Taxi Driver Online

Hi

Just a small note to say if there are any Newcastle Hack Drivers on here, that there is a major meeting on Wednesday 18th June at 7.30pm at Newcastle labour Club.

It's concerning the fact Newcastle have more Private hire "taxis" picking up the Public (by flimping) on Friday and Saturday night rather than hack's. With numerous Private Hire companies from North and South of the river coming into our area and blantantly taking the P!ss - not just Berwick!

We had over 120 drivers at the last meeting. We expect around 200 at this one. The council has been given plenty of time to sort something out (a meeting last month with enforcement did not go too well) . However, it seems extremely likely that a go slow protest will happen this week and also next, to bring the town centre to a stand still.

The council should remember that it was due to our go slow protests around 5 years ago that stopped the issue of Hackney Plates. They certainly won't know what will hit them again.

Newcastle Council need to take a leaf out of 90% of councils in England and get on top of Flimping.

Sunderland is a perfect example of the council doing a fantastic job to put a stop to this.

Cheers
Chris

From my experience, if you say Sunderland do their job right, then they are in the 10% not the 90%.

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IDFIMH

Pardon me for being ignorant but "flimping", is this some sort of gay pride thing?

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All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"

I've never heard it called that before.
It probably has many different names around the country. Pretty sure it's illegal picking up.
Around here it's called "pluffing"

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Sorry, if anyone may have been confused - yeah, it's "illegal plying for hire". Cheers.

Can you explain why you think Sunderland is an exception to the rule when it comes to enforcing illegal plying for hire? Just exactly what do they do that is different to the other 99% of local authorities?

Regards

JD

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Copyright notice © The contents of this post are copyright of JD and are not to be reproduced outside of TDO without written permission.

I think you may have your % mixed up.

90% of Councils in the UK do a good job in keeping the illegal plying for hire to a minimum. ie (in my view) 10% of Councils (which include Newcastle) need a kick up the arse.

Therefore Sunderland are in the 90% and should be applauded - this is coming from a Geordie, by the way.

I understand that as soon as a Private Hire vehcile has dropped off in Sunderland City Centre they must drive back to there base or out of the City Centre. They also only have a certain amount of time to wait for a booking.

I have been told Drivers have been caught (on CCTV camera) and fined for not complying with the above.

I drop off most weekends in Sunderland City Centre and you see White Sunderland taxi Hacks ranked up in the City Centre - what you don't see is Private Hire taxis from every Council from the North East of England picking anyone up - as you do in Newcastle.

The Police in Sunderland understand the situation - Newcastle's don't.

Our website, http://www.uita.co.uk/ is being updated to inform Newcastle drivers of the problems we encounter.

I realise some Private hire drivers are honest and will comply to their Councils rules and regulations. However, we have a huge amount of drivers blatantly taking the P!ss out of us and it's got to stop before it gets worse.

Chris

Will you be discussing the crazy permit prices you have at your local railway station.

Or is everyone happy to pay thousands to a bus firm?

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IDFIMH

Personally, I think it's a joke. I remember when the fees were around £250 or so. I have never worked the Station nor will I ever. I couldn't cope with sitting for hours on end on the off chance of getting a £60 job.

More often than not it's the usual £6-£10 jobs that come off the station and certainly doesn't justify £1500 or whatever they are asking for now.

I believe the guys that work there are afraid if they fight it, it may well backfire and the Station opened up to Private Hire companies instead. I think they should make a stand instead of paying over £120 per month or so. Most drivers are also paying NODA well over £100 per week too on top of these fees - I've got no idea how some drivers are making it pay as weekly rent for WAV is around £250 per week too. (Some are renting for £270 with no office radio)

These are the reasons why the flimping has got to be stopped. Some drivers are just being forced out of the job. If we stopped illegal plying for hire, I know takings would rise by £50-£70 per driver per week quite easily.

Chris

Chris, Newcastle hackney carriage drivers have been complaining about illegal plying for hire for years and that applies to the rest of the country. If the message didn't get through back then, what makes you think it will get through now?

