Taxi Driver Online

To a degree Captain I agree.

But I just can't see the existing HC trade queuing up to buy wheel chair assessable vehicles, and I don't believe it to be fair to make new HC owners pay twice as much for their tools of their trade, as others.

If SCATA are serious, well lets see their ideas for the future of the HC trade. The only policy I have read, is to limit another part of our trade.

Not exactly 'blue sky' thinking.

Oh, one last thing.

Will we ever see the policies, in the T&G's mythical 'Cab Act'?

Yes, but most don't buy new vehicles in any case, so they clearly show a bit less committment.

After all, the 'best taxi service in the world' has recently kicked up a stink about a 12-year age rule proposal and gotten it abandoned.

How much does a teenage purpose built taxi cost??

Dusty

Well I cetainly do!

are you saying that London International should continue to sell vehicles for £30,000 to demonstrate our commitment?

our commitment to whome?

no I do not follow that friend, I want them to compete in the market place, like we have too now.

Wharfie

My dear guest

The commitment I speak of is to our profession, the London cab driver shows a commitment by dedicating nearly 2 years for his badge, in the provinces its different because we dont need to commit that amount of dedication/time, although the dedication we show is not necessarily less.

The commitment has therefore surely got to come financially, all be it for an over priced piece of Coventry's finest (and I dont mean the football team).

It's not LTI's fault that no serious manufacturer has entered the breach, if they did LTI would seriously [edited by admin] their pants, we all know that.

I am personally sick and tired of the general public regarding my profession as a fall back from a "proper" job. I think that any cab driver who attempts to scribe a few words on this site for instance shows a certain amount of interest in the job, only a short step to dedication to the profession.

Cab driving is perhaps the best kept secret, and best occupation in the world, we have our own sense of humour, regardless of where we come from, same [edited by admin] different location?, it virtually sums up life to a certain degree, the harder you work the more you earn, whereas in life the more you put into it, the greater the rewards.

Sorry I'm going off on a serious tangent!, now what was the question?

yes well you are a gud n and you can all me by my first name Wharfie,
I think Coventry best is David Ike, but there we are.

the commitment of working my butt of to invest in that lot I shudder the thought,

Wharfie

Alas it is those that wish to keep the status quo that just adore the part-timers, cos they pay for the £30,000 investment, in rental fees.

I keep going back to the situation in Edinburgh. The exiting trade say there are far too many HCs, but not enough HC drivers.

In other words, not enough drivers to bail out those that have bought plates, from those who got them for nothing.

I work in an area that has all wheel chair vehicles. The council do allow the other wheel chair vehicles. But I have picked up only one customer from a rank in 9 years.
So that one customers has cost me over £10,000.

Wharfie, I dont think that the vehicle is perfect, far from it, but a commitment of £30,000 will ensure that whoever invests shouldnt regard the job as a part time occupation.

Sussex, I think we all know that each area is different, some plates cost thousands, purely because councils dont issue licenses and that there is therefore a market for the plate.

Perhaps the best case scenario in areas where local associations want restricted hackney numbers would be to ensure that owners return the plates to the council when they retire, effectively banning the transfer of licenses.

This would obviously upset a great deal of people, but would presumably be better than wholesale deregulation.

Of course the other alternative would be for local authorities to gradually increase the number of licenses in their area, with the emphasis being on licensing only new vehicles.

It should be noted that we are now so far off the subject of this thread that I've forgot what the question was!

Welcome to the world of HC and PH forums.

If all the drivers in our trade were honorable, then these suggestions have merit.

Alas with the return policy, we have drivers who will keep their vehicle license until they die, aged 110. Of course they retired at 65, but just rented it out in between.

Wholesale deregulation (I assume you mean delimitation) would have an effect on those that bought their plates via the grey market (I used to call it the black market, until someone told me off). Alas I don't view those queue jumpers in a good light, hence have little or no sympathy for them.

New vehicles could be viewed as reasonable if applied to all, as happens in Swansea. But is that what the UK's taxi trade want?

Gradually increasing the HC trade, has been the way those councils that restrict have worked since 1985. Has it been a success?

Well, hopefully the OFT Study will tell us soon, but is their anyone out there anticipating a 'Clean Bill of Health'?

oops! delimitation (sorry), deregulation was that nasty little tory word that we can't use anymore since new labour came to power.

I think renting it out is a different issue really, because the cab will hopefully be at work.

As for having to license new vehicles, when given the choice between paying £10 grand plus for a plate and licensing a new vehicle with a new plate that cost nothing, it will still cost money, but the difference is that it is invested in your cab rather than some old sod who kept his plate for years, if you follow this line of thinking.

I dont really think that the wants of the UK cab drivers are listened to anyway, so as far as is this what the uk cab driver wants goes its fairly irrelevant.

The gradual increase of licenses is basically a fudge, but is more paletable that a mass overnight increase in licenses.

I think that some people actually forget what a license actually is, a license is a permit or permission, the license is always the property of the local authority, these guys who buy and sell licenses should be aware that what they are doing is just the same as selling a council house!

you always get one dont you?
say pal tellus ow much the premiums are, and you must have the fare level to pay for it!

and stop moaning!

Wharfie

no not clean bill of health but a hell of a lot of jiggery pokery!

eh Mick? well be advising our mps and reminding them of sponsership? remind them of a general election in 2 years?

those are the bully boys!

Wharfie

Yes captain, but the Dundee experience shows the results - it seems that most plateholders have nothing to do with the trade other than the money they make out of it - as Andy says, they have no obligation to hand the plate back until they retire.

However, you did say 'retire', but that seems the kind of rule that some would drive a coach and horses through. How do you define retired? For example, I know quite a few who keep a badge in the drawer in case of 'emergencies'. Assuming they had to work to keep the badge, how much hours do they have to work, and if you specify a figure, what's to stop them from mis-stating it?

The bottom line is that for as long as plates are limited, they will be misused.

The only way to stop that woul be to specify one driver per vehicle, but this would amount to limiting the number of badges - what a good idea!!!

All that's required are a few reasonable standards for cars and drivers - London shows the principles in action - no quotas or plate values there!!

Dusty