Taxi company on acquisition trail ?

[Rat Catcher]

He bought Sandymount Cabs years ago. That was a great addition. Aaah those were the days... you'd work Swords all night, talking any punters who wanted to go further than Whitehall into taking the bus... then cover the Southside early morning bookings... sure you could get to D4 or even Dunlaoire nearly as quick as you'd get to Swords with no traffic and scant regard for the rules of the road ... and the fare back was double or triple what you'd be getting from Swords... and with humans running the show you'd often get one along the way to a southside pick up! The apps have really fucked up the once lucrative early morning bookings, you wouldn't want to be a 30 something trying to carve out a wage and feed a family these days... even ifn you was black!

[Punter]

Funny you should think that Rat--I am off the road next May in my perfect 2015 Superb -probably flog the plate on transfer for what 3/4 k as none of my kids are anyway interested --put a Limo plate on Superb and service the few punters I have for 200 quid a week and end up with a run around --

During the week it was revealed the average weekly wage was 963 euro .allow 15% for holidays and sick leave you're looking at the guts of 1100 quid a week for a taxi to be on par --reckon a few on here would jump at it !
It was all cash in my hay day and then in Tiger era account  clients would pay whatever --now 10% tip on a card is the exception !

How in the name are guys paying 300 plus to rent yokes--looking to see what I might get to sell the plate there was a guy trying to rent an electric 2023 Skoda 7 seater for 330 a week plus insurance--how to fuck ?
 

[Belker]

...... Free Now went through a silly half hour c.22:18 where it offered me c.23 jobs in a row from Clonliffe Road and/or Joneseseseses Road without activating the "Busy" button in between - well, there was no in between, it was just job after job after job. .....

If FN jobs are filling up your screen before you can go busy, then just swipe the app up and off, that will close them off.

[Belker]

......  I am off the road next May in my perfect 2015 Superb -probably flog the plate on transfer for what 3/4 k as none of my kids are anyway interested --put a Limo plate on Superb and service the few punters I have for 200 quid a week and end up with a run around -- .....

I would guess that Flogging the Plate on transfer is a huge deal ??

[Bob Shillin]

...... Free Now went through a silly half hour c.22:18 where it offered me c.23 jobs in a row from Clonliffe Road and/or Joneseseseses Road without activating the "Busy" button in between - well, there was no in between, it was just job after job after job. .....

If FN jobs are filling up your screen before you can go busy, then just swipe the app up and off, that will close them off.

Unfortunately swiping up the Uber app doesn't stop it firing Jobs at you when busy, and offers stay on the screen, blocking the view of the FN job you're on, and not allowing you access to the Uber off button. If you keep pressing the X to get rid of the offers, (while driving) your acceptance rate is increased.

[Rat Catcher]

So you also missed out on the COVID '19 anall age extension, Punter. How the fuck NTA was allowed implement such an inequitable scheme defies belief. However, the price of second hand cars is what's really conspiring against those of us that'd like to do a few hours here and there. Last time I had to change my car for no good reason - the old one is still in daily use and with only 396,000 kilos on the clock is still in showroom condition - a 3 year old MKIII diesel Octy cost me €11,995 with a full tank of fuel. You'd be looking at twice that and some for something similar in today's market. Breaking it down I'd be surprised if you'd get away with less than €5/hour just to pay the capital cost of a car based on a 20 hour week. Add in ever increasing commission, fuel and other overheads and it's certainly difficult to conclude there's much sense to it. Have you considered renting your plate?

[silverbullet]

Funny you should think that Rat--I am off the road next May in my perfect 2015 Superb -probably flog the plate on transfer for what 3/4 k as none of my kids are anyway interested --put a Limo plate on Superb and service the few punters I have for 200 quid a week and end up with a run around --

During the week it was revealed the average weekly wage was 963 euro .allow 15% for holidays and sick leave you're looking at the guts of 1100 quid a week for a taxi to be on par --reckon a few on here would jump at it !
It was all cash in my hay day and then in Tiger era account  clients would pay whatever --now 10% tip on a card is the exception !

