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PostPosted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 3:24 pm 
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Just the Job - mini cab driver


By Kerry Ann Eustice


Tight rules and regulations on mini-cab drivers means when you start up there is a lot to learn. An experienced cabbie tells KERRY ANN EUSTICE all about it

Qualifications: All drivers have to obtain a license from the Public Carriage Office (PCO) which is the regulator for taxi and private hire drivers in and around London.

You also have to have a criminal record check and a medical, at your own expense. You can only become a licensed driver if you have a clean record and a clean bill of health.

Place of work: Master Car Hire in Bexleyheath. It is based at Bexleyheath train station and a lot of our work is within a mile and a half of this area.

What hours do you work? I work from 7am until 7pm, six days a week.

Earning potential: It depends on how busy you are, but at times it can be poor. Pay works out to be quite similar to the minimum wage. We can get £750 to £800 each week but drivers have a lot of outgoing costs, which can range from £400 to £500 a week.

This includes approximates of £100 to rent the agency, which assigns you driving jobs, £50 for car insurance, £50 for the rent, hire or payment of the vehicle, £80 to £100 on petrol or diesel and then £40 aside for repairs such as new tyres, brake pads.

There is also tax, a PCO test each year and two MOTs a year.

What is your typical day like? At this time of year I spend time defrosting the car, filling the tank up with petrol and checking the tyres.

In the mornings, I have some regular customers who go to and from the station where I am based. I do some jobs to places such as hospitals, but as we are a railway firm I spend most of the time waiting for trains to arrive and then delivering people to their homes.Other firms may have supermarket contracts for example.

I have to keep records for tax purposes of the work I do. An accountant checks my books are in order and I also have to submit my accounts for inspection.

Why did you decide to become a taxee Driver? I used to work as a journalist, but I was blacklisted for being a union representative. Mini-cabbing was willing to take me on.

Where do you want to go from here? I want to become a five-star mini-cab driver (he jokes).


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PostPosted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 3:27 pm 
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greenbadgecabby wrote:
An experienced cabbie tells KERRY ANN EUSTICE all about it .

Image

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PostPosted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 3:44 pm 
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greenbadgecabby wrote:
What hours do you work? I work from 7am until 7pm, six days a week.



:lol:


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PostPosted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 3:53 pm 
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greenbadgecabby wrote:
greenbadgecabby wrote:
What hours do you work? I work from 7am until 7pm, six days a week.

:lol:

But would you tell the outside world your exact takings?

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PostPosted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 5:14 pm 
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Did you waste four years of your life riding around on a moped?

No :lol:

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PostPosted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 5:56 pm 
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I don't know why hackney and PH drivers have to snipe at each other all the time. We are basicaly doing the same job, just with different licence conditions.

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PostPosted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 6:14 pm 
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Bart wrote:
I don't know why hackney and PH drivers have to snipe at each other all the time. We are basicaly doing the same job, just with different licence conditions.

I think most of it is just banter. :roll: :roll:

Apart from when the discussion is about taxi quotas/plate premiums. Little bit more than banter then. :wink:

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PostPosted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 7:08 pm 
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Sussex wrote:
Bart wrote:
I don't know why hackney and PH drivers have to snipe at each other all the time. We are basicaly doing the same job, just with different licence conditions.

I think most of it is just banter. :roll: :roll:

Apart from when the discussion is about taxi quotas/plate premiums. Little bit more than banter then. :wink:


It's a little bit like the "penis envy" thing that (some) ladies are burdened with. PH drivers are inferior and they know it. They aspire to be Hackney carriage drivers, but know in their little hearts they just don't make the grade. :wink: :lol:

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PostPosted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 7:10 pm 
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Bart wrote:
I don't know why hackney and PH drivers have to snipe at each other all the time. We are basicaly doing the same job, just with different licence conditions.


I think the root of the problem is that taxi drivers think PH are encroaching onto their patch, and thus affecting their earnings.

Thus it begs the question why GBC seems to brag about how much he earns yet at the same time constantly digs at the PH trade.

Is he not earning so much as he says he is, or does he just want even more?

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PostPosted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 8:42 pm 
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TDO wrote:
Thus it begs the question why GBC seems to brag about how much he earns yet at the same time constantly digs at the PH trade.

Is he not earning so much as he says he is, or does he just want even more?


Not as much as you Dusty, but then like the people on the forum, we mere taxi drivers, and of course blobby the Bus driver.


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PostPosted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 8:43 pm 
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blobby wrote:
Did you waste four years of your life riding around on a moped?

No :lol:


2 years.

For retirement at 55.

Yes please. :lol: :lol: :lol:


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PostPosted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 8:45 pm 
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Bart wrote:
I don't know why hackney and PH drivers have to snipe at each other all the time. We are basicaly doing the same job, just with different licence conditions.



Would you go back to Minicabing ?

I thought not. :wink:


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PostPosted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 8:51 pm 
greenbadgecabby wrote:
Would you go back to Minicabing ?

I thought not. :wink:

i know that wasnt addressed to me but i wouldnt mind one bit going back to PH.
get rid of my wav for starters.
know who you are picking up.
not have to keep moving down the rank.
not getting hit by idiots driving autos in the station.
not having to havre a white and green car.
not being alloowed to charge meter and a half for 6 people.
i could go on but i wont because i still like driving without having to keep looking over my shoulder. :roll:
for the time being that is. :wink:


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PostPosted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 8:54 pm 
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Cgull wrote:
i know that wasnt addressed to me but i wouldnt mind one bit going back to PH.
get rid of my wav for starters.
know who you are picking up.
not have to keep moving down the rank.
not getting hit by idiots driving autos in the station.
not having to havre a white and green car.
not being alloowed to charge meter and a half for 6 people.
i could go on but i wont because i still like driving without having to keep looking over my shoulder. :roll:
for the time being that is. :wink:



I'll have a word with AndyP next time I speak with him. :wink:


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PostPosted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 8:57 pm 
greenbadgecabby wrote:
I'll have a word with AndyP next time I speak with him. :wink:

be an interesting conversation if you didnt. :lol: :lol:


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