Forums Forums Enthusiast Forums A - Z Autowirral Any taxi drivers on here

looking at getting into it, advice and tips please

A mate has just done it, Wirral council will screw every last penny they can out of you for tests, medicals, your plate, CRB checks, etc etc etc. If you fail the 'knowledge' test you have to pay for a re-sit.

Tell him to check very carefully the up-front costs before he can even start work.

As MikeT says, the outlay is huge.

I'd possibly suggest you tried out being an über driver first to see if you like that, then move on to taxiing. I think with über you don't need any special insurance and stuff (but dont quote me on that) because essentially you're just giving someone a lift somewhere thats on your route (thats technically how it works)

The only disadvantage being that with über you cant drive in bus lanes and taxi only places, as i say you're just a normal person in a normal car giving someone a lift from A to B

to be an uber driver you have to do the same test and need the same taxi insurance and you can use the bus lanes in wirral and liverpool,after you pass this is the brake down for a week

radio hire a week £97 to £110
car hire a week £85 to £150
insurance a week £60 to £??? depending on points
fuel a week £100 to £150

to make it worth worthwhile you need your own car

so some lads outlay a week can be £450 before they make a penny
and some can be £210
when your car passes the taxi test you will get a front plate and a rear plate,the one for the front lets you use the bus lanes

I have looked into the layout before i start and thats just the way it is i suppose, but if i want to do the job its what i have to pay.

A good informative post joeblogs, it's always better to read informed, knowledgeable views rather than idle speculation.

Wirral Satellite Cars said it would be around £280 a week for a car and everything off them, i know i will have to put some unsociable hours in but you don't get nothing without putting the effort in.

about right bud,add £150 to it for your fuel

Be warned. They are trialing driverless taxis in Singapore. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37181956

There is a strong possibility that the whole trade will evaporate if these things work. They will be able to undercut any manned vehicle and will rapidly be adopted!

Taxi driving could be a rather short career!

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I think these things might turn out to be the first truly autonomous robots. It seems perfectly feasible to set up one of these things as a self-maintaining entity, supported - as is a human taxi driver - by human or machine run maintenance, recovery and and repair facilities, and legal protection against fraud, capable of refueling itself, banking it's takings to pay for services etc.

It would not need to be any more intelligent than they are now, but it could 'reproduce' by buying new models to add to itself as a sort of growing taxi company with no human admin or control. Subcontracting all work that requires humans and paying them as needed.

A rather chilling thought in my opinion.

i wouldn't bother mate youll end up doing 80 hours a week and lucky to come away with £300 in your hand = £3.75 per hour less than the minimum wage taxis was finished 5 years ago if not longer saterlight will tell you what you want to hear because its another £105 in there pocket

Are you talking from experience? Surely it can't be that bad?

Yes my good friend Working class is speaking from experience having taxied for many years. If I was to listen to anyone about taxi work it would be him.

I would also have to agree
I worked for delta taxis on grange road west in the mid nineties for 3 years and it was very very quiet at times meaning no income whatsoever
The hours definitely have to be put in
Also, if you like driving (which I loved) you will probably hate it after a year
On a side note 99.9% of people are honest and decent but that doesn't mean you will like 99.9% of people, if you know what I mean
Its hard graft and I enjoyed it immensely for the first year but them 80+ hours soon became a chore
My experience is from 20 years ago when they used radios and operators (and no sat nav) so may not be valid today