How in the name are guys paying 300 plus to rent yokes--looking to see what I might get to sell the plate there was a guy trying to rent an electric 2023 Skoda 7 seater for 330 a week plus insurance--how to fuck ?

I have a guy willing to rent a plate and I'm sure €4K a year wouldn't be unreasonable. One stipulation is you change your will in his favour.

A few guys who have their plates rented out wish they had insisted on a weekly payment. €4k cash gets burned up fairly quickly.

[Punter]

When decision time comes next Spring I'll let you know ---

[Golfer14]

 In the present market plates are making 5/6000 cash up front for a years rental .Why would your will have to be changed ?

[silverbullet]

In the present market plates are making 5/6000 cash up front for a years rental .Why would your will have to be changed ?

You can't transfer ownership of a licence, you can bequeath it to someone in a will.

The MPOs I know are paying circa €3/4K for using your roof sign per annum on the understanding that they will own it upon your demise.

They are putting a car and driver under the roof sign and yielding them in the region of €13K p/a.
I'm sure some will say this isn't happening, trust me, it is.

[Belker]

In the present market plates are making 5/6000 cash up front for a years rental.Why would your will have to be changed ?

You can't transfer ownership of a licence, you can bequeath it to someone in a will. ......

There is a lot more to it than just changing a will, an NTA S15N death nomination form must also be filled out and sent to the NTA, also the car that the rented plate goes on must be in the name of the person that OWNS the plate, also the insurance must be in the name of the person that OWNS the plate with the person renting the plate being a named driver, and then there is the minor difficulty of finding a renter that ACTUALLY pays on time or whom is willing to stick to the contract terms ??

I dread to think of the paperwork and legal quagmire that would result if the renter died before the plate owner ??

[Belker]

When decision time comes next Spring I'll let you know ---

If I was to flog my plate on transfer and to hopefully avoid any major hassel if the renter either pulls out of the agreement or dies before me then prob best to just rent it weekly or monthly (by bank transfer payments only), with the promise that he gets the plate when and if I die before him, and then sign the S15N death nomination form in the presence of the new renter and allow him to post it off to the NTA.

If the renter were to pull out of the contract or die before me then I could sign his car back to him or his family if he dies, cancel the insurance and change the S15N death nomination form, which can be done easily enough.

And lets not forget about Mr Taxman who will want a cut off what you earn renting out the plate !

[Rat Catcher]

There's a plate advertised on Free Now marketplace for €6,000/year cash up front. I doubt he's offering free inheritance with it, if he was that'd be a huge selling point so worthy of mention.

The paperwork is no big deal, Ken. Prior to entry liberalisation they were all done that way. The owner just signs the transfer slip on the log book of the car, undated, and give it to the renter. The owner is shown as policyholder on the insurance cert but is specifically excluded from driving hence there's no significant impact on the premium.

Income tax would depend on individual circumstances.

[Belker]

Between paperwork and IT work, nothing ever seems to work well fer me Stephen, my SPSV licence renewal was a nightmare earlier this year dealing with 3 different Gov bodies, as in NDLS, Gardai and NTA.

Even my motor tax renewal was another Fookin nightmare a few weeks later, my personal PIN was initially not accepted and no phone service, email only, and no walk-in's allowed, email appointments only. And both the Gov motor tax crowd and the Cork motor tax crowd blaming each other fer the Cock-up ??

The paperwork and IT work involved in renting a Plate would most likely put me in an early gave !!

I'm already dreading my personal driving licence renewal next year !

[Rat Catcher]

I have to renew my SPSV driving license next year. Remembering will be the issue for me!

Fortunately, it's only required every 5 years and there's no test, not even for those who have proved their incompetence by collecting penalty points.