As per title really...
What do you need in the way of insurance, qualifications/lisence etc to work as an owner/driver minicab.
And what sort of money can you make?
The ability to drive like a complete c*ck ,without a seatbelt on, seems to be a prerequisite.
Apart from that you will need a licence from the local authority and the vehicle will have a slightly above average MOT (at a select list of garages
approved locally). Special insurance needed, but no idea of companies or cost I'm afriad.
With any luck the local council should have some info on their website.
ETA: Oh yeah, and you have to believe the bizarre delusion that hanging a CD from your interior mirror will protect you from speed traps!
[Edited on 7/4/10 by matt_claydon]
Mother-in-law says you'll probably have to do 'the knowledge' depending on the council.
You can get special taxi insurance which is like a big group buy thing, not sure how it works.
The car needs taxi mot, which includes failing on scratches in paintwork !!!!
Money isn't brilliant unless you do nights, once again depending on your area
quote:
Originally posted by matt_claydon
The ability to drive like a complete c*ck ,without a seatbelt on, seems to be a prerequisite.
Apart from that you will need a licence from the local authority and the vehicle will have a slightly above average MOT (at a select list of garages approved locally). Special insurance needed, but no idea of companies or cost I'm afriad.
With any luck the local council should have some info on their website.
ETA: Oh yeah, and you have to believe the bizarre delusion that hanging a CD from your interior mirror will protect you from speed traps!
[Edited on 7/4/10 by matt_claydon]
My dads mate has just stopped doing it as he said it was more hassle than it's worth, it's ok ferrying little old ladies back and forth from
Lidl but if you want the Friday/Saturday night big bucks you have to put up with young ladies offering payment in kind or alternatively falling asleep
in his cab and him not being able to wake them up for fear of them thinking he was trying to touch them up.
He didn't have too many problems with the blokes mainly because he's bloody huge but he said the girls caused him no end of bother.
Payment in kind eh? That could get you into all sorts of bother
Around these parts, you get a licence by filling in a form and giving them the money.
There are mores cars out there sitting in bus bays looking for non existent hires than anything else.
Then there's the weigh in to get the radio from the firm you're with. Has to be paid whther or not you're making money.
I've never done it, but a mate has and he reckons it's getting tighter all the time.
quote:
Originally posted by nick205
Payment in kind eh? That could get you into all sorts of bother
i had never thought about being a cabby in my spare time but now that you mention payment in kind, i'm having a rethink
quote:
Originally posted by eznfrank
quote:
Originally posted by nick205
Payment in kind eh? That could get you into all sorts of bother
Yeah, he said that as appealing as that might sound to some it's not gonna put shoes on the kids feet!
i got arrested because of a lippy cab driver, next time i will run over him twice!!!
I found myself having to make ends meet a while back and fell into cabbing for a couple of years. Private Hire driving is the easiest way to get into
it - you just need to get a 'badge' from the local Council and a 'statement of willingness to employ' from a cab firm, also a
medical from your GP.
Hackney licenses entitle you to sit on the taxi ranks which is where the money is (at least on Friday & Saturday nights)
You can earn decent money if you are prepared to work all the crappy shifts (usually 12 hours minimum) but say goodbye to all of your family, friends
and social life - trust me on this.
SWMBO has banned me from the taxis now and I would NEVER go back to it - you just wouldn't believe the number of dodgy characters I have met
while working.
I was once offered 'payment in kind' by a woman old enough to be my mother - and I've got grandchildren! Yukk
quote:
Originally posted by RazMan
....... I was once offered 'payment in kind' by a woman old enough to be my mother - and I've got grandchildren! Yukk
father in law taxis and reckons that at peak hours averages about £30-40 takings per hour. when you add this up on a 10 hour shift it seems ok, there
will be lots of hours in between when little is happening. this does mean that you can be a little bit selective and just go for those hours when its
really busy; evenings or if there is some event on.
find out what the score is in your local area. some places you need to buy a licence and these can be upwards of 40k. quite an outlay but they mean
you can pick up like a black cab and still use a normal car.
40k? Bluddy hell, i thought a license would be a couple of hundred max!
You have to get the uniform, shiny trousers and threadbare cardigan and smoke at least 20 fags an hour with the window open. You will also need to lose the use of your legs and use the hooter after the legal hour rather than get out and knock on anyone's door.
I'm no expert but with driving it all depends on what level you take it to. My father says there are some levels where you don't need any
kind of special lisense or vehicle, like limo driving and airport runs.
Isn't the main difference that a hackney carriage lisence allows you to pick people up at ranks and in the street but a private hire driver can
only collect someone who phones them?
Everyone I know with experience of it says its not worth the hassle you go through, you work 12 hour shifts with massive amount of down time and for
many the the money averages out really low, especially as your self employed and have to pay for things like fuel and often the Cab and tax and such.
A taxi driver in Glasgow (On the way back from the airport) once told me that some of the guys he worked with made less than minimum wage.
Almost forgot, if you go for it you have to learn loads of Bullshit to talk about in the cab, and you have to believe your own BS.