Taxi costs - not dropped due to petrol decrease?

[Welshbeef]

GC8 said:

In July I paid £14 for 10 mile journies at 04:45. Youre being had Sunshine.

Even longer trips are more than you.

Currently Heathrow is 90 mile round trip however price I at least £180 for a taxi. So £2/mile v you're £1.40.

But local taxi costs for me are £5-6/mile often this trip takes 7 mins (lots of fixed traffic lights) not once have I been stuck in congestion as I leave early and return late.

[MitchyRS]

Taxi drivers on a Thurs/Fri/Sat/Sun night from 7pm-5am can make anywhere between £250-£400 per night around my neck of the woods (NE Scotland - Aberdeen/Dundee area) Average fare of around £10 price point (3-4 miles) Get a journey out of town, fairly common on a fixed fare and you can secure £100+ for a couple of hours back and forth guaranteed.

Taxi drivers are SE, they pay very little tax and minimum NI contributions. They usually share their car too so it's running 24/7 back to back. A taxi driver can rent out his car for £200-£300 per week to his back to back no problems. This money can be used for car upkeep, maintenance, tax, insurance etc.

Depends on your area, how busy the area is and how much is going on around the outskirts of the area where there may be a vibrant night life but a poor public transport network. In addition to that, the recent changes to the drink drive laws in Scotland are having a huge impact, people are just not chancing it anymore, even more so the morning after where they have no choice but to get into a taxi.

Some taxi drivers are doing very well indeed. Earning a high income and paying very little tax. Don't believe those with the sob stories of £100 for a 10 hr shift, that's one fare per hour. They need to be a lot more clever, hang about outside casinos/train stations/ night clubs etc at the right times and the fares are there. One £10 fair an hour isn't worth the hassle and I don't believe this on a busy night at the weekend.

Anyone ever tried to catch a taxi in Aberdeen after a night out? Huge huge demand, not enough taxis, you could be shivering waiting in the cold for a good 45-60mins before you can find one. The work and the fares is definitely there.

Edited by MitchyRS on Monday 26th January 07:57

[Fox-]

blank said:

I said take home, which is what the question was. £100 per day before expenses, tax etc is clearly very different.

But I somewhat doubt a decent taxi driver manages to be in his car for 10 hours and take just £100.

[Monkeylegend]

Driver101 said:

Monkeylegend said:

My fuel bill alone is about £10k per annum, so for those that think earning £100 per day is good money, think again.

It doesn't really tell a story though. In theory the higher your fuel bill, the more trips and money you've been making.

£10,000 adds up to around 72,000 miles per year at current prices and allowing for only 35mpg.

That's still 275 miles per day for a 5 day week.

It sounds like a good amount of business.

My total running costs average about £400 per week, I then start earning my crust.

Not complaining though, do it well and you can make a good living, with plenty of home time. That's the benefit of doing long distance work, you don't sit about waiting for work, or have all the dregs of society to deal with on a weekend evening.

If, like me, you love driving and love cars, it's the ideal job choice,and nothing better than being your own boss.

[Monkeylegend]

hora said:

I wonder how much of the fair is declared as well.

Of course it's only tax drivers that don't declare everything,I am sure every other profession does, including your goodself Mr Hora

Edited by Monkeylegend on Monday 26th January 08:32

[CraigyMc]

hora said:

People can afford taxi's?!

I've always thought of taxis as a luxury.

I haven't paid for one for years. The business (and the customers of that business) I work for has paid for loads.

The only stipulation for using Taxis/cabs where I work is that the expense is "reasonable", which is obviously a matter of opinion. I once had a taxi from west London to the Southampton area because I got ill while working in London - reasonable under the circumstances.

I just don't take the mickey with it.

[whoami]

mygoldfishbowl said:

whoami said:

My local taxi firm charges £20 from my house to the local restaurant.

Which is 2.6 miles away.

If you walked there you could take the whole family & get four large big mac meals with the money you save.

I hadn't thought of that.

[Fastdruid]

Welshbeef said:

vikingaero said:

So it would be fair for your employer to say to you:

"Mr WB, fuel prices have dropped by x% so we're reducing your salary or hourly rate by the same. Do you have oil heating at home? Oh you do! Well we'll knock another x% off your salary."

They have.
Our pence per mile rate has reduced from £0.19 to £0.16 and looking to decrease further.

Well that's your own fault for picking a large diesel. Still, look on the plus side you only have to get ~31mpg out of it to break even at the moment which is better than the 36.8mpg when they last calculated it (although of course it'll drop back to that in a Month or so).

[anonymous-user]

Welshbeef said:

When fuel prices went up taxis round where I live were quick to put up the prices however prices now are not dropping and as far as I can tell they have become the new norm.

Why are we not pushing for this to be dropped its outrageous - ditto bus prices generally people without cars are paying more than is needed.

Are you offering to be paid less now it doesn't cost you as much to get to work?

[Driver101]

dme123 said:

Are you offering to be paid less now it doesn't cost you as much to get to work?

Most people don't get paid for travelling to work. It's not a work cost.

