I got my badge in 2016 but soon realised the job was not viable. £500 a week expenses before you earn anything for yourself. Driving a cab made me appreciate my old trade as a bricklayer. 8 till 4, good money and no ridiculous overheads. I still feel proud too have completed the knowledge but in hindsight it wasn't worth it
Keep the badge. I work like hell to make ends meet. Now with even more rises in food, diesel, house bills and the rest its going to be a hard year. But, im happy to be a cabby, im a Londoner, born, bred and proud to be in this age old trade.
i feel you brother - whilst it is a sick job it's not worth the ridiculous hours you have to work. Edit: And yeah, defo keep the badge... Reminds me I have to renew mine soon!
See I did plastering for years. Absolutely hate it. I’ll never pick up my trowel again. I’m currently on the knowledge. Defo gonna complete it. Just a bit worried about comments stuff. That I read. Just thinking is it really worth it sometimes. I kind of thought I could make £1000 profit a week. Without killing myself. Do you think that’s possible
Really interesting Tom. It’s a sad situation for the cab trade, but life evolves and things change whether we want then to or not. I think with your knowledge of London, and now with your online presence you would be able to find fairly lucrative work, possibly on the tourism side of things.
Hi Tom As highlighted by your film Tom, I moved out from London 3 years ago to Bedfordshire. Best move i ever made. Stick the TXE on auto pilot on the A1 and cruise home. Amazing how many cabbies live out in the sticks. Great content keep it up.
There are people who complain for no reason, they are simply used to complaining. And there are people who point out dangerous problems and wrong direction of society as a whole. People who give real arguments for positive change. And this is such a message. Thanks Tom.
You nailed it Tom 100% it's a lifestyle not a job, the finance ropes us in for the foreseeable between a rock & a hard place, the councils up and down the country are making cities more awkward to navigate, Edinburgh is like the cripton factor to get about these days councillor's drunk on power, road closures everywhere , road works, bollards, cycle lanes, thousands of extra private hire cars thought the council wanted less cars on the roads, with green washing taxes and added costs the game is finished I got the levc 2 years ago just before the covids, had to defer payments for most of a year but with now soaring fuel and electric costs should have just kept my diesel euro6 tx4 it would have been paid off by now The charging infrastructure in Edinburgh is the pits a box ticking exercise rapid chargers are like gold dust Can't see retirement until 70 mind you can't see a holiday in the next few years, working 70 hour week's just to keep the wheels turning, pressure pressure every day, the governments and councils don't have a clue the costs and implications of their actions in the name of local climate change and rising green taxes in the UK whereby its a global issue without unity it will have no impact I also feel electric cars are a stepping stone to hydrogen or another fuel mix option Be lucky
I'm not a cabbie and don't live particularly near London, but I stumbled across your channel by accident. It's great. Clear explanations, honest, to the point and very cleverly filmed. You are totally right about the future of electric as well. It's a nightmare potentially. Sounds as if you have to do a lot of hours to try and get extra cash. Also, doing the youtube channel should help as well. It's an excellent channel.
Thanks Tom really good vid!!! I am a cabbie in North Somerset and I basically have to earn around £65-70 a day before I start to take anything!!! Couple of days last week worked 10 hours took £90! take off the £65 I need to pay out leaves me £25. 10 hours amounts to £2.50 an hour and the amount of people that get in my car and believe that I’m on £1000 a week take home is truly staggering. We have all come to the conclusion that one of the officials in are licensing department has had some unfortunate dealings with a cabbie in the past!!! We just had a fare increase THE FIRST FOR NINE YEARS!! Took away a 6-12 pm tariff, so you are getting the same rate right up until 12 o’clock at night so basically your having four pissheads in the cab at the same price as Mrs jones doing her weekly shopping. When I first started we had 12 ranks in the town now we are down to 3 and there even as we speak making them smaller!!! We have no taxi ranks on the seafront, name me one other large seaside town that doesn’t have a rank on seafront? All bus lanes in and around our town are buses only!!! And as you’ve said like your trading areas street after street has been closed, the Times I get “where you’ve been!” And having to explain it takes me so much longer just to get to you!!! But for me as I’ve said before it’s this f”&king cheat sheet that has gone around. We have drivers now who couldn’t tell you time if you asked but know where all hotels and restaurants in are town🤔 I got a cab myself couple of years ago off the rank in my town “Hutton moor leisure centre, please.” His reply “Have you got a postcode!!!” WTF That’s like me getting in your cab and saying to you Buckingham palace and you asking me for directions!!!🤷
Interesting and honest appraisal of the current state of things. I've just finished learning the 320 Bluebook Runs, which took me around 6 months to do. My plan was to move a bit closer to London and start pointing fairly soon, but I'm now having serious doubts. Apart from anything else, I really don't see how driving a black cab will be viable once they go all electric, given the current - and likely future - state of battery technology. As you quite rightly point out, living in the capital isn't possible on a cabby's earnings, but if you live too far out, much of your battery charge will be used up getting in to and out of London for work. That will then mean significant lapses of time spent recharging the battery when you could be out earning ; how many times a day is that going to be necessary, say on a 10 to 12 hour shift ? Add to that the huge costs of these electric cabs, and it all starts to look rather ominous for the trade going forward.
There are 500 rapid charging points across London now, you can get 80% charge in around 30 mins on them. Charge it whilst having lunch or a break. You've come so far with runs mate, keep going👊🏻
It must be so frustrating, you’ve invested so much time and money and thinking what’s the point? Also, there’s the locked in part of it. 🤯🤯🤯 I hope things sort themselves out for you and other cabbies soon because once their gone they are gone :/ Take it easy, Tom lad 🙏🏻❤️
I would love to see how the costs of the traditional taxi driver (with little choice but to buy and run expensive vehicles) compare to an Uber driver(without as large overheads) I think a great video for you to make would be to team up with an Uber driver (Tom the Uber) and do a split screen of your shifts maybe over the course of a week and then totals at the end of the day. As an ex traditional cabbie I was very sceptical of Uber, so I tried them out a few times when in London, black cab to my destination, Uber return. Prices were not dissimilar and neither was the service. I flagged down the black cab and used the app for Uber (no waiting at all) so is the fact that traditional cabbies are in the systems the reason they don’t go to Uber or is there not the work from the Uber app because obviously the cost of running an Uber is far less and the job is pretty much the same. You pick people up and you drop people off!
I think most of us who do not know the facts behind the job and like myself have listened to the cabbie folklore i.e With a cab & the knowledge under your belt it is a licence to print money understand the very real pitfalls involved in the true side of your job now.
Hi Tom, Love your vids. I've got family that are in the game and its never been busier, so earning potential is good. On the battery issue time will tell and thats one case. The testing was carried out over 9,000 charges (about 400k miles), after which performnce dropped to an average of 75% at that point. If you apply the logic that no one will keep them outside of warranty, then its unlikely there would be much demand for used resale after the 5 years, as buyers will have the same notion. If most of the vehicles last as per the testing, then you should get approx 12-14 yrs out of one average of 30k miles per year, which is far cheaper than renting (core expenses included). The option of part x after 5 years is sensible and will reduce the overheads next time:) Biggest issue is road closures and lack of new drivers coming through (which will diminish the service in the publics eyes). Be Lucky👍🏻
19 years in the job Tom , and you are bang on in your summary. My TX4 will be taken out of service in 2024. I paid it off in 4 years. Its been reliable and given me so much flexibility in the days and hours I work. But I will have to look for another job for the future ,as the new costs are frightening
I've been a licensed London taxi driver for over 47 years now and the running costs of this business have gone completely out of kilter with the earning capacity putting aside what the pandemic did to out trade. I've had the best years of this job and I no longer have to "chase the £" like I used to. The days of doing those 65 plus hours a week have gone although I still work and rent a cab now, this happened when my "Fairway Driver" FX4 cab came off the road in mid 2013 after being an owner driver all those years. My heart goes out to fellow cab drivers who have mortgages, family commitments etc, etc, heaven knows how many hours most of my younger peers have to do to cover all these much higher relative expenses than in my day. All this let alone the rental of an older taxi from a fleet plus your diesel or a new TXE at approx £350 per week plus of course the electric charges and petrol that go with it. If you're purchasing the new £62K TXE taxi you have the interest plus the all the other running costs on top as you mentioned Tom.... the mind simply boggles. One should be able to work to live not live to work, it's the wrong work life balance. Official figures now show we are at the lowest number of people licensed as taxi drivers in London and the lowest number of taxicabs licensed, also we have the lowest amount of students on The KOL. When one considers after working all those hours then taking into account one's business expenses and you end up coming home with either average or slightly under average income as a self employed person with no paid holidays or sickness benefits it's hardly surprising the situation the trade finds itself in. Also as an aside only 10% or less ever pass "The Knowledge" at any given time.... nobody fails it they just give up as they had no idea what they had let themselves in for, and of course you don't get paid whilst on the KOL either it's off your own back. Hopefully things will get better in the not too distant future but I do question mark that.... be lucky.
