London Cabbie Woes Anecdotal

[pie-eater]

A guy I work with joined the police in 1990 and left in 2001 to be a Black Cab driver. He loved the money; reckoned he cleared £60k - £80k PA with ease and bought a few bad Spanish holiday lets with his money (another story).

He got sick of driving around London and rejoined the police in 2006 but still keeps his hand in by driving a black cab, 1 or 2 weekends per month as it would net him around £800 each weekend he drove. He's a Central London driver; where the money is.

Until now.

He was saying that trade and takings have dropped 40%-50% and he now can't be bothered slogging his guts out for half of what he used to guarantee.

I put to him that it's summer so people walk. He said summer is peak time, along with xmas as in summer people avoid tubes/trains due to the heat. He was saying that more and more full time drivers are now doing night only work, simply to make it pay, which was almost unheard of until recently.

This lad lives for the £££, so him jacking it in until it improves says it all to me.

Edited August 19, 2009 by pie-eater

[tboy]

cabbie i got the other day was talking similarly...said its been slow all year and especially this summer, though perhaps thats due to school summer holidays.

or maybe its due to the outrageous cost of getting a black cab at the weekend (weekdays are no real bargain but not bad), once it hits the 2 or 3 code (sundays?) on the meter it just gets silly.

[geno]

A guy I work with joined the police in 1990 and left in 2001 to be a Black Cab driver. He loved the money; reckoned he cleared £60k - £80k PA with ease and bought a few bad Spanish holiday lets with his money (another story).

He got sick of driving around London and rejoined the police in 2006 but still keeps his hand in by driving a black cab, 1 or 2 weekends per month as it would net him around £800 each weekend he drove. He's a Central London driver; where the money is.

Until now.

He was saying that trade and takings have dropped 40%-50% and he now can't be bothered slogging his guts out for half of what he used to guarantee.

I put to him that it's summer so people walk. He said summer is peak time, along with xmas as in summer people avoid tubes/trains due to the heat. He was saying that more and more full time drivers are now doing night only work, simply to make it pay, which was almost unheard of until recently.

This lad lives for the £££, so him jacking it in until it improves says it all to me.

' slogging his guts out'? He drives a f'in taxi! £60k - £80k PA! no wonder the UK is f.u.c.k.e.d

[Mammon]

A guy I work with joined the police in 1990 and left in 2001 to be a Black Cab driver. He loved the money; reckoned he cleared £60k - £80k PA with ease and bought a few bad Spanish holiday lets with his money (another story).

He got sick of driving around London and rejoined the police in 2006 but still keeps his hand in by driving a black cab, 1 or 2 weekends per month as it would net him around £800 each weekend he drove. He's a Central London driver; where the money is.

Until now.

He was saying that trade and takings have dropped 40%-50% and he now can't be bothered slogging his guts out for half of what he used to guarantee.

I put to him that it's summer so people walk. He said summer is peak time, along with xmas as in summer people avoid tubes/trains due to the heat. He was saying that more and more full time drivers are now doing night only work, simply to make it pay, which was almost unheard of until recently.

This lad lives for the £££, so him jacking it in until it improves says it all to me.

I suppose costs like diesel and wear and tear on the taxi are pretty fixed regardless of how many fares he gets in central london, so at some point it isnt worth his while..

But it look likes there has been a bubble in taxi income during the boom years, homeprices made some people feel richer to the point of using black cabs for journeys for which they were not essential.

[pie-eater]

' slogging his guts out'? He drives a f'in taxi! £60k - £80k PA! no wonder the UK is f.u.c.k.e.d

I agree. But you have to remember the knowledge they do takes a good 3yrs of damn hard work to pass.

Black cabs in London are pretty expensive when you compare them to their New York or Paris equevalents - a New York Yellow Taxi is about 1/4 of the price I found when I was there in 07; and a Paris taxi not much different.

Where I live there are loads of £500k+ houses with a black cab parked in the drive.

