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How do small Private Hire companies work?

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ryan125hst

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It seems that there are quite a lot of taxi companies that are little more than a driver and perhaps his partner as the operator taking phone calls at home and passing the details to the driver over the radio. How does that actually work for a private hire company as it wouldn't be possible for them to work around the clock? Presumably these small firms only answer the phone and offer journeys during the day and aren't available around the clock?

Another question that came to mind was about those operators that have a small fleet of vehicles, say 5 cars. In a larger private hire firm, there might be a few hundred drivers all paying a radio fee every week which pays for an office and staff to operate it who answer the phone and provide work to the drivers. For a firm with a fleet of 5 cars, it seems they wouldn't be permitted to operate from home (licences seem to only allow 1 to 2 cars from a home) yet would they actually have enough income to pay for a small office and staff to operate it?
 
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Swanny200

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Obviously I have spoken on the other threads, but I have gone from working as a dispatcher in 3 Scottish Private Hire companies 75/150/50 drivers to then going to a 2 car taxi company as a driver which then expanded to 8 drivers and eventually ended up going to a private hire model for solely contract work and then going to a larger 25 car radio only network.

The Scottish companies used a radio money model, a lot of them have a night driver whereas the car owner will have a school run, relinquish the car at 5 or 6pm and the night driver will work till Midnight or later on Friday/Saturday, the larger system I dispatched on was an amalgamation of a Large city and a smaller county system, 10pm-6am Sunday to Thursday you would have 2 dispatchers, one for the city and one for the county, and 1 telephonist on each, you would maybe have 10 night cars on the city system and maybe 3 on the county system.

A lot of the Private Hire companies have a couple of drivers through the week that will maybe have 2 or 3 jobs from midnight till 6, and then come out Thursday, Friday and Saturday with the rest and kill it as they stay out till dayshift come out

Compare that to when I drove myself, when it was just the 2 cars, I had a school run which was very lucrative, Sunday to Tuesday, I just did the school run, Wednesday to Friday I would do the school run and then run off the Rank from 6-10 Wednesday and Thursday and then 6-2 or 3am on Friday and Saturday, when the boss went home at 10pm, the phone would be on divert to me, we used a cloud based dispatch system which cost us maybe £25 a month, the luxury of being a taxi of course is you can rank up and pick up from the street.

When he expanded, he managed to get a small office, the radio system was only a car to car system rented from another small company that we both did other work for and the app, then obviously fuel, insurance etc....
 

ryan125hst

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Obviously I have spoken on the other threads
Thank you for all your responses. I saw a video on YouTube by a Black Cab driver in London and got interested in how it all works (usually the case with me!)

The Scottish companies used a radio money model, a lot of them have a night driver whereas the car owner will have a school run, relinquish the car at 5 or 6pm and the night driver will work till Midnight or later on Friday/Saturday,
I see, so a driver for the early shift and through the day and a second driver for the evening/late night work. Presumably the evening driver would pay the car owner a rental fee for the use of the car? Would this be arranged through the taxi company or privately between the individuals?

the larger system I dispatched on was an amalgamation of a Large city and a smaller county system, 10pm-6am Sunday to Thursday you would have 2 dispatchers, one for the city and one for the county, and 1 telephonist on each, you would maybe have 10 night cars on the city system and maybe 3 on the county system.
How many dispatchers and telephonists did you have during the day when more cars were working?
A lot of the Private Hire companies have a couple of drivers through the week that will maybe have 2 or 3 jobs from midnight till 6, and then come out Thursday, Friday and Saturday with the rest and kill it as they stay out till dayshift come out
They must earn plenty during those Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings as 2 or 3 jobs overnight can't have earnt them much. Did the drivers do these shifts by choice?
Compare that to when I drove myself, when it was just the 2 cars, I had a school run which was very lucrative, Sunday to Tuesday, I just did the school run, Wednesday to Friday I would do the school run and then run off the Rank from 6-10 Wednesday and Thursday and then 6-2 or 3am on Friday and Saturday, when the boss went home at 10pm, the phone would be on divert to me, we used a cloud based dispatch system which cost us maybe £25 a month, the luxury of being a taxi of course is you can rank up and pick up from the street.
I'm assuming you mean school run Monday to Tuesday and not Sunday? :lol: Was it the boss that would normally answer the phone during the day or did he drive to and have someone else answering the phone?
When he expanded, he managed to get a small office, the radio system was only a car to car system rented from another small company that we both did other work for and the app, then obviously fuel, insurance etc....
How many cars did he have when you expanded? If this is the 8 cars you refer to? It doesn't seem like many cars to bring in money to pay for an office, other expenses plus paying staff to answer the phone. It must work as there seems to be a lot of companies like it but I'm struggling to get my head around how the numbers work out for them.
 

