how to start as a taxi driver?

sjaypink

hi! was wondering if anyone has any advice/ info on how to start up as a taxi driver?

i know this is a vague question but its only just come to me this evening and so i as yet i have no info whatsover, so anything would be greatly appreciated.

the idea first arose a couple of years ago when my cousin asked if i wanted to work his car in the days (as he mostly worked nights)......... he explained briefly how to go bout it, but it all sounded like too much effort at the time! (& ive now forgot what he said...............)

ive noticed 'taxi business' for sale in my my local newspaper recently- oiro £10,000- is this the plate that means you can work off the ranks etc? (&pay to work off a firms radio if wanted)

how does it work if you work for a firm? the main reason for wanting to do this is so myself & my partner (who hates his job!) can work flexibly as we need/ choose.............

thankyou in advance!

vikingaero

Check with your local Council for the specific requirements first. Some Councils will specify certain types or colours of cars, they will list minimum insurance and other requirements such as a CRB check.

Then ask a few cab companies about working as a driver.

Remarkably some Councils allow part-time drivers to work on a temporary basis without a badge or a CRB check. But this could allow you partner to try it out to see if it suits him/her.

You either:

(1) own your own cab and pay a circuit fee for the radio/pda/sms/meter

(2) rent the cab off another driver

or

(3) rent the cab off the cab firm and take a % - some cabbies I speak to pay 60% of a job to the firm and retain 40%.

Be warned though that cab work it very unsocial and can involve working the morning and evening rush and weekends with the pub and club brigade.

sjaypink

thankyou.

yeah the fella is willing to do the drunk early hours runs! ill do a few mornings of taking granny to the shops!

so 1) is what ive seen advertised in the paper for £10k?

i guess with 2 & 3 its just a case of talking to some people in the business..........

ok well i know it varies greatly between areas etc, but does anyone have any idea how much you can earn out of, say 60hrs a week? -at least half of this nights/ weekends?

and what are the running costs? i know obviously fuel, servicing, mots, tax, insurance -is there anything else i havn't thought of?

and any ideas what kind of charges a firm would make for radio hire if we can finance the 10k?

sjaypink

omg! just found some info on my local councils website and it looks pretty complicated! is it that bad?!

also another website says 'starting salary is approx £10,000, if working a mixture of weekdays, evenings & weekends' - surely this cant be right?!!!!!!!

it was not thought of as a career move or anything, just to allow us some flexibility whilst the kids are young etc.......... but if anyone does drive full time unsociable hours and only earns 10k then please let me know as ill stop this idea now! :eek:

Conor_3

DO NOT DO IT IT IS NOT WORTH IT.

My Uncle is a partner in a local taxi firm. He earns sod all and is out all hours. I can earn more in 20 hours driving a lorry than he does all week.

Believe me, your hubby won't be wanting to do the lates after his first weekends experience - it ain't nice. Also if you're on the "rent a radio" scheme, you're expected a lot of the time to work when the taxi office wants you.

Another mate of mine had his own taxi. It was regular to start in the middle of the day doing the shoppers and finish doing the clubs at 3am on a Sunday morning then be expected to do an airport run at 6am on the Sunday. A year later, he also had 9 points on his licence - all for speeding. Most taxi drivers have quite a few speeding fines.

Taxiing is only worth it if:
1) You're in London and have a black cab or,
2) Own a taxi and have mugs driving it for you on self employed where they get a share of the earnings after fuel deductions.

03022242

i know many people who do it, it all depends on where and what hours you work, someone once said that his take home amount was near £1000 a week, he lives in bristol, others have said they make about a ton a day

sjaypink

ok thanks for the advice everyone!

i think i can safely say this idea will be put on the back burner for a while then!

vikingaero

Taxiing really is a bum job at the end of the day.

One of my friends was made redundant a few years ago and he tried cabbying using the temporary exemption and using the firms car. He worked from about 6pm to midnight and after deductions ended up with about £25. He found that as the new boy a lot of jobs seemed to go to the regulars.

I take taxis a lot to and from work and the airport. Most cabbies fall into the job after redundancy etc. Those who earn £1k per week own their own cabs but also have all the deductions to make such as fuel, maintenance, insurance etc. To get to this level you have to invest time and serious sweat and waiting around. And most cabbies I speak to also factor in a couple of grand a year for the inevitable prangs that they don't want to claim on their already high insurance.

blue_haddock

I have worked selling vehicles to taxi/mini-cab drivers - remember not everything they earn goes through the books