This is only one of the places the private hire sit waiting for work there are 5 cars there & 1 is N/T private hire this was at 10.45 friday night & It’s opposite a rank.Theres not enough work for the hacks never mind the private hire. Thursday night 2 jobs in 3 1/2 hrs then give up & went home.
Submitted by e-mail from a Newcastle Hack Driver
{ 37 comments… read them below or add one }
maybe they were just waiting for someone to make a booking, again where do you expect private hire to sit when waiting for work? Use you brains hack drivers 90% of the time drivers are just sitting like you waiting to get a job.
There are more private hire drivers than hack drivers and rumor has it road blocks etc will be underway due to the council and hack drivers getting on our case, so watch this space!!
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@Private Eye, Go for it mate. big protest by Private Hire,Down with Hacks! who do they think they are? they’ve only been around since 1647. Our relatively young trade can take over and then things will be Hunky Dory!No more Hacks!No more Hacks!….Get a Life!
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
lets do it why not organise a protest for private hire drivers.
Hack drivers make ranks all over the town in dangerous places (outside Apartment) for example but they arent moved on because it suites the council at that time.
Total joke, we pay alot of money to the council and they do nothing but mess us about, if anyones interested then lets organise a go slow through newcastle city centre or park in all hack ranks until we are given a little more respect
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@Flimper1970, You do that mate I’m sure you will get lots of support. Print a Flyer up an pass it round the drivers,we’ll block the whole of tyneside up.Then the’ll listen to us!
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@Flimper1970, GREAT IDEA. But do you not think you need to get organised first to fight the office owners and stop the rise in your rents and the constant increase of private hire drivers joining your offices. This is where your problems are. Not with the hack drivers or the council. They just want to get on with there job. If you think you’re being targeted more than the hacks then why do the numbers say the opposite in the Newcastle Hackney Forum news letter? And all statistics are supplied by the council. If you want to start protests then perhaps we should follow Manchester example and give you a pick up point in a car park away from all ranks up on Claremont road and manned by the council to make sure you get the correct fair. And all so charge all private hire a congestion charge. For entering the city centre with maximum 2 minutes to pick up there fair. And not near the ranks. As this is not a loud. Now think before you shout. BECAUSE THIS WILL SOLVE ALL OUR PROBLEMS.
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@Flimper1970,
no mate you get messed around by your offices.
THEY take on extra drivers when there is no work
THEY alow berwick plates to take a proportion of your work
THEY up your rent to breaking point
THEY take booking where they know hacks operate instead of being sensible and think of the driver more,
none of these problems are caused by hacks, ohh and hacks do not race to addresses to ‘pinch’ your work!
but if you are going to protest, you better get a valid reason otherwise you will just look pretty silly, as all of these problems could be sorted by protesting against the people who take over £100 off you every monday morning!
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
why on earth should people be made to go to pick up point ?i dont think YOU have given this any thought and 2 mins to pick up ???? so if for instance , all the trafic lights go your way and your not held up by traffic you arrive 5 to 10 mins early for your alloted pick up time and place , what do you do ? just drive around the town again ?
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@hack man, You didn’t read his comment properly He said:”If you want to start protests then perhaps we should follow Manchesters’ example and give you a pick up point in a car park away from all ranks up on Claremont road and manned by the council to make sure you get the correct fair. And all so charge all private hire a congestion charge.” what he’s saying is: ‘P/H have nothing to protest about as this is how it is in manchester in other words think yourself lucky’
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
my mistake sorry for jumping in
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
Sorry i think i may have been misunderstood
what i mean is Berwick plates are the main concern for flimping I would have thought and im not sure 100% about this but they are mainly from Poland and other countrys, so enforcement target the Newcastle Private hire drivers.
I work for a company where we get alot of work from the town but now every inch of the town has double yellows on them so there is no where just to sit while you wait and its totally spoiling the job now.
