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Yellow pack limo v Taxi

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Daily Driver:
Much grumbling among the worker bees up in ballymount due to the switch of focus to yellow pack chauffeurs. Both the taxi driving bees and despatch bees none too pleased with instructions from the Vinny bee. It seems all juicy high fare prebooked work is held aside and only assigned at 8pm. This is when the limo drivers ring in and fill their boots. When they have taken all of the full fat €100 fares they can manage there is slimmer pickings left. All the Killiney, Kildare and Druids glen fares to the airport are gobbled up as the trough gets emptied. Left behind is the €40 slops

Base staff are none too pleased because it means they have nothing really nice to offer as a reward for drivers doing them a solid. And to say the drivers are angry would be an understatement. One source described with colourful language the gaffer who was previously so vocal about hackneys has now done an about turn and is using limos as hackneys on the quiet. He believed when you pay €80 base a week you presumed it was a level playing field. Sadly this appears not to be the case.
A little bird told me that on a quiet day even the smaller local fleets are getting raided and tasty morning jobs snapped up to feed the beast. Ashbourne, West, Local Cabs, AtoZ, and even Terenure are not immune to the night-time raid on the airport runs.

Interestingly some customers aren’t happy. They book a taxi and up shows an merc driven by someone in a cheap black suit telling them they have “been upgraded” Suspecting a rat they query the cost, to be told its on the meter and same price as a taxi. Then the driver opens the taximeter app (available on ios or android) on his phone to prove the point. Greater minds than mine would suggest its not legal for a limo to use a meter. They must be right, since one of vincenzos finest was caught using a physical meter in the glovebox and received a fixed penalty. That made the rest switch to the taximeter app (screenshot below). Which at €13.99 is a steal especially since it you decide the fare per km and don’t have any of that meter sealing bother.

One would hope all the drivers are properly insured since hailing app work can be excluded from some limo policies. Perish the thought.

It has not been all plain hurling though. After sitting in rush hour traffic on pearse street watching taxis cruise by in the bus lane intelligent customers have taken to insisting on being sent a taxi when they ask for one. So now its all M50 and points further south for the poor yellow pack lads.

Incidentally the yellow pack name was bestowed on them by a one of the professional chauffeurs. He treats the industry as a commercial business and gets annoyed with the tone being dragged down by 2007 ex hertz rental jaguars. This particular jag has had a succession of job bridge drivers, each successfully worse, with the one constant being the fragrant aroma of nicotine. As the saying goes “theres nothing like quality, and this is nothing like quality”

Vinny gump could never be accused of being top of the class smart but even by his standards this limo lark seems dumb.  Annoying your customers, radio staff and driver bees to the point of departure seems a bit excessive. Surely even he could work out that dropping from a high of 350 taxi drivers to around 125 indicates something is not working.

Could it be the revenue rewards are exceptional? Well 2 of the limo lads were overheard in the T1 airport jax. Being ex coppers you can expect them to exaggerate numbers a bit but it seems 2k for a 5 day week is normal with the gaffer helping himself to 25%.  (side note; jaysus lads nasty suits aside could you at least polish your shoes before leaving home and wash your hands after taking a piss?). 

Entertaining times ahead.
If the NTA does decide to engage in detective work on limos at the airport it will be time to grab your popcorn and sit back for the entertainment. Ex coppers on one side, interviewing ex coppers on the other side. The stuff of legend.
And if the NRC marriage goes ahead how long before those drivers start to notice the juicy runs disappearing? A simple tweak of the software renders the full fat bookings invisible to mere mortal taxi driver screens.
The latest rumour from D12 is certain Limerick punters booking a long run will soon be “upgraded” to a yellow pack limo service. Watch this space…..

The Liffey Lip:
Where will it all end?

Rat Catcher:
I guess a 2007 Jag is a small step up from the typical 2006 Lexuseyeseses used by mytaxi who were the first dispatch firm to use clapped out shiteboxes masquerading as limousines to cover taxi fares. Similarly, you may insert the word track before suit as far as mytaxi drivers are concerned.

The London drivers challenged the use of virtual meters by mytaxi (then Hail0) and others a few years back with no success. Apparently it's legal over there despite very similar restrictions on the use of meters as applicable over here. Essentially a virtual meter is not a meter and giving the basis for computation of a fare suffices as far as quoting the fare in advance goes. I don't believe it's ever been challenged here despite mytaxi flooding the cities with these vehicles.

Interestingly, rather than opposing the practice, the service is advertised and promoted by (immigrant) Irish taxi drivers.

dalymount:
Ha ha ha breaking me bollox laughing,and STILL the EMPLOYEES will pay,and not have the balls fo fukk Kearns radio back at him ,and go it alone.drivers who cannot find their own work  shoul be ashamed of themselves

markmiwurdz:
Imagine sitting as a passenger in a clapped out Jag in Dorset St in a hurry to catch a flight after ordering a taxi   watchin the taxies flying by your inside... rofl

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