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PostPosted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 12:33 pm 
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You could always apply for 10 pence extra per mile, that is charged as an extra, and have a separate notice supplied by the council explaining why, due to the increase in fuel.... put the blame firmly on the Government. :lol:

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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!


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PostPosted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 12:37 pm 
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Committees don't run companies to the benefit of their members. They are only interested in having their snouts in the trough. The membership of such companies are too stupid and ignorant to know any better. The taxi trade is unique, in that, any mug can buy a plate and call himself a businessman.

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PostPosted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 1:04 pm 
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Skull wrote:
Committees don't run companies to the benefit of their members. They are only interested in having their snouts in the trough. The membership of such companies are too stupid and ignorant to know any better. The taxi trade is unique, in that, any mug can buy a plate and call himself a businessman.


Skull your rambling :lol:
http://easyhit.co.uk/

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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!


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PostPosted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 3:44 pm 
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GA wrote:
So an increase of 10% on a £5 fare would mean an extra 50p but if the customer couldn't afford the £5 in the first place the extra 50p wouldn't make much differance.



But what about those who suddenly can't afford to pay the extra fifty pence and decide to take the bus instead?

You say that customers will always moan about fare rises and to that extent it doesn't matter, but what about those who stop using taxis - you certainly won't be hearing them moan!


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PostPosted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 3:49 pm 
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I have no problem with our fare levels, it's the amount of jobs we get that's the problem. We could easily do three or four times the work and still spend a lot of time sitting around.

And I can't see fare rises improving that one iota.


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PostPosted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 4:22 pm 
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It's like pushing a button or flicking a switch with you Skull, thanks for your quick lesson in customer care but they are hollow words I'm afraid.

It's just the same recycled, rehash of everything that went before, you're a hopeless, hapless bunch at times, wars! battles! campaigns! Quite boring now actually.

Anyhoo, I doubt there is any point in this now, time for some more excogitation. 8)


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PostPosted: Sun Jun 08, 2008 4:26 am 
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http://www.break.com/break-originals/mo ... shots.html

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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!


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PostPosted: Sun Jun 08, 2008 11:03 am 
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Fae Fife wrote:
GA wrote:
So an increase of 10% on a £5 fare would mean an extra 50p but if the customer couldn't afford the £5 in the first place the extra 50p wouldn't make much differance.



But what about those who suddenly can't afford to pay the extra fifty pence and decide to take the bus instead?

You say that customers will always moan about fare rises and to that extent it doesn't matter, but what about those who stop using taxis - you certainly won't be hearing them moan!


Your not thinking of those who suddenly can only afford £4.50, and then as belts need to be tightened further £4.00 ............................... your asumptions are based upon peoples financial situations staying as they are and if we do go further into recession then peoples financial positions will get worse.

It is obvious that the extra 50p will make taxis unaffordable to some ........................ but I would bet that with the fuel prices and other costs increasing so dramatically running a taxi would be viable for longer if the fares were increased slightly ................. I don't think that 10% is realistic it was only used to make the maths easier.

B. Lucky :D

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"Here's a simple solution. If you don't want to pay more for a premium service then wait in the queue, problem solved".
Skull on TDO

TF pi$$ed on his chips.


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PostPosted: Sun Jun 08, 2008 2:39 pm 
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GA wrote:
Your not thinking of those who suddenly can only afford £4.50, and then as belts need to be tightened further £4.00 ............................... your asumptions are based upon peoples financial situations staying as they are and if we do go further into recession then peoples financial positions will get worse.


If I'm reading you correctly then that was impliciit in my point - if fare rises deter customers under normal circumstances then this position will be even worse in a recession.

Anyway, doesn't this point underline the case against fare rises, while I thought you were arguing in favour of them?

Quote:
It is obvious that the extra 50p will make taxis unaffordable to some ........................ but I would bet that with the fuel prices and other costs increasing so dramatically running a taxi would be viable for longer if the fares were increased slightly ................. I don't think that 10% is realistic it was only used to make the maths easier.


OK, but how do you decide if the higher profit margins from each trip exceed the profit lost by having fewer jobs?


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PostPosted: Sun Jun 08, 2008 11:07 pm 
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Are you suggesting that drivers of taxis and private hire vehicles work for less money each job to get more jobs?

What happens if you charge less but its still to much ................ drop your prices or drop some of your customers?

The argument is hypothetical ............... but reducing prices puts even less money in the drivers pocket.

The other thing that needs to be considered is the current rate ............. in many areas that rate was set when fuel prices were around the £1 a litre mark .................... not the £1.30 to £1.40 per litre we see today.

