Kinda curious. Let me just say I know of someone who drives a black cab but doesn’t actually seem to be ‘working it’. After an accident or two on taxi driver insurance/licence plate costs(?) and hire (or running of the cab itself) surely the thing would have to be driven around the clock to recoop/make money? So this particular black cab just seems to be parked up most of the time.

I’ve got a hunch that he must be using it as a front/its being used as a ‘courier’?

Stephen Fry’s got one.

Is it Stephen Fry ?

Drugs courier? Normal couriers work their arses off

Prince Phillip pulled the same stunt for a while, and our local UKIP candidate. Perhaps its just paid for and the marginal savings of selling it to buy a car that does 1mpg more don’t stack up. Or he’s Stephen Fry.

You can own them as private vehicles – ie, normal insurance/no licence plate etc.

This is taxi-licence/track registered. Partly curious really.

It’s going to make a hell of a lot less money couriering things around rather than people.

My brother is a London cabbie, generally works evenings as it’s more profitable. Some days he’ll get one big fare and that will do, other days it’s lots of short runs.

Wasn’t someone off here from Liverpool driving one for a bit?

Some days he’ll get one big fare and that will do, other days it’s lots of short runs.

Wow, I thought you’d have to work your socks off due to the competition, fuel costs etc.

When I say courier I mean drugs BTW.

This is taxi-licence/track registered.

Unless it’s a mock plate, like that on Mr Fry’s vehicle which refers to the Neopolitan licencing.

Useful car for suddenly pulling left to the kerb or unexpected U-turns. Also noisy families – pull across the screen and drive in muffled comfort.

Is it Noel Edmunds?

A lot of black cabs are actually leased. There are quite a few lease deals which includes all costs associated with the cab (insurance, license, maintenance etc).

From talking to a number of people over the years, and with some creative tax accounting the rough feeling i get is that black cab drivers in London earn around £45k-£60k a year, depending on hours worked etc.

A mate had one, he used it for couriering in London, would turn on a sixpence and people were for ever trying to get in it when ever he stopped 😆

slow noisy and weird to sit in the front of it. Black cabbies were always a bit snotty with him.

Wow, I thought you’d have to work your socks off due to the competition, fuel costs etc.

That one big fare will be an airport pick up that takes him a long way out of London, have a look at this site to see the rough amounts. For example, Heathrow T5 to Rochester in Kent will be about £250. This isn’t a daily occurrence though, most days it’s just around the city

I don’t know why anyone in London bothers with black cabs any more now Uber is about and seems to be working quite well from my experience. About half the price and friendlier service I reckon.

Used to be a common dodge to own one so you can skip the London traffic and drive in the bus lanes.

Slightly off track but …

I don’t know why anyone in London bothers with black cabs any more now Uber is about and seems to be working quite well from my experience. About half the price and friendlier service I reckon.

I never use Uber and only use Black Cabs. At surge pricing Uber is more expensive. With Uber you have NO IDEA whether the car has proper insurance or who the driver is and what qualifications he has. You have no idea the mechanical state of the vehicle (Black cabs have to have an MOT every 6 months). You have very little idea about whether proper tax is being paid on the income/fare.

I use Uber all the time and can not fault it.

My regular drivers i use are all very friendly, have immaculately presented cars which are usually less than 3 years old and don’t drive like complete dicks unlike black cab drivers.

The surge pricing can be correct. But 9/10 it is far far cheaper than a black cab. A good example Black Cab to my house from heathrow is £58, with an Uber driver with a nice E-Class Merc – £27. Less than half the price.

I don’t have any experience of running a drug-dealing operation, but I suspect a fully registered black cab would be a needlessly expensive cover story.

What corroborating evidence do you have Inspector Hora?

That one big fare will be an airport pick up that takes him a long way out of London, have a look at this site to see the rough amounts. For example, Heathrow T5 to Rochester in Kent will be about £250. This isn’t a daily occurrence though, most days it’s just around the city

I once landed at Heathrow at 5am and realised I’d forgotten to arrange a pick up. £250 to Cambridge in a black cab.

Black cabs are not setup for long distance airport jobs. I always use a minicab for that, even if you call one they will arrive in 10-15 mins from a company local to Heathrow. The issue with Uber is they are not a mini cab company, they don’t pass the basic legal tests for one 1) no meter – the app pricing is definitely a meter 2) no central booking office

Our black cabs are the best in the world. They have to buy a specified expensive vehicle, they have to have an expensive licence and undertake specific training. To deregulate the business overnight via the backdoor as has been done is a crime.

With Uber you have NO IDEA whether the car has proper insurance

I’ve got a reasonable idea.

And no real reason to think otherwise.

(Apart from listening to other Cabbies moaning about Uber drivers all being uninsured etc etc. )

…Not only is Uber London licensed by TfL, we recently underwent the largest compliance inspection in TfL’s history – 26 compliance officers at our small 20 person office going through files for 2 days straight. The officers audited thousands of driver records, scouring tens of thousands of drivers and vehicle licensing and insurance documents. The good news is that under the most extreme scrutiny we passed this audit….

