Taxi Driver Online

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UNITE TO FIGHT THE TAXI OPERATORS


12:00 - 28 September 2004
May I add my say to the ongoing concern of taxi drivers in Plymouth?

I started driving private hire cars about 30 years ago in this city. There were then 268 taxis, including private hire cabs. The council had nothing to do with the taxi trade in the city at that time. Now they take large sums of money from us in the form of a 'knowledge' test, driving test, vehicle registration, drivers' licences etc. What do we get in return? Absolutely nothing.

I see the situation now made increasingly worse for the drivers by increasing rents charged by greedy operators. I myself am fortunate in working in an office where the owner is sympathetic to the drivers' needs and will not overcrowd the office, which is more than can be said for many of the others.

Let me just say to other people who may be taken in by some of these operators: you will need to work between 60 and 70 hours per week to make a decent living. These are my outgoings: rent, £100 per week (much less than most operators charge), fuel £80 per week, insurance £43 per week, twice-yearly MoTs at £30 a time equals £60, plus £60 to the council for same. Also add another £60 or £70 per week for maintainance, tyres and other running costs.

So, if you think you can become a driver and work a 40-hour week - forget it. Yes, we do need a good association: we tried it before. Yes, we can beat the operators. How? By a mass withdrawal of our labour. I know that many operators have many contracts: how could they fulfil them without us drivers? Remember, we employ them to give us work, yet we have no guarantees at all that they will fulfil their obligations.

So, come on, drivers; let's at last organise ourselves and start to fight back against them. I can be reached on Plymouth 209071.

BEN KIRBY
Plymouth

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TAXIS ALONE CAN'T FIX A NATIONAL PROBLEM


12:00 - 27 September 2004
Over the past few weeks there has been in Postbag lots of comment on the taxi trade in Plymouth, lots of it, we feel, ill-informed. As elected trade representatives, we would like to try to redress the balance. Firstly, there have been no discussions on late-night taxi availability by the police and city council with the hackney carriage and private hire representatives. Secondly, what people should realise is that late-night violence at weekends is a national problem. The clubs and pubs spill out, the available taxis are at full stretch and the area in Plymouth at 2am which has to be serviced by taxis, and policed, has grown, Mutley Plain, Warner Village, the Barbican and Union Street being the main areas.

The police are obviously stretched to capacity: taxis coming back into town are hailed on the outside of town, so people in the centre of town possibly wait longer, and the possibility of trouble is greater.

In the last few weeks Plymouth has been visited by three sets of so-called notorious football supporters. The police presence has been large; the trouble, relative to the size of the crowds, negligible. The answer, therefore, simplistic as it seems, is more police on the streets to monitor the crowds while they wait for taxis to take them home.

In Plymouth we have at present over 500 hackney carriage licences being used and over 700 private hire licences. Our population is in the region of 260,000 and the combined totals of hackney carriage licences and private hire licences compare very favourably with any like area in this country.

Taxi drivers do not have a licence to print their own money: it is a hard life of long hours and in many cases earning less than the national minimum wage. Many persons have come into the joint trades but, as is shown by the 25 per cent annual labour turnover, a large number have left, many of them heavily in debt. We estimate that since the inception of training schools, in the last 12 years 4,000 persons have been trained as licensed drivers, and still more are being encouraged into the joint trades. As already stated, the turnover in drivers is in the region of 25 per cent yearly: why is this?

Drivers tell us the overheads incurred in some offices are so high that even though they work dangerously long hours, they still cannot make a living wage, having in lots of instances to take £600-plus before putting any bread on their own tables.

More licensed vehicles, we are told, are needed on the streets around 2am. At weekends, we estimate that at least 2,000 taxis would be needed to service this peak demand: the question then is where these extra vehicles would find work for the rest of the week.

Taxi firms and drivers are aware of the problems caused when clubs and pubs all kick out together. They act responsibly, endeavouring to have as many cars on shift at these peak times as possible. Irrespective of this, the Government now seem to realise that anti-social behaviour is getting out of control nationally. The problem needs to be looked at correctly, and the correct remedies sought.

D MANSON, I SEARS and J WOODMAN

Silverline Taxis

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Both these letters in the local newspaper seem to be having an indirect poke at the office i work from, Taxifast.

Personally i dunno what they mean, i do 35 - 40 hours a week on average and make a nice living thank you. i also gross an average between £19 - 22 per hour so work it for yourselves.

And the first driver who suggested that they should fight back against the operators seems to be biting the hand that feeds him, as all PH drivers in Plymouth must be working from an operator. wonder if he'll get a call from his boss to come and visit the office for a chat?

The second says that you need to gross £600 to earn a living. i say well yes of course, you can do £600 over the three evenings of the weekend so if he cant gross at least £600 a week in 40 hours he's either doing something wrong or working for the wrong office. perhaps if he got himself a decent motor he would not need to pay for 2 car tests each year and £60-70 a week for repairs.

anyway thats my rant for the day

Maybe Steveo this is part of the fight back following the court case.

_________________
IDFIMH

No wonder Mr Preece needs more drivers if Steveo and his mates are making enough to be happy with 35-40 hours per week.

_________________
A member of the Hire or Reward Industry

It's certainly not unusual to see letters like this in the local press around the country, and they never really tell the true story.

For example, the first letter tells us plenty about outgoings, but not a peep about turnover, and the phrase "decent living" could mean anything.

The second says that at least £600 gross is needed just to put bread on the table. This £600 gross is unlikely to see the driver living in clover, but surely it does slightly more than just put bread on the table?

Such letters always tell the most pessimistic story, but we all know that there are a variety of scenarios in the trade. For example, taxis working independantly in a city I worked in could probably take as much in a single (long) shift on Saturday as those working forty hours dayshift. Of course the latter won't earn much, but to imply they are representative of all drivers is not the case.

The problem is that many drivers can't/won't work the less attractive hours, and no one should force them to, but if they won't work some of the more unsocial hours then they can hardly plead poverty.

In my experience there's the tale told in the local press and to the council, and then the more realistic one often bragged about on the rank.

As Steveo ably demonstrates, this is precisely what we are seeing in Plymouth.

If drivers can earn up to £600 a week working 35/40 hours, you have to wonder why the firm needs to import workers.

From my limited experience of the West Country, unemployment is above the national average.