Taxi Driver Online

Not if it gives the bully boys someone to gang up on.

So what's the connection between the Tyne and Watford then?

Anyway, whether or not you're taking the Mick (:lol: ) or not, it may be useful to others to properly answer your questions, because unlike some on here there may be some out there who may not have known the answers from the womb.

1)What is a taxi journeymen?

Generally speaking, a journeyman drives a vehicle belonging to someone else. A similar term is 'jockey'.

2) What is the difference between HC and PH?

A Hackney Carriage can pick people up off the streets, mainly at taxi ranks but also by being flagged down in the streets. A Private Hire car cannot do this, it must be booked in advance, usually over the telephone. But a HC can do this as well, so can service both markets, but a PH can only do advance bookings.

The terminology can be confusing - taxi often means either a HC or a PH, but the Govt usually means only a HC when referring to a 'taxi'.

3) I read in a post here that it is a good idea to obtain the operators, drivers and vehicle regs. from the local authority. Do these all come in one handy booklet and what do I ask the local authority to send me?

Unlikely, but you could ask them. There are also several Acts of Parliament relevant to the trade.

4) I keep hearing "badge" mentioned, is this what the LA send you once your licensed?

Badge refers to the driver's license, and is fairly self-explanatory, because it's usually worn, but you should also get a piece of paper which is the real license. Same with a plate, that's the proof that the vehicle is licensed and is attached to it.

5) "Plated" what are the rules with regard to this?

From the last answer, 'plated' just means that the car is licensed.


6) In my local area most taxi companies use meters but some don't, why is this?

It's usually only HCs that use meters, so the ones without them will be PHs. It's sometimes difficult to tell because HCs and PHs can look similar, unless HCs have to be 'black' cabs, but where saloon cars are allowed, they may look similar to PHs. To complicate things further, in some places PH have meters as well.

7) Is January really as quiet as some say in the trade?

Don't know because I don't go out in January But it's got to be better than this December, surely

Thanks TDO, as a member of other good quality forums (not taxi related) this is the type of constructive and succinct reply I was looking for i.e. clear, factual and unblemished by opinion.

TDO wrote:
I'm an expatriate albeit with repatriation on my mind.

I have been looking at the regs for obtaining an HC and a PH drivers license on the LA's website and they look identical to me. From my level of knowledge it would appear best to obtain an HC license for the greater freedom that it affords i.e pick ups from the street and ranks. However, how would this work from the two following scenarios:

1)if I was to do journeyman work would I have to choose an operator within my LA that runs licensed HC's or would my HC license cover his/her PH licensed vehicles also?

2)if I was to take the owner driver route would my HC license only be valid for an HC licensed vehicle or would it cover a PH licensed vehicle also.

TIA

In the UK generally it's more difficult to enter the HC than PH sector - to take an extreme example, in London ten years ago you could either do what anyone who had a car with four wheels could do and enter the minicab sector, or do the Knowledge and drive a black cab - obviously since the latter isn't that easy, many guys took the minicab route. (Now minicabs are being licensed as PH, so it's a bit more difficult to enter this market than before, but still easy compared to the black cabs/HC).

Outside London the gap between the two sectors generally isn't as wide, but you may have to do a knowledge test (for example) to get a HC badge while you may not need one for a PH badge.

On the other hand, since conditions are largely the same in Watford, there's not really a lot of point in running a PH, since as you've appreciated, you're better to have the option of doing both rank and pre-booked work, or even just doing rank work alone.

However, there's a complication, and that is that the number of HC vehicle licenses is limited in Watford, so you have the choice of either buying a HC vehicle license or plating a PH car, but at least the PH license will be 'free'.

Watford seems to have an unusually small number of HC licenses - 36 - compared to PH licenses - 450. Thus the HC licenses/plates are probably worth a good bit of money to buy - possible as much as £50k.

Assuming you don't want to invest that sort of money in a plate and vehicle, your options thus come down to being a HC journeyman or running a PH vehicle, or even being a PH journeyman.

As for which badge to go for, then it doesn't really matter, because Watford seems to have dual badges, which allow you to drive either HC or PH, but this is fairly unusual compared to other LAs.

Without actually knowing much about the local market it's probably not worth saying much more, so you would probably be better asking either local taxi firms or the LA for more detailed info.

It might be an idea to start as a journeyman and get a feel for things before plating a vehicle - but a lot depends on how serious you are, since if it's quite difficult to get a badge (eg a tough knowledge test) then you probably won't want to go through the bother of getting one just to try the job for a week or two.

As for the HC plates, from JD's lists it seems that Watford is reasonably committed to continued control on numbers, but that could well change in the next few years, especially if the Govt tells them that they must remove these controls, in which case if you invested tens of thousands on a HC plate then it would suddenly become worthless.

hes just taking the [edited by admin], dusty.

TDO wrote:
I understand that it is at the LA's discretion as to how many HC vehicle licenses it allows on it's patch. So if this is a fixed quantity does this mean the only way to obtain one (other than inheriting one from a relative etc.)is to purchase one in the "open market place" from an existing holder willing to sell?

I guy in my street said he once worked for an operator in Stanmore (different LA) because he did n't know Watford very well. The LA there did n't require a knowledge test for a license.

The lack of standardisation between LA's all sounds a little screwy to me. It makes me wonder what other peculiarities I have yet to encounter.

Once again thanks for the excellent info, as you suggested I need to talk to the LA and some local operators to get a better feel for the local market.

All the best.

That's about the long and short of it - I think Watford do issue new plates occassionaly, but how they are allocated I don't know, but as a new driver you probably wouldn't stand much of a chance of being allocated a plate.

So basically for you if you want to run your own vehicle then it's either a choice of going PH or buyng a HC plate.

In hard financial terms if things continue as they are then buying a HC plate is probably a good investment, but at the moment the risk is too high in my opinion.

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

Oh, there are plenty

As regards standardisation, the prevailing view at the moment seems to be that things are best decided at the local level since LAs are 'best placed' to decide these things, which is why we have the current mishmash.

Personally I think they are worst placed, but maybe that's just me

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

TDO wrote:
Yeah, investing a susbtantial some of money in any venture the success of which is determined by the whims of a group of people as far removed both literally and metaphorically speaking as Whitehall and the other chambers of power is a no no in my book. (Not to mention the idiosyncranisities of locally elected commitees). Just my opinion of course and I'm often wrong... so I'm told anyway.

Hope to be seeing some council officials after the hols.

Will report if I think there is anything which would be of any use to the members here.

Cheers!

if on the other hand you stay where you are in gateshead, you will of course be able to plate an old auntie for next to nowt, and flog fast tan during quieter periods.

one cabbie there told me hed built an extension and bought himsen and the wife a new car but he still moonlights for a friend,

believe that youl believe anything, like dusty believes your postings

RAOTFLMFHO.