Also my having a go at the hacks is because if we as private hire drivers are just sitting waiting for a job off our radio they automatically get on their high horse and think Flimping.
This is not the case 90% of the time i would think we like you are just waiting, bored relaxing etc.
I was driving down the bigg market and a woman i know was knocking on my window for a chat and a hack driver was getting really upset about this thinking i was flimping so i had to shout at him.
Newcastle hacks and Newcastle private hire should stick together
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
On the back of this, I like a flimp from time to time but when its busy and not just the best jobs.
People arent going to just stand in taxi queues waiting for a hacks they will ring private hire anyway or get friends or family to come for them so whats the problem from a hacks point of view in us flimping when everyone is busy?
I know were not insured etc but why would you lot be bothered about that all your thinking is MONEY MONEY MONEY
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@Flimper1970,
Why do you need to flimp when its busy? should you not have enough work coming from your office at busy times?
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@SC,
it’s obvious, would you rather go to whitley bay for £12.00 or £20.00?
and i would even add on that they wouldnt be affraid to charge in excess of a hack price, as they know the hacks get the blame.
as i have said, i have lost count the amount of times a passenger complains about the taxi from the week before, saying they were charged £xxx, when what car colour, more often its any BUT black.
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@Flimper1970, So when you Flimp You do it for Free?
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
just a thought . if flimping is so rife in town why are there no more pics in the hall of shame ,im a hack and if people want to book a private hire vehicle its up to them some ncle hack seem to think they have a right to every fare out of town but its just not the case times are hard for us all and i get the message people want to know ho is taking them home and the driver knows where hes is going (so they book a local firm)
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@hack man,what should be photographed? 12 in newcastle are currently being prosecuted another 15 in north tyneside,none of these were seen,such was the swiftness of their capture.Of course people book private hire,that’s why they exist,I recently took a BlueLine car to the quayside from Northumberland st,the driver could barely speak English and had to ask me for directions.So the message you get is the same as mine,does this mean the Hack trade & the Private hire trade is in decline? and if so why would you want to aid that decline? Just a Thought!
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@hack man,
unfortunately, it proves hard to photo these people, as I normally see them when I have picked up and am heading out of the city centre, with passengers in. I dont really want to end up in court for hitting someone throuygh these people.
just to add, mr. RN05 ODV, black audi was working outside flairs for the best part of last night, then moved up to his usual haunt at the top of the bigg market. a gateshead hack, possibly the same guy who tried to pick a flag down up in front of me some weeks ago, working outside kiss for over an hour. and yes he had done jobs, as at first he was near the top, and later down the bottom. he has a silver doblo on a gateshead hack plate. and a blt who picked up a blatant flag down on mosley street. unfortunately he was gone by the time i got round the lights so no reg, and yes it was a flimp as the 3 girls tried desperatly to stop anything that went by.
ohhh and most importantly N13 GLC (irc) heading out of the city at 1.00pm (at great speed, jumping a red light at the life centre) with 3 passengers in. REMEMBER PEOPLE THERE IS NOTHING TO INDICATE THIS IS A LEGAL TAXI!!!
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
I flimp if im sitting in the right place at the right time but i dont go out looking for a flimp like some drivers.
Hopefully when people have had a run in with a out of town driver who doesnt know Newcastle without a post code then they will stop using that firm and try a different one with no out of town plates.
I had a Berwick plate for afew months, the bloke up there said I would be obligated to stop if someone flagged me down no matter which town i was in but i couldnt rank up anywhere.
maybe thats why they do it
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@Chunky1980, The bloke in Berwick that told you “you were obligated to stop when flagged,regardless of which town you were in” Has been ‘Let Go’ He’s now an independent Legal advisor to the Taxi Trade. (Lookin for more LoopHoles!)
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
Came across interesting video on Youtube “Taxi-Plying for hire in Sunderland”. It’s worth a look. Shows PHV’S flimping there. Perhap’s Newcastle Hack’s could do somethng similar on a regular basis?
