Taxi Driver Online

Perhaps if the greedy owners dropped there rentals a good bit, they may encourage more drivers

An interesting point cos if drivers where earning bundles then I suspect doing the knowledge wouldn't be a big problem.

I also expect if folks could earn more driving a Sefton PH than building houses, again there would be not shortfall.

It's ok a firm having loads of work, but if it's for silly prices and drivers can't earn out of it, then those firms can belly-ache till the cows come home.

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IDFIMH

I think the figures in the article are a bit misleading... at first glance I thought they were referring to numbers of drivers when they actually refer to numbers of applicants. The highest badge number on our system is 2537, and Sefton always use up free lower numbers before issuing new higher numbers, which would suggest over 2,500 Sefton PH Driver licences in circulation at the moment.



Whilst there are over 2,500 Sefton PH licences in circulation I'd estimate no more than 2,000 are currently working as PH drivers, about half of which are with Delta.

What the article failed to point out was that Sefton was very different pre-1993. Yes there was no knowledge test, but there was also no DVLA checks, no Enhanced Level 2 CRB checks, and there were lots of fly-by-night applicants who saw taxis as something to have a dabble at in between 'proper' jobs. There was also much cheaper insurance premiums enabling many candidates to take up taxiing as a part-time endeavour so as to make an extra few quid at the weekend whilst holding down full time jobs elsewhere. The situation is very different today. New applicants tend to be more committed into entering the job as a long-term career choice. There may be less applications each year but because of increased sustainability drivers tend to stay in the job full-time and for longer duration, the result being no significant shortage of drivers for customers.

The problem for SRC and BLUELINE isn't getting hold of new drivers, it's keeping hold of old ones. Drivers tend to head towards the companies that offer the greatest earning potential. With Delta's radio adverts on Juice FM, bright yellow billboards throughout the city, hoardings next to the pitch at Anfield and Goodison, and hundreds of thousands of advertising postcards being delivered door to door all year round whilst the opposition either sit on their laurels or faff around with political manoeverings down in London it's hardly surprising there are so many yellow door-signs out there.



Delta was started in 1968 by three disillusioned private hire drivers from Seaforth Radio Cars. Seaforth must have been 50 times the size of Delta back then as oppose to being less than a fifth of Delta's size today. RESULT!

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Don't knock it, 'til you try it....

An interesting paragraph starts off referring to applications and then turns into a statement about licenced drivers, which gently muddies the waters and uses the figures to confuse. Whats new there?

In the olden days, once you had been issued a licence you stayed on the books as a licenced driver, whether you were working or not, but now, if your licence expires you are off the books. If we were still working to the old system the books would probably show 10,000 plus drivers.

Back in the olden days when the figures showed 3000 drivers there were only a 1000/1200 cars, but then if you were a cab or p.h driver finance for buying a vehicle was not as accessible as it is today. In fact if you stated that if either of the above was your profession, the financial doors were closed firmly in your face.

The management of Delta have indeed created a massive company. The firm and management as they themselves have stated have millions of pounds to spend on their new property.

We have to ask ourselves how this success has been achieved, and at whose cost?

What is a fact and which can be substantiated is the private hire rate is cheaper than the hackneys, and that if anybody wishes to verify Sefton's hackney rate they can do so through the Private Hire Monthly mag. fare chart. I think we are probably one of the cheapest in the country, and I can assure you that the majority of drivers and owners would greatly like to see the fares increased.

Another interesting point is that insurance is readily available on a weekly policy, vastly dearer of course than an annual one, but very popular when drivers earnings are so low. I am sure an argument will be put forward that drivers can work as long as they like and earn as much as they want, but surely the 80 hour plus week should be relegated to the dark ages, if only on safety grounds. Mind you, if you are not driving a taxi yourself, what does it matter?

It is interesting that when I checked today there was 2214 licenced private hire vehicles and 2500 licenced p.h. drivers, which to my way of thinking is a significant increase of vehicles, even if the majority of them are 5, 6 or 7 years old.....

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Justice for the 96. It has only taken 27 years...........repeat the same lies for 27 years and the truth sounds strange to people!

Maybe that's why the Liverpool taxi plate-holders have got the hump big time.

They would much rather those drivers were triple, quadurple, the five one, shifting their motors, than driving Sefton PH.

The fog is clearing.

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IDFIMH

Earning potential is not just to do with fares... the equation is more complex... it's based on
1) how long you wait between dropping off and picking up
2) how far you drive between dropping off and picking up
3) how much you pay to rent your radio and vehicle

Liverpool Hackney fares can be two to three times the price of Delta's fares but by the time the driver takes into account his dead time waiting for another job, his dead mileage trawling the streets or heading back to the city boundary and the over-inflated vehicle rental charges that result from over-inflated plate values he could be financially better off at Delta.

I think it an injustice to suggest that we are busy just because we are cheap. It is good marketing and high standards of service that have made us so busy and in staying busy we are able to maintain such low fares. Too low and we cannot sustain drivers... Too high and we cannot sustain customers... just right and we attract both customers and drivers to an ever increasing work area resulting in less dead mileage. The fares charged by Sefton Hacks are most probably too cheap for the way they operate, i.e. wasting time and fuel either heading back to Sefton or driving around Sefton in search of a fare or heading to a nearby rank. I think it's fair to say that many drivers don't even head to their nearest rank, opting for their 'favourite' rank instead. If like many other taxi firms throughout the world they employed more efficient fleet management techniques they could charge lower fares and still take home more money.

Taxi drivers do not just have each other to compete with. They have to compete with buses, trains, walking, cycling, using your own car or getting a lift off a friend. Delta has ploughed money and effort into combining sophisticated technology with creative marketing to provide an attractive alternative for passengers. Our fares are not calculated so as to be cheaper than hacks. We have trimmed the fat of our operation to it's highest levels of efficiency in order to provide a service capable of competing with ALL forms of transport. Instead of trying to limit the number of taxis and increase the fares they charge, shouldn't the hacks be looking at ways to simply increase efficiency?

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Don't knock it, 'til you try it....

Comcab and RadioCabs would also have a serious issue if that happened but could still work and with Comcab moving onto GPRS then its going to be fun if the GPRS goes down for any reason or there is another incident in London and the officials switch public access off again to the O2 network or other mobile phone networks.

Are rocket's very expense

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Justice for the 96. It has only taken 27 years...........repeat the same lies for 27 years and the truth sounds strange to people!

Yes they are, but am sure you will find a few on the ranks....

I was suggesting that London Minicab drivers don't have a clue where they're going without Sat Nav, opposed to not getting work through a computer terminal.

I get jobs through my open window, I guess that could break, but that's the only technology I have to rely on for work .

A little bit of sense from elements of the Sefton PH trade.

Delta say leave things as they are.

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IDFIMH

Well said that man

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Taxi Driver Online
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Sefton Council say they are carrying out a “comprehensive review” of the taxi licensing portfolio, including looking at the knowledge test and limitations on licence numbers.

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk