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Who says there is not enough work hack driver??? Is it not the case that the work is just not where you would like it to be!!
Maybe the public’s way of using our trade has changed and you need to change with it? There are other ways to make money than sitting on ranks and maybe its time you need to face facts??
Ian Shanks making his case in the ‘Not enough work argument’
The viewpoint of a Hack however is this: We are being made to look like robbers; we have always been made out as such, when the truth of the matter is that the Council sets the rate and the Private Hire operators always make sure that they stay beneath that rate. This is business I understand that. Blueline has a lot of work; Ian has sent me screenshots of his call logs over a two week period. I don’t know how many cars work from BLT but I would guess at around the 450 mark. So I’m thinking 75974 calls answered divided by 450 cars = 168 jobs each? (As a Hack I only did 65 jobs this week, working purely off the street. I am quite lazy though.) 168 jobs on a low rate with high rent and high fuel costs. My 65 jobs gave me a good wage with a bit left over and I spent more time with my family than most PH might.
The public are fickle, They will pay a PH, running around like a Blue arsed fly at 7pm, two or three quid to run them into Whitley Bay from say Monkseaton and when I take them back at 1am for 5 or 6 quid they happily hand it over and say “take a quid for yourself mate!” The point here is: You don’t need to be drastically cheaper than a Hack to get the work. The world has changed. Where people used to come out onto the street and hail a passing cab they now pick up their mobile phone and call for a cab. That’s not about cheapness it’s about convenience. PH don’t need to make us look like robbers to get work, you get work anyway through the convenience factor. This ‘Convenience factor’ is proven Later on when there are Hacks all over the street and people just get in…..out of convenience. PH Flimpers know this too as this is when they come onto the street, to take advantage of the convenience factor too.
Saturday night, at about 10 past midnight, I took a fare from Whitley bay centre to Whitley Caravan Park; I dropped off and was immediately hailed by two women, who asked, “How much to Newcastle?” “About £20″ I replied. To which they said “But it’s only £11.50 to Newcastle” They hired me anyway and the fare metered £22.20. Why would anyone want to travel that distance, at that time of night on any day of the week let alone a Saturday, for £11.50; Even when their own rate would meter much more than £11.50?
So, I agree the public have changed the way that they hire Taxis. If this is the case and that the work is not on the Ranks, though I don’t agree with that entirely as the unmet demand survey showed there is ‘no significant unmet demand’ but it also showed that there is work on the streets and on the ranks. Even David Wilson went on the record saying that the Taxi trade in the North East is thriving. If this is the case why do the Private Hire trade feel the need to be so ridiculously competitive i.e. £11.50 for a journey of almost twenty miles. If there is enough work out there why don’t we agree to charge the same and gain our customers on service? I think that could work and still give the large PH companies an advantage as they have the cash for large advertising campaigns and popular radio station quizzes. This way everybody would be on an even keel and public could only get an excellent service who ever they use.
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{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }
Silent night holy night advert for Blueline is good,but very hypocritical.Pass this message on to your drivers as well, and tell them to leave their car at home,if they are going to stuff there faces with choc liquers.
Choc liquers yeah right.
Any one know of any offices that do a part time rent? There has been some talk of it at the office I work at.
E.Coast comunity Theatre would like to thank the five Taxi Drivers and one Ex Licensing who helped the Theatre with this years Nativity Play.
We cast the three wise men without a problem, one of them who works at a Wallsend Taxi Office asked for a small fee, the second said he would fit it in with his other commitments, the third said he would rather be the the “Lighthouse” to guide the three Ships that come sailing in on Christmas day on Christmas day!, we kindly informed the third wise Man that we did’nt need a Lighthouse because we were not using three Ships due to Health and Safety, as we opted for three Berwick Licensed Estate Cars instead using their Sat Navs to guide them in, who said they would do the Play for a Box of Chocolate Liqueurs each and some Petrol money back to Berwick Caravan Park.
The third wise Man a Public Transport Guru (Buses) and part-time Taxi Driver eventually agreed to his role.
We still need the virgin Mary and baby Jesus, saying that I have been looking for a Virgin for 21 years with no luck!!!!
