Taxi Driver Online

Well then the driver could put that extra £100 aside for a rainy day, and if that day doesn't come, then at the end of a three year period he will have £15,000.

But the issue you seem to miss, is that I want to let drivers decide what is best for them. Whereas you and your union are telling them that they can't be allowed to decide for themselves.

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IDFIMH

[quote="Sussex Man"]Those that can afford a WAV, buy and run one. [quote]

And thats allright by you is it Sussex Man ?

Let those who can afford it have the plates and for those who can't the one's that can will provide for a price.

Just remind me what side of the fence your on again when it comes to this issue.

B. Lucky

So where does this "spare" £100 come from then Sussex. Don't tell me that you can buy a WAV, insure and maintain it to an acceptable standard for £100 a week, if you are then your in cloud cuckoo land matey. So you won't be able to save it for a rainy day mate, cause its raining now son.

Why do you insist on saying the T&G is MY UNION, I am a member of it and that is as far as it goes on here, you get MY OPINION here that is all.

Its not a metter of deciding what you want to do, its decideing whats available to you. I couldn't walk into St James Park and insist that Bobby Robson gave me a place in the starting line up, based solely on the fact that I wanted to do it.

When you decided to become a driver "for hire and reward" YOU had the same options as everyone else. You knew at that time which "code" was more suitable to you and you made that decision. You have allways had an oppertunity to change and therefore allways had the choice.

Why you seek to see a financial burden placed on the majority because of the activities of a minority is something I will never understand.

B. Lucky

Oh, the twisting is quite impressive.

You second sentence is your unions policy, so please take it up with them.

What I want is for all those that can finance a vehicle be able to get a plate.

What your union want is for all those that can finance a plate be able to get a plate.

And those that can't buy a plate, then it's tough. I want to make it far easier, and far fairer.

Which is perhaps why you can't work it out.

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IDFIMH

The money could come from a variety of ways.

You wouldn't necessarily have to pay radio rent to a firm. You wouldn't necessarily have to have a second car to run and insure. You wouldn't need to turn down good work at the end of a shift. You wouldn't always have to pay £200 a week.

But if you are worse off, you wont do it.

However one wonders why in many manors drivers are prepared to pay up to £50,000, if they are going to be worse off.

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IDFIMH

Well it not my union !!!

But you football analogy is a good one. The T&G is yours in the same way as Newcastle are yours.

So stop being so pedantic.

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IDFIMH

So when we all come into the HC/PH trade we are all clued up on the inns and outs, are we?

And once in, if we don't like something, we have to lump it and not try to change it?

I seek no financial burden on anyone that can't afford it, but to help the ones who can, or are prepared to have a go.

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IDFIMH

No no no Sussex Man, you never ever start a business without doing research, you explore all the options and decide upon the best way forward.

You cannot turn round and suggest that everything else changes cause you made the wrong decision, bearing in mind that you didn't properly research the industry. I would suggest that most people who complain the most are those that originally wanted to plate their family car to make some money while they found a proper job. Well Sussex Man some of us were more professional with our original approach and are therefore content that the decision we made at the begining remains right for us now.

I can promise you one thing though, if your area was to delimit then you would have to continue to pay "office rent" as with more cars working the rank you WILL see a reduction in your takings, and so you spend the £100 you thought you'd be saving.

If a H/C driver should leave the trade if he's not happy, surely a P/H driver should do the same. (only an observation though SM not a suggestion).

B. Lucky

You could be right, or you could be wrong.

It all depends on which paragraph of the T&G OFT submission you are reading at the time.

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IDFIMH

Oh you bitch.

Alex

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NO NO NO Andy, come on stop taking the pi$$.

You are stating that in every area the premium for plates is the same as their highrest value anywhere in the country.

In Gateshead I could buy a vehicle and a plate for £7000, could you ?

I would struggle to get a decent WAV for that price in order to get my "free" plate, could you ?

Things are different accross the country mate, and that is something either you or the OFT don't want to accept.

B. Lucky

Of course things are different throughout the UK.

But I want drivers to be able to decide what is best.

Not you, not me, not even the T&G, but drivers themselves.

If in your manor it isn't working, then so be it. But surely you should be advising drivers not to do it, not telling them not to do it?

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IDFIMH

But in some areas, even areas with premiums, they have a viable choice.

If the premium saught is considered to be un-economical then the driver still has a choice and that is to enter the trade as a P/H driver.

You consistantly quote plate prices to be £50k. You consistantly quote that plate owners "leech" off the trade but by their very existance you fail to understand that for many drivers renting a vehicle for a fixed weekly ammount better suits their own situation. I also very much doubt that the non-driver plateholder got the plate for nothing and by investing in one provides a oppertunity for a driver to make a choice and drive such a vehicle.

Andy I agree that the situation is wrong, I do agree that plates should be avaiable without premiums but you must accept that to wipe out plate values would do signifigantly more damage to the majority who drive their own vehicles, and that I believe is to high a price to pay to get rid of the "leeches" you so despise.

The bottom line really is that you don't seem to care about the financial implications such action would impose on the owner driver, providing you are given the oppertunity to hold a H/C licence.
Also, if everyone was given a plate their wouldn't be the work to sustain a H/C trade so everyone would need to work through Licensed Operators who would provide work particularly at peak times to ALL of the vehicles working their system or circuit leaving those standing at the ranks waiting even longer.

Then how would you overcome the problem of the un-met demand. This OFT report is a complete waste of time, it provides nothing to the public and takes rights away from the trade. As someone who cares so much about driver welfare I fail to see how the choices you are demanding will benefit the whole trade or even the majority of it, it seems to me that the choices will benefit you and the minority of people who agree with you.

Changes must be made, but there will be no trade to inherit if your choices are delivered.

B. Lucky

How can you tell sentiment in the written word, have I not been telling people delimitation must be controled otherwise the downward spyral it develops leads to drivers becoming bankrupted. Haven't I not been advising drivers that they should look to hold as much consultation with the authorities to ensure that if they enter the trade they can expect to make a living from it.

You ask why, if H/C drivers aren't making the money why are they still in the trade but you fail to answer why you are still in the P/H trade if your not making good money. Do you believe that your earnings will grow if, not only you but every other P/H driver were given the same rights of work as your H/C collegues.

B. Lucky

But exactly how much would they lose?

Most would have had the plates for years, so the 'excess profits' they have accrued over the years, should counter balance the price they paid for the plate.

But we go back to the point that when the lads bought the plates, they took a gamble that nothing would change, and it appears that the gamble might be lost.

If the 'managed growth' proposal worked, then perhaps you might have a sensible middle ground. But it doesn't, the existing HC trade cannot see the wood for the trees. They fight tooth and nail even when a survey says plates are needed.

Big mistake, very big mistake.

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IDFIMH