A few years ago I looked at the trade then decided to go the driving instructor route instead. My hourly rate is between 39 to 44 per hour and my running costs are 20% I also only work days between 9 and 5
@@DougieMontana I’m a driving instructor myself and finding the perfect balance is always changing. A good day I will maybe do 6hrs of work. It can be mentally taxing depending who you have on those days. Recently I’ve been doing a lot of 1hr lessons. Granted you don’t take as much of you were doing doubles but the day runs smoother.
Insane. Here in Melbourne, the state government deregulated the taxis when they legalised uber. Up til around 5 years ago a set of Melbourne taxi plates was around AUD$500K. Very few drivers owned a licence, most were employees. Taxis had a 7 year age limit, most were ex-fleet LPG Ford Falcons or Camry Hybrids, with some Holden Caprice limos for Silver Service work. Since most cabs had to run 24/7 to pay for the licence, most of them were worn out after a couple of years. The government bought back the licences for a fraction of their worth, and now lease them out for a nominal amount. The age limit was removed, but this has actually seemed to improve the standard of taxis on the road....
Does seem that the vehicle cost is the issue here doesn’t it. Maybe a halfway house is for the vehicles to be owned by TFL and leased back to drivers enabling them to be subsidised.
London cabbie was a part time job back in the days e.g. you are a firefighter or a post office worker as your career - you do that for the pension and the stability and jump into the cab to supplement your income. Now ofc things are 'better' i.e. worse than before - you hustle and bustle in the cab harder than ever but still with rising prices its like barely managing to stay afloat.
Tom, you’re 100% correct. There are also further costs to build in; time off, HMRC, plus the deposit for your next car! - it’s possibly a better deal to rent the car, as it’s never actually owned when on finance. Finally, Taxi fares are, in proportion, too low;
You are so right, I think most of these government or council members that come up with these stupid road schemes and extra expense really need to take a look at the bigger picture and how it effects the average man on the streets. Better still try doing the jobs for the same money of the people who's life they are trying to destroy . Keep up the fight Tom
Everything you said was correct. The final nail will be the cashless society. My advice to any young people who want to be Taxi driver is get a degree and get a proper job with holiday and sick pay and a pension. Making a good living cab driving is getting harder every year.
this cashless society thing is overhyped, why ?infrastructure. the fuse blows and the economy stops, with the technology we have right now you always need a back up. in years to come ? maybe. but if you want to hurt a country, you won't do what russia is doing right now. you get a couple of dozen tech bod's to take down its networks, country will be on its knees with nowhere to go.
Don’t agree with this. As much as it’s getting harder to get by as a cabbie unless you study to be some sort of software engineer (computing) even getting a degree and looking for a proper job as you call it isn’t as easy anymore
@@NFROMTHE10 what Toms talking about in this video is the Hackney driver in London ending up being tied to a rolling five year lease on a vehicle that you’ve still got to pay for wether you’re lying on a beach or lying in a hospital bed not matter what. The days of buying a £10k cab and getting out earning money part time are soon going to be over. The reason most people become taxi drivers is because they like the freedom it gives them to choose when and how long to work for. I’ve done it for thirty years and it’s given me a good living but I don’t want to be a slave to a finance company.
@@Br1anuk then any finance or investment in the highly developed West is off the table. It’s just getting more difficult to accumulate wealth. Considering moving to a heavily developing country like China where they still have that late 20th century lifestyle. Things are always getting better, whereas here everything is getting worse.
@@Br1anuk fair and good point mate. As much as the benefits aren’t what they once were, in the current climate the GB still holds its weight in gold in comparison to the get a degree and a normal job. Just my opinion but what you said is spot on
Tom , We got our badges on the same day and for some reason i still remember Mr Whitehead talking about the cyclist on the road and how you laughed at him for being one as well , with the pandemic hitting us cabbies really bad and the craziness of some of the councils shutting down roads made me think perhaps my job won't last for much longer so i better get qualified in another trade before i will be forced to, I'm currently doing Level 2 electrical installation and my aim get fully qualified by the end of next year , when i passed out i thought i would never be revising again how wrong i was , but if there's one thing the knowledge of London taught me is hard work pays off , i love being able to drive an iconic black cab in the best city of the world but i need to get the balance of family and work which is getting harder every day with things you mentioned in your video , i hope things change for us in the future and i won't be needing to say good by to a job that i love and i want to do for the rest of my life ❤
I started driving a cab in 1987 -My overheads was finished on Tuesday evening..When I finished driving a cab (3 years ago) ..I was working until Thursday evening to cover my overhead’s ..😳
Absolutely love the video’s I’m in London for the next few days. I’ll be sure to use black cabs rather than other transport! Keep doing what you’re doing mate!
Hey man, I’m a cab driver from North Norfolk, it’s an Interesting trade at the moment for sure, I came down to Heathrow t3 today👌 absolutely love watching your videos as one cab driver to another, you’re great, if you ever want to move to north Norfolk you’ll be a great treasure to my team🚕
Hey Tom. I'll share some experience from Chauffeuring as also plenty to mention to people who have never drove in London before but may plan to.. To give my overall assessment of the roads and as I have observed all during and since the first lockdown to the present day I'll give my opinion. The mayor continues to re-format the capital, making London a largely non-accessiblse (except cycles) city for normal motor traffic. It would appear that there are somewhat crafty measures in place to psychologically put you off driving to favour alternatives. Perhaps this is to recover a failing transport network? Various obstructions are now in place for the first time, like placing the bus stops to the middle of the road so that most cars will pile up, LTN's, permit only roads etc etc. This works hand-in-hand with new, much narrower roads to aid cyclists to create overall gridlock. As a result, this will seemingly completely transform travel time and will be in place as a means that motorists throw the towel in and give up. This is a Mayor who wanted to tear down all the trees as you drive west from Notting hill gate station and head towards the White city roundabout. ALL the trees were suggested to be ripped out in favour of a cycle lanes but rejected by a committee of 400 people. So the general intentions of this mayor and his his compatriots is to favour London as a Cycle city and of course to be as non-accessible as possible to drive in I would guess Tom that a big threat to the black cab trade must also be in the 'No-through-routes' signs im seeing more and more. Surely there must be plenty of clients/ street hail that you'd pick up on back roads that you now at risk of loosing? Ridiculous. Isn't the knowledge all in the back roads? Literally killing it. I do wonder for the sake of the trade and the knowledge that if such more and more back roads are to be illegal to 'rat run' now days.. Surely that takes away the knowledge... And infuriating for everyone, a world class iconic service, however a Government happy to threaten its very existence and no prize at the end or longevity for would-be students? Certainly by the looks of it, this city is now run in favour of the mayor and how he envisions London to look like. And everything i observe just feels like a game to make buses and cycling more favourable. Its the most drastic experience ive ever witnessed. But literally what's a trade without fresh talent? Think TFL. Think.
Thing is, congestion has gone DOWN in London, objectively speaking. Delays are down, less air pollution, cycling and public transport are cheaper for the consumer. Cars are space inefficient, and are just not the future. Cabs will always have a place, but if we want an efficient and clean city then cars are not the future.
@@apexjailor9349 people need to get on the knowledge otherwise there will be no game. I think the knowledge could be put into AR so realistic numbers can afford the study
yes you speak alot of sense tom. The cost of the new electric vehicle will push me out 6 days a week. i dont want that. I will evaluate the job when my diesel cab comes off the road in 2 years time. keep the vlogs coming. be lucky
Been driving a cab for 36 years the trade has always ran in 5/10 year cycles good and bad .. Seen the trade go through the 80s unlimited work, early Ninetys no work 15% interest rates. Return to the good times until the crash 2008 and then Uber and lockdown Slowly but surely the cab trade has developed into a more professional service the TXE every passenger loves it the Apps Freenow Gett Taxiapp and soon I hope Cabapp household names. It’s the expenses that has caused the most damage high cost of buying and renting, credit card machines passenger used to pay the handling fee the Airport was free £70 a week to rent a cab £15 fill you tank a days money Work levels must be good for the next decade to achieve results but can’t predict the future..
I have a school run currently which pays just under a grand a month. If I was to go back into taxi driving/private hire (I’ve had a hack) I would probably keep my school run. It would cover my vehicle expenses and insurance and take the heat off. However, I live in the North East which is no where near as hard to live than down there Tom mate. Move up here! 😂 Great way of life and a coastline to die for! Great channel, keep it up!
The obvious (temporary) solution is to buy one taxi between two drivers. You could both do 40 hours a week in it if you combine day and night shifts. But, from a customer's point of view, I just find black cabs too expensive to use now. They're fine if you work in financial services, the law or accountancy and earn a huge salary. But for ordinary earners they're just too expensive. So your market is shrinking. Given this and the Mayor's anti-car policies in London leads me to believe that the black cab trade is over bar the shouting. Good video, btw, enjoyed it.