Anyway Chaps thanks once again, and to all Berwick Drivers who watch the Play, please be sober as this is a religious Play and Drunks will not be tolerated in the Theatre.
You mean ‘Carry On Flimping’ don’t you. New council – same shi*e.
The Berwick Live Theatre (BLT) would like to announce that the auditions for the pantomime “Dave’s in the Wood” have now closed. Yes after much deliberation from over five hundred hopefuls we have finally found a fit and proper ‘Dave’.
Of course we needed to test our budding thespian so we gave him a short sketch to perform in order to demonstrate his ham acting ability. We asked him to act the part of a solicitor’s tea boy and he was a natural at his first attempt, in fact we felt he took to the part like a monkey to PG Tips.
It wasn’t all plain sailing though because our ‘Dave’ informed us that he needed to keep his true identity a secret because hundreds of taxi drivers from both North Tyneside and Newcastle were very keen to remove his testicles followed by his head.
We told him not to worry about this because we had found a loophole and it was very simple we would simply give him a stage name. It was mutually agreed between the Live Theatre and our ‘Dave’ that his stage name would be Richard Head.
I wish I could tell everyone how marvellous he looks in white socks and lederhosen although I am reliably informed that there are one or two operators out there who already know this. We expect a good turn out on the night for what should be a memorable performance.
Sadly the taxis we hoped to have laid on for the guests have not replied to our phone calls. At the last minute we received an anonymous email stating that there are very few taxis working in Berwick because the vast majority are all making a killing stealing the Hackney Carriage work in Newcastle!
Trick or Treat children.
Well it looks like the METROCNETRE have finally given in and let a taxi firm represent them ,as from the 2nd of november DEAN TAXIS of gateahead will have designated parking spaces in all quadrants and the bus station and there will be extra free phones on all customer service desks and in some stores direct to DEAN TAXIS.so in affect it looks like they have got what has taken them a long time to achive .an we hope it brings in extra work for us drivers .
The Berwick Live Theatre (BLT) is proud to present this years Christmas production of “Dave’s in the Wood”. There has been no expense spared on this pantomime which will take place from the new venue under the marquee at Berwick Caravan Park.
This year we are offering a ten per cent reduction for taxi drivers as we have been told that there is one living here somewhere. We are offering a prize to the first child who manages to find this taxi driver and we are leaving tell-tale clues about which caravan he might be in. These will be in the form of chocolate liqueur wrappers and old police identikit pictures.
We are, at this time, recruiting for this production and we are looking for a suitable ham actor to play the part of ‘Dave’. Applications as usual are by post only and the successful candidate must also be prepared to sell ice cream during the interval. (They will also be required to wear white socks and lederhosen but that’s just for my enjoyment).
We look forward to seeing you all on the night.
PS. The children’s prize for finding that elusive taxi driver will be the worlds first green square frisbee.
Oh no it isn’t.
@David Walls,
Dave,
Be careful, and I mean be very, very careful, because very shortly you will find yourself defending a civil action for the downright falsehoods you allege against me on this site.
Admin might also wish to pay very careful attention, because a failure to take immediate action to remove defamatory remarks will bring him and this site into the action too.
You more than imply that I have committed a criminal offence or acted inappropriately, but as that is simply wrong, you quote extracts of legislation that amount to nothing, unless someone, somewhere has committed a criminal offence.
Not only has no-one done so, but for the third time recently, I re-assert the fact that the judge said no offence was committed by any driver or proprietor.
Now before replying publicly, think very carefully about what you are going to say and, if necessary, take some very specialised legal advice on defamation and slander, because whatever that might cost you, it will be money very well spent!
Might I also point out again that I did not create the concept of the out of town hackney – they have existed for decades, albeit on a smaller scale than that which developed in Berwick.
Berwick was nothing more than the “test case” in the High Court.
Again, contrary to your false assertions, I have not defended anyone in connection with the “Berwick situation”, because no-one has been accused of anything against which they might need defending!
To date, the drivers who have required my services the most for representation / defending before a committee have been those licensed by North Tyneside Council, followed by Stockton and Barnsley. I have not yet defended a single driver licensed by Northumberland.
Be warned, despite the fact that Admin previously observed, “It’s impossible to wind that kid [me] up”, there comes a point when I do get wound up; and you are dangerously close to completely overstepping the mark!
