Thanks for sharing. Have you thought about doing Uber? What are you pros and cons if you have not already discussed previously. I would assume that Uber drivers do not need to take the 'Knowledge' test. Thanks in advance.
@@goutvols103 working for a platform that can remove you overnight, change their commission rate or how much they pay you instantly? No thanks. Would rather be back at Starbucks
Hey Tom, love the videos, I was wondering if you could do a video about adverts/wraps on taxis, the pros, the cons, and why you decided against it. Think that would be quite neat, anyway keep up the good work
7.20 for a multi-hour wait sounds a tough way to make a living! I also love the bit about the guy wanting to stop at a newsagents. It's basically a throwaway aside in the video, but it's a big reason taxis and the Knowledge are still so relevant today.
I am glad you mentioned about the "local job" having seen another video about the £7.20 entry, when I got picked up at terminal 3 to go to Raddison (barth road??) I felt sorry for the taxi guy who had been probs queing for two hours for a job to then do a £14 job and then reenter at a cost at £7.20 , so gave him a £5 tip to compensate based on prior knowledge which I know now to be sort of incorrect and it would be classed as a local job thanks to your video so he would not have to repay or go to the long que again :)
@Adam. I wonder how long this “local” job rule has been going. When I lived local black cabs just refused to take you if you weren’t going into London. Yes you can force them to take you but who wants to sit in a vehicle where the driver hates you 🙄😄
this was totally fascinating. as a londoner, i never take black cabs (i was always taught to think of them as transport for tourists or the wealthy), but the expertise at play here makes me want to take a cab one day. thanks tom!
Maybe during all of these strikes it might be worth considering using the taxis instead for certain trips. IDK. I hear Britain has a lot of strikes and that the government's intervention in negotiations is making everything much worse because the government is intervening in a very anti-union way.
BTW, I am American, and we have our own screwed up politics to deal with, although apparently the Roe v. Wade decision has been worth around 5-10+% in elections based on what we have seen so far.
@@unconventionalideas5683 yes indeed the strikes need a resolution from the government, and the strikers should continue until they reach a strong deal. _AND_ yes though it doesn't seem that 5-10% margin will be enough for the Dems to keep the house, so 2023-25 will likely be 2 years of stagnation.
I haven't taken a black cab in years (and rarely use minicabs/Uber et al either), but I've always wanted a ride in the new electric-ish ones, but never have found an excuse or been able to. Maybe one day, I'll get one to just drive me around a bit 🤣
Great vid tom. My old man was a black cab driver for 35 years doing the exact stuff u doing. So great to see what his daily work routine would of been like. Going to show him your vids
Finishing times: sometimes I have to remind myself why I'm self-employed. Flexibility and family time is more important than earning an extra load of cash.
I once had an early morning ride to Heathrow with a cabbie who said he liked working early in the morning. He would usuually get a job out to the airport and at that time in the morning the wait for a fare back into London was not such a long one. By the time rush hour came around he said he had usually earned a good amount of money.
Tom why did you take the beconsfield I worked the fliers for 20 years at that time of night and living in S.E. London that would have been curtains for me.Due to heart disease lost my badge ,well life has its knocks ,but in my day Beconsfield was a legitimate refusal.Be lucky son
Fascinating to me that the need is at Heathrow, it’s one of the busiest airports in Europe I imagine. And you have all those drivers queue into the tank and wait. But yet you can be waiting in excess of 2 hours to get out of the rank car park.l and get a job and start getting paid.
Fascinating, I'm a Londoner who's never taken a cab/uber (easier to just walk/cycle/tube), but there's certainly a LOT more strategy, and knowledge, in running a black cab. My colleague religiously gets one daily, for a short run in the city, he knows all the cabbies now and they look after his phone/wallet whenever he leaves it in the cab
I love this sort of content. It's fascinating to hear your reasoning and thinking re: your route planning. Me and my housemate live in London but neither of us drive and we're constantly having these sorts of discussions about bus and train routes around the city, so it's interesting to hear this sort of thing about navigating the road network in a private car. Great to see lots of familiar bits of London on the dashcam too. Nice one, Tom.
Spent 30yrs driving taxi in Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, so plenty of visits to LHR. Interesting to see the other side of the coin; I admit we always loved the ones where we ran customer up to airport, and found we'd got a booking for somebody inbound to go back! I agree with your comments about Sod's Law; it seems to work against taxi drivers everywhere!
Schwell.. just before the panicdemic, me and family was in London. Had to take a 7 min taxiride cuz of sons ailing foot. At the end of it, I asked the driver if the expected tips/was it custom to etc. He said: Only if you want to, you dont have to mate!.Gave him the change, 1 pound or so and blessed him (In heart and mind) Edit: I knew enough to make sure it was a propper London Cabbie before we got in to it
I do deliveroo & uber eats on the side and although different from driving a taxi the experience is almost identical! Even when you explained wanting to get a job in central so you can stay there and get more jobs. Ofcourse you can always just drive there but its always more satisfying to get paid to drive there. I usually float around marylebone mayfair Knightsbridge & chelsea too and go home at midnight.
