Taxi - 9 year rule

Another very slow weekend in the taxi game,, I think Sun night was the quietest I can remember for a long time,, things will really have to pick up.:(
Found this online "South Dublin County Council has this week adopted a Fine Gael motion, proposed by Cllr. Brian Lawlor (Tallaght South) and seconded by Cllr. William Lavelle (Lucan) calling “on the Taxi Regulator and the Minister for Transport to, abolish, or at the very least postpone the introduction of the 9-year rule and allow already overstressed and overstretched taxi drivers to continue to try to make a living.”

Cllr. Lavelle states: “The 9-year rule is a ridiculous piece of over-regulation. Hard-pressed taxi-drivers with perfectly-working, well-maintained cars should not be targeted in this way just because the regulator subjectively decides their cars to be too old. Taxi-drivers have led the campaign for proper regulation and enforcement of the taxi-industry and we support them. The current regulatory regime is an absolute failure."

ardle1 wrote: »

Another very slow weekend in the taxi game,, I think Sun night was the quietest I can remember for a long time,, things will really have to pick up.:(
Found this online "South Dublin County Council has this week adopted a Fine Gael motion, proposed by Cllr. Brian Lawlor (Tallaght South) and seconded by Cllr. William Lavelle (Lucan) calling “on the Taxi Regulator and the Minister for Transport to, abolish, or at the very least postpone the introduction of the 9-year rule and allow already overstressed and overstretched taxi drivers to continue to try to make a living.”

Cllr. Lavelle states: “The 9-year rule is a ridiculous piece of over-regulation. Hard-pressed taxi-drivers with perfectly-working, well-maintained cars should not be targeted in this way just because the regulator subjectively decides their cars to be too old. Taxi-drivers have led the campaign for proper regulation and enforcement of the taxi-industry and we support them. The current regulatory regime is an absolute failure."

Ardle another very slow weekend indeed and not just the weekend my whole week has been slow just a few regulars and nobody going out. I think the monthly payers got a land this last week when they saw they payslips or paypackets. No disposable income for a lot of people now and taxis are going to suffer in the current situation.!
I agree with Cllr Lavelle there. There is far too much over-regulation by this quango.
My take on this is coming from driving in the west of Ireland, that my main problems are not too many taxis but too few punters. Money is scarce. Social life has changed. The uoung wuns have cop on go to the offie and get a tray of cans and some food and stay at home.
Last Saturday night while there was a small queue for taxis at 3am in the morning there was little or no business until 1am and then it fizzled out at 4am. People do not care what year the taxi is once they can get home. Gone are the days when people were queuing for hours (I remember it well when I lived in Dublin) now its the other extreme.
This 9 year rule should just be shelved for the moment. And we should put pressure on all our would be TDs and politicians to just stop it for now and give it a year or two and see what way the business is going. So all drivers should bombard their politicians by phone, letter or email and let them know their feelings.
Some of the Dublin drivers are in favour of the 9 year rule as they think it will get rid of a lot out of the business. It may well do but the main problem in Dublin is the amount of rentals that are operating and some of these are heaps of junks. Owner drivers take care of their cars as it is in their interest to do so or they wont get any business.
However I would never envisage putting a fairly new car on the road to taxi because of the way some punters treat cars, the diabolical state of the roads and the constant repairs and replacement of tyres, bulbs, shocks etc.
Our fares are diminishing but our costs are not. So for those of us who have a regular business and want to stay in it and look after our regulars let us do that and not be bombarded with stupid rules and regulations that make no sense in a recession.

I was in a 01 taxi at the weekend. The driver told me he can use it until next year. Would that be down to date of original registration?

ardle1 wrote: »

I have to say Steph what your going through is like a carbon copy of whats goin on here in Dundalk,, it's not just coincidence it's going on all round the country apart from of course a couple of major cities,, How can these new regulations go ahead without proper in investigation.

Yes Ardle unfortunately that is the way things are now for rural drivers. You should have seen Ballina tonight/this morning hardly a sinner in the town. Got a couple of 'runs' from regulars but made feck all as I had to put diesel in the car. I depend on my phone business which is good on a Saturday night but that is now the only night worth talking about.
Even on Saturday nights people are going out later and later as they stay in a house get ready have a few drinks and then head out at midnight for the last two hours at the late bar or disco then its to the chipper or chinese for some grub and then home again. You cannot blame them as there is so much unemployment in this town and almost a third of the town's population is on the dole.
We are also having to contend with the numerous amounts of 9 seaters and minibuses which seem to have sprung up all of a sudden and bring people out to the rural areas charging so much per head.
I think now when I have to change my car again I will go and rent one altogether which would cut out a lot of expenses like licence renewal, servicing, numerous tests etc. While these still have to be done I wont be paying for them. I fear that the days of the independent owner-driver are numbered. And it is a shame. Like me you probably have your regulars who you look after every week. I have a good few on a Saturday night and being a lady driver I have a lot of female passengers. Some of these people are almost like friends at this stage. They are looked after and picked up and brought home safely. Thats what I call a quality service. Pity the regulator does not look on our businesses like that. All she seems to see is a reg number on a car which she would do as she is based in Dublin which is awash with taxis.
Too many licences were issued and the regulator was rubbing her hands in glee with all the money that was coming into that office. So when the takings dried up she decides to put some of us out of business. Great country we are livin in isn't it.:mad:

Esel wrote: »

Presume you mean date of first registration anywhere (i.e. real age of car)?