Apparently (according to my colleague) a year working 6-7 nights per week when business is good can pull in £120k+ after tax. Many of them slog it for a few years, pay off the mortgage and then revert to normal hours for a good living. They'd make even more if they weren't forced use the cabs they are - another manopoly that keeps the costs sky high to the user.

[Its all gone Pete Tong]

I agree. But you have to remember the knowledge they do takes a good 3yrs of damn hard work to pass.

Black cabs in London are pretty expensive when you compare them to their New York or Paris equevalents - a New York Yellow Taxi is about 1/4 of the price I found when I was there in 07; and a Paris taxi not much different.

Where I live there are loads of £500k+ houses with a black cab parked in the drive.

Apparently (according to my colleague) a year working 6-7 nights per week when business is good can pull in £120k+ after tax. Many of them slog it for a few years, pay off the mortgage and then revert to normal hours for a good living. They'd make even more if they weren't forced use the cabs they are - another manopoly that keeps the costs sky high to the user.

£120k a year after tax,dream on.Iam a London cabbie & have been for nearly 10 years. It is physically & mentally impossibe to earn that sort of money.A day driver at the moment will be lucky to take £200 a day for a 12 hour shift & the night drivers are taking roughly the same.London is dead at the moment ,it always is this time of year.

Sorry to tell you pie eater but your friend is a liar,even in the busy times it is not possible.

[RandomBear]

' slogging his guts out'? He drives a f'in taxi! £60k - £80k PA! no wonder the UK is f.u.c.k.e.d

He said he drove the cab part time outside of his regular job FFS, hardly lazy!!

Also, 2 random black cabbie woe anecdotals to add...

One guy told me the other day he had 80k of debt on credit cards that he had been rolling around between 0% deals, but he realised now that his time was up and he might well have to declare bankruptcy...

Another guy told me he had got 10 BTL flats in the same block of flats in Croydon using self-cert mortgages and not declaring that he owned other properties. He was still feeling quite bullish about the situation but imagine what a few months of voids is going to do to that situation.

My god there are some stupid people out there! (not having a go at cabbies just people in general)

Edited August 24, 2009 by RandomBear

[pie-eater]

£120k a year after tax,dream on.Iam a London cabbie & have been for nearly 10 years. It is physically & mentally impossibe to earn that sort of money.A day driver at the moment will be lucky to take £200 a day for a 12 hour shift & the night drivers are taking roughly the same.London is dead at the moment ,it always is this time of year.

Sorry to tell you pie eater but your friend is a liar,even in the busy times it is not possible.

What's max permissible if you really put the hours in when times are good?

I took his claims with a pinch of salt. After all, he jacked in being a full time cabbie to come back to £45k ish police job.

Colleague - not friend, BTW I don't do friends in my job, in general

[Confusion of VIs]

He said he drove the cab part time outside of his regular job FFS, hardly lazy!!

Also, 2 random black cabbie woe anecdotals to add...

One guy told me the other day he had 80k of debt on credit cards that he had been rolling around between 0% deals, but he realised now that his time was up and he might well have to declare bankruptcy...

Another guy told me he had got 10 BTL flats in the same block of flats in Croydon using self-cert mortgages and not declaring that he owned other properties. He was still feeling quite bullish about the situation but imagine what a few months of voids is going to do to that situation.

My god there are some stupid people out there! (not having a go at cabbies just people in general)

Don't think voids will be a problem in Croydon, at the moment half decent flats go on the day they are advertised and rents are if anything going up.

[pie-eater]

Don't think voids will be a problem in Croydon, at the moment half decent flats go on the day they are advertised and rents are if anything going up.

Really?

What about that ghastly new development that is currently empty and being aggressively advertised? I've passed it a few times visiting a mate who is languishing in huge NE in Croydon after buying a tiny slave box there.

Its name escapes me, but it's big, ugly and currently pretty empty.

I guess it doesn't come under the umbrella of half decent!

[Cold Snail]

I'm a cabbie in one of the commuter towns 50 mins from London Bridge.