London (and City taxis) should have some type of subsidy, partly because you are told what to buy, when to test, regulation etc.. That's always been my opinion, and other public transport is subsidised.
The blue book (knowledge) has been torn up, Tfl and Kahnage along with the council's have made this City harder to get around. Theres been a 90% drop in 10 years of people applying to do the knowledge. The Taxi costs for an electric only fleet is daft. This game is on a slow downhill demise. I blame Tfl SOLELY for all of this. They've given out licences like confetti to the PHV drivers. Theres no real regulation on them, no tests for driving, a highway code exam or even a basic small central London knowledge. Tfl allowed this to happen while chipping away at the real tradesmen/women, London Black Taxi Drivers!! This was warned about over a decade ago. They want our city run by amateurs, a Taxi service so piss poor they couldnt care less. If this trade is to survive theres only one thing we need to happen.... Stop Transport for London having any say in our trade. We need a seperate body NOT one who serves both US and the other PHV lot. Let them run the PHV and cut us loose to be run by an organisation who want us to survive into the next decades.
Proof that Tom could do any job , he's chosen to be a London taxi driver . But he has the intelligence , temperament to do any career of his choosing. Shame that your being put into a corner, rather than be rewarded , it seems as though your facing punitive measures for being top of your chosen profession. Ubers and private hires can buy a vehicle half the price or less . How can this be fair that there's only 1 vehicle to choose from . And that all the roads that you learnt , you cannot use . So your being punished , your customer is suffering also . But the people making this decisions are not , they are earning massive salaries and punishing the massive majority with their crazy road schemes .
Hi Tom, I got my bill in 1960,(good times), by 1974 I chucked it in ,why? we hadn't had a fare increase for yrs also I was working 60 plus hrs a week to keep up. So one day a butter boy asked me if I knew anyone with a cab for sale, on impulse I sold him my 18mth old FX4. When I got home my wife was a bit shocked but I went back to my old job albeit with a different company. 40 hrs a week ,company car, paid hols, sick pay, no overheads. My wife said why didn't you do this before. 11 yrs later I got made redundant, meanwhile the cab trade had a 25% fare increase, so I came back. So what I'm saying is things may turn around. Good luck I really hope they do. BTW in 1995 my last cab cost me £18000 which I thought was a fortune. Sold it in 2002 for £9000 when I retired.
So…not living in the UK myself, just trying to think outside the box for another idea on how you could have your cake and eat it too - would you consider garaging your cab in London (with charging capability) and commenting in each day via train? Would make the day longer but you wouldn’t consume any fuel (gas or charge) on the commute - totally unfamiliar with how much a rail pass costs etc - would you consider renting a cab where the rental company charges it and garages the cab overnight? I mean if you only want to use a vehicle while it’s under warranty and will never get a chance to pay it off then this might be the better model going forward A taxi driver commuting by rail to get to their cab might seem odd but it is what millions of ppl do every day who work in London and live outside it - change where you drive cab? London is going to be on the cutting edge of reducing emissions- maybe finding a house outside of London and checking out the taxi opportunities in that area go hand in hand. Outside of London you may still be able to drive your cab for 16 years and put off moving to an ev until after your vehicle is over 16 years old - I know there is a lot of pride in being a London cab driver but pride goes before an economic fall
The job was great before the recession, before Uber, and before all the road changes. Worked Monday to Thursday nights and earned well. Gave it up 5 years ago because the job is unfortunately dead, IMO
Life in this country is not as it once was, nor do I see it getting better any time soon. So yes, I agree with what you say and I share yr concerns. An interesting aspect on this city. Many thanks.
Interesting one this week Tom. You say at the end that you love/enjoy your job but the points you put across seem to point in a direction away from being a back cab driver. How much longevity do you really see in it?
Very hard to say Graeme, when I began studying The Knowledge, 7 years ago I told myself "oh Uber will take over" "driverless cars" etc. All I can say is that I'm very glad that I still went for it. I just want to highlight these issues because I don't want to be the frog in the pan of water that is gradually boiling.
Cabbie for over 10 years from what I've experienced we get shafted by pretty much by everyone. 1. lti/geeley. Overpriced and poorly constructed vehicles. 2. Councils both local and regional specifically wolverhampton.. 3.Government in bed with shady companies like uber. 4. Local garages/mechanics trying to fleece you. I'm giving up being a cabbie(TX4) next year and becoming a pco driver. I will just do a school run and work Friday Saturday evenings. Less hours and less overheads and pretty much same earnings.
Absolutely. A lot of electric cars are now capable of covering 250+ miles which is more than enough. I had one on a 4 day test drive a while ago and the car was excellent. However, we travelled to Lyme Regis which is a touristy area and there was only one rapid charge point for the whole town and it had been vandalised 🙄
Regarding housing, why not park the cab somewhere close to the city and commute home by other means? Or even share the cab with another driver who works while you have your leisure time?
Recently came across your channel and it is very interesting. Especially love your series where you show your day and routes that you've taken. Thanks. It would be sinister to say that its a secret. Is there a kind of background behind "the knowledge" like it being created by The worshipful company of Hackney carriage drivers from the city of London livery comlany/guild?
I haven’t driven cab for six years, the reasons you have identified about cabbing is the reason my am not renewing my badge, which runs out the end of this month.
I don't think I could do it. I do deliveries and we have the same thing of having a certain amount of earnings per week being required to even pay for the bikes, insurance, petrol, and then the rent of the flat, food, bills. You look at your earnings, say £60 for a shift, looks great, but then you have to mentally deduct all the stuff you've got to pay for, upcoming bike maintenance costs, put aside savings, etc etc Its just a bit demotivating at times to be honest, that you're out there working simply to pay for the privilege of having the tools to do the job. Luckily we are not as restricted in terms of what vehicles we can use, so you can make savings by just buying a preowned bike for instance, rather than financing. This is not even to mention parking tickets, penalty charges, and just constantly driving around and the mental attention required to do it every day. It does feel like everyone is out there to fleece the self employed person, and to take their cut.
park your car overnight in london and commute by train, parking buildings are vacant at night and share your cab with another driver so its on the road for longer periods, its not making any money whilst its parked up
I am an expat and when I come to London on vacation I don’t tend to use black cabs - and I like black cabs. Why - and I hear everything you say about tariff increases and expenses - they seem expensive. Perhaps part of it is psychological. On getting in the can I have no idea of the final cost - if I used say Uber I have a much better idea. Sitting in a cab, stuck in traffic watching the meter click up is a negative feeling. How many other things do you purchase not knowing the end price? Then of course these days with Oyster cards public transport often has a very small incremental cost during the day for a journey. Perhaps there needs to be a change in the whole theory of meters. Perhaps a flat fare within a zone. Perhaps a flat fare to the airport as exists in New York. And lastly, where taxis are at real risk is when they start adding themselves to Apps like Uber. Then black cabs become nothing more than a part timer in his Prius. Its not just making it better for the passenger, its coming up with a pricing scheme that means cabbies spend more time with passengers in the back and not empty looking for that next fare. You often talk about those quiet times. How about a discounted tariff then?
Hey nice and very informative as always. It's Chris from earlier comments. Changed the name to my streaming name. (No promoting or anything, just explaining mate.) Take Care.
Meter rates are an interesting factor. With cost of living going up you need to manage the meter rate in such a way that it makes it cheaper for customers to ride than dive which will increase your income. I have heard of some places actually dropping their meter rates to increase earrings. Certainly does mean you need to do more work but the idea from what I understand from it is it would generate more longer jobs thus more earning potential. I don’t think it would work but it is an interesting prospect if it does indeed work.
My advise Get rid of the cab Go & rent one & work 7 days a week for a year & then buy your house with a driveway in Essex or wherever you want to live Buying your house is more important than buying a cab . That’s pretty much what I did
Really eye opening stuff. I hope the cabbies and unions see these videos as a service to the trade. Looks bleak man.I genuinely don't believe this is a sustainable and profitable occupation anymore. Costs are all far too high and the pie has been divided up further with private companies or ride sharing apps. What once may have been a decent job feels like what's the point anymore?
Good video and well put. I wondered if you were going to mention the increase in people working from home brought on by the pandemic and whether the legacy if this is that more people will now carry on doing this indefinitely, staying in their home regions. Will central London ever return to its previous levels of footfall? I hope so, London and the whole country needs the energy of a busy capital city centre. Its where ideas and innovation happens that drives cities forward. The whole working from home situation draws some of its vitality.