We need to consider the cash flow of the business ............ because the money going out of drivers pockets is not being replaced by the money coming in.

B. Lucky :D

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"Here's a simple solution. If you don't want to pay more for a premium service then wait in the queue, problem solved".
Skull on TDO

TF pi$$ed on his chips.


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PostPosted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 12:44 am 
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GA wrote:
Are you suggesting that drivers of taxis and private hire vehicles work for less money each job to get more jobs?

What happens if you charge less but its still to much ................ drop your prices or drop some of your customers?

The argument is hypothetical ............... but reducing prices puts even less money in the drivers pocket.

The other thing that needs to be considered is the current rate ............. in many areas that rate was set when fuel prices were around the £1 a litre mark .................... not the £1.30 to £1.40 per litre we see today.

We need to consider the cash flow of the business ............ because the money going out of drivers pockets is not being replaced by the money coming in.

B. Lucky :D


At what point do you consider the needs of the customer? :?

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PostPosted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 3:20 am 
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GA wrote:
Quote:
Are you suggesting that drivers of taxis and private hire vehicles work for less money each job to get more jobs?

What happens if you charge less but its still to much ................ drop your prices or drop some of your customers?

The argument is hypothetical ............... but reducing prices puts even less money in the drivers pocket.


I thought the debate was about whether or not to raise fares, not reducing them, which isn't really a realistic option, at least as far as the official tariff is concerned.

Yes, it's hypothetical, but the effect of rising fares is hypothetical as well, because you don't know how it will influence demand, or even supply come to that.

Quote:
The other thing that needs to be considered is the current rate ............. in many areas that rate was set when fuel prices were around the £1 a litre mark .................... not the £1.30 to £1.40 per litre we see today.

We need to consider the cash flow of the business ............ because the money going out of drivers pockets is not being replaced by the money coming in.


Of course, but my point is that if you raise prices you could conceviably end up with less profit because you get less business.

Using your logic, if you wanted to sell a house in a recession then you'd raise the price!


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PostPosted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 12:28 pm 
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Skull wrote:
At what point do you consider the needs of the customer? :?


What happens to the needs of the customer when the taxi service cannot afford to operate.

The customer is considered when working out amount of rise .................. I quoted 10% to make the maths easy, but from what I've heard from other parts of the country actual figures being discussed are less than 2%. So that works out at around 10p on a £5 fare.

Maybe you have a partner with a good job and can operate for little profit until a signifigant number of drivers go bust and you can get the work in the quantity to make it profitable ..................... but there are people out there who's family relies upon the earnings of a driver as the sole sourse of income.

At what point do you consider the people around you, whether thats your family or other members of the trade.

B. Lucky :D

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"Here's a simple solution. If you don't want to pay more for a premium service then wait in the queue, problem solved".
Skull on TDO

TF pi$$ed on his chips.


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PostPosted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 12:33 pm 
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Fae Fife wrote:
Using your logic, if you wanted to sell a house in a recession then you'd raise the price!


Don't be daft.

Look, up here the busses raised their prices .................. it hasn't stopped people using the busses.

It is still cheaper for 3 people to share a taxi than it is for them to use the busses ................... but you still see groups waiting for busses.

The fact is that prices need to go up .................... but when you have drivers and PH operators stating they easily earn £1000 a week when they actually earn a quarter of it the public will percieve us to be greedy ba$tards.

B. Lucky :D

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"Here's a simple solution. If you don't want to pay more for a premium service then wait in the queue, problem solved".
Skull on TDO

TF pi$$ed on his chips.


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PostPosted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 2:34 pm 
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GA wrote:
Don't be daft.


So why does an estate agent lower house prices in a recession, even though he will make less profit on each sale?

The answer is that he knows that with higher prices he'll sell significantly fewer houses and therefore make less profit.

Quote:
Look, up here the busses raised their prices .................. it hasn't stopped people using the busses.


Who's arguing that fare rises would stop people using taxis?

The question I asked was whether raising fares might be pointless if it meant lost work.

Since my point about house prices was clearly lost on you is it any surprise that you can't apply the same logic to the taxi trade?

Quote:
It is still cheaper for 3 people to share a taxi than it is for them to use the busses ................... but you still see groups waiting for busses.


So what's that got to do with the point in issue?

Quote:
The fact is that prices need to go up .................... but when you have drivers and PH operators stating they easily earn £1000 a week when they actually earn a quarter of it the public will percieve us to be greedy ba$tards.


Again that's not really addressing the point, and if anything it should mean that until you can change public perception, fare rises during an economic slowdown should be avoided.

Regards

Dafty :D


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