Swanny200

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Thank you for all your responses. I saw a video on YouTube by a Black Cab driver in London and got interested in how it all works (usually the case with me!)
Happy to answer what I can in my experience
I see, so a driver for the early shift and through the day and a second driver for the evening/late night work. Presumably the evening driver would pay the car owner a rental fee for the use of the car? Would this be arranged through the taxi company or privately between the individuals?
It depended, if it was a "company car" then it would be through the office, some cars were single crewed with the driver doing maybe 7am till after 3pm, disappear for dinner then come back out till about 7pm, one company was 50% company cars, the big company was about 80% company cars, the smaller Scottish company had 5 cars out of about 50 that they owned and the company down south that I actually drove for owned all his cars, the private owners sorted out a night driver for themselves, dependent on the shift as some of them would have a night driver for the busy days only, some for 6 days of the week, they would pay a rental fee which would be insurance, fuel and part of the radio fee.

Radio fees ranged from £70 a week to £130 a week from the offices I worked in

How many dispatchers and telephonists did you have during the day when more cars were working?
Depended, the smaller companies were either just me or me + 1 telephonist at all times, the big company was always 2 dispatchers (for the city and then county) with anything up to 10 telephonists during the day split 8 for the city system and 2 for the smaller county system
They must earn plenty during those Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings as 2 or 3 jobs overnight can't have earnt them much. Did the drivers do these shifts by choice?
Yes they did, both the smaller company I dispatched for and the company I drove for had a Cabfind contract. so it was not unheard of to get jobs taking drivers between depots. I was about to log off one night at 3am as a driver and got a job Westbury to Cardiff, took me a few hours but it made up for a rare quiet Friday night. Or you even get the odd airport job, the small company was between Edinburgh and Glasgow, a fare to GLA was £55, EDN £18 does add up if you have 2 or 3 a week, wasn't unheard of for the pick up to be at 5am to get them there in plenty of time, even on the small system Friday and Saturday nights you could take 250 jobs a night with 30-40 cars on until 11pm, after 11pm, these cars dwindle to about 10 including those 2 drivers who did the work during the week for you, by time the pubs and clubs kick out, you have about 8 cars, a couple of them out of area picking up from nights out to Glasgow or Edinburgh, the rest working the pubs in the local towns. If they were prepared to work, they more than made their money with me.
I'm assuming you mean school run Monday to Tuesday and not Sunday? :lol: Was it the boss that would normally answer the phone during the day or did he drive to and have someone else answering the phone?
Personally, I had a Monday to Friday school run and twice a month an out of area school run on a Sunday to a boarding school, the boss drove and the phone was answered by one member of office staff, or it would divert to him or even to me, when just the two of us, he would cover Sunday to Tuesday till 10pm, then come out Wednesday to Friday only if needed, I would rank up and if I was on a long job, would take my place, Saturday he would be out all day till about 10pm then leave me to it with the phone diverted to me.
How many cars did he have when you expanded? If this is the 8 cars you refer to? It doesn't seem like many cars to bring in money to pay for an office, other expenses plus paying staff to answer the phone. It must work as there seems to be a lot of companies like it but I'm struggling to get my head around how the numbers work out for them.
8 cars, he took 55% of my earnings so technically, if I made £200 a day on the weekend without tips, I was happy, you never counted your tips, I was lucky that the school run was worth a very good amount of money, but obviously that was only term time, we had 2 companies competing with us, the big company in the town had about 90 cars, the other one who had the luxury of being right at the railway station had abut 20 cars and we had 8, even when it was only the 2 of us, we were busy, we had a 7 seater always available, I was usually the last one in town on a Friday/Saturday night and we had 2 large army camps that kept us in business with shuttle runs (one camp was a staging camp, so troops were not allowed in town to drink, camp to town was £7 each way in the 7 seater so by time you dropped them off at town to do shopping, you had to go back and pick up more, then catch the return on the way back, doing that 10 times on a Wednesday when town is quiet made the other companies jealous)

