Taxi Driver Salaries

bcmf

Fair play to you Stevie.You did a little bit of homework took a drive round town and came to the assumption that it is screwed.Hope you made the decision before you made a financial commitment.

helimachoptor

Musa Brave Nitwit wrote: »

Well, i took a little drive around Dublin City Centre last Saturday night (29/03/08). I have to say, I don't think I've ever seen as many taxis in one place. It was like rush hour traffic, only it was all taxis. Maybe this isn't the thing to get into. Looks like the market is flooded.

I'm not an official taxi driver but I do pick up my Gf if she's out and I'm not. But honestly town is flooded with taxis. I was picking my OH up outside D2 a few weeks ago and there were quite a lot of taxis hanging around, It was only about 1:30 aswell.

az2wp0sye65487

bcmf wrote: »

Fair play to you Stevie.You did a little bit of homework took a drive round town and came to the assumption that it is screwed.Hope you made the decision before you made a financial commitment.

No, I hadn't made any financial commitment yet. I have everything I need to apply, but you can only apply during a 2-week period 4 times a year, and the next opportinity to apply is in June.

Whats that all about?!

bcmf

I presume its the 'knowledge' test you are on about.The test only sits 4 times a year.Gives you time to do your homework.
When I did mine it caught me out how hard it was.I was a bit surprised I passed it first time tbh.There is a rumour going round that it has got easier.
I grew up in Dublin, spent my whole life in Dublin, cycled and walked from and to all areas in Dublin but still found the test tricky. So I find it somewhat dubious to find people who barely speak English driving a Taxi.

arybvtcw0eolkf

bcmf wrote: »

I find it somewhat dubious to find people who barely speak English driving a Taxi.

Absolutely beats the sh*t out of me too.

Andystoran

Spook_ie wrote: »

Point 1 Working 14 hours a shift is both illegal and dangerous
Point 2 The figures you quote are ( I assume ) gross, if they are nett I'm coming to Limerick

As far as im aware these figures are taken minus the cost of petrol...

I dont think hes too bothered about working the "illeagal" long hours.

smooth operater

Personally, i think theres alot of money to be made.
Last taxi i got in i started having a discussion about the property market and the way things are going.... The taxi man was quite open and told me he had 4 houses around Ireland. I guess i never asked what his wife worked at, but i can only imagine he was doing alright for himself.

I think were taxi drivers make alot of money is by claiming they earn less than what they actually do. Which i don't blame them, i'd be doing the same.
I think a full time taxi driver willing to work long/night shifts could pull in 50-60k a year and pay very little tax.
Now im not a taxi driver, nor do i know one well, so just my 2 cents, but if you know where to get the business i'd say go for it.

cruizer22b

For sure Taxi drivers have been playing it down for years, they dont want everyone else becoming a taxi driver which is why they put on the poor mouth.

I had one tell me its so bad he might have to sell his villa in florida and buy one where the flights are cheaper :rolleyes:

lost marbles

was it april 1st when you got these taxis ..... two words come to mind brick and swallow

jack90210

Prices need to come down on taxi's fast outside peak hours. Its basic supply and demand. Many taxis low demand, decrease prices or sit at the rank!! By the way saturday night isn't a peak hour anymore! Town is SWAMPED with taxis and someone said earlier its like rush hour traffic!! Monday night at 3am with no nightlinks and fewer taxis working is more like a peak hour now and justifying more money!

Phoole

Let me clear up the tax issue regarding Taxi Drivers.

As a full time driver I do pay considerably less 'income tax' than most paye employees. 2 years ago I was a PAYE employee earning appox €750 gross/week. Minus tax I'd clear just under €600.

Now driving a taxi, if I earn the same gross amount per week, approx €100 of that is fuel, another €20 per week is for insurance and depending on what car I drive, you can take any amount off for repayments.

Do the maths and you'll see exactly why taxi drivers pay very little income tax. The 'tax' just gets paid to someone else.

the GALL

I dunno my mate's a taxi driver and he put his wife (then girlfriend) through collage bought a house and two cars not bad wages for unskilled labour. As far as saying the money is not worth it for the danger with that logic the guards, fire service, ambulance crews, and defence force should also be on a lot more money.

Wonder how much a driver for transport company gets €500 a week take home?. Looking at the cost of buying a car when you can off set some off your tax bill that's a good deal. I need a car for work I dont get any tax breaks for it.

You work your own hours, there's a lot worse out there.

Phoole

the GALL wrote: »

I dunno my mate's a taxi driver and he put his wife (then girlfriend) through collage bought a house and two cars not bad wages for unskilled labour. As far as saying the money is not worth it for the danger with that logic the guards, fire service, ambulance crews, and defence force should also be on a lot more money.

Wonder how much a driver for transport company gets €500 a week take home?. Looking at the cost of buying a car when you can off set some off your tax bill that's a good deal. I need a car for work I dont get any tax breaks for it.

You work your own hours, there's a lot worse out there.

Not sure if it was my post you were replying to but the work is fine, the hours are great and there's money there if you want it. My point was merely clearing up the myth that taxi drivers don't pay their fair share.

subway

if your geting into it now, think about getting a nice car.
theres so many on the street you can pick and choose what you want to ride in.

ill happily let 20 96D Carina E's pass by so i can hop in a nice E class or an 07/08 car.
myself and most of my friends avoid ranks these days because you dont get to pick the car / driver.
its a customers market these days.

the only time youll struggle to get a taxi is for around 45 minutes from 2.45 to 3.30 on a saturday night, and even then walk 5 minutes from temple bar and youll be in a taxi

the GALL

Phoole wrote: »

Not sure if it was my post you were replying to but the work is fine, the hours are great and there's money there if you want it. My point was merely clearing up the myth that taxi drivers don't pay their fair share.

not at all mate ...I was just makeing a generalization ....Cheers

Spook_ie

Well to be honest, the way it's looking at the moment I would love to have a salary

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/salaried


As it is I don't, never have had and never will receive a salary from taxi driving!

Leon11

My dad is a taxi driver for nearly ten years now. The last 18 months or so it's gotten worse and worse whereby to make what he did then he now has to do an extra 10-12hrs at least. He used to work up to 50 odd hrs a week....

I'm in college and I've a mate who has a house and does taxi driving (had a 9-5 before college for 7 years, working as driver last 5 years). He used to work Thurs night, Friday night and Saturday day to pay off his mortgage and socialise. He's so stressed about money it's unreal, it just ain't the same volume of business as before.

To the lads going on about the country towns, get real will you, there's no messing about in Dublin with fares. I was on a minibus from Lexlip to Maynooth, bloke tried to charge €50! Worst thing is half the eejits will pay it, so while I can understand drivers who make a lot based in small towns ferrying groups about there's no chance it'll happen in the cities.

To the OP I think you'd be mad to take on taxiing, as others have said if you want/need an extra 150/250 a week work as a delivery driver on a fri/sat night, 10-12 hrs and you'll make anywhere between 200/300(before costs) depending on how busy you are (assuming your paid by the delivery and not hourly)

Leon11

one more thing the comparison with New York isn't fair as there's a flood of unregistered cars and most cars are worked on 8hr shifts which means they're on the road 24/7