Fuel price rise makes profit 'tricky' for taxis

12 hours ago

Charlie Stubbsin Shrewsbury

Stewart Jones has been a black cab driver for nearly 25 years

Charlie Stubbs / BBC There is a man sat in a taxi with black leather interior seating. He has short grey hair, a grey stubbly beard, and a grey fleece jacket. He also is wearing a blue t-shirt and a blue lanyard string. — Stewart Jones has been a black cab driver for nearly 25 years

A taxi driver from Shrewsbury has said increased costs in fuel make his industry "a very tricky way to make a living."

Over the past few weeks, petrol prices have been increasing across the country due to the US-Israel war with Iran.

Because of this, those with jobs on the road, like taxi driver Stewart Jones, are having to absorb the cost.

He said everything has gone up - including insurance, taxes, fuel and maintenance - and it is hard to maintain a living.

Jones has been a hackney carriage driver for nearly 25 years.

He said he cannot increase his prices as taximeter are calibrated by the local authority.

"Most of the other petrol stations were 142.9, [but I have] just driven past ASDA and it's 157.9," Jones said.

"Down in Devon and Cornwall I've seen it for like 179, 180, so it's not good."

Stewart Jones says being a driver in Shrewsbury is hard as people don't hail cabs down 'like in London'

Charlie Stubbs / BBC It shows a white sign, with 'TAXI' printed on in capital black letters. This is on top of a black cab roof and has an aerial going between the left side of the 'X' — Stewart Jones says being a driver in Shrewsbury is hard as people don't hail cabs down 'like in London'

He believed, in towns the size of Shrewsbury, most people only hail black cabs from the station taxi rank.

"I have not been hailed [whilst driving] for more than two months," he said.

"What people don't realise is we've not only got to get to a destination, we've also got to get back to the train station.

Jones added drivers are "not getting paid" to go back to the rank, which "makes it tricky."

"We can't do anything like that, so we charge the metre price and we provide a good service and if we get a tip off a customer, that's great," Jones added.

"It's not compulsory obviously but it does help."

According to Shropshire Council, to renew a Hackney Carriage Vehicle license it costs £206 and will rise to £231.

Dave Vasey has kept his driving lesson prices static for two years but says he will have to increase them next month

Dave Vasey, a clean shaven man with short grey hair in a blue quarter zip jumper with a red tshirt peaking through is standing next to a blue car with a learner sign on the top. He is in a residential street — Dave Vasey has kept his driving lesson prices static for two years but says he will have to increase them next month

Driving instructors are also feeling the effects.

Dave Vasey says he has kept his prices static for two years, but with rising costs, he will be forced to increase them from £40 an hour to £45 an hour next month.

He told BBC Radio Shropshire: "Currently average fuel prices are £1.41, it's gone up a couple of pennies on the litre, that's going to put about 6p on my lesson an hour. If it goes up to about £1.50, that could put about 15p an hour on my lesson.

"I can absorb the price at the pump as a driving instructor but I can't absorb the possible inflationary rise on the cost of living.

"Nowadays it's not cheap to either run a car or learn to drive a car - if you haven't got enough to run a car you probably haven't got a budget to learn to drive at the moment either."

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