Deadline on Friday for NTA submissions.

[Shallowhal]

You're a bleedin fail!!

[Theoneandonly]

@ mercenary for hire, I agree totally with you there. If cars are maintained and cleaned and polished properly they will last for decades, my old taxi is an example 2003 Citroen C5 2ltr hdi it has 642,000 miles on it, the paint work is glossy everything works inside and out, I put a towbar on it and I use it a couple of times a week. My current taxi a C5 estate is flawless and it will kill me to sell it when its 10 years old its a pure waste and its only money making for government and dealerships. When you put a age limit on a taxi there is minimal effort to maintain or care for the taxi in its final 12 or 10 months, by keeping it open ended the inspection could be more strict any grubbiness or anything broken it doesn't get relicensed so it puts more effort into keeping taxi up to spec which is not hard.

You lot don't get it. the old carina was bullet proof, and there were hundreds of them going around as taxis 20 years plus old, that didn't stop them being shit heaps, also made the rental business very lucrative for all sorts of low life, the 9 year rule has worked out very well for the business, if you don't have the capability of changing your vehicle every few years  as part of your business model maybe you shouldn't be in the business

[mercenary for hire]

No Roy I you don't get it.A massive oversupply of Bronze badges given out like confetti allowing everyone who wanted to be on road the into the industry without any proper vetting or testing procedures.

When the economy collapsed there were guys coming out of the woodwork to rent who had never intended to drive a taxi but had back up PSV badges.You are talking complete nonsense if you think the the ten year rule is responsible for the uptake in business.

Less drivers licences mean less guys available to drive taxis not the other way round.


We thrashed all this out before I think yer getting the aul Alzheimers like one or two other members on here.

[dalymount]

Frank Fahey wanted to do away with the rental sector altogether, but Noel Dempsey wasn't  having it

[Theoneandonly]

No Roy I you don't get it.A massive oversupply of Bronze badges given out like confetti allowing everyone who wanted to be on road the into the industry without any proper vetting or testing procedures.

When the economy collapsed there were guys coming out of the woodwork to rent who had never intended to drive a taxi but had back up PSV badges.You are talking complete nonsense if you think the the ten year rule is responsible for the uptake in business.

Less drivers licences mean less guys available to drive taxis not the other way round.


We thrashed all this out before I think yer getting the aul Alzheimers like one or two other members on here.

Why are there less drivers?

[Rat Catcher]

To be fair, you have to consider the clients' perspective too. If you rented a car and Enterprise offered you an antique Citreon with nearly a million kilos on it you'd be quick enough to tell them where to stick it.

[mercenary for hire]

Have yous been to London/liverpool or New York in a taxi? The cars aren't low mileage immaculate vehicles.They're driven by multiple drivers all around the clock.Only reasonably clean by my standards.You lads think we are a limo service for taxi prices.


Where did all the drivers go?...

This isn't in order or entirely coherant but should give yis an idea.

There's always been lots of churn in the taxi industry.Drivers come and go.

Tougher taxi exam meant those who left after the recession to go back to work in other industries may have lapsed their PSV driver licence.The 250 renewal fee made it expensive to keep as a back up plan.Now they simply aren't able to pass the exam without a lot of work.So don't come back or are unable to pass the exam.

As far as I know(always open to correction) international students can't drive taxis on student visas.They aren't allowed to be self employed.That removed a good few rental drivers instantly.

Also the requirement to maintain tax clearance all year round may have removed some drivers behind on their returns by a few years or the ones on the labour thanks to the driver app.

When I started nearly eleven years ago there were lots of elderly drivers.?Maybe 50/60 years plus.Many who were ex hacks.Many have simply passed away or got too sick or afraid to drive full time.The apps mean they have to do longer hours for less money so they may not be tech savvy enough to move with the times.They're pushing 70 now so it's game over for some.No doubt the ten year rule plays a part but it's not the sole reason.

Quite simply we were losing 500(I think) active driver licences per year at one stage and there weren't even half of that getting through the newer exam.

I'll think of more stuff later but I'm busy..

[dalymount]

So what are you saying you want more taxis ? Jeez the fukin place is overrun with them as it is

[mercenary for hire]

Nobody wants more taxis .But at the same time if the existing fleet have to work extra hours/weeks/months because of age rules then the effect is the exact same.Taxis everywhere.If more lads are doing 12/13 hours instead of 5/6 that's 50% extra cars on the road.

Drivers don't disappear they just put extra hours/shifts in.Think of how many extra shifts a day driver needs to cover after expenses during the current climate to get 2500 per year.