Work over the whole year has been slow, but this summer break has been a good time to polish the car as there's not much else on.

For an anecdotal, I know of a driver who has over 50k on CC's, a 5 grand overdraft, that is at -8k at the mo (£1000 worth of bank charges in the last month ) and sod all to show for it.

I told him early last year to make plans (after finding this site, it opened my eyes), but he didn't.

[Telometer]

I told him early last year to make plans (after finding this site, it opened my eyes), but he didn't.

What is more surprising is not that he has 50k of unsecured debt, or whatever, but that Cold Snail had never thought that getting into debt was a bad thing before he joined this site! Extraordinary.

[Cold Snail]

What is more surprising is not that he has 50k of unsecured debt, or whatever, but that Cold Snail had never thought that getting into debt was a bad thing before he joined this site! Extraordinary.

I'm not a debt slave, admittedly I am buying a house off my in-laws (£75pw fixed at 5% since 1998 until it's paid).

But I will admit to being one of the workshy part-time taxi drivers over the last few years, the one who would do 2-3 days a week, maybe less?

As for credit, I didn't take any on (as I made the mistake when I was younger and it taught me 'If I want something, then go and earn it'.

The temptation to lease out a new car was there, funnily enough when I started driving a taxi, nobody would finance a taxi as there was too much risk, in the boom times it was too easy for anyone to get one.

In the end, I subscribed to the 'bangernomics' way of thinking, as cars from around 1993 to 2000 were made much better than the previous rustbuckets and could get 300,000 miles quite easily while not being overly complicated to service.

[Sibley's Love Child]

I'm not a debt slave, admittedly I am buying a house off my in-laws (£75pw fixed at 5% since 1998 until it's paid).

But I will admit to being one of the workshy part-time taxi drivers over the last few years, the one who would do 2-3 days a week, maybe less?

As for credit, I didn't take any on (as I made the mistake when I was younger and it taught me 'If I want something, then go and earn it'.

Don't rise to the bait, he's HPC's resident supercilious boor.

[Confusion of VIs]

Really?

What about that ghastly new development that is currently empty and being aggressively advertised? I've passed it a few times visiting a mate who is languishing in huge NE in Croydon after buying a tiny slave box there.

Its name escapes me, but it's big, ugly and currently pretty empty.

I guess it doesn't come under the umbrella of half decent!

I did say half decent, there are a few pokey new developments too far from the centre and train stations that probably will never be easy to sell or rent but, if you are looking to rent, the places you would actually want to live in go as soon as they are advertised.

[TheCountOfNowhere]

Spoke to a cabbie friend in London yesterday...he said...recovery, my a**e

They are all fighting over fares. All the corporates dont pay for cabs now. No boozy lunchs and after work dos with taxi's home. he's working 16 hours a week now to keep his head above water. What about the tourists I asked...thdey dont pay much for cabs. Recovery....i dont think so.

[yield]

Spoke to a cabbie friend in London yesterday...he said...recovery, my a**e

They are all fighting over fares. All the corporates dont pay for cabs now. No boozy lunchs and after work dos with taxi's home. he's working 16 hours a week now to keep his head above water. What about the tourists I asked...thdey dont pay much for cabs. Recovery....i dont think so.

My brother is a London cabbie and he has been telling me how bad thing are in London. Long waits on over extended taxi ranks. His own cabbie friends are saying this is the worst August ever. Many cabbies going bankrupt, if this carries on into September there will be get blood on the streets. according to him and his cabbie friends now way is a recovery on its way its getting worse not better.

Get your hard hats on chaps.

[mattT]

My brother is a London cabbie and he has been telling me how bad thing are in London. Long waits on over extended taxi ranks. His own cabbie friends are saying this is the worst August ever. Many cabbies going bankrupt, if this carries on into September there will be get blood on the streets. according to him and his cabbie friends now way is a recovery on its way its getting worse not better.

Get your hard hats on chaps.

The day I can hail a black cab and get it to take me to Brixton, I'll believe it... !

