Any Taxi/private hire drivers?

Associate
Joined
15 Oct 2016
Posts
1,401
This is a career i have always considered, a few years ago i looked a bit more into it and i am again starting to consider it once again. What do you like and dislike about the job. Do you own your own car or do you use a car the firm supplies?
 

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Soldato
Joined
21 Nov 2004
Posts
13,500
Location
Wishaw
OP where are you based? that has a big impact on what council you would come under for licencing and the ease of which you can obtain a taxi/private hire licence.


i've been doing it for 15 years mainly concentrating on longer distance work airport transfers/medical repats etc and cover somewhere in the region of 100k a year believe me the fun of driving soon wears off. tis a decent job but with long and unsociable hours but does have stupidly good earning potential i run a small firm of 22 cars now and i've got drivers making north of a grand a week week in week out but they are putting the hours in.

most companies will run a mix of owner drivers and company cars where your based will have a huge impact on available work companies and there is such a regional variance you'd be better telling us where you are first.

up here in Scotland i can talk to you about the trade till the cows come home, down south i can certainly advise but its a completely different licencing structure south of the border compared to up here.
 

233

233

Soldato
Joined
21 Nov 2004
Posts
13,500
Location
Wishaw
regards what i like about the job i'm slightly different as its all airport transfers tours etc we do so every day is different


from days buried in the snow shuttling workers around for a large rainforest sounding company

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to lazy days where i spend half a shift drinking irn bru and playing angry birds whilst japanese tourists take pictures of trees and hills


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theres always time for pictures though :) even of the manky old mondeo

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i'm here most days, or if you have any specific questions drop me a mail to rob at scottishtransfers dot co dot uk
 
Associate
OP
Joined
15 Oct 2016
Posts
1,401
OP where are you based? that has a big impact on what council you would come under for licencing and the ease of which you can obtain a taxi/private hire licence.


i've been doing it for 15 years mainly concentrating on longer distance work airport transfers/medical repats etc and cover somewhere in the region of 100k a year believe me the fun of driving soon wears off. tis a decent job but with long and unsociable hours but does have stupidly good earning potential i run a small firm of 22 cars now and i've got drivers making north of a grand a week week in week out but they are putting the hours in.

most companies will run a mix of owner drivers and company cars where your based will have a huge impact on available work companies and there is such a regional variance you'd be better telling us where you are first.

up here in Scotland i can talk to you about the trade till the cows come home, down south i can certainly advise but its a completely different licencing structure south of the border compared to up here.

Cheers thanks for the reply, I am based in Norwich. Iv been told that if you put the hours in, you can certainly earn a good wedge. I am not afraid of working long hours. I must admit I do like the sound of doing airport runs, but the I know the bulk of the business is running around the city. I spoke to one of the loca firms before and they also mentioned that it’s very flexible wth working hours.
 

233

233

Soldato
Joined
21 Nov 2004
Posts
13,500
Location
Wishaw
if you can follow the basics you can grow a decent client book of your own customers very quickly

be honest- if your going to be 10 minutes say so, if you cant cover a job say so doesnt matter if its to a customer or the office, be honest
be on time, always aim to be at a pickup 5 mins early especially airport runs first thing, if your circuit (office) preallocates you work drop the customer a quick text when your on your way say 20 mins before pickup, always nice to have a bit of reassurance
clean car- buy a decent hard brush for the mats and go for leather for easy cleaning and maintenance,
clean you, be concsious of body odours and personal hygiene, as well as smart appearance,

route planning, no day ever goes to plan but if your not sure where your going, ask your cus if they have a preffered route,

ignore the naysayers, especially those that are all doom and gloom back in the day i were doing twice the money for half the hours, and dont get embroiled in rank politics, keep your head down chat when you want but stay well away from the stirrers and sweetywifes
 
Man of Honour
Joined
14 Apr 2017
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3,511
Location
London

