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Dear
Call Sign Readers,
My name is Daniel Olev and I am a
Licensed Private Hire driver. Throughout
my ten-year span of cabbing in London, I
have developed an interest into the
inner-workings of the taxi industry.
Recently, navigating myself through
different cab-related websites, I came
across the latest (July) issue of Call
Sign. Naturally curious, I had a good
look through it knowing that it
represented the views of one of the
largest and most successful radio
Hackney Carriage companies in the
capital – Dial-a-Cab.
Driving
in London, I often come across slightly
intimidating attitudes from the ‘educated
elite’ of London’s taxi business
that fills me with an unjust sense of
inferiority and mild anger. Having a few
years of high education behind my
shoulders, I was trying to find
reasonable justification for this
phenomenon in the magazine. Brian Rice’s
article, which included PCO approved
figures re PH and Taxis, spurred me on
to write this letter.
Mr
Rice’s article was based on official
figures, but in other parts of the
licensed Taxi trade there is undoubtedly
misinformation and misinterpretation and
that is sowing the seeds of mistrust. So
my question to you my honourable
colleagues - if you will allow me the
liberty to call you that - is:
Who benefits from this
split? Is it a ‘caste’ thing? Does
looking down on PH drivers help you with
the enhanced feeling of self-worth? Can
any of you |
Call Sign goes where
no other Taxi magazine dare go – an
occasional column for a Private Hire
driver who takes us to…
The Other Side
of The Mirror
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seriously believe that
most people who apply to become Licensed
PH drivers are in it to prey on
vulnerable clients and to break the law?
Alternatively, could this attitude be
just the ‘ugly’ side of competition
laws?
In
the game of chess we are on the same
side of the table - whether you
want it or not. To re-phrase Allen
Togwell: "Should the queen be
afraid / despise the pawn?"
Market
economics should take care of allowing
the price to determine the difference in
the quality of service. Then it is up to
the client to make an educated choice
based on his requirements at the time.
The
hard fact is that most PH drivers who do
it for a living are split between 2000
or so agencies and resigned to working
60-80 hours a week just to make ends
meet. The competition between agencies
is fierce and the main determinable
factor they play with is the price from
A to B. That is why in the 10 years I
have been in the game, the prices we are
getting paid have hardly |
climbed above inflation
compared to main costs such as petrol
– twice, insurance premiums –
threefold and of course not forgetting
licensing fees which now ‘swallow’
one week’s money. ‘Value’ works
both ways…
Where
both sides of our mirror agree is that
the sooner we are able to get rid of the
‘dirty’ elements that gives this
industry a bad name, the better for all
concerned. Even the PCO website states
that 200 women were assaulted in ILLEGAL
minicabs last year. I have emphasised
the word illegal, as I believe it is
time to now stop tarring us all with the
same brush!
To
end, can I give you a little idea? If
you wanted to get rid of Private Hire
drivers in London as a competition
factor, why not try a different
approach? Instead of sneering and giving
a dirty look, make an effort to talk to
one of them. Ask his / her name, how
long they have been in the game, whether
the money is good or not and then give
them the Knowledge booklet and explain
that he / she can make a better living
with a bit of a hard effort. Can’t
beat them? Then make them join you!
Or
would that make it even harder for you
to make money, my honourable colleagues?
With highest
respect
Daniel Olev
PHD License No 4372.
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