Except, it doesn’t. The concept of congregating into offices is for dinosaurs. You now have a happier, more productive workforce; one which doesn’t waste time commuting and has better life balance. The workforce is also happy to rid itself of being shamelessly ripped off, be it using the necessary transport or getting a bite to eat - all ridiculously overpriced. Let’s not forget health. No longer is there the need to breathe in smog filled central London air; and no longer the need to lug a bag into that boring, dull office. This was always the direction of travel. The pandemic merely accelerated it. It’s only those who’ve lost out, such as landlords or service sectors, who wrongly claim it isn’t beneficial.
@@imconfused1237 I don’t the people put in the same effort because our council actually takes about 12 months for a badge renewal and this is staff working from home because their partners have them doing other chores
Very interesting Tom. I have a very well paid job in Glasgow but I'm currently studying the Glasgow Knowledge with a view to buying my own cab and being my own boss. I had my heart set on an LEVC cab but having really looked at the figures, it seems madness to spend so much on a pcp each month. I'm now researching a new TX4 LPG at £35k from a company in England. Don't you have the option to go down this route as they appear to meet the current and forthcoming LEZ regulations in Glasgow at least?
I'd recommend HGV driving, especially as you can now bypass Class 2 and jump straight onto Class 1. Move out of London and earn £40k - £60k PAYE, the only stress being that of the road, not worrying about what next week's paycheck will be 👍
Point 4 - Infrastructure for charging at home etc, if the property had a driveway, can the chargers not be bought / retrofitted to the property? Opening up more in terms of choice rather than requiring a property with a driveway AND charger etc? Also with the vehicles being hybrids, can you not choose to operate on petrol on the journey to and from London, if living outside of it? - Just trying to think of alternatives not mentioned...
Currently petrol generator is not a problem, but I'm sure in 5 years time the mayor will make it electric only. They can be fitted to a property, but it's having the driveway. Good luck finding one of those in London haha!
Youve got to think as to why you did the knowledge in the first place. Its a choice. You can probably earn better and work less on private hire omce yo u know how it works properly and have way fewer expenses (which means more tax lol). Taxi drivers gripe over Uber and i get it, expecially the ones who have been in the game the longest have felt the blow from their earlier days. Your relatively new to the trade, you could of got into private hire and been far better off and not spent years and money on the knowledge to do the same job. Uber is killing the game right now. We are living in a time where tech is taking over. That all being said, my question is why did you do the knowledge? As this video is a reality check for the current time. Do you even hit 2k a week for 5days 40hr week before expences? Nothing personal, good to see an honest vid.
Tom, I think 2-3 days to cover your expenses it's an exaggeration. I work 2 full days (Wednesday and Saturday) and 3 kinda half shifts, starting around 8ish pm. I can assure you I can make a good living out of it. Yeah, lots of tax at the end of the year; I already talked to my accountant 😀 BOYS AND GIRLS, if you're thinking about doing the knowledge or you're already in it, crack on. It's a beautiful hobby (I don't consider it a job, I was in hospitality industry before, that was hard) and you can have the perfect work-life balance. For the record I lease a TX. Also for the record Tom, I purchased my first property, a maisonette, when my wage was not even half what I earn now. It's just a matter of starting small, and build it up 👍🏼
I have to drive in London to deliver and install. This includes hospitals, police and government buildings. Your last point about road closures that with your views on Camden, the Mayor etc are news to my ears that I am not alone in thinking this. Who drives in London for fun? great video as always
You've pretty much covered most of the significant challenges facing the trade there, tom. At the moment the biggest issue for me is the fact that certain london boroughs are completely hostile to all forms of motor traffic. They don't discriminate between Taxis, Buses and private vehicles, that's the problem. The buses are having the bus lanes taken away to make space for cycle paths so they're all running on record delays and the taxis are having all the side roads and through-routes taken away. This means we're all being funnelled onto the same roads at the same times, causing absolute carnage in certain areas.
Hi Tom. Is there anything to get more kids on the knowledge that hasn't been thought up. Lovely cabs, beautiful city. But how do we get people studying without the sat nav conversation? Let alone narrow roads. I think many people drive in London these days with an approach like 'im never doing that again '. I really hope the trade lives on
i was in the trade for 25 years . the biggest problem for me was when my local council deregulated . the plate was no longer worth anything for a start . we went from 99 drivers to now nearly 350 . we earned plenty before the change . also private hire has gone huge . the likes of uber has destroyed us .
Hi Tom. Very interesting. When I go to London (I am a commuter and work there sometimes as a contractor) I have the impression that taxis are rather expensive (based on word of mouth) certainly compared to the tube, disproportionately. Is this true? Could you tell me what the average fare would be, for example, from Piccadilly Circus to King's Cross. Great videos by the way. Many thanks.
Ok £13 is perhaps less than I might have thought, certainly for 'London prices'. I guess living in Hampshire I am an outsider and so maybe word of mouth is a thing when thinking about coming into London for a couple of days
I worked Manchester for 12 years and had to give up when I worked out I was working a minimum of 55 hours a week (many unsociable) just to make 300 profit, it was also affecting my health, I applaud anyone who can do this job and keep smiling, sadly councils don’t make life easy at all for the black cab trade especially in the north, when because of financial gain they throw out private hire licenses to every Tom, Dick and ALI ☹️☹️
Have to agree that it’s only the older generation of cabbies that say oh it’s a good income and easy money theses days the money just isn’t there like you say my neighbour and his mrs n kids all black cab drivers he goes out on a Saturday evening and that’s him done for the week but he’s 60 something he’s made his money they have the house and the cars etc he said he advised the kids against it but they still chose to try but even as a lonely motorcycle courier in london not one of the Uber scooter warriors a proper bike courier gotta agree it’s harder now than ever to get across london
Having to replace the main battery on an electric vehicle is equivalent to having to replace the motor on a petrol-powered ICE vehicle. I both are quite expensive. And neither should be a common repair. Hopefully with advances in battery technology, combined with batteries being more mass produced, prices will drop…making replacing batteries a bit more affordable.
I'll give you a number 6...CROSSRAIL A lot of drivers can't seem to see what A big effect this will have,just look at the journey times, we cannot get near them.
Some people use cabs as offices, going underground without a phone network limits that. There’s plenty of journeys I can think of that would be quicker on tube, some people just like taking a cab, or the company is paying
When I was doing sparky work I heared all new house builds they be fitted with a EV Charger, I dunno price Plus they want everyone go electric but they haven't got enough chargers for everyone
I got my badge in 2016 but soon realised the job was not viable. £500 a week expenses before you earn anything for yourself. Driving a cab made me appreciate my old trade as a bricklayer. 8 till 4, good money and no ridiculous overheads. I still feel proud too have completed the knowledge but in hindsight it wasn't worth it
🤔 Keep renewing the license , you never know what’s round the corner . Remember you worked hard for that badge !!
Keep the badge. I work like hell to make ends meet. Now with even more rises in food, diesel, house bills and the rest its going to be a hard year. But, im happy to be a cabby, im a Londoner, born, bred and proud to be in this age old trade.
i feel you brother - whilst it is a sick job it's not worth the ridiculous hours you have to work.
Edit: And yeah, defo keep the badge... Reminds me I have to renew mine soon!
Well done you for doing the knowledge
See I did plastering for years. Absolutely hate it. I’ll never pick up my trowel again. I’m currently on the knowledge. Defo gonna complete it. Just a bit worried about comments stuff. That I read. Just thinking is it really worth it sometimes. I kind of thought I could make £1000 profit a week. Without killing myself. Do you think that’s possible
The vehicle cost is outrageous. It would put me off instantly!
They have a monopoly and the vehicle is priced accordingly!
Britain's obsession with Green politics 🙄
Really interesting Tom. It’s a sad situation for the cab trade, but life evolves and things change whether we want then to or not. I think with your knowledge of London, and now with your online presence you would be able to find fairly lucrative work, possibly on the tourism side of things.
Been waiting all week for the newest video. Love to see how your content is just getting better and better.
Thank you 😊
Hi Tom
As highlighted by your film Tom, I moved out from London 3 years ago to Bedfordshire.
Best move i ever made.
Stick the TXE on auto pilot on the A1 and cruise home.
Amazing how many cabbies live out in the sticks.
Great content keep it up.
There are people who complain for no reason, they are simply used to complaining. And there are people who point out dangerous problems and wrong direction of society as a whole. People who give real arguments for positive change. And this is such a message. Thanks Tom.
