hi all
quick question i have been doing a number of courier runs recently mainly to southern italy but sadly this looks like it will be coming to an end, having spoke to an pakistani friend of mine he has told me about a spare hackney carriage plate that his dad has but cannot use as he is back home looking after his ill dad, it wont be cheap but it seems a rare chance for a license to print money does anyone think of any reason why i should not give it a chance
thanks
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You´ll get loads of passengers in your C15 van. Not sure they´d be too happy about it tho´.
:-)
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I do not know many rich taxi drivers ,the cost of the licence ,the car ,yearly licence ,running costs and councils that control fares and have a new breed of licence controllers a living yes a fortune no.
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Give us an idea of the cost - will the plate be bought outright, or rented?
As I understand it, they make money when the vehicle is working 24/24x365. That's why they appeal to families who can make up the numbers of drivers needed.
You'll thus only make it work if there are 3/4/5 drivers - you can't afford to have the vehicle off the road too many hours in a week.
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Licence to print money - Maybe. Licence to get insulted, robbed at gun or knife point and have chavs puke in your vehicle - that sounds more like it! You never did tell us how your UK to Bari twice a week runs went - care to tell us now? I offered to help you with the driving! (If it was you!)
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It's very hard work sirion. It isn't just driving about, mostly in the daytime, mostly when everyone wants to move about so there's a rush hour. It's having to deal politely with all the varieties of human life, and some borderline human. And as has been pointed out, it's hard on the car too.
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sold the c15 for £400 on ebay , still driving the berlingo and also have a perodua nippa that for sale, i cant use the nippa as a taxi as it only has three passenger seats.
i will use the berlingo as it still low mileage and should have no problems with hackney test plus plenty of room for luggage.
i have thought of other driver my mate nick who i drive to italy lecce with can help out and my dad has taken an interest and could do part time hours.
i would look at doing most of the driving, i understand that there is a screen that you can install around the driver to avoid attack from behind. i also should be alright as i have protection for difficult customers.
i am not sure about the price of the license but from what ahmed said it was a closed market and no more can be offered 'thus license for money' a friend in bradford takes £1.000 on friday and saturday night working 12 hours, also can i use biodiesel in it or would customs and excise cause problems
i have just been on ebay trying to find these protective screens but cant find any
regards
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just make your own screen if the local council allow
its usually best to use thick perspex with holes drilled in it
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What LY said: mate of mine has a butcher's shop and two private hire plates. Two cabs, a Galaxy and an Omega going more or less full time between five drivers. Seems to work.
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NOOOoo, the C15 is gone well and truly. Why oh why? (dont reply to that as I know what you'll all say)
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The local authority will have a list of cars ,colour,age etc that is permitted do not just assume you can use any old bus.Also when you purchase the licence from your friend make sure you are acceptable to the Local Authority they will now check just about everthing there is to about yourself.
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I was just going to say, I don't think it's as simple as buying a permit from someone else. Do London taxi drivers still have to pass 'The Knowledge' or is that a thing of the past?
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Still going most councils ar adopting something similar now.
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You can use any diesel you like so long as it's full duty paid. Pure biodiesel is thus no cheaper than Tesco as the costs of converting the veg oil in small quanties (compared to a refinery) are quite large. Best off getting a cashback credit card and using it at the cheapest local filling station.
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Yeah they do still have to do it ,this is only London though. They've been talking about lowering the time to learn and do the test in as it is currently a five year course.
Its the plate that you want to buy as there are (I think this is right) a limited nuber of cabs allowed to opperate in a certain district and buying a plate enables you to take over from the past holder if new ones are not being issued.
And also taxis have to pass an MOT more than once a year to be allowed.
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hi all
no luck on the screen on ebay i think it because there are so many types and cannot afford to make for all cars.
i rung up 2day about the transfer of plate can't see a problem with a berlingo according to council 34 of of 37 are avensis saloons estates or hatchbacks their are two peugeot expert eurobuses and one fiat multipla. lady on phone asked me about convictions etc told her none so cant see any problems, asked about knowledge and there is none, but i have to pick up a council officer and take them to where they ask via the most suitable route. should be easy.
still a bit unsure about screen they said should be ok but insurance needs to know but they recommend cctv and signs, council have been looking into advertising on hackneys to cover cost of systems.
all hackneys have to be under 5 years for first reg and then can only be used up to 10 years old unless it a london taxi but they are expensive and poor mpg. not sure about getting a 8 seater minbus citroen relay or citroen dispatch 8 seater as more seats but not sure on loading but better for airport runs.
i asked about chance of more plates being offered but she told me the council had looked at it a year ago and the taxi association took them to court so will only be reviewed if demand grows.