Lets take an average Thursday the I would do my school run and boss would rank up, with every other car in the town doing school runs, he would get the odd bit of work his partner answering the phones and being back up driver who would if need be borrow my taxi, he would maybe take about £30 from local runs, I wouldn't be out until 6pm so his partner would take my taxi because he would have an airport run Bristol was an hour away, but more than likely it would be a pick up from Heathrow, he would more than make his money for the day. I would come back out at 6pm with the aim of making at least £100 by midnight because it went to time and a half after midnight and double time after 2am, I would have my usual bookings to take people to the pub or the bingo and their returns booked in, that would maybe be about £20 guaranteed straight away, you would have the other army camp going out for nights out, that would maybe figure in another £25 in fares, then you would have the people staying at the local holiday park or the hotel at the services into town which would be a £10 fare and you would probably get a return from that too and that is before you figure in anything from the rank.

So say I had made about £80 by 10pm, you would go quiet with maybe the odd £3/£4 hire here or there, you would scrape £100 by midnight with all the returns after midnight, I would maybe make £170 before tips, Friday, Saturday nights if it was all off the rank, usual hires and phone bookings you could easily make £200-£250 a night, if you had an airport or cabfinds, even more, think the most I made in a day was about £360 in cash which coincided with a legal rave taking place in the next county and having return journeys booked, figure in the school run which after the boss took his cut was £350 in cash and you could do really well.
 
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ryan125hst

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Even on the small system Friday and Saturday nights you could take 250 jobs a night with 30-40 cars on until 11pm, after 11pm, these cars dwindle to about 10 including those 2 drivers who did the work during the week for you, by time the pubs and clubs kick out, you have about 8 cars, a couple of them out of area picking up from nights out to Glasgow or Edinburgh, the rest working the pubs in the local towns. If they were prepared to work, they more than made their money with me.
Presumably the drivers chose their own hours so they only chose to work overnight if they wanted to? I'm surpised only 8 cars were out at the time the pubs and clubs closed as I'd have thought taxi drivers would want to be out at that time as there must be a lot of work.
Personally, I had a Monday to Friday school run and twice a month an out of area school run on a Sunday to a boarding school
OK, I did wonder why you were doing a school run on a Sunday but that makes sense.

The boss drove and the phone was answered by one member of office staff, or it would divert to him or even to me, when just the two of us, he would cover Sunday to Tuesday till 10pm, then come out Wednesday to Friday only if needed, I would rank up and if I was on a long job, would take my place, Saturday he would be out all day till about 10pm then leave me to it with the phone diverted to me.
Is call divert something that is permitted with private hire then? It must be a bit close legally if someone rings you when stood outside your taxi! Also, if you had a job to the airport for example during this time, am I right in saying you wouldn't be allowed to take a job over the phone as the bookings must be taken in the area of the licence? It must keep you on your toes thinking about what you can and can't do if so.

Did you have to take booking while on a job? It can't be easy to remember names and address while driving, and it wouldn't be safe to write them down either. It must have been a bit of a challenge.
8 cars, he took 55% of my earnings so technically
That seems like a lot to take if companies normally just take £70 a week to £130 a week radio fee. I suppose he needed it to run the business. Did that include fares from ranks/hailed in the street (if you were driving a hackney) or just private hire fares?

