Why are taxi drivers the worst drivers?

[233]

9 hour driving limit extendable to 10 hours twice per week, weekly limit of 56 hours, 90 hour driving limit over two consecutive weeks.

Shifts can be upto 15 hours in a 24 hour period you can do 3 15 hour shifts in a week the rest must be no longer than 13 hours.

I think if Joe Public realised just how long HGV drivers can legally work there would be an outcry - somebody phone the Daily Fail....

@233 , add those hours to the graveyard shift and you soon understand why so many drivers are tired!

definitely,

but whats the general attitude in the industry, i'm guessing theres not going to be much understanding for a driver saying nope i'm pulling over and taking an hour?

we encourage our guys to drop jobs and pull over when they feel the need obviously not as easy when your on a schedule and you've got a slot for tipping etc. i'd imagine for the haulage industy the more automation thats introduced the better its going to be for everyone. quite a few swaying the other night on my way up the road

 

[morbid42]

I got in a taxi, it was an old mercedes with about 200k miles on meter. No idea what engine he had put in it, but it was a flying machine. He was also a very good driver as he was going 60 in a 30 at one point (nice of him to slow down) showing a lot of skill. Is a true story but Im actually thinking maybe he wasnt a taxi driver lol maybe he had just robbed some joint

 

[NVP]

I got in a taxi, it was an old mercedes with about 200k miles on meter. No idea what engine he had put in it, but it was a flying machine. He was also a very good driver as he was going 60 in a 30 at one point (nice of him to slow down) showing a lot of skill. Is a true story but Im actually thinking maybe he wasnt a taxi driver lol maybe he had just robbed some joint

They're the best taxis

 

[muon]

Because they think they are expert drivers and they are good enough to not have rules apply to them.

Cyclists also use mind-tricks to break the rules.

To be fair, I do speed using the same logic (i.e. when I believe it is safe to do so), but don't break any other rules.

 

[NVP]

(i.e. when I believe it is safe to do so)

That's when I murder

 

[muon]

That's when I murder

Well as long as you can rationalise it. Don't get caught, others may not see it the same way.

 

[Scania]

definitely,

but whats the general attitude in the industry, i'm guessing theres not going to be much understanding for a driver saying nope i'm pulling over and taking an hour?

we encourage our guys to drop jobs and pull over when they feel the need obviously not as easy when your on a schedule and you've got a slot for tipping etc. i'd imagine for the haulage industy the more automation thats introduced the better its going to be for everyone. quite a few swaying the other night on my way up the road

A lot of the bigger / better companies won’t quibble if your tired and need to stop - but they’d soon be in your case if you did it every shift, the problem I think is - and I’ve been there and done it myself - you can be trundling down the motorway quite happily not feeling tired and making the mistake of thinking to yourself “I’ll be ok, it’s only X miles to go....” the next thing you know micro sleep has set in and you suddenly realise you’ve no recollection of the previous junction or passing a particular point etc

Also I think a lot of drivers are actually worried of potential consequences for being late because of them having stopped en route, these days - if I need a kip I stop and have a 20-30 minute cat nap regardless of the booking time / what my traffic planner will say whatever, it simply isn’t worth taking the chance, as I say the trick is not making a habit of it, if your properly rested it usually isn’t an issue to do a full drive stint in one hit, I’ll often stop just to stretch my legs but it’s rare to grab a nod.

I think a lot of drivers tiredness is simply down to them not getting enough sleep during their down time, again though if your allowed to legally do a 15 hour shift including upto 10 hours driving therefore 9 hours off to get home, do your home thing, tea, bath, quick hi to the family and bed etc and it’s legal to repeat that x3 on the bounce, it’s little wonder HGV drivers tend to be tired, especially on nights.

The legal requirement for driving a 44 ton artic for 9 hours continuously is one break of 45 minutes after 4.5 hours driving, that’s it.

I’m frankly surprised trucks don’t kill many more than they actually do!

 

[233]

thing is in the taxi and ph trade there is no restriction on driver hours

uber now limit drivers to 12 hours actual driving time after which they must log off for 6 hours then rinse and repeat but thats 12 hours actual movement and doesnt include time in between jobs or at the start and end of a trip, realistically that 12 hours could be 18 off for 6 back on for 18 again

other companies have 0 restrictions in place at all.


@Scania spot on what your saying people are worried about the consequences but these things can and do happen, shift changes affecting peoples sleep patterns real life interfering especially in the summer with neighbours doing their gardens etc its a ruddy nightmare for anyone that works shifts i think we can all say that the more autonomous trucks taxis and road transport in general becomes the better for everyone even as an additional safety net. auto braking and steering correction will be a boon over the next 5-10 years and i'm sure will save a lot of lives

 

[Blackjack Davy]

I'd say they're more aggressive than average in trying to get their vehicle where they want it.

Pretty rare I see anything but a taxi doing a 180 turn middle of a main road to save time.

Oh lord yes not to mention parking both sides of the road outside the train station sometimes narrowing the road to one lane. Or dropping off/picking up outside the co-op right in front of the ramp so you have to manhandle your trolley around them. One day I swear I'm going to push it right into it "oops! sorry! Bit of a dent there!"