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I think you will find that the majority - if not all - of councils work to the the same standard.
You will be required to submit an enhanced criminal record check, from the er, Criminal Record Bureau (or something like that)
Why don't you work for an established company for a while to learn the ropes? If you you don'y fancy driving the late night drunks, you could always work days.
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As a freelance designer I was looking for a part-time job to fill a few gaps when work was quiet and I was offered ajob working for a local hotel that run 2 taxis, mainly for the benefit of the hotels customers. It is a fairly involved process to become licenced, involving CRB check, plus a written test on law relating to private hire ( I failed this bit first-time round) and an hours driving test with an ex-police driving trainer. ( interesting as I'd never had my driving tested for many years) The cost of all this runs into a few hundred pounds ( all paid for by my employer) I now do occasional airport runs to help out the full-time driver and get paid half the cost of the run in cash. Customers are all know to the hotel and everyone has so far been charming. If you want to use your own car for private hire work it's worth remembering that there are 3 checks a year and the initial registration is expensive. Its also a little known fact that a car registered as a private hire vehicle can't also be used as a private car, so you can't do a taxi run then pop down to Tescos to do the shopping, although enforcement of this is difficult. I enjoy it so far, it gets me out of the house ( I work from home normally) and pays better than most part-time jobs and I've met some interesting and very nice people. I would add that the hotel is in a small well-heeled market town in Suffolk, my experiences might be different were it a pub in an inner city.
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Thought I'd just add there is a distinction in law between private hire work and hackney cabs. Hackney cabs ( as in black London taxis) can be hailed in the street, privat hire work must be pre-booked, and the regs relating to the 2 are different, with stricter rules ( and higher costs I think) relating to Hackney cabs
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Its also a little known fact that a car registered as a private hire vehicle can't also be used as a private car, so you can't do a taxi run then pop down to Tescos to do the shopping, although enforcement of this is difficult. I
It is so little known, that I have never heard of it. (Which doesn't deny its existence, of course)
In my local authority - Elmbridge, in Surrey - it is not permitted for a non-licensed driver to drive a licensed car. Is it possible that it is that you are thinking of?
A licensed driver can most certainly use his licensed car for non-licensed business. What you are suggesting M'lud would mean that the aforesaid driver wouldn't be able to use his car for holidays!
Having said all that, it does sound as though your arrangement is a good one. Which part of the country do you operate in?
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It's certainly true of Suffolk Coastal District Council- I did the exam, I know the byelaws off by heart! The non-licenced driver driving licenced car also applies.There is a surprising amount of law covering hackney\private hire vehicles but it's also possible that individual licencing authorities have different rules. I was rather surprised by that one and it may only apply in SCDC area. It's also a pretty hard rule to police. It may well be true this doesn't apply in other areas.
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hi all
some movement 2day while speaking with a friend at the market this morning i told him about plate and he has two ideas.
firstly a friend of his is retiring and he is wanting to sell a 53 plate skoda octavia 1.9 sdi in white with meter he has been looking at £750 for it the only downside is the mileage of 245,000 miles. he said i should not use my berlingo as any damage etc would put me off. instead he said keep it as you normal driving car, i know his wife has a 55 plate avensis verso to do the school run in so it seems thats the way to do it.
secondly i asked him about the rule on only passenger journeys aloud eg no private use. he has heard of it but like this new rule on kids seats in cannot be enforced so nobody ever tries to enforce it. if theirs any problems just take the plate off.
will probably ring up this week about this octavia are there any knows faults on these as most local drivers have toyotas so never have problems apart from that air mass sensor fault.
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You seem very nieve,surely the first step is to go the relevent council and get the facts,there is no way you could use a Belingo in Bradford for one and a 53 plate Skoda for £750 regardless of mileage is pie in the sky.
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If you use an unplated Hackney (with a Hackney VEL) and get caught you'd be for the high jump. My detailed knowledge on this is out of date, but I dealt with an unlisenced hackney driver seven years ago, he was driving a hackney (taxed and plated). He was spragged by another taxi driver and collared by a local cop, he pleaded guilty and got fined near enough a £1000.00 as did the hackney licence holder. It's cut-throat out there and other operators will grass any misuse with no compunction.
I also have a cousin with a private income and he took on a plate almost as a hobby - he works to suit himself and admits that if he was dependant on it he'd need to work a 50 to 60 hour week and would need some contract work within that.
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