You nailed it Tom 100% it's a lifestyle not a job, the finance ropes us in for the foreseeable between a rock & a hard place, the councils up and down the country are making cities more awkward to navigate, Edinburgh is like the cripton factor to get about these days councillor's drunk on power, road closures everywhere , road works, bollards, cycle lanes, thousands of extra private hire cars thought the council wanted less cars on the roads, with green washing taxes and added costs the game is finished
I got the levc 2 years ago just before the covids, had to defer payments for most of a year but with now soaring fuel and electric costs should have just kept my diesel euro6 tx4 it would have been paid off by now The charging infrastructure in Edinburgh is the pits a box ticking exercise rapid chargers are like gold dust
Can't see retirement until 70 mind you can't see a holiday in the next few years, working 70 hour week's just to keep the wheels turning, pressure pressure every day, the governments and councils don't have a clue the costs and implications of their actions in the name of local climate change and rising green taxes in the UK whereby its a global issue without unity it will have no impact
I also feel electric cars are a stepping stone to hydrogen or another fuel mix option
Be lucky
I'm not a cabbie and don't live particularly near London, but I stumbled across your channel by accident. It's great. Clear explanations, honest, to the point and very cleverly filmed. You are totally right about the future of electric as well. It's a nightmare potentially. Sounds as if you have to do a lot of hours to try and get extra cash. Also, doing the youtube channel should help as well. It's an excellent channel.
Thanks Tom really good vid!!! I am a cabbie in North Somerset and I basically have to earn around £65-70 a day before I start to take anything!!!
Couple of days last week worked 10 hours took £90! take off the £65 I need to pay out leaves me £25. 10 hours amounts to £2.50 an hour and the amount of people that get in my car and believe that I’m on £1000 a week take home is truly staggering.
We have all come to the conclusion that one of the officials in are licensing department has had some unfortunate dealings with a cabbie in the past!!!
We just had a fare increase THE FIRST FOR NINE YEARS!! Took away a 6-12 pm tariff, so you are getting the same rate right up until 12 o’clock at night so basically your having four pissheads in the cab at the same price as Mrs jones doing her weekly shopping.
When I first started we had 12 ranks in the town now we are down to 3 and there even as we speak making them smaller!!!
We have no taxi ranks on the seafront, name me one other large seaside town that doesn’t have a rank on seafront?
All bus lanes in and around our town are buses only!!! And as you’ve said like your trading areas street after street has been closed, the Times I get “where you’ve been!” And having to explain it takes me so much longer just to get to you!!!
But for me as I’ve said before it’s this f”&king cheat sheet that has gone around. We have drivers now who couldn’t tell you time if you asked but know where all hotels and restaurants in are town🤔
I got a cab myself couple of years ago off the rank in my town “Hutton moor leisure centre, please.” His reply
“Have you got a postcode!!!” WTF
That’s like me getting in your cab and saying to you Buckingham palace and you asking me for directions!!!🤷
Clacton doesn't. Walton doesn't. Can think of a few tbh
you better of going private hire.. never been any money in wsm..
@@ryanessex7978 isn’t there one on pier avenue? For 3 cabs 7am-7pm opposite the pier?
Interesting and honest appraisal of the current state of things. I've just finished learning the 320 Bluebook Runs, which took me around 6 months to do. My plan was to move a bit closer to London and start pointing fairly soon, but I'm now having serious doubts. Apart from anything else, I really don't see how driving a black cab will be viable once they go all electric, given the current - and likely future - state of battery technology. As you quite rightly point out, living in the capital isn't possible on a cabby's earnings, but if you live too far out, much of your battery charge will be used up getting in to and out of London for work. That will then mean significant lapses of time spent recharging the battery when you could be out earning ; how many times a day is that going to be necessary, say on a 10 to 12 hour shift ? Add to that the huge costs of these electric cabs, and it all starts to look rather ominous for the trade going forward.
There are 500 rapid charging points across London now, you can get 80% charge in around 30 mins on them. Charge it whilst having lunch or a break. You've come so far with runs mate, keep going👊🏻
Love the progress bar fill-ups for each segment.
It must be so frustrating, you’ve invested so much time and money and thinking what’s the point? Also, there’s the locked in part of it. 🤯🤯🤯 I hope things sort themselves out for you and other cabbies soon because once their gone they are gone :/ Take it easy, Tom lad 🙏🏻❤️
I would love to see how the costs of the traditional taxi driver (with little choice but to buy and run expensive vehicles) compare to an Uber driver(without as large overheads) I think a great video for you to make would be to team up with an Uber driver (Tom the Uber) and do a split screen of your shifts maybe over the course of a week and then totals at the end of the day. As an ex traditional cabbie I was very sceptical of Uber, so I tried them out a few times when in London, black cab to my destination, Uber return. Prices were not dissimilar and neither was the service. I flagged down the black cab and used the app for Uber (no waiting at all) so is the fact that traditional cabbies are in the systems the reason they don’t go to Uber or is there not the work from the Uber app because obviously the cost of running an Uber is far less and the job is pretty much the same. You pick people up and you drop people off!
I think most of us who do not know the facts behind the job and like myself have listened to the cabbie folklore i.e With a cab & the knowledge under your belt it is a licence to print money understand the very real pitfalls involved in the true side of your job now.
Hi Tom,
Love your vids.
I've got family that are in the game and its never been busier, so earning potential is good. On the battery issue time will tell and thats one case. The testing was carried out over 9,000 charges (about 400k miles), after which performnce dropped to an average of 75% at that point. If you apply the logic that no one will keep them outside of warranty, then its unlikely there would be much demand for used resale after the 5 years, as buyers will have the same notion. If most of the vehicles last as per the testing, then you should get approx 12-14 yrs out of one average of 30k miles per year, which is far cheaper than renting (core expenses included). The option of part x after 5 years is sensible and will reduce the overheads next time:) Biggest issue is road closures and lack of new drivers coming through (which will diminish the service in the publics eyes). Be Lucky👍🏻
I’ve been doing it for 14 years now Tom.. Couldn’t of put it better mate.. People in high places are not listening though.
They don’t care do they. As long as they and their crazy rich mates are lining their pockets then they aren’t bothered about regular working folk..
Couldn't *have* put it better.
I’ve done 19 years and this will be my last as I’m moving away , and personally I will not miss it the exes are just to big
19 years in the job Tom , and you are bang on in your summary. My TX4 will be taken out of service in 2024. I paid it off in 4 years. Its been reliable and given me so much flexibility in the days and hours I work. But I will have to look for another job for the future ,as the new costs are frightening
Very interesting Tom. I always thought the Black cab drivers was earning a fortune.
Interesting to see how you’ve avoided the fact about competition from the private hire trade, they’ve had a significant affect on the cab industry 🤔
Yes. Apparently they have been limited by the courts, though, at least, from my understanding.
I've been a licensed London taxi driver for over 47 years now and the running costs of this business have gone completely out of kilter with the earning capacity putting aside what the pandemic did to out trade. I've had the best years of this job and I no longer have to "chase the £" like I used to. The days of doing those 65 plus hours a week have gone although I still work and rent a cab now, this happened when my "Fairway Driver" FX4 cab came off the road in mid 2013 after being an owner driver all those years. My heart goes out to fellow cab drivers who have mortgages, family commitments etc, etc, heaven knows how many hours most of my younger peers have to do to cover all these much higher relative expenses than in my day. All this let alone the rental of an older taxi from a fleet plus your diesel or a new TXE at approx £350 per week plus of course the electric charges and petrol that go with it. If you're purchasing the new £62K TXE taxi you have the interest plus the all the other running costs on top as you mentioned Tom.... the mind simply boggles. One should be able to work to live not live to work, it's the wrong work life balance.
Official figures now show we are at the lowest number of people licensed as taxi drivers in London and the lowest number of taxicabs licensed, also we have the lowest amount of students on The KOL. When one considers after working all those hours then taking into account one's business expenses and you end up coming home with either average or slightly under average income as a self employed person with no paid holidays or sickness benefits it's hardly surprising the situation the trade finds itself in. Also as an aside only 10% or less ever pass "The Knowledge" at any given time.... nobody fails it they just give up as they had no idea what they had let themselves in for, and of course you don't get paid whilst on the KOL either it's off your own back. Hopefully things will get better in the not too distant future but I do question mark that.... be lucky.
A few years ago I looked at the trade then decided to go the driving instructor route instead.
My hourly rate is between 39 to 44 per hour and my running costs are 20% I also only work days between 9 and 5
How many one hour lessons are you taking a-day? A friend of mine has been doing it for years and struggles to to fit in 7 paid hrs in a 11 hr day.
@@DougieMontana I’m a driving instructor myself and finding the perfect balance is always changing. A good day I will maybe do 6hrs of work. It can be mentally taxing depending who you have on those days. Recently I’ve been doing a lot of 1hr lessons. Granted you don’t take as much of you were doing doubles but the day runs smoother.
@@DougieMontana You can do intensive courses. You'd be working normal hours, not doing 11 hour shifts.
Insane. Here in Melbourne, the state government deregulated the taxis when they legalised uber. Up til around 5 years ago a set of Melbourne taxi plates was around AUD$500K. Very few drivers owned a licence, most were employees. Taxis had a 7 year age limit, most were ex-fleet LPG Ford Falcons or Camry Hybrids, with some Holden Caprice limos for Silver Service work. Since most cabs had to run 24/7 to pay for the licence, most of them were worn out after a couple of years. The government bought back the licences for a fraction of their worth, and now lease them out for a nominal amount. The age limit was removed, but this has actually seemed to improve the standard of taxis on the road....