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@A. Wiseman, imo that video shows one or two blatant flimps, but most cars you could not prove if they were flimping or not just by seeing them waiting to pick up.
interesting to see no Berwick plates in the video,
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
1 or 2? I counted about 11 in approximately 2 minutes of the video. Multiply that over the year and that’s a lot of work taken from hack’s.
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@A. Wiseman, so any car parked up with people getting in must be flimpping? like i said
“video shows one or two BLATANT flimps, but most cars you could not prove if they were flimping or not just by seeing them waiting to pick up”
Are you the guy that sent this link to the Sunderland Echo?
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@SC,
Your words not mine. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Your observations could be levelled at any picture or video submitted here. The job of proving flimping is, as you know, down to the licencing enforcement officers, not us and no, I am not the “guy” you speak of.
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@SC, I couldn’t be sure but I don’t think Sunderland have any Berwick plates.
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
speaking to a mate this morning
the black audi RN05 ODV (irc), with 5 star sticker, taxi top sign, passed him the other day heading out of the city with passengers in, with his for hire sign still lit up. surely this means this guy doesnt also put his meter feeling free to charge whatever he likes.
more eyes to be on the look out for N13 GLC (irc) the voyager, who posses as a taxi.
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@Andy Warhol, Well i seen black audi RN05ODV tonight and he has taken his plate of the rear of his car and stuck it in his back window.He also never wears Derwentside door crests (law) and does not have a plate on the front of his car (law) so in theory he is comitting three offences.
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
Well as you are aware the black audi RN05 ODV with 5 star sticker, taxi top sign, is working as privaste hire therefore 5 star should be held to account by city council it is about time the people who are suppose to be employer of these illgal plying hirers were rtefused an operators licence or may be we in the trade find out when their licence is due for renewal and put in indvidual objections of renewal anbd then perhaps these piss takers might adhere to some sort of normality
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is mcdonalds at the top of the bigg market a hack rank anybody?????????????
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
im afraid it isnt wilfy. There are also no hack ranks outside of revolution,perdu,tup tup,aspers,the power house and the footpath on st james boulevard outside the grosvenor casino.would you believe that ?
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@toon ph,
the way things have been run in the past… yes.
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
can anybody tell me if some of these things i hear are true or urban legends 1 you cant be refused a w hack plate on grounds of dicrimination against disabled people by the council 2 some of our asian colleages share the same licence etc cos we cant tell them apart 3 who actually owns hack plates is it the council or not cos if it is how can people buy and sell something they dont own 4 does it really cost £45 from the town to shiremoor in a hack cos thats how much a single girl was charged about 3 weeks ago
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@wilfy, Number 1 is Bollox! Number 2, Who Knows! Number 3,the Council owns the Hack Licence but they also own pub Licences & Off Licenses & gaming Licences & many more can the goodwill on those not be bought & sold? Number 4, anyone who over charges to that extent is in the wrong but until they are caught it could be a Berwick,PH,Hack or just a car that someone thought was a Taxi.Overcharging is also a big symptom of there being TooManyTaxis, No one would need to overcharge if we were properly regulated and everyone could make a living. That does not make it right of course but everyone knows that there are far too many of us to earn a decent living. A certain PH company in North shields has recently dropped it’s rates, those lads were making next to nothing already without dropping the rate further. Times like this are when we all know that there are too many but some will not admit it and you get these little wars of words,each blaming the other when really we all know who is to blame. Councils who don’t give a toss, office owners who want more rent,rogue councils who issue plates to all and sundry and drivers who would never have been a Taxi driver if they could get a proper job.