When you go to the meeting tomorrow, you might wish to remind everyone that the issue of illegal plying for hire hasn't just happened out of the blue, it has been around for donkeys years. You might wish to raise the question of whether or not it can be completely eradicated? When you get your answer you might realise that the best you can do is try to contain the practice. You and your colleagues should also face reality in the fact that any action to suppress the activity must come from you the drivers because it is long established that Newcastle as well as every other local authority in the country are not even scratching the surface when it comes to prosecuting such offences.

This means that you are going to have to put your hand in your pocket and organise a swat team of pirate busters who will go out every weekend busting pirates. It would appear to me that many of you guys in Newcastle are dedicated about doing something about the problem but appear to lack the organisation and know-how to get things off the ground.

The first thing you need is a fighting fund and in order to do this I suggest you start up a cooperative where you can keep track of members and their subscriptions. Those drivers not in the cooperative will soon become apparent so at least you will know who does and who doesn't support you financially.

The second thing you need is a prosecuting solicitor who is preferably familiar with taxi licensing law and the third ingredient is a team of people who know how to legally go about obtaining a conviction. This requires recording equipment and preferably video evidence but most of all you need at least two persons, one to act as witness. The rest is straightforward.

That is the only way you are going to get any movement on illegal plying for hire and that goes for any other area who has a similar problem including Liverpool.

Anyone who suggests you engage Newcastle council in dialogue is just wasting time, the issue is not going to go away and Newcastle council do not have the resources or commitment to continuously police those who illegally ply for hire.

I suggest you print these comments and take them along to your meeting.

Regards

JD

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Copyright notice © The contents of this post are copyright of JD and are not to be reproduced outside of TDO without written permission.

Cheers for your time and your comments JD.

I've been doing the job for 10 years and can't remember illegal plying for hire as bad as the way it is now - it's out of hand to say the least. I understand it will never be completely eradicated but we must try.

The guys that are running the protest do know the "ins and outs" of the bylaw's and what is needed to atleast try and start to control this. You are correct about Newcastle Council however. The enforcement officers couldn't give a monkeys about what is happening and I think a go slow protest will atleast highlight the problem and with media attention on Thursday, will guarantee embarrassment for the Liberal Council.

We have had two cases in the local newspaper of late that people have complained about overcharging - both cases were with the member of the public being picked up illegally. One was charged £39 for a £20 job, the other £18 for a £7 job. (The latter ended up with the driver and punter scrapping it out and both ending up in hospital).

I will indeed print out your comments and hand them to our representative.

Cheers
Chris

Hi Chris how did the meeting go mate? Did the Council turn up or did they make some lame excuse not to attend??

The meeting went really well - The local newspapers got wind of it and tried to interview the Chairman before he had the chance to address the members.

We were hoping for around 150+ drivers to turn up on the night but we estimated 130 (which is still very good). We decided that we had given the council enough time to do something about the situation and did a mass demonstration yesterday.

Local radio stations and TV had estimated 100 drivers had blockaded the City Centre (close to the Council Office), but I certainly would not be exaggerating to say there must have been close to 200. It was an incredible site!

Unfortunately, we only did a "go - slow" for an hour from 4.15pm to 5.15pm and we were going to blockade the North Road today where we have The Lord Mayor opening "The Hoppings" (Largest European Fair).

This would have been fantastic to pull off but The Chairman was threatened by Police and there were some Drivers booked for not wearing seatbelts and sitting on Yellow blocked junctions etc.
The Police were totally P!ssed off, so we aren't going to demonstrate until further notice. I believe the next protest, we may need to inform the Police of dates and times to keep inside the law.

I'd be amazed if there isn't an emergency meeting called today at The Council though.

They know what we can do now and how many drivers are sick of it, so time will tell.

Just to also inform you that my mate had a argument with a traffic copper about the situation and to cut a long story short, the traffic copper understood ANY Hackney Taxi can pick up ANYWHERE in the UK ! He didn't understand that there were boundaries. So, there you are - that's what we are up against.

I'll try and upload the news report that was on Look North last night.

Chris

some Drivers booked for not wearing seatbelts

WHY??????????????????????????????

You are only exempt when working or plying for hire.

A protest isn't work.

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