I was lucky that the school run was worth a very good amount of money, but obviously that was only term time, we had 2 companies competing with us, the big company in the town had about 90 cars, the other one who had the luxury of being right at the railway station had abut 20 cars and we had 8, even when it was only the 2 of us, we were busy, we had a 7 seater always available, I was usually the last one in town on a Friday/Saturday night and we had 2 large army camps that kept us in business with shuttle runs (one camp was a staging camp, so troops were not allowed in town to drink, camp to town was £7 each way in the 7 seater so by time you dropped them off at town to do shopping, you had to go back and pick up more, then catch the return on the way back, doing that 10 times on a Wednesday when town is quiet made the other companies jealous)
It sounds like you found a gap in the market with that 7 seater. It's suprising the other companies didn't make more of an effort to have more 7 seaters available to compete, not as if you were complaining!
Lets take an average Thursday the I would do my school run and boss would rank up, with every other car in the town doing school runs, he would get the odd bit of work his partner answering the phones and being back up driver who would if need be borrow my taxi, he would maybe take about £30 from local runs, I wouldn't be out until 6pm so his partner would take my taxi because he would have an airport run Bristol was an hour away, but more than likely it would be a pick up from Heathrow, he would more than make his money for the day. I would come back out at 6pm with the aim of making at least £100 by midnight because it went to time and a half after midnight and double time after 2am, I would have my usual bookings to take people to the pub or the bingo and their returns booked in, that would maybe be about £20 guaranteed straight away, you would have the other army camp going out for nights out, that would maybe figure in another £25 in fares, then you would have the people staying at the local holiday park or the hotel at the services into town which would be a £10 fare and you would probably get a return from that too and that is before you figure in anything from the rank.

So say I had made about £80 by 10pm, you would go quiet with maybe the odd £3/£4 hire here or there, you would scrape £100 by midnight with all the returns after midnight, I would maybe make £170 before tips, Friday, Saturday nights if it was all off the rank, usual hires and phone bookings you could easily make £200-£250 a night, if you had an airport or cabfinds, even more, think the most I made in a day was about £360 in cash which coincided with a legal rave taking place in the next county and having return journeys booked.
It sounds like it worked well for you all. Presumably the phone was answered by the boss or his partner in the car if both were out in the taxi?
Figure in the school run which after the boss took his cut was £350 in cash and you could do really well.
Per week presumably?
 

Swanny200

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Presumably the drivers chose their own hours so they only chose to work overnight if they wanted to? I'm surpised only 8 cars were out at the time the pubs and clubs closed as I'd have thought taxi drivers would want to be out at that time as there must be a lot of work.
Some of the drivers would come out at 3 or 4 in the afternoon so some of them would work till the death which would be around 2:30am whereas Edinburgh for instance it would be about 4 or 5am
OK, I did wonder why you were doing a school run on a Sunday but that makes sense.
It was a strange school run and not worth much, but every penny counts.
Is call divert something that is permitted with private hire then? It must be a bit close legally if someone rings you when stood outside your taxi! Also, if you had a job to the airport for example during this time, am I right in saying you wouldn't be allowed to take a job over the phone as the bookings must be taken in the area of the licence? It must keep you on your toes thinking about what you can and can't do if so.
We were a taxi company at that time, so as long as I had the hands free in, I was fine, when I was on out of town runs, unless it was a number I recognised, it went to answerphone, I must admit legally, things like knowing where your borders are does help as things like not wearing your seatbelt, can get picked up on by some over zealous officials if you are out of your area that you are badged in.
Did you have to take booking while on a job? It can't be easy to remember names and address while driving, and it wouldn't be safe to write them down either. It must have been a bit of a challenge.
You got to know your regulars and roughly what time they would ring for returns, after a while I did tell them to either book in a return or to give me a quick one ring so their name would pop up and I would know when they needed me to come get them, if I had a hire, I would get to them, if I had no passengers I would simply answer on the hands free.
That seems like a lot to take if companies normally just take £70 a week to £130 a week radio fee. I suppose he needed it to run the business. Did that include fares from ranks/hailed in the street (if you were driving a hackney) or just private hire fares?
It included all money apart from tips, I would record all my jobs down when we didn't have a dispatch system so any hires picked up from the street, at the end of the hire I would write it down on my notepad with how much the fare was etc...
It sounds like you found a gap in the market with that 7 seater. It's suprising the other companies didn't make more of an effort to have more 7 seaters available to compete, not as if you were complaining!
The other companies had fleets of 7 seaters but a they didn't like picking up from that camp, having a father and uncle who were ex army helped, so you would have something to chat about.
It sounds like it worked well for you all. Presumably the phone was answered by the boss or his partner in the car if both were out in the taxi?

Per week presumably?

Yes and Yes to both
 
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