What do you mean by 'normal situations', Grandad? In Melton? Or do you know the rank etiquette in Market Harborough well enough to comment?
Well I certainly don't know the latter other than the evidence from the photos and Google.
And, as per what I'd said yesterday, the evidence (and personal experience) suggests to me that it's a total free-for-all
Look in particular at the StreetView from 2016:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.47816 ... ?entry=ttuI'd kind of guess that they're grouped by office there - the three to the left from the same firm, and the red one from another office? More interesting, maybe, is who came first? Maybe the firm has its own code, so maybe they would pass a run up to the car that came first. But I'd guess they'd grab a run that came to them, even if the red car had been there first. Of course, maybe the silver cabs were there first, and in fact it's the red one who's trying to steal a march on them. And I'd also guess that one end of the rank is preferable to be at as opposed to the other, but if there's only one car on the rank, and another comes along, then the second car might well just go to the 'bad' end of the rank, merely because that end of the rank isn't so good for getting a run, but it's maybe better to be first car at the 'bad' end of the rank, rather than second car at the 'good' end
And, of course, particularly if the driver is inexperienced, their judgement as regards where best to stop may not be the best. For example, it may be best to be at one end of the rank during certain times of day (shopping hours, most obviously), but better to be at the other end of the rank when the pubs and clubs are open (or chucking out, more obviously).
Anyway, if anyone's read the possibly thousands of words I've written about this kind of stuff on here over the years then they'd maybe conclude that there's no such thing as a 'normal situation', at least as regards the trade nationally, as opposed to local rules, etiquette and custom.
Could write a short book on this kind of stuff in my own manor, but suffice to say that even in a more standard row of cars there's almost zero etiquette as regards this kind of thing, and drivers will grab any fare that comes to them - the only exception being if it's a short run, and they calculate (often incorrectly) that they'd get a better run by waiting.
But, for example, even considering just our main night rank, there are several obvious points where passengers will approach the rank out of turn, and the driver will simply grab the run.
First is the takeaway opposite cars two and three on the rank. Next is probably the gap that often arises in the row of cabs at the parking meter which abuts onto the rank half way down (it's a standard parking area during the daytime hours). I suspect some passengers view the gap as representing the front of some kind of second rank, whereas it's just a gap caused by the parking meter, not to mention the various parked cars belonging to members of the public, which can sit on the rank illegally all night.
Psychologically, I think some people just don't like crossing any gap in the rank cars, even though they're fully aware that it's actually one queue of taxis.
Next is the pub down at the other end of the rank, where people often jump in. Also simply the back car on the rank, if the person is arriving from the back rather than front of the rank, obviously. It's the 'nearest car' scenario, simply put.
So, for example, if a person coming out of the pub at the far end of the rank just jumps into the nearest car, if there's 20 cars on the rank then that would be car 18 or so. But if there's 10 cars on the rank then it's car 10, for obvious reasons - the back car is closest rather than the car closest to the pub door
On the other hand, 'normal situations' can vary depending on stuff like demographics and the particular rank. Students are by far the worst for not going to the front car. And often alcohol is probably an issue here. And a lot of people don't like the bigger 4+ seating cabs.
From the rank perspective, the 'normal situation' is different at our rail station as opposed to the town ranks. So years ago the council redesigned the station such that the station pedestrian exit is adjacent to cars three and four. Which, given that it's commonplace to wait a couple of hours at the station, could mean that a car could arrive just as the train was coming in, grab a run immediately, and leave the front car high and dry. And if it's the last train they could well have been there a couple of hours and would then just have to pull off empty.
So the drivers developed a code of conduct, whereby fares are directed to the front car if they try to get in mid-rank. Which generally works OK, but of course because when the train comes in (maybe after an hour without any) it can all be over very quickly, thus the front car can be left high and dry due to genuine driver error rather than any kind of 'cheating'. (For example, seen plenty of pax with luggage in the boot, and for whatever reason they end up back out of the car with their luggage back out of the boot as well, and by that time maybe cars two, three and four are off with the fares. And the next train is an hour away. Oh, wait, it's been cancelled because of a 'lack of train crew'). And the next train is twenty minutes late leaving Edinburgh because of a 'fault on the train'
Anyways, apart from that, I haven't really got any particular views on stuff like this.
(In reality, the above is the short version
)