driving a taxi...

andyr19772 · 2 August 2008 at 5:02PM

hey,

are there any taxi drivers reading this? if so can you please answer my question?!

- is it possible once you have gone to the local council and paid for a private cab licence (not a black cab) to get a job from a local taxi firm without a car..?

I know it sounds pretty stupid but i need to earn extra money and driving taxis would be relatively easy to fit round my main job. I can not afford to purchase a car so I am wondering if companies in this country hire out cars to drivers in exchange for a fixed fee or cut of their weekly wage as i know they do in other countries.

Anyway, if anybody knows anything about this then help me fulfill my robert de niro fantasies and drive round the mean streets of Staffordshire earning some extra bucks.

thanks for reading
regards
andy

passatrider · 2 August 2008 at 10:43PM

Hi Andy,

If you have a Private hire licence then you can approach any cab firm who specialise in Private hire and they will more than likely bite your hand off! They will almost always have fleet cars which you will be able to drive on a percentage, you just turn up and drive.

There are some firms where you can rent a vehicle from them on a weekly basis which comes fully equipped, however you would have to run this full time to make it pay to be honest with you.

Good luck!

Dave

fiestafantastic · 2 August 2008 at 11:53PM

Depending on your local authority you will have to have your car hackneyed ( a glorified MOT) if you are not renting from a taxi firm and public liability insurance. You will also have to have a meter.

Worth checking with the council what you would need so you can work out what the costs are before undertaking.

penguin83 · 3 August 2008 at 12:04AM

When OH car got too old to taxi in he hired one instead of buying a new car - it is already plated and taxed - you need your badge and insurance. He pays £80.00 a week for his. x x

kangaryu · 4 August 2008 at 8:54AM

Hi,

I looked into driving a private hire a couple of years ago, as a potential alternative job.

The big companies often do have fleet cars, and some have cars available that you can drive without a Private Hire Badge - its a different badge on the car, with restrictions as to who you can carry.

The firm I tried hired cars at £35.00 per day shift (5:00 - 17:00) (in 2006), and you paid for your own diesel.
In your own car the 'settle' charge for teh radio hire etc was £90 per week.

On the couple of days I tried it it was around lunchtime before I covered my costs.

The worse thing was the insurance excess of £500. If the car was damaged in any way you had to stump up £500 per time. This was refunded only on proof of no-fault. For me the benefits of £50 / per day before tax etc were far outweighed by the potential for losses, so I didn't take it any further.

A friend who worked as a private hire driver for years took a job stacking shelves in Morrisons because it paid better than the taxi driving.

Also, with the current economic situation I suspect this may worsen as there may be a lot of people turning to this as a means of earning, but with fewer clients able to afford taxis.

KGR

driving a taxi...

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