Mr Lee Posted May 15, 2009 Posted May 15, 2009 Driver half asleep and often on drugs Last night we got into a taxi at SM and once we got moving, I could see the driver was half asleep, so we asked him what was up and he said that he had been working since 5 AM and since it was now after 8 PM he had been at it for over 15 hours. He of course said he had not been able to earn much money because taxi business is slow and he said he had not been able to take off time to eat since he needed to make enough money to pay for the 24 hour rental before turning in the taxi for the day. I think a law needs to be made to make taxi rentals only 12 hours because too many drivers are over worked and often need to take drugs to stay awake for the long shifts and that makes it dangerous for us the passengers.I am not sure if any government officials read these forums or not, but if they do, please make a law for the safety of the passengers and to help the taxi drivers to earn a living without having to endanger their lives and ours. If the rental was half and for 12 hours, then there would be no need for random drug tests of drivers and it should also be illegal for them to work more than 12 hours driving.Anyway, since we had just been shopping, we gave the driver some packs of skyflakes cracker and a can of juice and he was so thankful that he could not stop saying thank you over and over again. Things are bad here in the Philippines but stupidly allowing 24 hour rentals makes things worse. Half the cost for 12 hours should be enough. JMHO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brock Posted May 15, 2009 Posted May 15, 2009 I think the trouble is, they cant earn enough in just 12 hours to cover the charge of the taxi and to live on, There is no limit to the hours you can work a taxi in England either, I agree with you, it cant be safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Lee Posted May 15, 2009 Author Posted May 15, 2009 I think the trouble is, they cant earn enough in just 12 hours to cover the charge of the taxi and to live on, There is no limit to the hours you can work a taxi in England either, I agree with you, it cant be safe.If the rental was half the amount charged for 24 hours, then they should be able to earn enough to cover the rental and make some money. It is not safe to have over tired drivers on the road or drivers that have to use drugs to stay awake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jollygoodfellow Posted May 16, 2009 Posted May 16, 2009 I think the trouble is, they cant earn enough in just 12 hours to cover the charge of the taxi and to live on, There is no limit to the hours you can work a taxi in England either, I agree with you, it cant be safe.If the rental was half the amount charged for 24 hours, then they should be able to earn enough to cover the rental and make some money. It is not safe to have over tired drivers on the road or drivers that have to use drugs to stay awake.The breakeven point is after the first 12 hours. For a 12 hour shift the drivers would have to pick the best hours for a fare which would mean that at times there would not be a taxi found anywhere. Why would anyone pay for rent of a taxi and sit for hours late at night for nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike S Posted May 16, 2009 Posted May 16, 2009 Wow ...... that's why you are THE BOSSMAN ..... what logic and insight ....... (did my raise get approved) ........ you could always make the hours from 1:00 am till 12:45 pm and 1:00pm till 12:45am .... then one shift would get the going to work crowd and the other would get the going home bunch ....... would be split up pretty evenly that way ....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brock Posted May 16, 2009 Posted May 16, 2009 A taxi business is no good working 12 hours a day, The owner needs his taxi to be rented 24 hours a day, If certain times of the day is good , Who will rent when it is not so good, I think to rent now costs about 800 to 1000 for 24 hours, That is an awful lot of fares at an average of 50p a ride, Also he has to pay for his gas, A taxi drivers life is not as easy as some people think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMason Posted May 17, 2009 Posted May 17, 2009 Don't most of the drivers split the rental, driving time, and fares/tips with a partner? Each drives for 12 hours. I've only asked 1 driver about this, but he split it with his brother. I think no matter how you split the day up, one 12 hour period would be busier than the other and it would impact the availability of taxis at non-peak hours.I'm not usually out of the house past 8 pm, but on the rare occasions I have been I haven't seen a problem with sleepy drivers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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