toots wrote:
thelodger wrote:
Hackney drivers are professionals who has invested and completed a local knowledge test that is an asset to the local community.
With a few exceptions, PH are a group of drivers who either are wannabe hacks or pretend hackney drivers.......
I hate this kind of comment. PH drivers are profesionals who also invest money and knowledge, they are also an asset to the local community. So get off your high horse and stop coming across as something special. The only taxi drivers that may be considered special are those that give their free time for worthy causes. There are exceptions in both sides of the trade and yes I agree there are some PH drivers that don't play by the rules but there are some HC drivers that don't play by them either.
I, too, get very annoyed at these views.
There are professionals and non-professionals working in both sides of the trade. Fact.
I am - as my username suggests - a private hire driver, but I am not 'anti-hack'. It's high time (though it won't happen any time soon in reality) that the PH vs HC saga ended and people worked to bring the trade together rather than further divide it. For example - I'd say that in the area where I work, we need a new body to represent the trade as a whole. My view is that we can be more effective
together in bringing about change and working to improve our trade rather than having seperate organisations for HC and PH (or having none at all).
We have to realise ourselves that we shouldn't be working against one another, then we can stand together (yes, there will always be
some differences - I realise that) and - with a united front - let the travelling public see that both sides of the trade are professional.
I know an experienced driver who has gone from PH to HC and back again, each time hoping to make more money etc. etc. So, according to
thelodger, is this man a professional when he's driving a black cab and then when he returns to driving a PHV does he suddenly become an unprofessional, undesirable driver???
I, myself, have only been in the job a matter of months. Already, I've gone out and bought a new car for the job. I work hard, don't overcharge, offer assistance, I'm polite and friendly. Surely this adds up to me being a professional, even though I drive a Vectra and not a 'black cab'?
My dad has been a PH driver for 25 years. He's never had a complaint made against him, always kept a clean license - and a clean car! Surely he's a professional?
It's certainly not fair to say that HC drivers have invested in the trade and we - as PH - haven't. Outside my house tonight there are three new PH cars, all top-of-the-range, all clean. And, like it or not, they are all driven by professionals - who have passed local authority knowledge tests. There's a guy not too far from where I live drives a 15 year old Fairway. I'm not saying he's not a good driver (he probably is), but can you really say he's invested in the trade? I probably pay more monthly for my car than he would have paid to buy his outright.
All this said though, I do agree with
Brummie Cabbie's point of view - where he says that standards of PH / Taxi vary greatly across the country with varying levels of enforcement. We - I would say - are in one of the 'tougher' areas for licensing. As a driver though, I would welcome more stringent checks on vehicles etc. Some of the cars are appalling! This would be for the good of everyone.
One last thing I will say is that perhaps some PH drivers are 'wannabe hack drivers', I don't know. All I do know is that there are many - myself, my brother, my dad included - that have no desire to be a HC driver. We are quite happy doing the job we do, offering the service that we offer and making a decent living. Why would we want to become HC drivers?
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