Before replying, make sure you have read this posting very, very carefully several times, because there will not be a further non-legal warning.
Well, Well!
The “three Amigo’s” are still coming on here, when two are more interested in what’s going on the in the Midlands, opposed to the MESS in the North East and the third Amigo needs HELP!!
The Amigo’s!, Wilson, Fiddler and Mr Walls!
Who cares about Wolverhampton??, apart from the fact there Football Club replaced our Club in the Premiership!
Who cares about “Cages” in Cars, unless someone is kindly going to stick these three in one.
I really dispair with you three, Champions of the Trade you claim???, one of you was stuffing Taxi Plates and Badges into Envelopes last year and posting them out to anyone who made through the Channel Tunnel, Mr Fiddler, I am sure as a North Shields resident you could attend a over 50′s course at the Linkskill Centre, like Flower arranging, Cookery etc, rather than hanging around with Mr Wilson, OR take on Mr wilson for the mess he has caused!!!!
Mr Walls, this site is not a Curriculum Vitae (CV), and please choose a side, you appear to be getting at the two other Amigo’s, however two weeks ago you attending this so called NT Forum holding hands with them???
Anyway as the festive season is fast approaching, I thought that you three Chaps could do a Panto for the Kids of NORTH TYNESIDE, not Berwick or Wolver..Bloody..Hampton, but I thought again!, Mr Walls as the Dame???, Alan and David as the ugly Sisters???…….NO!, we would end up bombarded with Acts and old Court cases on here related to performing Arts!!!
So as Mr Walls is so obsessed with Buses, we could have a Stage play of the hit TV Comedy “On the Buses”, Dave could be Butler and David could be “Blakey”, and Alan could dress up as Olive!!
I am sure Whitley Bay Playhouse would welome you with open Arms, mind you Wallsend based Drivers who watch the show, Popcorn only in the Theatre, NO Chocolates!!
@David Willson “there are some (and I accept only a few)drivers how genuinely predominately work from within the Berwick zone, but also do work from Blue line”
bullsh*t, who drivers a 120 mile around trip to work the Blue Line system for a night? durring the week its not worth the fuel money for the amount of work and even on the weekends nights its not cost effective i.e.
an optimistic Friday & Saturday 10 shift
£400 gross income = £60-£80 in fuel + £30-40 in fuel to get in to Blue lines area + £100 office rent to Blue Line (blue line wont to weekend rates)= £190-£220 costs
£400 gross income
£190-£220 cost
£180-£210 before you take off insurance,tax,plate,maintenance, income tax etc
and that’s on a good weekend, you only have to read blue lines website to know they are few and far between
I seem not to have the opportunity of replying to Dave Walls posting of “October 26th, 2009 at 9:53 am” (see somewhere above), so do so here.
I made a career choice – join the public sector as licensing transferred from the courts to councils or to stay in the private sector – and chose to join the public sector.
As in the private sector, there are some people in the public sector who appear to be grossly overpaid; and some who appear to be desperately underpaid in both sectors.
Public sector pay may be less (and was in my case), but the hours were shorter, the holidays longer and the pension better. Call it a lifestyle choice, if you like.
Frankly, however, my career and lifestyle choices seem to be completely irrelevant to the matters in hand.
If it was relevant (and it is not), I would ask why you no longer work as a bus driver!
As for Northumberland’s meeting on 19 October, of course I was there – I can hardly advise people about something I have no knowledge of. Similarly, that’s also a reason for attending North Tyneside’s Taxi Forum – to do my job, I need to know what’s going on.
There are some (and I accept only a few) drivers who genuinely predominantly work from within the Berwick zone, but also do work from Blue Line. The policy would, in any event, seem to allow these people to retain their Berwick plates.
There are a great many drivers who do much of their work in Northumberland, with none or very little in the Berwick zone. Some of them cannot get plates for the areas in which they live (Blyth and Wansbeck), because they are allegedly capped. As you fully appreciate, if the plates were Northumberland plates (the zones having been abolished), these people would genuinely be entitled to retain their Northumberland plates, because of the amount of work they do in Northumberland.