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
have you really looked into 1 as it was someone in the council who mentioned it something to do with the european courts who can overrule your local council plus i have never heard of anyone selling a gaming licence etc for huge profits like some drivers who have and then went and got a tynedale plate etc for nothing and it was deffo a newcastle hack who wouldnt even let the lass out of his car till she paid and thats not the first time i have heard of this apart from demanding money up front even when most of the toon hacks always take the scenic route
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@wilfy,
“I have never heard some one selling a gaming licence for huge profits”
ok, say there are only 10 gaming licences allowed in a city centre, you build up the best and most profitable casino, are you then just going to give it away? hand it back to the council when you decide you no longer want to run it? or sell for a massive profit!
how long have wheelchair plates been around? every year someone goes to court with newcastle council to try and open up the plates, and fails. if all they had to do was go to the european court, do you not think that they would have done this!
and tell this girl who was charged £45 (by a supposed ncle hack) to shiremoor to PROVE it by giving the reg, plate number on here, or by reporting it to the council.
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@wilfy,
Hello Wilfy,
In reply to
Number 1: All Local Authorities are required to undertake by legislation (a unmet demand survey) and as part of that survey there are questions for able-bodied persons and disabled persons, this means that the view points of everyone is requested by the company who conducts the survey on behalf of the Local Authority, before the limitation of numbers is resticted by the Local Authority, should the Local Authority decide to restrict the number of Saloon or Wheelchair Hackney Carriage Taxi Vehicles it issues.
Number 2: Is not a difficult question to answer, because the law does not allow a driver to share his or her DVLA drivers licence and nor does it allow them to share a Local Authority drivers licence of any discription.
Number 3: The answer is the Local Authority owns the Hackney Carriage Plate, but a a Court Case years ago established it is perfectly legal for a person to sell as a going concern a business and that is what a licensed hackney carriage vehicle with a currently not expired issued plate to a Proprietor has become a business, therefore meaning under the Act of Parliament the Hackney Carriage Vehicle with the Local Authority Plate that has not expired and has a current licence in force allowing the Proprietor to trade, does have the right to transfer the Proprietorship of the Vehicle with its Local Authority Hackney Carriage Plate to another person making them the new Proprietor of the Business for a remunerative fee, if the two parties can reach a happy settlement of remuneration.
Number 4: £45 is an excessive charge to Shiremoor from Newcastle, if it was just one drop off point, but this answer I am not going to explain in fine detail because I do not wish to enlighten an unscrupulous drivers how to abuse the system, but there are rules that need to be followed to the letter of the Law meaning remuneration can be requested at the start of the journey, if both parties agree to the remuneration fee requested and the meter in the Hackney Carriage Taxi should always be used and the shortest route to the destination should be used at all times and not necessarily the TOM TOM system route, as this may not be the shortest route.
Fact:
In this current economic climate, where unscrupulous male and female passengers who after a good night out and having spent all their money, do often now try to “HAIL” not book a Hackney Carriage Taxi and at the end of the journey say they do not have any money on them,but to enter a Hackney Carriage Taxi without the remuneration to be able to settle the remuneration fee before leaving the Hackney Carriage Taxi is a Criminal Offence.
Fact:
This is not the law in a Private Hire Vehicle as a passenger “booked in advance” the arrangements for the services of a Private Hire Vehicle with a Driver meaning the passenger is committing a Civil Offence and a private prosecution will have to be taken out against the passenger by the Private Hire Drivers Office, as they are the “Hereby Licensed” Operator who accepted the contract journey booking and then dispatched the Private Hire Vehicle and Driver to the passengers.
Take Care All.
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
after 17 yrs – n/cle ph.i feel im qualified to comment on the plight of this once proud taxi industry.it has become a free for all – thaks to berwick and others- attracting the most undesirables i have ever met in my life.scruffy cars scruffy clothes no geographical knowledge and overcharging on a massive scale. the job i once loved i hate with a passion. the game is rotten to the core and there is no one to clean up this mess we are in -recession aside- we are finished.i feel like a boxer on the ropes,one more punch and im out.ps to all the good guys out there – good luck
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade