MR T wrote:
Just a thought .. part of what is being suggested by the LC. is that private hire companies can use licence private hire vehicles from different areas on the same system.. and that they will be able to accept work passed across from other companies in different areas..
so let's see what this means.. you would have a company say in Sefton... that is capable of operating 10,000 vehicles ... it would be able to accept work from say Manchester... now it wouldn't need a base in Manchester, it would only need Manchester licensed private hire vehicles and drivers... they would never need to come anywhere near Sefton.... this company could subsidise these drivers while it grew its work in Manchester.. Let's say free rent for six months.. undercut the local private hire firms until they go broke... and then go on to the next area.....
Exactly! That's a given and I had worked that one out as soon as I read CP 203.
But the real worry is that eventually their drivers would be in a 'ultra-super serfdom' situation spanning hundreds of square miles, earning 'Jack Shyt' per mile because the PH operator sets the mileage rate for his operation and any new PH operation starting up in their area wouldn't have a chance of succeeding.
And if you think renting a cab is a monopoly by plate barons, then just wait until you experience the PH operator monopoly of £150-£200-£250 a week radio / dispatch system settle and you the driver have no choice as to which PH operator you can work for.
AND, swallowed into that huge cauldron will be all PH drivers from all licensing authorities, hence the proposal that one PH operator licensed in Liverpool could have drivers in Birmingham, Newcastle, Leeds etc all licensed locally on one PH system.