Whilst I think everyone, including those who are at risk of losing their plates and their livelihoods, would prefer certainty, I cannot say Northumberland’s decision was wrong. As far as I am aware, it was not suggested by anyone who responded to the consultation; and was solely a suggestion of the council that they should firstly consider their policy on zones and capping. Whatever they ultimately decide regarding zones and capping, it must be right that they decide those matters first, even if their decision is ultimately to leave things as they are, because those matters have never previously been considered by Northumberland County Council as it was not the licensing authority until 1 April 2009.
Whilst you are right that there were a number of Blue Line drivers present, I think you’d have to accept that there were people (drivers) present that were not obviously from Blue Line. Certainly representations were made by / on behalf of drivers from other offices in Newcastle and North Tyneside. This is not something that exclusively affects Blue Line drivers.
I suspect we both await sight of the Minutes of the Meeting of 19 October with interest, because the conduct of the mater certainly raised a few procedural issues! I’d also like to see the reasons for every aspect of every decision, because they seemed to be particularly conspicuous by their absence at the meeting!
I take it none of you Lads have read Thursday’s Chronicle then?, page 9!
Anyway I am off now for a Quality Street and a Cuppa!
@Ian Shanks, work at Blue line is getting thinner too, not helped by the amount of cars you are taken on (by your own admission in the press over 100 in the past year! nice £10,000 extra a week)your own website is full of your drivers expressing how hard it is for them to make a living, but you don’t give a sh*t about how hard it is for the lads on the street all day and night, you just keep on taken on more cars!!
Now that you have made Blue Line a limited company i cant wait to see your books to see how greedy Blue Line is!
btw, I notice you haven’t backed up your claim of growth if year on year figures for the past few years? not as good as you are claiming are they?
@NT Badgeholder, A Hack is a Taxi mate. we didn’t issue all the Hacks but now they are here they require Ranks. While I’m on, everyone is welcome to comment and call each other names if they so wish! But we charge for advertising here so no more long drawn out Ads for Blt, Primark or any other large retailer Please.
Ian, I can testifiy after clearing in Gateshead a week on Friday ago I let myself be swallowed by work in the area.
My fate was sealed and I made a few quid. Punters know who is best.
I shop at Primark, they are clean, comfortable, reliable,open when I want to ge there and are available
on the main high street. Sounds like BLT? Yeh!!
I have mates who are NT hacks and Ncle hacks, the issues are:
1) there are TOOMANYBLACKCABS in Newcastle. If this is wrong why are they petitioning to increase the
number of bays?
2) They cost too much. Students chase the cheapest beers for the greatest effect.
So why should they adopt different principles to taxis.
3) What about having promotions for discounts on hacks to match our rates? Surely a little competition would be
welcome??
4) All of BLT’s bookings are from specific locations unlike rank work – Does the vast majority of work in Ncle
come from Ranks? What would u rather have – a walk to an expensive lift home or a cheaper pick up from the pub door?
There’s no chance of me paying £11.50 to Wallsend when BLT can do it for £7.00.
That’s 3 pints difference in the Buffs, effin rip off.
BLT offer wot people want, quick, reliable, relatively
cheap service. Call back, text alert, so you know who
is taking you home, not the cousin of the fella in the
photo (don’t tell me it doesn’t go on).
I know hacks have to wait longer for a job but does
that not justify that Ncle has TOOMANYHACKS.
Admin – should you not rename the site http://www.TOOMANYHACKS.com ?
Blue Line is not opening a office in Gateshead as we do not feel we need to, we have work in that area already and drivers choosing to operate with us. So what is the purpose of a physical presence?
British airways has its main call centre in Newcastle Business park and not at Heathrow or Gatwick. Why is it assumed you need to be in the area when a advertising phone calls is all that is needed?
I’ve just seen a green peugot,newcastle private hire plated with a full width topsign with LATAXI on it. He flimped a fare outside Pacific. I know it was a flimp because they asked me first.
@David Wilson, I think I was quite accurate!I was born a manc and call everybody Kid. The news item about the puma is already on the site..Left sidebar but thanks anyway Kid!
@ian shanks, That’s twice you repeated what I said!
