.

But, aye, let's replicate all that in the PH sector