Taxi drivers earning 10e a day?

T

thedaras

Registered User
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Really? If this is the case ,how come they are not queing up for jobs in McDonalds etc,where they would earn a lot more for the hours put in.
I find it very hard to believe..for example take last night ,2 of us got a taxi home at 1.15 am.I had done this same journey about six months ago and was shocked to see the bill for it being over 26e.
I asked for a recipt and the guy gave me one,which had the last two fares on it..
It went like this.
fare one Time....... 11.58........e13.65
fare two Time... ... 11.30........e32.45
fare three Time .... 01.15......e 26.35.
Total e72.45 :confused:
And that was for 1 hour and 17 minutes..Go Figure :rolleyes: Even if that was for a 12 hour day,its not a tenner.
I also have never heard a taxi driver ,even in the height of the boom,say that they were making money..
 
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I doubt that VERY much.

And I cannot understand all the attention that taxi drivers are getting and all the protection that they are looking for.

As someone said recently, there is no limit on the amount of plumbers, architects, doctors, plasterers etc that can be in the market, so why should taxk drivers be any different?

If you don't like a job or aren't making money, then get out of it.
 
You might want to take doctors out of that list...

Totally agree with the rest tho'. Some of them are terrible...the more the merrier and the poor ones will (eventually) be put out of business by the good ones.

I noticed that after deregulation, taxi quality suddenly increased, with much fewer bangers being used.

Competition works !
 
I have some sympathy for taxi drivers. The barriers to entry are very low (you can lease a plate and car on a weekly basis) and it appears just about everybody who has been laid off wants to give it a go.

Looking at how every other aspect of Irish society is wrapped up in cosy, crony cartel I'm sure they are confused as to why their industry is exposed to the full rigours of competition.

If barriers to entry are to be introduced, I think they should focus on the standard of both car and driver. A maximum age for cars, a uniform colour and a driver that actually knows his/her way around the city/town rather than just how to type a name into a SatNav.
 
Where stands the official taxi trade union and their vocal leader who in the past was always on the airwaves when problems arose
 
room305 said:
If barriers to entry are to be introduced, I think they should focus on the standard of both car and driver. A maximum age for cars, a uniform colour and a driver that actually knows his/her way around the city/town rather than just how to type a name into a SatNav.
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Fully agree. Got into a taxi on O'Connell St in Dublin a few weeks asking to go the National Concert Hall. The driver didn't have a clue. Worse than that instead of admitting it and asking us, he got on the phone to ask someone while at the same time heading in the wrong direction. We just got out and got another taxi. It was like being in New York!
 
room305 said:
Looking at how every other aspect of Irish society is wrapped up in cosy, crony cartel I'm sure they are confused as to why their industry is exposed to the full rigours of competition.
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Perhaps it is because we remember when the taxi industry was the same cosy, crony cartel and taxi drivers and their unions did nothing to address this issue. They had it good enough, for long enough, and did nothing to change the situation. Perhaps if they had taken a more progressive view of the market (and its customer) 10 - 15 years ago they might not be where they are now.
 
I'm confused, according to taxi drivers they want a ban on new plates being issued because there isn't enough work going around and drivers cannot not make a living

So if there isn't enough work going around and drivers cannot make a living, why are so many people applying to get their plates and become taxi drivers?
 
Mpsox said:
I'm confused, according to taxi drivers they want a ban on new plates being issued because there isn't enough work going around and drivers cannot not make a living

So if there isn't enough work going around and drivers cannot make a living, why are so many people applying to get their plates and become taxi drivers?
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People double jobbing perhaps?
 
YOBR said:
Perhaps it is because we remember when the taxi industry was the same cosy, crony cartel and taxi drivers and their unions did nothing to address this issue. They had it good enough, for long enough, and did nothing to change the situation. Perhaps if they had taken a more progressive view of the market (and its customer) 10 - 15 years ago they might not be where they are now.
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Do you belong to the two rights make a wrong camp? You might get some kind of satisfaction from seeing these guys suffer but it's not doing the consumer much good. I don't think we need to continue issuing licences with 15,000 to 20,000 taxis already in Dublin. We do not have a shortage of taxis anymore.

What's needed is
1) basic minimum competency requirements of routes for existing drivers
2) All cars should be less than 5 years old
3) All cars should be equipped with Sat Nav

I don't have any great knowledge of how licences are issued but jusdging by the increase in numbers and drop in quality of car and driver there has to be an arguement for focus on quality rather than quantity
 
Mpsox said:
I'm confused, according to taxi drivers they want a ban on new plates being issued because there isn't enough work going around and drivers cannot not make a living

So if there isn't enough work going around and drivers cannot make a living, why are so many people applying to get their plates and become taxi drivers?
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Because there's very little in the way of overheads or competency requirements and lots of people being laid off who think it's going to be a soft living
 
We dont have a shortage of taxis when you dont need one. Its very easy to get a taxi at 2PM outside Stephens Green shopping centre, its a very different story outside Whelans on Camden Street at 2AM or even if in Inchicore at 2PM. They are all in the one area, obviously there is going to be competition.

Also, how much do they expect to make? Its essentially an unskilled job and one could say therefore should be minimum wage....
 
The taxi sector is another fine example where our standard is on a similar level to Zimbabwe, sometimes I think Zanu FF has taken lessons from Zanu PF.

The standard we have in respect of drivers or vehicles is outrages.

And it's not the fault of de-regulation as in other countries where it's de-regulated they still have decent cars with decent drivers.

Anybody looking at major taxi ranks sees what kind of shabby vehicles go for taxi's here. In other countries you get high quality vehicles but here you might end up with a 10 year old car.

What we need is standards for cars (limited range of vehicles that actualy can be used a transport vehicle) in the same colour which are maintained to a set standard.

What we than need is the regulator to ensure that drivers actualy have the same standard. There is currently a different standard of test pass for nationals and non-nationals (if I believe taxi drivers). If that is true, than that is unfair and all should have the same high requirements.

I don't believe this 10€ story. Sure form what that driver takes in he needs to pay base (80€ a week minimum) , he needs to pay insurance, petrol and other running cost but come on 10€ a day PROFIT is something I can not believe.

As to why there are still new license applications, well our goverment see it as a fix to bring people out of the live register. Help people to get their license so that they are off.

But as with any sector in Ireland reforms are not possible because the unions are going on strike instead of contributing to provide a better service which would mean more business which would mean more profit.
 
On Saturday evening some friends were asked by their Taxi Driver "what's the difference between a Taxi Driver and a Baby?" the answer being he said "eventually a Baby will stop crying!!" oh how they laughted. I think he got a good tip too, great stategy for increasing revenue above the €10 mark!!
 
gillarosa said:
On Saturday evening some friends were asked by their Taxi Driver "what's the difference between a Taxi Driver and a Baby?" the answer being he said "eventually a Baby will stop crying!!" oh how they laughted. I think he got a good tip too, great stategy for increasing revenue above the €10 mark!!
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Again, tipping rears its ugly head! Why would people tip taxi drivers for doing their job; its not as if the fare is ever cheap and you feel guilty.

I got a taxi last Saturday night and it was almost €8 before I moved! €4.45 standing charge, €2 callout and €1 extra passenger charges and it was €18 at the end, from Chapelizod to city centre for about 20minutes work. This crap about €10 a day is exactly that, crap. Not a hope in hell I'd tip a taxi driver.
 
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