Thanks for the mention dowie, but I’ve been hors de combat now since February 2012.
I can certainly answer some questions about the game, but it’s a whole new ball game since I was up to my chin in it.
I got my all London green badge circa 1981-1982, and without putting too fine a point on it, it was akin to a licence to print money then.
Minicabs were a minor irritant, very minor, they did the stuff that we had no interest in, pub to pub, home to pub, pub to home.
They were summoned to somewhere, they made their presence known, then they sat there until the job deigned to emerge from his home or pub, then they took the job where he wanted to go, and took their pittance.
If we accepted a hiring from a pub, which was virtually never, we’d tell the job we were there, then engage the meter and wait, the reason that we did this, was because until that hiring was completed, we couldn’t start earning again, and it didn’t make sense sitting in the street, earning nada.
The job would eventually emerge, usually well oiled, see £4.80 or whatever on the clock, and say, “**** that, I don’t want to pay that, we haven’t started to go to my house yet.”
I’d say, “Please yourself”, zero the meter, and drive off, leaving the job there, so we soon learned to leave the crap work to the crap end of the trade.
The game was good, right up until Uber started to make serious inroads.
I’d holiday in Central and South America, Mauritius, Zanzibar, and Tahiti, I finagled my way into buying a 3 bed house on the Thames which is worth a fair whack now, and I’ve owned it outright for over twenty years.
Once it became obvious that to earn what I’d become accustomed to, I’d have to go back to working five days per week instead of three or four, I pulled the plug.
I don’t blame John Q. Public for switching to Uber, it makes sound financial sense.
If Uber could charge you £12, for a job that my meter would read £18 for, of course it’s attractive, but the public are not interested in why the fares are different, it’s complex, but who cares? Certainly not the travelling public.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
15 Oct 2016
Posts
1,401
if you can follow the basics you can grow a decent client book of your own customers very quickly

be honest- if your going to be 10 minutes say so, if you cant cover a job say so doesnt matter if its to a customer or the office, be honest
be on time, always aim to be at a pickup 5 mins early especially airport runs first thing, if your circuit (office) preallocates you work drop the customer a quick text when your on your way say 20 mins before pickup, always nice to have a bit of reassurance
clean car- buy a decent hard brush for the mats and go for leather for easy cleaning and maintenance,
clean you, be concsious of body odours and personal hygiene, as well as smart appearance,

route planning, no day ever goes to plan but if your not sure where your going, ask your cus if they have a preffered route,

ignore the naysayers, especially those that are all doom and gloom back in the day i were doing twice the money for half the hours, and dont get embroiled in rank politics, keep your head down chat when you want but stay well away from the stirrers and sweetywifes

Thanks for the tips, one of the local firms has asked me to come in for a chat and they want to show some numbers of what I could potential earn.
From you personal experience what’s better running your own car or renting one of the firm?
 
Associate
OP
Joined
15 Oct 2016
Posts
1,401
Thanks for the mention dowie, but I’ve been hors de combat now since February 2012.
I can certainly answer some questions about the game, but it’s a whole new ball game since I was up to my chin in it.
I got my all London green badge circa 1981-1982, and without putting too fine a point on it, it was akin to a licence to print money then.
Minicabs were a minor irritant, very minor, they did the stuff that we had no interest in, pub to pub, home to pub, pub to home.
They were summoned to somewhere, they made their presence known, then they sat there until the job deigned to emerge from his home or pub, then they took the job where he wanted to go, and took their pittance.
If we accepted a hiring from a pub, which was virtually never, we’d tell the job we were there, then engage the meter and wait, the reason that we did this, was because until that hiring was completed, we couldn’t start earning again, and it didn’t make sense sitting in the street, earning nada.
The job would eventually emerge, usually well oiled, see £4.80 or whatever on the clock, and say, “**** that, I don’t want to pay that, we haven’t started to go to my house yet.”
I’d say, “Please yourself”, zero the meter, and drive off, leaving the job there, so we soon learned to leave the crap work to the crap end of the trade.
The game was good, right up until Uber started to make serious inroads.
I’d holiday in Central and South America, Mauritius, Zanzibar, and Tahiti, I finagled my way into buying a 3 bed house on the Thames which is worth a fair whack now, and I’ve owned it outright for over twenty years.
Once it became obvious that to earn what I’d become accustomed to, I’d have to go back to working five days per week instead of three or four, I pulled the plug.
I don’t blame John Q. Public for switching to Uber, it makes sound financial sense.
If Uber could charge you £12, for a job that my meter would read £18 for, of course it’s attractive, but the public are not interested in why the fares are different, it’s complex, but who cares? Certainly not the travelling public.