[eric pebble]

The day I can hail a black cab and get it to take me to Brixton, I'll believe it... !

A death sentence.......

[Kazuya]

The day I can hail a black cab and get it to take me to Brixton, I'll believe it... !

[cowley]

The day I can hail a black cab and get it to take me to Brixton, I'll believe it... !

I got one to Streatham Hill the other day, does that count?

[monty1080]

My brother is a London cabbie and he has been telling me how bad thing are in London. Long waits on over extended taxi ranks. His own cabbie friends are saying this is the worst August ever. Many cabbies going bankrupt, if this carries on into September there will be get blood on the streets. according to him and his cabbie friends now way is a recovery on its way its getting worse not better.

Get your hard hats on chaps.

Another anecdotal I got from a black cabbie a few years ago was him boasting about how little tax he paid! As a regular( Law abiding) cyclist I'm afraid I have very little sympathy for Black cab drivers. At best they are generally selfish road users at worst they are downright dangerous.

[pie-eater]

I was working with the bloke as listed in the original post last night. Was with him for 12 hours, so questioned him further..........

He's stopped taking a cab out on weekends off now as it's down to sub £20PH money (net). He used to make £50PH over weekends and put the hours in big time to earn.

He was saying he'd miss a Sat night to go out with his ex and moan that his 1st pint was costing him £300 in lost money!

Divorced now.

He still maintained a cabbie can make over £100k per year, and quoted tax avoidance that is legal. But the hours he mentioned weren't nice.

[pie-eater]

Another anecdotal I got from a black cabbie a few years ago was him boasting about how little tax he paid! As a regular( Law abiding) cyclist I'm afraid I have very little sympathy for Black cab drivers. At best they are generally selfish road users at worst they are downright dangerous.

I find cabbies to be the best drivers where cyclists are concerned. I cycle 30 miles per day from Surrey to C London and back and it's 'normal' drivers that brush past.

Pro drivers generally (IMO) respect the non-mad cycler. Even bus drivers seem to realise we'll die if they push for that extra seciond to the red light these days.

[Its all gone Pete Tong]

I was working with the bloke as listed in the original post last night. Was with him for 12 hours, so questioned him further..........

He's stopped taking a cab out on weekends off now as it's down to sub £20PH money (net). He used to make £50PH over weekends and put the hours in big time to earn.

He was saying he'd miss a Sat night to go out with his ex and moan that his 1st pint was costing him £300 in lost money!

Divorced now.

He still maintained a cabbie can make over £100k per year, and quoted tax avoidance that is legal. But the hours he mentioned weren't nice.

With regards to your previous post "how much could you earn if you just blitzed it" I dont know is the truth,I treat it as a job & I have a life outside the cab.As a guide day drivers earn £15-£25 an hour gross pay,I dont work nights or weekends so maybe £20-40 per hour gross,the higher figure in both examples are if it is really busy,its hit & miss, some Saturday nights are crazy others quiet.The job is all about luck.Your colleague is also incorrect re a monopoly,yes we were restricted to 1 type of vehicle a TX4 but for over a year now Merc have a Vito Taxi & rumors of Metrocab making a return soon as well.He does from your descpition sound like a billy bullsh*t type of bloke that is common in my trade,I have met many who mouth off how much they earn & you know they are telling porkies,but this happens in other proffesions as well.My outgoings are big,£220pw to rent a cab at least £25 a day diesel.Work has picked up a bit this week as the schools are back,but at 10am yesterday morning Kings Cross station rank was the longest I have ever seen.Taxi's up Pancras Rd,then into Good's Way & it even turned back into York Way.Paddington Station is similar,out the station over Bishops Bridge down Harrow Road then inro Edgware Road & sometimes even turning back into Pread Street.Marylebone is the same as is Waterloo & St Pancras,Liverpool street is impossible to get onto.Victoria Station rank goes down Wilton Road the feeder is in Vauxhall Bridge Road then Gillingham Street & back into Wilton Road a loop around the Park Plaza.Go & have a look for yourself.

PT