What I find ironic is that all the money that drivers are earning for Uber is being reinvested into driverless car development – they reckon they’re only 2-3 years away from rolling them out.

Talk about turkeys voting for Christmas.

What I find ironic is that all the money that drivers are earning for Uber is being reinvested into driverless car development – they reckon they’re only 2-3 years away from rolling them out.

“Hi! Welcome to Johnny Cab.”

Our black cabs are the best in the world.

Have to disagree, generally when I travel abroad (a lot with work) I’m always impressed at how much better oversees cabs are compared with the UK. Even in Warsaw I can pay by card in any cab or mini-cab, try paying by credit card in a black cab, most are cash only.

Drug dealers tend to use hire cars.
Or more commonly these days, cars provided by a third party to replace a vehicle involved in a non fault accident.

IANADD btw, but I used to work for a hire car company.

Have to disagree, generally when I travel abroad (a lot with work) I’m always impressed at how much better oversees cabs are compared with the UK

This – A bit of competition is needed to shake the industry up a bit.

Oslo is another city where getting a cab is much better than London. Central allocation system means you can have a cab booked and arrive in mins, can always pay by card and get a receipt.

The only advantage of the London cab system was “the knowledge” meaning you could get in and know the driver would know where you needed to go. Sat Nav has rendered that obsolete.

Move on or die.

“The surge pricing can be correct. But 9/10 it is far far cheaper than a black cab. A good example Black Cab to my house from heathrow is £58, with an Uber driver with a nice E-Class Merc – £27. Less than half the price.”

sounds like minicab pricing

I resent Uber. Minicabbing is tough enough and poorly regulated as it is. why one more accelerator in the rush to the bottom?

Horaworld seems more interesting doesn’t it. Parked taxi? DRUGS!

It regularly doesn’t move much. I am an inquisitive bugger so the thought of ‘it much cost alot’ and not seeing it away much does make one think..

Sounds like minicab pricing

I resent Uber. Minicabbing tough enough and poorly regulated as it is. why one more accelerator in the rush to the bottom?

Why do resent Uber ?

Seems like they provide a better service than poorly regulated minicabs

And they are generally cheaper than black cabs.

That’s not a race to the bottom, in fact it’s the exact opposite. It’s forcing other players to improve or get left behind.

Why resent Uber? A crap driver won’t get any more work, and frankly being able to rate the choice of music and the quality of the driver’s beaded seat cover can only be a good thing IMHO.

@neal – London Taxis are a regulated businesses, they pay fees for the licence, have to buy specific expensive vehicles and are subject to 6 monthly MOTs and random inspections. If you want unregulated taxis/mini-cabs then take the restrictions off everyone. It’s not about innovating or improving the Black cabds are simply operating under the environment created by the lawmakers. Of course Uber is cheaper they have none of these costs. Also they are only cheaper based upon their non-surge pricing

Even Boris who allowed Uber in is now back-tracking, the number of mini-cabs has exploded and the Black cabbies are getting out of the business. He knows this will be a disaster.

Yeah yeah yeah.

But would being an uber driver be better cover for dealing drugs?

Urgh I find myself agreeing with jambalaya. And the guy who runs Uber is a grade-A tosser.

hora – you have a very active imagination.

I use Uber (admittedly in the US, not the UK. I don’t do it for reasons of cost (mostly it’s work travel), I just do it for convenience.

If the London Black cabs made an app, and made it first, where I could enter my payment details once, pre-set a tip and then just order a cab whenever I needed it, I’d use that.

I honestly don’t think many people use Uber for cost, it’s just so damn easy and the cars and drivers I’ve had have been good. If they weren’t, then I’d stop using it.

Why is the fact that they have to

buy specific expensive vehicle

make it better? It’s not like a black cab has world beating comfort or safety? I’d rather a cab as I would assume the driver had been checked over somehow for his licence and just don’t know about Uber but a black cab doesn’t make me think “reassuringly expensive”.

Our black cabs are the best in the world. They have to buy a specified expensive vehicle, they have to have an expensive licence and undertake specific training. To deregulate the business overnight via the backdoor as has been done is a crime.

Like French alpine guides 😆

Ask him to sell you some weed. Should answer a question. Gangsta types lease a lot these days. Doesn’t matter if a lease car is confiscated

I’ve got a hunch that he must be using it as a front/its being used as a ‘courier’?

An alternative hunch might be that he hasn’t told you everything and that he is ‘unable to ply for trade’ using his licence for a period of time, suspension pending outcome of criminal charges or similar.

The issue with Uber is they are not a mini cab company

I don’t see why that should be an issue.

The service is great, they are reliable, and generally cheap.

I don’t use them because of their legal classification, I use them for the service they provide. And it’s great.

they don’t pass the basic legal tests for one 1) no meter – the app pricing is definitely a meter 2) no central booking office

So much more efficient and reliable than a central booking office though, so again I’m not seeing that as an issue.

And (so far at least) the app isn’t legally classed as a meter is it ?

The business has moved on, people need to move on with it I reckon, or they get left behind.

The cabbies probably moaned when some drivers stopped using horses to pull the cabs and went motorised, but eventually they all changed and kept up with the market.