I worked in UK as a courier for a year in 2010, aussie here. had a great time, money was very poor but i got to see the whole place top to bottom ,east west and nthn Ireland, watching these vids is great, did a lot of London stuff . Sat nav worked pretty good. Nice one Tom.
Interesting video about Heathrow, I've had my badge 28 years and never ranked up there as I fear getting lost if the job doesn't come back into London😟
Tom I like your videos and one issue you raised is when you get a job in your direction to take you home. It's a dilemma for all drivers. Keep going Tom wish you well
Absolutely fascinating the decisions you have to make. Well produced video! I used to work at LHR and drive past the feeder park every day and think of all the drivers
I dunno why, but it's always interesting when you're around Heathrow, hopefully you decide to do more videos of the area. I also suspect it must be where you get the most eccentric or odd looking passengers too, all the people coming from afar!
I grew up coming to London every summer with my parents. I am the only American born in the family. We would grab a taxi from LHR to Hilton Park Lane. Now I know why they liked us and wanted the return trip reserved. But cabs would be out front of the hotel starting at 5am, waiting for us.
Hi Tom. Remember that you can refuse a job going outside the Metropolitan Area. Beaconsfield is way out, and you could have refused it. It's a great job for those working the airport, but it's a killer if you want to just get back to London. Also, those jobs like Beaconsfield have a fix price. To find out the price for the out of the Met you can either use the price list which is at every terminal or you can get a booklet from the LTDA office at the canteen. See you around
Thanks Francesco, I definitely live and learn. Huge learning curve at Heathrow and takes a few times to learn how to not get burnt. I had a Stratford from LHR, but when he realised the price, the guy decided to bail on me on the Bath Road. I thought no dramas, I'll just go back to the terminal and the rank marshall will know it's a local. Nope... apparently you have to go back with the passengers to get it authorised as a local. Lesson learnt, back to the feeder I go. That little bit of Knowledge has since saved me in a similar situation.
I have just discovered your channel today and I find it really interesting leaning about the life of a black cab driver. Just gets me wondering if you have ever gone to any of the places in Central London that I know. My dad used to work for a mini cab company when I was young so he was always doing nights. Me myself I live in Sutton just outside Croydon so South Central London but still inside M25. Grate videos, please keep going.
I live in Dublin, but my God, London what a town - maybe 10 times the size of Dublin. I lived there during the 80s. I was young at the time and I can still remember the cafes we used to eat in, my favourites were the 'Blue Sky 'just down from Nottingham Gate and another great one on Kensington High St. Still remember the pints we used to drink - Fullers 'Trophy' and 'Extra Special Bitter'. Still remember the pubs and the late night drinking clubs - the 'Brigade' on Notting hill Gate, the' Radio and Stage' in Paddington were just two of them. Always found genuine Londoners to be great, very friendly people. I still love London and return now and again.
Hi Tom, you mentioned in one of your previous videos that you didn't think you were a good communicator. I have to say that I beg to differ. I think your videos are great and the information and style is brilliant.
Fair play. I thought it was a joke when I heard the name on rides but absolutely brilliant insight. We’re planning a London trip so have to try and catch a ride with the man
Picked up a Will Self novel "The Book of Dave" from a charity shop and just finished reading it when magically for the first time ever I get recommended a London cabbie video. How good is that algorithm 🤨 Not normally someone interested in cab drivers or London but so interesting to watch some content on this channel after randomly reading a crazy novel based around 'the knowledge' and black cab driving in London. These guys definitely have their own special set of skills and work very hard for their income.
Great Video Tom! I drive a taxi in Spain ( Palma de Mallorca) we got the airport and a cruiseship terminal, best job would be: Airport to cruiseship….. go in the queue , and luckily get a trip back to the airport ! I would love an LEVC in spain but: are they anygood for like 50 mile motorway journeys? Cheers
Ha, I've been on the other side of all of this. being screamed at by a cabbie because the rank marshall messed up and I was sent to the "wrong" cab. but I lived right at the edge of the local zone, so usually would give a destination within the local zone and cabbies appreciated that.
There is really not much difference driving a cab in London from driving a taxi in Gothenburg other than you have a cooler Volvo ;) So many hours I have spent on Landvetter Airport in Gothenburg. But here we charge the customer for the rank fee at the airport. The fee here is sek 37 or about £3. But now I work at our main office as a planner/dispatcher. I sometimes really miss driving a taxi. It's really nice to see you working in London!