Sorry Esel this is the correct info as per the taxi regulator's website.

'The age of the vehicle is calculated from the exact date on which it was first registered (day, month and year).

If the vehicle was imported, the age is calculated from the date on which it was originally registered in its country of origin. You must check this date (on the Vehicle Registration Certificate) before applying for a change of vehicle on your licence – the year shown on the vehicle’s number plate is not a sufficiently accurate indicator of the vehicle’s exact age.'

Ardle its a waste of time anyone approaching a bank for a loan to buy a taxi or hackney. They are not lending they know full well the way the business is at the moment and taxi drivers are not a good risk. It does not matter what her highness did re writing to banks and other lending institutions. I'd say the same institutions had a good laugh at her.
I agree that this new regulation should be put on hold until things pick up in the industry. But then you will have arguments from those who have been able to put newer cars on the road. Ye cant win.
The public should also be aware that next year 2012 some other good quality cars are going to be put off the road because they fail on boot space and shoulder room. Example a peugot 407 is one and also all the volvo S40's and S60's as they also fail.
Yet the regulator is going to allow Merc A and B Class cars to be used as taxis. :mad:

Ardle I think the only way that drivers will get to know about a lot of these new rules and regulations is to trawl the regulator's website. Also there are the industry newsletters which to me are a disgraceful waste of our money.
Sometimes its hard to find out information that we need to know as it is 'hidden' amongst a whole load of info and you need to keep going into different sections of the website.
My feeling on these other rules in relation to boot space and shoulder width is that they also need to be put on the back burner for now. Imagine forking out for an 08 vehicle and then to be told its not suitable. Absolutely scandalous. I feel sorry for any driver that has to do this. That means that a car that is just three years or over is not not deemed to be suitable for use. As a night driver I am not concerned with boot space I dont have airport runs at 2 and 3am in the morning here in the West of Ireland. And a lot of rural drivers would never even do airport runs as people cut back and take the train or bus or get a relative or friend to drive them.
I have spoken to a number of politicians here in Mayo over the last few months and I have told them in no uncertain terms just how bad things are. One of these politicians is a minister of state from the town here and he is in fairness to him well aware of our situation. Despite numerous letters and discussions with Minister's in Government Departments none of these politicians seem to be able to do anything for us.
And as far as the regulator is concerned it seems to be her way or the highway. She has absolutely no concern for drivers who have invested in their business over the years and have provided good quality service to their loyal customers. I can tell you this Ardle the people here in Ballina are quite happy to get a taxi home at night and to be honest a lot of them are not that overly concerned about the reg number on the car. All they want is to get home safely and not be ripped off and have a nice clean car.

Hope I'm not getting too far away from this thread,, thought i'd throw this in the mix. Has anyone had any bad experiences with the taxi regulator inspectors,, I could talk about numerous episodes here in Dundalk. But this one REALLY annoyed me, anyway this is what happened. My colleague was driving a taxi for his boss (all legal all up to date) his boss called him and asked him to come down and jump in the mini bus, to do a quick job, nothing unusual bout that. He grabbed his ID jumped in the bus and away he went. An hour or so later he got back in the car, not realising he forgot his ID,, he sat at the rank for a while and the taxi regulator came along and jumped in beside him,, anyway long story short,, he fined him €250, for not displaying his ID, my colleague tried to explain and told him it wouldn't take him 10min's to go get the ID,, he(inspector) was having none of it,, no verbal warning, no written warning, an absolute disgrace. Poor guy,, by the way this was a tuesday night, lucky if he even earned his wages for the boss.

Hang on, a taxi driver was plying for hire without a ID card. He got caught he pays the fine simple as that. What would of happend if the driver had a fare in the car and for what ever reason they wanted to complain about him and he had no ID??

Obey the rules and you'll be fine.

No Roverjames. I had a driver on with an hourly rate (more fool me) got rid as soon as I realised that they were missing in action half the time.
In rural areas drivers will only work for so much an hour. Its different in big cities like Dublin where they are charged a rent on the vehicle usually by the week. I would have a driver on only now on an occasion if I am gone away for the weekend but I pay dearly for the privilege e.g nearly 500 a year insurance as they wont insure them on an as need basis. The insurance company insists on them being on the policy as a named driver.
The way things are at the moment this is something I will be stopping shortly as I cannot afford it.