@ian shanks, I did and you just repeated it for me….Thanks
@ian shanks, You don’t need to charge maximum rate if the HC’s freeze rates,you will eventually catch up. PH vehicles will naturally be younger as they do 3 times as many miles and don’t last as long,meaning most PH are always paying for a car. Of course there is work out there! There would be no HC trade if there were no work. Nobody doubts your fine business prowess and we HC’s do work our available market, some even pay you and others to work your available market. So what’s your point? I merely suggested that we,the whole trade work on service. You obviously believe you provide a very good service so why massively undercut the HC rate? If your service is so good then you stand to lose nothing by having a rate closer to the HC rate which would hugely benefit your drivers,drivers who pay you rent,who create your income. To keep them on such low rates, cheaper than public transport, is a bit rough to say the least. My hypothesis was simply ‘everyone can make money here without a fuss’ simply by making a taxi journey a similar rate wherever you hire it. The public would feel less confused,the drivers would all be making money and the operators will still get their bit.
Some random Points !
Why should we be charging the maximum rate that you as hackney’s choose to charge rather than you charging what PH firms charge. No-one forces you charge the MAXIMUM set by councils, and the private hire drivers are making money! This can be demonstrated by the average age of the PH vehicles is younger than the Hackneys.
The total calls that came into the building was in fact 83,910 answered calls, so many people were told “sorry we are fully booked” A further 7936 went unanswered. Then, I beg to wonder how many people got the engaged tone and did not get any sort of answer.
Then ADMIN now suggests, after all his fellow mates have cried for months and months, that “the trade is dead”, the “bandits have killed it” and after never disagreeing with them, that there is in fact work out there and even the unmet demand survey confirms that in some way.
Who is making you out to be robbers? Not me! I just run a business, and in that you need to work to your available market, this is something hackneys seem reluctant not to want to do.
Andy,
You might be right that the 8,000 lost calls were at peak times, but as I don’t actually work for Blue Line, I don’t know, but then again, neither do you!
For the avoidance of doubt, can I just point out that I did not state that Blue Line should recruit more drivers – I merely observed that there was possibly 8,000 more jobs that they could handle, if they could answer more calls and had more vehicles. All this actually demonstrates is a demand for booked taxis, because people want the convenience of knowing they’ve got a taxi.
You’re right, I’ve never driven a taxi of either description.
However, I did spend five years working as a process server – personally serving court orders, injunctions, eviction orders and the like on people. So, yes, I have been threatened, had my car kicked and projectiles thrown at me, etc, etc. I also worked long unsocial hours for little financial reward.
Can I assume you accept everything else I said?
Admin,
Personally, I don’t disagree with much that you say, but the law does having something to say about price fixing – and that is: it’s illegal, and large fines usually follow a conviction.
You may be right that the private hire trade could charge more than they do – they certainly have the freedom to set their own charges – and the public might be “happy” to pay higher charges for the convenience.
In relation to hackneys, you assert, “the Council sets the rate [of our charges]“, but that is not a comprehensive statement of the law, as I’m sure you know!
The Council certainly has the power to set the maximum tariff that may be charged, but the 1847 and 1976 Acts are entirely silent on whether a lower tariff may be charged. In the circumstances, the wording of section 65 of the 1976 Act seems to very clearly provide for lower tariffs to be set by individual proprietors; and allows for them to have their taximeters set to their own lower tariff. That statement of the law is supported by a 1993, unreported High Court judgment.
Despite being a 16-year old decision, it appears it hasn’t yet reached all councils in this area, because in the last few weeks, I’ve had to bring it to the attention of two councils. Discretion prevents me from disclosing the identities of the offending councils, but changes have been made to comply with the judgment.
Whilst Blue Line’s job statistics are impressive, did anyone else notice that almost 8,000 calls went unanswered? Does that not suggest there is much more work that Blue Line could be doing, if more calls were answered and more vehicles were available to them?
Finally, can I point out that to get the total picture, you seem to have to add the BLT and C’gar calls together, which reveals that BLT actually answered about 76,750 calls, rather than 75,974 relied upon by Admin for his calculations?
Is it not simply the case that hackneys will continue to charge the prescribed maximum tariff, because they wouldn’t make a living if they didn’t; and private hire will continue to charge low fares, because there’s always someone else who’s willing to undercut the established operators (or, at least, give the impression of being cheaper)?