Minicab driving - Your thoughts please.

The charity I work for is restrucuring. I may out of work or have my hours reduced in April. In which case I need a rethink of what I'm doing. Work in the charity sector and social care is getting harder to find, especially at the wage I am earning. One option is minicab driving with Addison Lee.

They provide the cab and you rent it from them.

I've been thinking about the pros and cons but would appreciate it if i could get your opinions and thoughts/pros and cons/any experience with this?

Thanks

 

I looked into doing this and becoming a driving instructor quite a few years back.

I guess the first thing is to see how profitable it would actually be to do it - I know a lot of cabbies are finding it hard to make a living at the moment.

 

Just read driver reports and reviews. It's a big NO methinks!

 

What did the reviews say?

 

I used to be a cab driver in Blackpool......certainly opened my eyes! Think drunken hen parties (i drove an 8 seater at one point). Anyway i used to rent the cab off the owner, this could mean paying a set rent every week (think it was £120 at the time) then keep every thing you earned after that (after paying fuel) or it would just mean paying the fuel at the end of the night and whats left got split 50/50 between me and the owner. i preferred this setup and on a fri/sat/ sun night i could still finish with anything between £100-£150 per night, Tips...there were lots..... were your own and didnt get split. Sometimes it was a bit dodgy (drivers did get robbed of their takings), sometimes it was raunchy, sometimes boring.
Depends how desperate you are to pay the rent/mortgage i guess.....

Just remembered.......a knowledge test was a part of getting your taxi licence so think about that. I was in blackpool having met a girl there, her dad was a cabbie, so he got me the knowledge test so i could "practise"! I passed on second attempt after living in blackpool for 1 month. This was before the invention of shatnav tho.

 

Making a wage in cabbing requires you to only put through £0.62p a week and claim maximum benefits, whilst whining to everyone in the casino that your're not making any money.

 

^^^ Pretty much...whats hmrc?

 

Her majesty's revenue and custom


The tax man!

 

Oh

 

Worth it if you have a plenty of work, Addison Lee have been at it for years so they should have a good customer base, look out for additional costs that will eat into your first few weeks wages, like comms unit /radio deposit and hire and if you do lates then get used to clearing up puke n stuff, that's what put off the dudes I have known that have done it.

 

Get WGW on TV!

 

seems to me that if it really was that bad there wouldnt be any mini cabs on the road.
i could slag off my job and tell everyone how bad it is at times but i choose to do it. there could always be better pay or more holidays etc but is the grass really ever greener?
trouble is that people expect £30k a year for being a cabbie or driving instructor. reality check, its just driving a car. something we all do every day.

if you lose your job and you can do this as a stop gap to pay the bills then do it. any job is better than no job in these tough times.

 

I love being a cabbie. Everyman and his dog come into my world.You better be a people person otherwise they'll soon get on your nerves. By minicab, I assume you mean private hire (pre bookings only). Your safety is the 1st thing to consider as youll be much closer to your passengers than I am as I drive a black cab. Never ever trust anyone by the clothes they wear. It can be a rewarding job if you have the right attitude but also prepare yourself for lots of negativity from others. The job can mean a lot of money for few hours and little money for lots of hours. Its all hit and miss. Whatever you decide, good luck. Theres cabbies and theres steering wheel attendants. Dont become the latter if you come into the trade.