[jayemm89]

My friend's dad is a working taxi driver in Kirkcaldy. The last I spoke he was hardly rolling in cash - thanks to being hit by an uninsured driver three times (at least one of which was actually a driver involved in a police chase) - despite being not at fault, these raised already high insurance premiums to an eye watering rate. Plus the cost/excess of repairing a car. The "licence" to operate a cab is I believe leased from the man who paid from the licence, or something along those lines.

There were four tariffs he could charge, dictated and set by the local council. I believe the most expensive one was only on operation on one or two days of the year - New year's eve if memory serves and only then for a few hours.

[Welshbeef]

dme123 said:

Welshbeef said:

When fuel prices went up taxis round where I live were quick to put up the prices however prices now are not dropping and as far as I can tell they have become the new norm.

Why are we not pushing for this to be dropped its outrageous - ditto bus prices generally people without cars are paying more than is needed.

Are you offering to be paid less now it doesn't cost you as much to get to work?

My salary doesn't include commuting costs so my cost are irrelevant.

[NoNeed]

the same could be said about bus and train fares but I have yet to see the comsumer benefit from fuel price fluctuation.

[ORD]

MitchyRS said:

Taxi drivers on a Thurs/Fri/Sat/Sun night from 7pm-5am can make anywhere between £250-£400 per night around my neck of the woods (NE Scotland - Aberdeen/Dundee area) Average fare of around £10 price point (3-4 miles) Get a journey out of town, fairly common on a fixed fare and you can secure £100+ for a couple of hours back and forth guaranteed.

Taxi drivers are SE, they pay very little tax and minimum NI contributions. They usually share their car too so it's running 24/7 back to back. A taxi driver can rent out his car for £200-£300 per week to his back to back no problems. This money can be used for car upkeep, maintenance, tax, insurance etc.

Depends on your area, how busy the area is and how much is going on around the outskirts of the area where there may be a vibrant night life but a poor public transport network. In addition to that, the recent changes to the drink drive laws in Scotland are having a huge impact, people are just not chancing it anymore, even more so the morning after where they have no choice but to get into a taxi.

Some taxi drivers are doing very well indeed. Earning a high income and paying very little tax. Don't believe those with the sob stories of £100 for a 10 hr shift, that's one fare per hour. They need to be a lot more clever, hang about outside casinos/train stations/ night clubs etc at the right times and the fares are there. One £10 fair an hour isn't worth the hassle and I don't believe this on a busy night at the weekend.

Anyone ever tried to catch a taxi in Aberdeen after a night out? Huge huge demand, not enough taxis, you could be shivering waiting in the cold for a good 45-60mins before you can find one. The work and the fares is definitely there.

Edited by MitchyRS on Monday 26th January 07:57

Where do people get this idea that self-employed people don't pay much tax?

SE people pay an effective tax rate of about 50% on a decent income.

[Welshbeef]

NoNeed said:

the same could be said about bus and train fares but I have yet to see the comsumer benefit from fuel price fluctuation.

Certainly for Buses - trains are mainly electrified for unless the whole sale electric cost reduces then it should stay static.



Actually given utility costs have come down over the past few years how come rail train tickets and water etc have not decreased accordingly or is this just them keeping margin (or investing in all staff above living wage?)

[Upatdawn]

blank said:

£100 per day take home is a long way from the bread line! It's a couple of grand a month so about the same as a £35-40k salary...

Till you pay insurance, HP, fuel, tyres, and base rent (£150 a week) or rent a car (£300 a week)

[Upatdawn]

jayemm89 said:

Mhere were four tariffs he could charge, dictated and set by the local council. I believe the most expensive one was only on operation on one or two days of the year - New year's eve if memory serves and only then for a few hours.

If id have known it was normal time till 6pm on New Years eve id not have gone out

[sherman]

Driver101 said:

It's the difference in price between areas that gets me. I got my usual taxi home last night after a night out. My house is 5 miles from the taxi rank on Union Street in Aberdeen and it costs just short of £15 and takes little more than 10

10 minutes in a taxi in edinburgh is about £9. When I get the taxi home its about 10 mins and 2 miles. Its about £3 to get in the taxi and the rest on the meter. When I lived 25 mikes out of edinburgh I could get a black cab home for exactly £40 .

[Upatdawn]

sherman said:

10 minutes in a taxi in edinburgh is about £9. When I get the taxi home its about 10 mins and 2 miles. Its about £3 to get in the taxi and the rest on the meter. When I lived 25 mikes out of edinburgh I could get a black cab home for exactly £40 .

it will depend on the mileage (assuming its a taxi with a meter, not a private hire vehicle)

and after midnight its time and half

Our meter fares are higher than these


Edinburgh
http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/info/20088/public_tran...


Aberdeen
http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/law_licensing/licen...

Edited by Upatdawn on Thursday 29th January 18:42

[Driver101]

Got my usual Aberdeen taxi last night with the usual big wait and then a big walk home.

Told the taxi driver my address and also a significant landmark as a reference.

Driving along he went past the turn off that every driver uses. Not sure if he had a slightly different route or was lost, so I said nicely reminded where I wanted to go.

He then drove even further the wrong way so I told him he was going the wrong way. He got all mouthy with me and said I had agreed with him about where he thought we were going. I hadn't.

So I said as a taxi driver he should know where to go. The guy stopped the taxi and told me to get out.

An hour waiting on a taxi and then a two mile walk home. Raging.