I wonder if in the future Black Cabs could be run by TFL and operated like the buses are, with drivers working for a Company and getting a wage.
Why not? It makes more sense. Just seems that self employment only exists so everyone else can fleece the self employed person for every little thing
Does seem that the vehicle cost is the issue here doesn’t it. Maybe a halfway house is for the vehicles to be owned by TFL and leased back to drivers enabling them to be subsidised.
Really appreciate your honesty and unbiased opinion nicely laid out video.
The Taxis are the best thing in London,so iconic as in NYC the Yellow taxis.
Interesting video Tom! :D
London cabbie was a part time job back in the days e.g. you are a firefighter or a post office worker as your career - you do that for the pension and the stability and jump into the cab to supplement your income. Now ofc things are 'better' i.e. worse than before - you hustle and bustle in the cab harder than ever but still with rising prices its like barely managing to stay afloat.
what you've said is something I always do when I use a black cab I round the fare up so for example if it's £15 i just round it to £30 & so on
Tom, you’re 100% correct. There are also further costs to build in; time off, HMRC, plus the deposit for your next car! - it’s possibly a better deal to rent the car, as it’s never actually owned when on finance. Finally, Taxi fares are, in proportion, too low;
You are so right, I think most of these government or council members that come up with these stupid road schemes and extra expense really need to take a look at the bigger picture and how it effects the average man on the streets. Better still try doing the jobs for the same money of the people who's life they are trying to destroy . Keep up the fight Tom
Great video, love the way the bar moves along for each subject
Everything you said was correct. The final nail will be the cashless society. My advice to any young people who want to be Taxi driver is get a degree and get a proper job with holiday and sick pay and a pension. Making a good living cab driving is getting harder every year.
this cashless society thing is overhyped, why ?infrastructure. the fuse blows and the economy stops, with the technology we have right now you always need a back up. in years to come ? maybe. but if you want to hurt a country, you won't do what russia is doing right now. you get a couple of dozen tech bod's to take down its networks, country will be on its knees with nowhere to go.
Don’t agree with this. As much as it’s getting harder to get by as a cabbie unless you study to be some sort of software engineer (computing) even getting a degree and looking for a proper job as you call it isn’t as easy anymore
@@NFROMTHE10 what Toms talking about in this video is the Hackney driver in London ending up being tied to a rolling five year lease on a vehicle that you’ve still got to pay for wether you’re lying on a beach or lying in a hospital bed not matter what. The days of buying a £10k cab and getting out earning money part time are soon going to be over. The reason most people become taxi drivers is because they like the freedom it gives them to choose when and how long to work for. I’ve done it for thirty years and it’s given me a good living but I don’t want to be a slave to a finance company.
@@Br1anuk then any finance or investment in the highly developed West is off the table.
It’s just getting more difficult to accumulate wealth. Considering moving to a heavily developing country like China where they still have that late 20th century lifestyle. Things are always getting better, whereas here everything is getting worse.
@@Br1anuk fair and good point mate. As much as the benefits aren’t what they once were, in the current climate the GB still holds its weight in gold in comparison to the get a degree and a normal job. Just my opinion but what you said is spot on
Tom ,
We got our badges on the same day and for some reason i still remember Mr Whitehead talking about the cyclist on the road and how you laughed at him for being one as well , with the pandemic hitting us cabbies really bad and the craziness of some of the councils shutting down roads made me think perhaps my job won't last for much longer so i better get qualified in another trade before i will be forced to, I'm currently doing Level 2 electrical installation and my aim get fully qualified by the end of next year , when i passed out i thought i would never be revising again how wrong i was , but if there's one thing the knowledge of London taught me is hard work pays off , i love being able to drive an iconic black cab in the best city of the world but i need to get the balance of family and work which is getting harder every day with things you mentioned in your video , i hope things change for us in the future and i won't be needing to say good by to a job that i love and i want to do for the rest of my life ❤
You could become a technician to fix these cabs then
I started driving a cab in 1987 -My overheads was finished on Tuesday evening..When I finished driving a cab (3 years ago) ..I was working until Thursday evening to cover my overhead’s ..😳
Absolutely love the video’s I’m in London for the next few days. I’ll be sure to use black cabs rather than other transport! Keep doing what you’re doing mate!
Hey man, I’m a cab driver from North Norfolk, it’s an Interesting trade at the moment for sure, I came down to Heathrow t3 today👌 absolutely love watching your videos as one cab driver to another, you’re great, if you ever want to move to north Norfolk you’ll be a great treasure to my team🚕
Thanks for watching Samuel!
Hey Tom.
I'll share some experience from Chauffeuring as also plenty to mention to people who have never drove in London before but may plan to..
To give my overall assessment of the roads and as I have observed all during and since the first lockdown to the present day I'll give my opinion.
The mayor continues to re-format the capital, making London a largely non-accessiblse (except cycles) city for normal motor traffic.
It would appear that there are somewhat crafty measures in place to psychologically put you off driving to favour alternatives.
Perhaps this is to recover a failing transport network?
Various obstructions are now in place for the first time, like placing the bus stops to the middle of the road so that most cars will pile up, LTN's, permit only roads etc etc.
This works hand-in-hand with new, much narrower roads to aid cyclists to create overall gridlock.
As a result, this will seemingly completely transform travel time and will be in place as a means that motorists throw the towel in and give up.
This is a Mayor who wanted to tear down all the trees as you drive west from Notting hill gate station and head towards the White city roundabout.
ALL the trees were suggested to be ripped out in favour of a cycle lanes but rejected by a committee of 400 people.
So the general intentions of this mayor and his his compatriots is to favour London as a Cycle city and of course to be as non-accessible as possible to drive in
I would guess Tom that a big threat to the black cab trade must also be in the 'No-through-routes' signs im seeing more and more. Surely there must be plenty of clients/ street hail that you'd pick up on back roads that you now at risk of loosing? Ridiculous. Isn't the knowledge all in the back roads? Literally killing it.
I do wonder for the sake of the trade and the knowledge that if such more and more back roads are to be illegal to 'rat run' now days.. Surely that takes away the knowledge... And infuriating for everyone, a world class iconic service, however a Government happy to threaten its very existence and no prize at the end or longevity for would-be students?
Certainly by the looks of it, this city is now run in favour of the mayor and how he envisions London to look like. And everything i observe just feels like a game to make buses and cycling more favourable.
Its the most drastic experience ive ever witnessed.
But literally what's a trade without fresh talent?
Think TFL. Think.
Thing is, congestion has gone DOWN in London, objectively speaking. Delays are down, less air pollution, cycling and public transport are cheaper for the consumer. Cars are space inefficient, and are just not the future. Cabs will always have a place, but if we want an efficient and clean city then cars are not the future.
@@apexjailor9349 people need to get on the knowledge otherwise there will be no game. I think the knowledge could be put into AR so realistic numbers can afford the study
yes you speak alot of sense tom. The cost of the new electric vehicle will push me out 6 days a week. i dont want that. I will evaluate the job when my diesel cab comes off the road in 2 years time. keep the vlogs coming. be lucky
Been driving a cab for 36 years the trade has always ran in 5/10 year cycles good and bad .. Seen the trade go through the 80s unlimited work, early Ninetys no work 15% interest rates. Return to the good times until the crash 2008 and then Uber and lockdown Slowly but surely the cab trade has developed into a more professional service the TXE every passenger loves it the Apps Freenow Gett Taxiapp and soon I hope Cabapp household names.
It’s the expenses that has caused the most damage high cost of buying and renting, credit card machines passenger used to pay the handling fee the Airport was free £70 a week to rent a cab £15 fill you tank a days money
Work levels must be good for the next decade to achieve results but can’t predict the future..
I have a school run currently which pays just under a grand a month. If I was to go back into taxi driving/private hire (I’ve had a hack) I would probably keep my school run. It would cover my vehicle expenses and insurance and take the heat off. However, I live in the North East which is no where near as hard to live than down there Tom mate. Move up here! 😂 Great way of life and a coastline to die for! Great channel, keep it up!
The obvious (temporary) solution is to buy one taxi between two drivers. You could both do 40 hours a week in it if you combine day and night shifts. But, from a customer's point of view, I just find black cabs too expensive to use now. They're fine if you work in financial services, the law or accountancy and earn a huge salary. But for ordinary earners they're just too expensive. So your market is shrinking. Given this and the Mayor's anti-car policies in London leads me to believe that the black cab trade is over bar the shouting. Good video, btw, enjoyed it.
This has to be one of the most fascinating channels on RUclips.
London (and City taxis) should have some type of subsidy, partly because you are told what to buy, when to test, regulation etc..