The only time they're not like that is when they're carrying a passenger then they're a mobile roadblock.

 

[Jean-F]

A lot of the bigger / better companies won’t quibble if your tired and need to stop - but they’d soon be in your case if you did it every shift, the problem I think is - and I’ve been there and done it myself - you can be trundling down the motorway quite happily not feeling tired and making the mistake of thinking to yourself “I’ll be ok, it’s only X miles to go....” the next thing you know micro sleep has set in and you suddenly realise you’ve no recollection of the previous junction or passing a particular point etc

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

I can definitely vouch for that, I can remember years ago, realising where I was, and thinking, “hold up, when did I pass X?”
One that I vividly recall, was when I was around 20 in the very late fifties.
I’d done a delivery somewhere around Retford, Notts, leaving there early evening.
I didn’t give a toss about log sheets, or driving hours, all I knew was that I was going home to London.
In those days, the road that we used to go up to the north, or north east, was the A1, the A1 M came in 60 or 61, and away I went, I knew that I was a little drowsy, but as long as I could see where I was going, I’d keep going.
I kept on, mile after mile, then it dawned on me that I was going through the town of Stamford.
Nothing wrong with that, it meant that soon I’d be going through St. Neots, then Biggleswade, but I had no memory of going through Grantham, but I must have, as I was in Stamford.
It didn’t mean much at the time, but it gives me pause now.

 

[Scania]

I can definitely vouch for that, I can remember years ago, realising where I was, and thinking, “hold up, when did I pass X?”
One that I vividly recall, was when I was around 20 in the very late fifties.
I’d done a delivery somewhere around Retford, Notts, leaving there early evening.
I didn’t give a toss about log sheets, or driving hours, all I knew was that I was going home to London.
In those days, the road that we used to go up to the north, or north east, was the A1, the A1 M came in 60 or 61, and away I went, I knew that I was a little drowsy, but as long as I could see where I was going, I’d keep going.
I kept on, mile after mile, then it dawned on me that I was going through the town of Stamford.
Nothing wrong with that, it meant that soon I’d be going through St. Neots, then Biggleswade, but I had no memory of going through Grantham, but I must have, as I was in Stamford.
It didn’t mean much at the time, but it gives me pause now.

I concur indeed my friend, I find myself "pausing" for reflection often, more so as I'm ageing, with a Granddaughter now etc, I've never stopped asking myself "why do I do this?" given especially the risk / reward ratio - which is **** - I wonder who will be the first to realize driving has become a mugs game, the drivers or the industry itself?

If it's the former, Brexit will be the least of the countries problems......

 

[Scania]

thing is in the taxi and ph trade there is no restriction on driver hours

uber now limit drivers to 12 hours actual driving time after which they must log off for 6 hours then rinse and repeat but that's 12 hours actual movement and doesn't include time in between jobs or at the start and end of a trip, realistically that 12 hours could be 18 off for 6 back on for 18 again

other companies have 0 restrictions in place at all.

That should be alarming - at least my maximum 15 hours "spread" includes other work, waiting, breaks etc yet still 9 hours off is never enough.....

What erks me the most is companies view our maximums as targets rather than limits.

Glad I don't work weekends - my hours for this week, Monday - Friday is....... 71, bang on my limit.

 

[Jean-F]

I concur indeed my friend, I find myself "pausing" for reflection often, more so as I'm ageing, with a Granddaughter now etc, I've never stopped asking myself "why do I do this?" given especially the risk / reward ratio - which is **** - I wonder who will be the first to realize driving has become a mugs game, the drivers or the industry itself?

If it's the former, Brexit will be the least of the countries problems......

Great minds Scania, great minds.
Incidentally, my old man drove a Scania-Vabis oil tanker in the 1960s, but I digress.
I don’t think that I ever saw it as a mugs game, I just eventually got the **x of all the regulation, and quit to do The Knowledge in my very early 40s.
I was just lucky when I was trucking, I seemed to be in the right place, at the right time, when a decent job was going.
I fell into a job hauling luxury yachts and other boats to the south of France, and the Italian lakes, just because I was seeing a Yugoslavian girl, whose brother started a business transporting them.
He even acquired a LHD Mercedes unit, to pull the low loader trailer, this made life a doddle punching across France from Dieppe, but a bit of a nuisance around Bermondsey and Rotherhithe!
When he went bust, I sailed into another job, running from London to Aubange, on the Belgian/Luxembourg border twice per week, all because the shady guy who owned the outfit, heard me giving directions in French to a couple of tourists in a pub near Tower Bridge.
He asked me how I knew French, I told him that I had a drop of French blood, and that I’d needed the language in my last truck driving gig.
He then asked if I could speak Belgian too, and I had difficulty to suppress my laughter, as there is no Belgian language, just French, Flemish, and a little German in that country.
Anyway, I got that job from that encounter in a pub, and he expanded to contracts in Germany and Poland.
I used to do all that, standing on my head then, but if my wife suggests visiting her dad near Canterbury now, I say, “yeah, as long as you drive, and I sit in the back.”