I write in response to “thelighthouse keeper†and the others who write inaccurate stories.
The tyre was not illegal. The officer issued a standard producer and advised that the tyre was changed and the tracking of the vehicle checked. We have records of all tryes fitted to company vehicles at my garage. The tyre was 2 weeks old. The tracking was corrected immediatley and a new tyre fitted.
Simply writing out large chunks of the Road Traffic Act does not make you intelligent, nor does it win your argument. Anyone can copy and paste legislation. The fact is the tyre was not illegal. End of story.If you think you know better than trained traffic officers then I suggest that you take the issue up with them direct.
I have just spoken to Alan Newton, the licencing officer for North Tyneside council. He confirmed 4 official warnings have been issued to hackney carraiges in the last year for defective tyres along with “numerous†verbal warnings. These warnings are to people who only look after 1 vehicle, not 150! I suggest you put your own house in order before criticising mine.
Central taxis carry approximately 2 million passengers per year. In the 20 years I have been in charge there has NEVER been an accident caused by safety issues.
A suggestion to the administrators of this site:-
The site has quickly descended into a forum to criticise my office. An independent observer would quickly realise that this is because my office is right next to the main hackney rank and as such, we are to a certain extent, in direct competition. Surely the hackney drivers can open their eyes a little and look at the larger issues afffecting the taxi trade in general – for example rising fuel costs, costs of taxi tests, etc. They will quickly realise that these issues are beyond my control!
Finally – this site has its own dedicated forum setion which is barely used. I suggest the exisiting posts are moved into it and new ones “forced†into it. Surely this will make the posts easier to read in the long-run?
Graeme Kennedy.
Note From Admin: I could show all the comments posted from your ip address which would show who’s calling who. I choose not to as I agree to some extent that the site is in danger of going off course and I would hope that by publishing the preceding article, we go someway towards a site for the good of all. How many readers read the ‘News Guardian’ every week compared to the tiny readership of this site. Your advertisement continually casts a bad light on the Hackney Carriages. We are a Minority, we are no threat to your business. Your real competition is and always will be other large private hire offices. You don’t compare yourself to them in your ads. You continually pick at the Hackney Rank were maybe as few as 16 street working cars scratch their living. I was here before you left school, I even worked for your Dad for a time, the Hacks and the Private Hire drivers had a lot of respect for Colin and he reciprocated. There will be no more ‘Picking’ on Central Taxis from this site, if that’s what you think it is, But how soon you have cried when someone pushed back.
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you for publishing my response.
Just to clarify – the only posts that I have ever authorised are the one with my name on defending the safety record and the earlier “anon” which politely pointed out that mr Miller worked at my office. Any other posts from my IP address do not have my backing and should be deleted.
We do have a PC in the rear office which is available to all that
work here so it could have been used by anybody. Any posts my me will be under this registerd username only from now on. Any others you are right to delete.
Lets look forward to some sensible argument and debate over the more important issues…..
Graeme Kennedy.
Hello Graham,
I am writing this to you, as we appear to be showing we are resposible adults communicating to each other in a civilized way.
Writing out long hand the Road Traffic Act 1991 not cut and paste, as only the admin on this site can cut and paste an article together, you say does not make me intelligent?
I agree it does not make me intelligent, but it proves I know of its existance in the ACT,I am sure you will agree with that?
I only commented on a story posted by the admin on this site and I did not take the photograph, nor have I taken any photographs posted on this site, dispite the rumours I have heard about things I am supposedly doing, that are being spread by people who do not even know me.
By your own admission on here, the Police Office suggested that the Tyre be changed and the Tracking checked, this clearly indicates all was not well with the offending tyre, does it not?
I was unaware that you owned a Tyre Company or Garage, as well as your Private Hire and Taxi Company, but as you also own a number of Fiat Doblo Vehicles that all have 5 wheels per vehicle probably with the same size tyre on each rim, who is to say the invoice is for a tyre for that exact offending wheel and tyre that was recommended to be changed, as wheels and tyres are not specialy made to fit just one Fiat Doblo, meaning one set of 5 wheels can have new tyres fitted and kept as a spare set, just for when a vehicle is due for testing or any other reason come to think of it.
These kind of practices were common in the Bus Wars in the late 1980`s and 1990`s when OLD BUSES that companies had difficulty in purchasing spares for their older buses, used to strip down the offending parts just prior to test and replace all the worn parts with brand new ones, meaning a clean bill of health would be issued to the vehicle at the TESTING STATION as loads of new parts fitted, then after the certificate was given it would be taken back to the owners garage and the new parts removed with the old ones refitted meaning the next OLD BUS of the same make could have that same set of NEW PARTS fitted for the TEST to be seen as safe, and all from the ONE SET OF SPARES KEPT IN STOCK FOR THAT MAKE OF VEHICLE!
Graham, I am NOT implying you are doing this, just pointing out it was alledged that this happened years ago in the BUS INDUSTRY and that was why some Companies always used to buy the same make of vehicle, as only one set of spares needed for all the vehicles in the fleet!
Graham, I am sure you do your best to keep on top of things, but perhaps employing a Qualified Transport Manager to have full control of the Company budget for vehicle repairs and 8 week maintainence scheduling for every vehicle in your fleet is something you may consider for the future, because of the mileage the vehicles are covering in a short period of time. Drivers could also be issued with a drivers daily safety check book that they must sign each day before entering service, as this would identify faults being repaired at the time they occur in accordance with the Council Maintanance of Vehicles General Conditions to Proprietors and Operators?
