While the last place on earth I'd go to would be a betting shop (or the online equivalent), if I had to put money on this I'd guess he won't be parking his fleet up
Angus taxi operator’s strike warning over ‘unsustainable’ £3,000 monthly fuel cost risehttps://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/55 ... ts-crisis/Neil Gibson of Lorimer Cabs in Montrose says Angus Council should consider an emergency fuel surcharge to help firms facing huge costs increases stay on the road.https://wpcluster.dctdigital.com/wp-con ... 46x564.jpgOne of Angus’ largest taxi operators is threatening to park his fleet in a row with the council over the “unsustainable” impact of rising fuel costs.
Neil Gibson of Lorimer Cabs in Montrose has seen his monthly fuel bill rocket by £3,000 a month.
He said the increase has wiped out any benefit of a taxi fares increase approved by councillors earlier this year.
And Mr Gibson said a plea for Angus Council to introduce emergency measures to help the trade have been ignored.
He is warning he could take his taxis off the road later this week in a strike protest over the situation.
Angus taxi fuel surcharge suggestion“The current position is unsustainable,” said Mr Gibson.
“The taxi trade had to suffer a year’s delay in fare increase after the debacle of the last fare review.
“Almost to the day the trade was finally permitted to increase rates the fuel price shot up due to international events. This negated any benefit.
“Diesel has now increased to over £2 per litre.
“In effect this has increased the monthly fuel cost of Lorimer Cabs Ltd by approximately £3,000.
“We are now servicing the public’s transport needs for nothing.
He added: “I estimate we are working four days of the month with no return.”
Mr Gibson has urged the council to consider an early review of the current taxi tariff or a temporary fuel surcharge.
“Either measure would help taxi services remain viable or it will become impossible to keep taxis on the road,” he said.
“In Blackpool a fuel surcharge activates automatically when prices hit a set threshold.”
It means £1.20 is added to the fare when diesel reaches £1.95-a-litre.
“In North Devon, the council checks government fuel price data weekly. It can make a surcharge decision on real-time prices,” added Mr Gibson.
“Sheffield added a one-off temporary surcharge outside the statutory fares review period due to the hardship operators were facing.
“These are simple measures and I’ve offered to provide the council with the details and data.”
Montrose taxi operator strike warning“Angus Council needs to do something now to prevent the taxi service in the area from diminishing even further,” he continued.
“Should they fail to take action I will be forced to instigate a strike action removing our taxi service from the public in Montrose.”
He added: “Two separate working groups have been created by the council over the last seven or eight years specifically to address issues in the taxi trade and yet have not had one meeting with the trade.
“The only action was to look at the situation around wheelchair accessible vehicle provision.”
He previously branded a £5,000 council incentive for operators to buy a new wheelchair taxi an “insult”.
“All businesses have the same model, you either make a profit margin or go out of business.
“If costs go up, they must be passed on to customers.
“I believe Angus Council must take action now.
“Some sole traders may survive.
“However, companies and sole traders work on different profit margins.
“Companies cannot survive without being able to reflect the fuel cost increases to their customers.”
A council spokesperson said: “This gentleman has been in direct contact with our licensing team who are currently reviewing the information he has provided.”
Login
Register
FAQ