That's always been my opinion, and other public transport is subsidised.
@@Storm.Z.4u Untrue. The PH industry is full of thieves, vagabonds and rapists, and a greater number of dangerous vehicles. *Don't deny reality*
The blue book (knowledge) has been torn up, Tfl and Kahnage along with the council's have made this City harder to get around. Theres been a 90% drop in 10 years of people applying to do the knowledge. The Taxi costs for an electric only fleet is daft. This game is on a slow downhill demise. I blame Tfl SOLELY for all of this. They've given out licences like confetti to the PHV drivers. Theres no real regulation on them, no tests for driving, a highway code exam or even a basic small central London knowledge. Tfl allowed this to happen while chipping away at the real tradesmen/women, London Black Taxi Drivers!!
This was warned about over a decade ago. They want our city run by amateurs, a Taxi service so piss poor they couldnt care less. If this trade is to survive theres only one thing we need to happen.... Stop Transport for London having any say in our trade. We need a seperate body NOT one who serves both US and the other PHV lot. Let them run the PHV and cut us loose to be run by an organisation who want us to survive into the next decades.
That's because PHV are overwhelmingly driven by third world immigrants. It fits Khan's agenda
Proof that Tom could do any job , he's chosen to be a London taxi driver .
But he has the intelligence , temperament to do any career of his choosing.
Shame that your being put into a corner, rather than be rewarded , it seems as though your facing punitive measures for being top of your chosen profession.
Ubers and private hires can buy a vehicle half the price or less .
How can this be fair that there's only 1 vehicle to choose from .
And that all the roads that you learnt , you cannot use .
So your being punished , your customer is suffering also .
But the people making this decisions are not , they are earning massive salaries and punishing the massive majority with their crazy road schemes .
Hi Tom, I got my bill in 1960,(good times), by 1974 I chucked it in ,why? we hadn't had a fare increase for yrs also I was working 60 plus hrs a week to keep up. So one day a butter boy asked me if I knew anyone with a cab for sale, on impulse I sold him my 18mth old FX4. When I got home my wife was a bit shocked but I went back to my old job albeit with a different company. 40 hrs a week ,company car, paid hols, sick pay, no overheads. My wife said why didn't you do this before. 11 yrs later I got made redundant, meanwhile the cab trade had a 25% fare increase, so I came back. So what I'm saying is things may turn around. Good luck I really hope they do. BTW in 1995 my last cab cost me £18000 which I thought was a fortune. Sold it in 2002 for £9000 when I retired.
Very fascinating insight this week, with current events in the world and UK, really interesting to see.
So…not living in the UK myself, just trying to think outside the box for another idea on how you could have your cake and eat it too
- would you consider garaging your cab in London (with charging capability) and commenting in each day via train? Would make the day longer but you wouldn’t consume any fuel (gas or charge) on the commute - totally unfamiliar with how much a rail pass costs etc
- would you consider renting a cab where the rental company charges it and garages the cab overnight? I mean if you only want to use a vehicle while it’s under warranty and will never get a chance to pay it off then this might be the better model going forward
A taxi driver commuting by rail to get to their cab might seem odd but it is what millions of ppl do every day who work in London and live outside it
- change where you drive cab? London is going to be on the cutting edge of reducing emissions- maybe finding a house outside of London and checking out the taxi opportunities in that area go hand in hand. Outside of London you may still be able to drive your cab for 16 years and put off moving to an ev until after your vehicle is over 16 years old - I know there is a lot of pride in being a London cab driver but pride goes before an economic fall
All I can say is 🤞for the future Tom. Good luck fella!
Thanks, this is why I do the channel, to get this message out there 😊
The job was great before the recession, before Uber, and before all the road changes. Worked Monday to Thursday nights and earned well. Gave it up 5 years ago because the job is unfortunately dead, IMO
Life in this country is not as it once was, nor do I see it getting better any time soon. So yes, I agree with what you say and I share yr concerns. An interesting aspect on this city. Many thanks.
Interesting one this week Tom. You say at the end that you love/enjoy your job but the points you put across seem to point in a direction away from being a back cab driver. How much longevity do you really see in it?
Very hard to say Graeme, when I began studying The Knowledge, 7 years ago I told myself "oh Uber will take over" "driverless cars" etc. All I can say is that I'm very glad that I still went for it.
I just want to highlight these issues because I don't want to be the frog in the pan of water that is gradually boiling.
@@TomtheTaxiDriver good analogy you are very intelligent for a young man
Cabbie for over 10 years from what I've experienced we get shafted by pretty much by everyone.
1. lti/geeley. Overpriced and poorly constructed vehicles.
2. Councils both local and regional specifically wolverhampton..
3.Government in bed with shady companies like uber.
4. Local garages/mechanics trying to fleece you.
I'm giving up being a cabbie(TX4) next year and becoming a pco driver. I will just do a school run and work Friday Saturday evenings. Less hours and less overheads and pretty much same earnings.
Great video Tom very accurate breakdown you have given 👍
The infrastructure for electric car charging is absolutely miles off the pace of electric car adoption already.
Absolutely. A lot of electric cars are now capable of covering 250+ miles which is more than enough. I had one on a 4 day test drive a while ago and the car was excellent. However, we travelled to Lyme Regis which is a touristy area and there was only one rapid charge point for the whole town and it had been vandalised 🙄
Regarding housing, why not park the cab somewhere close to the city and commute home by other means? Or even share the cab with another driver who works while you have your leisure time?
Really interesting perspective on the taxi trade. Five excellent points.
Recently came across your channel and it is very interesting. Especially love your series where you show your day and routes that you've taken.
Thanks.
It would be sinister to say that its a secret. Is there a kind of background behind "the knowledge" like it being created by The worshipful company of Hackney carriage drivers from the city of London livery comlany/guild?
This video needs to be forwarded to TFL and the local London Councils . 👍🏿
Great video Tom is it still worth doing the knowledge? Even the cost of that is very high with no help from student loans etc..
It’s far cheaper than going to uni. Guaranteed job for life.
I haven’t driven cab for six years, the reasons you have identified about cabbing is the reason my am not renewing my badge, which runs out the end of this month.
I don't think I could do it. I do deliveries and we have the same thing of having a certain amount of earnings per week being required to even pay for the bikes, insurance, petrol, and then the rent of the flat, food, bills. You look at your earnings, say £60 for a shift, looks great, but then you have to mentally deduct all the stuff you've got to pay for, upcoming bike maintenance costs, put aside savings, etc etc Its just a bit demotivating at times to be honest, that you're out there working simply to pay for the privilege of having the tools to do the job. Luckily we are not as restricted in terms of what vehicles we can use, so you can make savings by just buying a preowned bike for instance, rather than financing. This is not even to mention parking tickets, penalty charges, and just constantly driving around and the mental attention required to do it every day. It does feel like everyone is out there to fleece the self employed person, and to take their cut.
park your car overnight in london and commute by train, parking buildings are vacant at night and share your cab with another driver so its on the road for longer periods, its not making any money whilst its parked up
Hi Tom well explained 👍 I rent a Euro 6 TX and will do so until its 15 years old and make my mind up then if I'll buy a cab.
I am an expat and when I come to London on vacation I don’t tend to use black cabs - and I like black cabs. Why - and I hear everything you say about tariff increases and expenses - they seem expensive. Perhaps part of it is psychological. On getting in the can I have no idea of the final cost - if I used say Uber I have a much better idea. Sitting in a cab, stuck in traffic watching the meter click up is a negative feeling. How many other things do you purchase not knowing the end price? Then of course these days with Oyster cards public transport often has a very small incremental cost during the day for a journey. Perhaps there needs to be a change in the whole theory of meters. Perhaps a flat fare within a zone. Perhaps a flat fare to the airport as exists in New York. And lastly, where taxis are at real risk is when they start adding themselves to Apps like Uber. Then black cabs become nothing more than a part timer in his Prius. Its not just making it better for the passenger, its coming up with a pricing scheme that means cabbies spend more time with passengers in the back and not empty looking for that next fare. You often talk about those quiet times. How about a discounted tariff then?
Hey nice and very informative as always. It's Chris from earlier comments. Changed the name to my streaming name. (No promoting or anything, just explaining mate.) Take Care.
Meter rates are an interesting factor. With cost of living going up you need to manage the meter rate in such a way that it makes it cheaper for customers to ride than dive which will increase your income. I have heard of some places actually dropping their meter rates to increase earrings. Certainly does mean you need to do more work but the idea from what I understand from it is it would generate more longer jobs thus more earning potential. I don’t think it would work but it is an interesting prospect if it does indeed work.
Longer jobs to not generate more money its better to get multiple short jobs
Thats why people use uber, upfront pricing :)
@@ProlificPlayer they also do not like to pay cash and there is not enough awareness of cabs taking card payments
I drove a London Cab in the 90s even then the vehicle cost too much 🧐
My advise
Get rid of the cab
Go & rent one
& work 7 days a week for a year
& then buy your house with a driveway in Essex or wherever you want to live
Buying your house is more important than buying a cab .