Just think Graham, as you own a garage, that garage would charge say £20 for the “Maintainence Safety Inspection” every 8 weeks meaning 6 per year generating £120 per vehicle for your garage then any other work required may even be carried out by your garage and guess what your Company keeps a copy of every “Maintainance Safety Inspection” carried out for all the fleet operating, in your Company Records, meaning you can prove your vehicles are at all times maintained where ever possible to strict “Health and Safety” Standards.
Graham, would just sit back and let the Qualified Transport Manager take all the stress and pressure away from you.
Many Large Private Hire Operators operate a similar system already,(even though it is not law)as they see the benefits it brings, but all this can push up the costs to you, to establish a perfect Operation that may involve fare increases to cover the additional costs incurred because maintainance is not cheap unfortunately and nor is a Qualified Transport Manager!
Fuel costs are of concern to me, as to you Graham, but I do not share the view that our costs for a North Tyneside Council Plate at £236 meaning £4.54p a week, or £274 meaning £5.27p a week, is to expensive like the “Mouth of the Tyne” believes, nor do I think £42 for a drivers badge or 81p a week is to expensive.
I do think that the cost of a Private Hire Operators Licence is something that should rise in accordance to the number of vehicles that an Operator collects weekly rent from, and this should be in proportion to the weekly income it generates, but what figure to set this fee at? I will not state a fee, as it is something the Operators could look at, in a way to reduce the costs to the Driver and Vehicle Proprietor, if Operator Licence Holders truely believe the costs to the Drivers should be driven downwards and it is not just some spin-doctoring to make it sound like the Operators actually care for the Drivers?
I am not going to fall out with you Graham, but tracking is part of the STEERING-GEAR and TYRES, they are both listed in Section 41A Breach of Requirements as to Brakes, Steering-gear or Tyres is an offence, therefore you as an Operator Licence Holder should be aware of these facts to be able to operate a good “Health and Safety” Policy for your Company.
Therefore, as this was my original point for writing the Road Traffic Act 1991 SECTION, I hope you agree Graham?
Sorry for spelling Graeme the wrong way I have noticed.
As an outsider looking in,and not remotely connected to the Taxi trade this site interests me. It would appear that ‘Toomanytaxis’ has caved in to ‘Central’. Denigration of the opposition, in business is in my opinion the lowest form of marketing and will never achieve as much as old fasioned good service.Denigration, which it appears you are both guilty of, is just laziness.
As an aside I think I will become a Taxi driver. It seems you are doing 2,600,000 fares per year (50,000 weekly) at an average fare of say £4.. £200,000 shared by 150 cars £1333 wk…£69,000 Yr.
Do all your Drivers live in Darras Hall?
Mr Rowley
I have nothing to do with Central Taxis or Graeme Kennedy, but I am a little confused by your working out of the figure £69,000 a year.
2 million passengers(Graeme states this figure)does not mean 2 million £4 fares, because passengers tend to travel with 2 passengers reducing the figure to around 1 million, then if you took another 100,000 passengers off for passenger journey`s with 3 passengers it would result in a figure of around 900,000 passenger journey`s.
900,000 multiplied by £4 you state would equal £3.6 million then divide that by 150 vehicles you stated, is equal to around £24,000 a year or £500 a week, if drivers work 48 weeks a year.
I do not think when the running expenses are taken into the equation that any Taxi or Private Hire Driver working at Central could afford a Taxi or Private Hire Vehicle fare chargable to Darras Hall, let alone live in Darras Hall.
Graeme probably could afford to live in Darras Hall, if he wanted to that is.
I hope you do not work in Accountancy, as you say you do not work in the Taxi or Private Hire Trade?
Graeme may also decide to answer your comment for himself.
Fair comment Mr Walls, I was being a little pedantic and I do work with numbers. I was assuming he came to the 2,000,000 number from his call logs as any other way of calculating passenger numbers would not be entirely accurate. Your own calculation for example is pure speculation whereas taxi booking call logs cannot lie or can they? as I say I am not involved in the trade.Even so in these credit crunched times £24,000 is still a respectable sum for a lowly Taxi driver wouldn’t you say?
DONT YOU THINK ITS FUNNY THAT THE ONES WHO KNOW BEST ( YOU DONT WANNA DO THAT YOU WANNA DO THIS )DONT NORMALY HAVE A POT TO PISS IN NEVER MIND LIVE IN DARRAS HALL DONT YOU THINK MR WALLS ??? KEEP WORKING AND ENJOY THE HOLIDAYS MR KENNEDY YOU DONT KNOW ME AND I DONT BUT LOOKS LIKE YOUR DOING VERY WELL
Mr Rowley
You are of the mistaken belief that £24000 is the profit, it is not it is the turnover that has to have all the expenses removed first to leave the poor driver with around £10,000 if they are lucky.
When you look at the number of hours a driver works to achive this turnover then divide the Profit figure by the hours, I have to wonder if they are making the National Minimim Wage of £5.52p an hour.(I am a Hackney Carriage Street Working Vehicle Driver Only)
The Operator Licence Holder is sucking the Profit out of the poor Private Hire Driver, so that the Operator makes all the money for accepting a phone call and the poor driver pays for all the running expenses himself, but has to charge the Rate of Charges set by the Operator Licence Holder.
It is very complicated to understand I know as most people when they find these facts out, say how can they be Self-Employed? if someone else sets your rate of charges in the Private Hire Industry were the driver gets no say on how much the driver should be charging?