When we all put in extra shifts everyone earns a bit less.There's a finite amount of work.

[dalymount]

So surely we should be trying to reduce the amount of hours we work through other means. Let's take a look double jobbers are here to stay , so no use going down that road. Maybe an age limit on taxi driving say for instance you cannot drive a taxi after the age of 70.this would not only get auld lads who only do it for a hobby out, but it would also allow young lads with morgages and young families to have a bit of a run at making a living

[john m]

So surely we should be trying to reduce the amount of hours we work through other means. Let's take a look double jobbers are here to stay , so no use going down that road. Maybe an age limit on taxi driving say for instance you cannot drive a taxi after the age of 70.this would not only get auld lads who only do it for a hobby out, but it would also allow young lads with morgages and young families to have a bit of a run at making a living

Why does every solution you suggest not include you .Why not just enforce the rules that are there .Limit driving hours to 11 a day by chipping meter you must log on and then you have 11 hours including brakes to earn a crust meter wont accept another job after 11 hours .People working in other jobs are limited to 3 hours a day on a working day and 11 on the days they are not in other employment .Then read the meter for tax purposes .If the meter is tampered with 100K fine .

[mercenary for hire]

The problem is 70 might not be strict enough for the road safety authority or others.

Only the other day there was a 66-year-old truck driver who caused an accident and the death of a kid through error and got a four year driving ban.A professional driver too.

Not all OAPs are bolloxed but there are a good few that aren't as sharp as they used to be.Some I know can barely get out of the car compared to ten years ago when I first met them.Taxi driving is a job for the youngsters.

[stonethecrows]

So surely we should be trying to reduce the amount of hours we work through other means. Let's take a look double jobbers are here to stay , so no use going down that road. Maybe an age limit on taxi driving say for instance you cannot drive a taxi after the age of 70.this would not only get auld lads who only do it for a hobby out, but it would also allow young lads with morgages and young families to have a bit of a run at making a living

Why does every solution you suggest not include you .Why not just enforce the rules that are there .Limit driving hours to 11 a day by chipping meter you must log on and then you have 11 hours including brakes to earn a crust meter wont accept another job after 11 hours .People working in other jobs are limited to 3 hours a day on a working day and 11 on the days they are not in other employment .Then read the meter for tax purposes .If the meter is tampered with 100K fine .

+1

And that would limit the hours any one car could do also i.e. more than likely only 1 driver per car

[john m]

So surely we should be trying to reduce the amount of hours we work through other means. Let's take a look double jobbers are here to stay , so no use going down that road. Maybe an age limit on taxi driving say for instance you cannot drive a taxi after the age of 70.this would not only get auld lads who only do it for a hobby out, but it would also allow young lads with morgages and young families to have a bit of a run at making a living

Why does every solution you suggest not include you .Why not just enforce the rules that are there .Limit driving hours to 11 a day by chipping meter you must log on and then you have 11 hours including brakes to earn a crust meter wont accept another job after 11 hours .People working in other jobs are limited to 3 hours a day on a working day and 11 on the days they are not in other employment .Then read the meter for tax purposes .If the meter is tampered with 100K fine .

+1

And that would limit the hours any one car could do also i.e. more than likely only 1 driver per car

No you could have two x11 hour shifts with an hour to handover .Chances are the fleet would decrease as drivers paired up to share a car with part timers taking up the slack .Its the reading of the meter for tax purposes that would sort it out .Lad who already used up his tax credits then driving part time would only be allowed to offset part not all of his taxi costs against his taxi earnings might not be worth his while financially .Always amazed me lads thinking they were earning fortunes and scamming the taxman for a few ton a year willing to pony over 15% commission .I would suggest a full time app driver pays two ot three times more is commission than he pays in tax yet he would object to having the meter read for tax purposes .Cashless trade will sort out the tax issue so why not jump the gun and suggest it .There are benifits .

[mercenary for hire]

I haven't worked 11 hours in one day in about 5 years.It's far too long for anyone to be doing regularly and not drive over a pedestrian/cyclist.And I'm younger than most of yis.

Putting chips in meters won't do anything as lads will work off the meter or Freenow will introduce fixed fares.

We don't need another taxi review.The taxi test needs to be returned to 80% pass rate to stop the flood that's coming.A small change that will make a big difference without buying new meters or cars.

Next time yis are thinking of improving the industry ,if it costs us money it's a shite idea.That money has to be gotten from working.It doesn't just appear in our accounts like the COVID payment.