Sounds like back in the day running a black cab in London was a very good earner.
 

233

233

Soldato
Joined
21 Nov 2004
Posts
13,500
Location
Wishaw
the whole trade was a good earner not that many years ago,

i certairnly earnt more 15 years ago than i do now. even more galling is talking to my Dad who was a cabby as well, certainly was a licence to print money,

@inflames in regards to what a base shows you as potential earnings, just remember they have a vested interest in getting you in the door and signed up so take anything and everything they say with a whole bucket of salt, and knock a third off any earning figures they quote you. by the time you pay for a car and settle you'll be knocking on the door of a £300-£350 a week outlay before fuel
 
Associate
OP
Joined
15 Oct 2016
Posts
1,401
the whole trade was a good earner not that many years ago,

i certairnly earnt more 15 years ago than i do now. even more galling is talking to my Dad who was a cabby as well, certainly was a licence to print money,

@inflames in regards to what a base shows you as potential earnings, just remember they have a vested interest in getting you in the door and signed up so take anything and everything they say with a whole bucket of salt, and knock a third off any earning figures they quote you. by the time you pay for a car and settle you'll be knocking on the door of a £300-£350 a week outlay before fuel

Yeah i will certainly be taking what ever they say with a pinch of salt. Just need to figure out what questions i really want to ask.
 

233

233

Soldato
Joined
21 Nov 2004
Posts
13,500
Location
Wishaw
areas covered, average booking value, no of bookings on average per day, what dispatch system they use any changes to said dispatch system planned is work allocated from zonal plots or is it closest car?, fare structure, i could go all day

oh and rent a base car even to get you started, means your not tied into a multi year finance deal on a car you dont want or need if you find its not for you,

and its generally the rule that base cars get better looked after despite what controllers and owners will tell you.

just a few to get you started
 
Associate
OP
Joined
15 Oct 2016
Posts
1,401
areas covered, average booking value, no of bookings on average per day, what dispatch system they use any changes to said dispatch system planned is work allocated from zonal plots or is it closest car?, fare structure, i could go all day

oh and rent a base car even to get you started, means your not tied into a multi year finance deal on a car you dont want or need if you find its not for you,

and its generally the rule that base cars get better looked after despite what controllers and owners will tell you.

just a few to get you started

Well i am now going through the process of applying for my licence been told it can take up to 8 weeks to be completed. At the moment in my head i plan to take your advice and use a base car for the 3 months at least and if i find its for me i plan to buy my own car to use. There is a lot to get my head around, from figuring the best way to record fares etc to all the rules around the type of car and the percentage of tint on the windows. Some of these i knew already.
 

233

233

Soldato
Joined
21 Nov 2004
Posts
13,500
Location
Wishaw
well good luck when you start :)

if you want any pointers give me a shout on my personal email rob at scottishtransfers dot co dot uk


best way to record fare is a simple profit/loss spreadsheet,

have your income onone side then all your deductions on the other, dont forget things like fuel rental work out the weekly cost of your licence car washes etc etc and my other bit of advice is to find a competent accountant and be honest, theres a lot of drivers up here now getting nailed with back taxes for the last 7 years due to creative accounting. in fact i would be looking at doing that now in advance of starting, cover your backside,

you'll soon get the hang of which areas to work and what times to be out, which will take you a couple of months to get the hang of things.
 
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