That’s pretty much what I did
Fantastic video this is sort of thing I was looking for
Really eye opening stuff. I hope the cabbies and unions see these videos as a service to the trade. Looks bleak man.I genuinely don't believe this is a sustainable and profitable occupation anymore. Costs are all far too high and the pie has been divided up further with private companies or ride sharing apps. What once may have been a decent job feels like what's the point anymore?
Good video and well put. I wondered if you were going to mention the increase in people working from home brought on by the pandemic and whether the legacy if this is that more people will now carry on doing this indefinitely, staying in their home regions. Will central London ever return to its previous levels of footfall? I hope so, London and the whole country needs the energy of a busy capital city centre. Its where ideas and innovation happens that drives cities forward. The whole working from home situation draws some of its vitality.
Except, it doesn’t.
The concept of congregating into offices is for dinosaurs. You now have a happier, more productive workforce; one which doesn’t waste time commuting and has better life balance.
The workforce is also happy to rid itself of being shamelessly ripped off, be it using the necessary transport or getting a bite to eat - all ridiculously overpriced.
Let’s not forget health. No longer is there the need to breathe in smog filled central London air; and no longer the need to lug a bag into that boring, dull office.
This was always the direction of travel. The pandemic merely accelerated it. It’s only those who’ve lost out, such as landlords or service sectors, who wrongly claim it isn’t beneficial.
@@imconfused1237 I don’t the people put in the same effort because our council actually takes about 12 months for a badge renewal and this is staff working from home because their partners have them doing other chores
Very interesting Tom. I have a very well paid job in Glasgow but I'm currently studying the Glasgow Knowledge with a view to buying my own cab and being my own boss. I had my heart set on an LEVC cab but having really looked at the figures, it seems madness to spend so much on a pcp each month. I'm now researching a new TX4 LPG at £35k from a company in England. Don't you have the option to go down this route as they appear to meet the current and forthcoming LEZ regulations in Glasgow at least?
You have totally put me off ''I'm better of begging on the streets and I will earn more ' goog luck in the future .mate
I got out in 2011 and also realised pushing cab was not financially viable and went back to lorry driving as paid more with no overheads
Easy. Buy another car and a flatbed trailer, then you just tow the cab back and forth.
I'd recommend HGV driving, especially as you can now bypass Class 2 and jump straight onto Class 1. Move out of London and earn £40k - £60k PAYE, the only stress being that of the road, not worrying about what next week's paycheck will be 👍
Market has been flooded with new drivers.
Point 4 - Infrastructure for charging at home etc, if the property had a driveway, can the chargers not be bought / retrofitted to the property? Opening up more in terms of choice rather than requiring a property with a driveway AND charger etc? Also with the vehicles being hybrids, can you not choose to operate on petrol on the journey to and from London, if living outside of it? - Just trying to think of alternatives not mentioned...
Currently petrol generator is not a problem, but I'm sure in 5 years time the mayor will make it electric only.
They can be fitted to a property, but it's having the driveway. Good luck finding one of those in London haha!
Youve got to think as to why you did the knowledge in the first place. Its a choice. You can probably earn better and work less on private hire omce yo u know how it works properly and have way fewer expenses (which means more tax lol). Taxi drivers gripe over Uber and i get it, expecially the ones who have been in the game the longest have felt the blow from their earlier days. Your relatively new to the trade, you could of got into private hire and been far better off and not spent years and money on the knowledge to do the same job. Uber is killing the game right now. We are living in a time where tech is taking over. That all being said, my question is why did you do the knowledge? As this video is a reality check for the current time. Do you even hit 2k a week for 5days 40hr week before expences? Nothing personal, good to see an honest vid.
Tom, I think 2-3 days to cover your expenses it's an exaggeration.
I work 2 full days (Wednesday and Saturday) and 3 kinda half shifts, starting around 8ish pm.
I can assure you I can make a good living out of it.
Yeah, lots of tax at the end of the year; I already talked to my accountant 😀
BOYS AND GIRLS, if you're thinking about doing the knowledge or you're already in it, crack on.
It's a beautiful hobby (I don't consider it a job, I was in hospitality industry before, that was hard) and you can have the perfect work-life balance.
For the record I lease a TX.
Also for the record Tom, I purchased my first property, a maisonette, when my wage was not even half what I earn now.
It's just a matter of starting small, and build it up 👍🏼
350 cab rent 150 fuel 200 a week tax 700 a week 2 go 2 work your all nuts and no holiday or sick pay and study for 3 years 2 do it 😂😂😂
I have to drive in London to deliver and install. This includes hospitals, police and government buildings. Your last point about road closures that with your views on Camden, the Mayor etc are news to my ears that I am not alone in thinking this. Who drives in London for fun? great video as always
You've pretty much covered most of the significant challenges facing the trade there, tom. At the moment the biggest issue for me is the fact that certain london boroughs are completely hostile to all forms of motor traffic. They don't discriminate between Taxis, Buses and private vehicles, that's the problem. The buses are having the bus lanes taken away to make space for cycle paths so they're all running on record delays and the taxis are having all the side roads and through-routes taken away. This means we're all being funnelled onto the same roads at the same times, causing absolute carnage in certain areas.
Plus the roads when they are clear have reduced speeds to 20mph
You seem tech savvy. Get into IT. It’s the best decision I’ve ever made.
Thanks for sharing this message. A
Hi Tom. Is there anything to get more kids on the knowledge that hasn't been thought up. Lovely cabs, beautiful city. But how do we get people studying without the sat nav conversation? Let alone narrow roads. I think many people drive in London these days with an approach like 'im never doing that again '. I really hope the trade lives on
i was in the trade for 25 years . the biggest problem for me was when my local council deregulated . the plate was no longer worth anything for a start . we went from 99 drivers to now nearly 350 . we earned plenty before the change . also private hire has gone huge . the likes of uber has destroyed us .
Hi Tom. Very interesting. When I go to London (I am a commuter and work there sometimes as a contractor) I have the impression that taxis are rather expensive (based on word of mouth) certainly compared to the tube, disproportionately. Is this true?
Could you tell me what the average fare would be, for example, from Piccadilly Circus to King's Cross.
Great videos by the way. Many thanks.
Hey Damian,
Thanks, I’m hoping to make a video about this in the future, typical taxi journeys.
Piccadilly to KX is around £13 or so 👍🏻
Ok £13 is perhaps less than I might have thought, certainly for 'London prices'. I guess living in Hampshire I am an outsider and so maybe word of mouth is a thing when thinking about coming into London for a couple of days
@@Damiano9292 would be double if not tripple that on Uber 🤣 sorry Tom, no offence
I worked Manchester for 12 years and had to give up when I worked out I was working a minimum of 55 hours a week (many unsociable) just to make 300 profit, it was also affecting my health, I applaud anyone who can do this job and keep smiling, sadly councils don’t make life easy at all for the black cab trade especially in the north, when because of financial gain they throw out private hire licenses to every Tom, Dick and ALI ☹️☹️
Do you guys in London get any grants towards buying an Electric cab or the levc
retired 6 years ago!! Thank God!! 30 years, the last 5 years were horendous!! Be luck you lot!!
The whole electric/hybrid car future is a rort.
Seeing that price i realise why i have never got a black cab.
Have to agree that it’s only the older generation of cabbies that say oh it’s a good income and easy money theses days the money just isn’t there like you say my neighbour and his mrs n kids all black cab drivers he goes out on a Saturday evening and that’s him done for the week but he’s 60 something he’s made his money they have the house and the cars etc he said he advised the kids against it but they still chose to try but even as a lonely motorcycle courier in london not one of the Uber scooter warriors a proper bike courier gotta agree it’s harder now than ever to get across london
Having to replace the main battery on an electric vehicle is equivalent to having to replace the motor on a petrol-powered ICE vehicle. I both are quite expensive. And neither should be a common repair. Hopefully with advances in battery technology, combined with batteries being more mass produced, prices will drop…making replacing batteries a bit more affordable.
On the battery replacement invoice it stated that the battery was damaged. Any idea what the damage was?
Hope not going to need one this evening!
I'll give you a number 6...CROSSRAIL
A lot of drivers can't seem to see what A big effect this will have,just look at the journey times, we cannot get near them.
Some people use cabs as offices, going underground without a phone network limits that.
There’s plenty of journeys I can think of that would be quicker on tube, some people just like taking a cab, or the company is paying
"you will always have to pay something" thats what they want at the top in every industry now. constant long term casflows
Do you not get a grant from tfl for your electric cab?
When I was doing sparky work I heared all new house builds they be fitted with a EV Charger, I dunno price
Plus they want everyone go electric but they haven't got enough chargers for everyone