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A few
thoughts following Mike Son’s piece in the January
Call Sign. I’ve only held a badge for 4 years and could
still (God willing) have 30 or so more years behind the wheel of
a Taxi. So how we can win back work is of much of interest to me
and the family I support! We’re in a difficult position. The cleaning up of the PH industry (their vehicles and drivers), improved booking / despatching technology and the invention of SatNav must give PH drivers a more enjoyable job than they’d have had 10 years ago and passengers much more confidence in the PH trade. Also, the fact that many PH drivers are (presumably) happy to take home slightly less money per day (at the moment) than a London Taxi driver might be happy with... and you have a problem which clearly must be addressed before we become just a tourist attraction. We are in a free market economy. Despite the fact that I still remember the pride I had in getting my badge and the rich heritage we have in the London Taxi trade, thousands of people sadly aren’t going to pay us to drive them from A to B just because we ‘worked hard’ to get our licence. This annoys me and bugs me - but it’s true! Like any service provider - as has been said over and over again - we attract custom if the service is excellent and the price is right. Basic business economics. We mostly work using our taximeters - the rates of which are the source of endless discussion. But the meter system must put off some potential clients. I would rather get a fixed price job then no job at all. Sure - it’s easier to accept a FP job late at night when you know the traffic won’t muck you about so much. But if it’s an FP or nothing – then I’ll do it (providing payment for waiting time is factored in). Regarding coverage - is it a problem at the moment? I’m not sure that looking at my DaC terminal that it is. If however, the A/D hours are extended, perhaps some sort of sweetener could be thrown into the mix? I don’t know what, but maybe an adjustment to the Going Home facility or perhaps jobs being ‘unmasked’ after a driver has done 3 A/D jobs in a day? Regarding coverage in |
Last month saw an
article in Call Sign by DaC Board member, Mike Son, giving his
personal views on how we might win back some of the work we seem
to have lost over the years. Now DaC driver James Griffin (T97)
replies with his own suggestions... How can we win back our work??? |
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the outer London postcodes:
Could a couple more back-up zones be added to some areas, as I
remember they were reduced some time ago. Some jobs have 20+
minutes lead-in time and I’m sure many drivers would travel a
couple of miles to cover jobs. The other issue addressed was customers waiting for their cabs, then getting in and seeing (for example) £8 on the meter (i.e. paying to wait). I don’t know how quickly Advise Arrival happens (and I am not criticising our Call Centre staff at all) but is there perhaps a role for text messaging to advise arrival / delayed arrival? Maybe this happens with some accounts already? Also I’m guessing that a lot of passengers, particularly corporate clients, know roughly when they’ll finish work and need a cab so can book a specific time (albeit only a short lead-in time), then when the cab arrives the price is £4.20 at the booked time. If the passenger is advised of any delay, a new arrival time is set and it’s still £4.20 on the meter at that new time. The account holder then decides how to deal with staff who pre-book a time and then keep the cab waiting. I’d also like to briefly throw in one or two other thoughts on the taxi trade generally... Where we work: PH has successfully ‘muscled in’ to many areas simply because Taxis won’t work there. Maybe it’s because drivers worry their knowledge will escape them or that the job is going where they don’t want it to go, but don’t complain when the first thought that comes into peoples head is minicab when they’re out and about and want |
to get home. Stick your light
on outside of Central London and win back some work! Internet: Go onto Google and type ‘London Taxi’ - you’ll see Addison Lee at the top of the list, followed by dozens of other PH companies. This advertising goes against the use of the word Taxi in the 1998 PH for London Act but the public don’t care about that, they just want to search for a cab (and sadly the name Taxi seems to refer to PH as well). Ranks: I reckon we need many more ranks in useful places. They would have useful information signs on them and in time people would know they could rely on them for cabs (think Sloane Square). It would also assist our reputation with the Green lobby who, if they have their way, will cost us more on ever-stringent Euro emmisions gear. If we’re cruising around less - we’re polluting less and causing less traffic. New ranks would keep our fuel costs down too. Passengers with these trendy modern phones could get a map of their nearest, well-served rank. Manners: I’ve lost count of the times passengers have told me how they’d previously got a Taxi and had the driver talking loudly on their phone or was rude to them or the cab stank. These are the basics. If passengers, who are paying good money, don’t get a smart, well mannered driver (who’s not jabbering on their phone), in a free market economy, they can - and will - go elsewhere. James Griffin (T97) |
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