You mean because Volvo and London Taxi Company are the same now? Both owned by Geely. I like the new black cabs, but tbh I'd probably rather spend my day in a V90 or XC90 😀
This is really interesting behind the scenes and all the information. If you want a job from LHR to the city isn’t it better to stay on central London all day? Or is the traffic unbearable. And won’t have to pay the £7.50 to queue
What’s stopping you from going to whatever terminal you’d like if you haven’t joined the rank at Heathrow. Could you realistically just go straight to a terminal and not pay the taxi rank fare?
Just to say Heathrow Airport Ltd charging £7.20 for you just to pick up a fare is outrageous. It would be reasonable say if the wait time was say 15 minutes but 2 hours. Nah.
I worked with a guy who lived in Hounslow who had an almighty row with the taxi driver who objected to the short run. I was quite surprised what constitutes "local". Not quite sure why the driver chose to be so aggressive when on his return to the airport he was able to jump the queue.
it's one of the great mystery of this Trade which I still haven't found an answer for: why some drivers hate locals so much whenever I get many locals I have a great day if you work the airport locals are a money spinner either locals or a Manchester or similar. I have been waiting for my Manchester for 23 years and I believe it may never happen, so i will stick with my locals to make a good day.
Hi there. Really enjoyed this video. I managed to catch a black cab when in Terminal 5 once or twice, but the most recent time we did so was just this past June and it was staggeringly dry and hot and we - me and my parents - chucked ourselves in the back with all our bags and went our way. It was about a 1 hour journey from there to Kingston in the end with all these roads blocked up. But I am enthralled by the whole system and that our own black cab had to do all that queuing in spots that I completely recognise (thanks to all the car rentals and travelling in transit vans)!
It always annoys me you can't get q black cab from Heathrow Hotels to the ternimals the hotel always call a private car service which charges sky high prices
Great video once again. One thought I've had with this is once you're in the initial feeder park is there a way to abandon your spot? Say if your plans change or you had an emergency situation etc... Can you escape the area as clearly you can be blocked in by many other taxis for long periods of time. Is there a way out?
Hey Tom - love the videos. I'm a cabbie in Edinburgh and recently we have been authorised to add the £4 airport charge to the fare. I'm assuming London don't allow it?
Another great video as per. I was studying my blue books on a flight to Belfast this week and the guy next to me noticed this and as we got talking it transpired he was also a fan of your videos… (hello if you’re reading this!)
You sometimes mention picking up a job from the "taxi app" - could you talk more about that on a future video or if you have in a previous one, post the link here - thanks
Brilliant video mate and really informative. I was always a bit worried attempting to work Heathrow because guaranteed I’d balls it up. That’s put a lot of light on it. Thanks mate!
Great to see you Rosh, hope you are well! I've had a few blunders, took a Stratford off T2 late night, young Aussie lad. He asks how much it might be and I give an estimate. As we exit the tunnel road he asks if we can pull over somewhere as he's due to meet a mate (he's on the phone trying Uber). Of course I oblige, he pays what the meter got to but as it wasn't down as a local, I had to go back through the feeder park. Literally live and learn.
I put on at terminal 5 punter comes up and says “Ere take us to standstead.” No probs I sez. Get to standstead and then he goes “soz mate wrong airport. I meant Gatwick. Tell you wot I’ll give you clock and a half so that you don’t loose out getting back to the port.” I sez “yeah cheers pal.” Gotta luv working the port
I read an article years ago that said most New York taxi drivers get their strategy wrong, and you seemed to do the same. The correct strategy is if you are having a bad day, you should cut your losses early, i.e. after the Beaconsfield job you should have gone home. If you are having an extra good day, maybe when there is a problem on the tube or something, keep working as late as you can. You'll make enough money that evening that you can afford a lie in the next day. Don't stop early thinking I've made enough money today. When it's busy and going well for you, people need taxis more, so work longer.
That’s an interesting way of looking at it. My other mental model is: a bad start doesn’t mean a bad ending. I’ve times where I’ve got off to a bad start and felt the need to chase it and it’s turned the day around. Likewise, having a good start can mean I step off the gas a bit and I do less as a result. Only takes one job to turn your day around!
I remember getting a taxi and wanted to go to town a similar distance to Beaconfield the cabbie said “sorry can’t do it” first of is that allowed? But now I understand why he said no so thank you for the video
@@TomtheTaxiDriver thank you makes a lot of sense now I often used to fly into city airport from Ibiza had no idea how long cabbies were waiting. They should have separate lines for passengers one for long distance/short distance so it’s fairer on you guys
Great video, answered questions I had. Follow up question that I've not seen answered, how do 'they' know that you've only had a local job ? How do they know that you're returning to the rank from a local and not just driving straight to the rank ?
