DRIVER PROFILE FROM SELLING TO DRIVING:
BEST CAREER CHANGE FOR LUKE
This month we have a chat with Luke Steers, who is a private hire driver for Happicabs in Chelmsford; he’s been driv- ing for three and a half years. His enthusiasm for the job is infectious; you can see that he didn’t just drift into the industry as a last-ditch decision.
Previously he was a car salesman, and says: “It was a career change from selling cars because I much prefer driving than selling. I like meeting new people. To become a taxi driver was a good opportunity for me.”
Having grown up in Chelmsford, cycling around the streets as a young person and driving around the town as an adult, 32- year-old Luke knows the area like the back of his hand… and all the shortcuts to avoid traffic. “Unfortunately I can’t share these with anyone else!
I use my knowledge of shortcuts to skip queues and traffic.
“The rise of a new housing development and several new businesses in the area has brought a lot more new business into the town – but
Luke also talks about having been offered non-monetary payment for the fare on several occasions: “I have been offered food, drinks, an invitation to a night out and was once offered a dog in exchange of a fare.” A dog?? Yes, a cus- tomer boarded Luke’s car with a dog in tow – what breed? “Don’t know… a large brown dog, sort of like an Alsatian…” – and half- jokingly but half- seriously offered to give Luke the dog in exchange for a fare, on the basis that the dog “is always barking – never shuts up.” Let’s just say that Luke declined the offer.
“Once I had a pickup in Chelmsford city to take to Colchester for a fare of £80. When I got to the destination, the drunk customer got out and I waited for them to get in their front door. They fumbled about for a while, then came run- ning back saying, ‘Mate, mate! I just remembered - I don’t live here any more, I live in Chelmsford!’
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also a lot more congestion. However, it is all positive as I benefit from more jobs and it’s showing that the city is improving.”
USUAL QUESTIONS, DIFFERENT ANSWERS
When you ask Luke about his most memo- rable experiences since having become a PHV driver, it’s no wonder he finds the job enjoyable… most of the time. He’s had one of those record long journeys: a ten-hour round trip to Liverpool that earned him £250. He’s had a bumper tip: a group of lads once gave him £35 on top of the fare.
He’s carried his fair share of celebs; he tells us: “Keith Flint from The Prodigy is a surpris- ingly nice guy. I really enjoyed his company. It’s a shame that the journey was short as I would have liked to have had a full conver- sation with him.”
I got them to book a return trip back to Chelmsford. An expensive mistake for them, but they saw the funny side of it.”
We always ask profilees about their strangest fare or experience, and in Luke’s case it could have been more than just a laugh: “I was accused of being an accessory to a break-in at a house. As the customer I had collected wanted to get out of the car early, I thought nothing more about this until my boss quizzed me on the events of that night and was told this guy had com- mitted a crime where I dropped him off.”
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE PEOPLE
As far as Luke Steers is concerned, the attraction of being a driver for him is the people: “There are several benefits such as networking. For example if you want to meet someone who works in a particular type of job, status or industry, you can find them. If somebody needs a dog kennelling, you can find them. There are so many ‘con- necting’ possibilities… it’s better than the local Yell directory!
“Also I enjoy listening to people’s stories. Every passenger is different and they all have something different to say anything from sport, travelling, and funny stories in general.
“Our booking system is great as well; I have a PDA in the car which runs on the compa- ny’s own app [supplied by Cordic; It was Happicabs’ choice to start their own app, and now over half our company’s bookings come in this way. So it really is the going trend.
“Oh, and you get paid on the day! So not hav- ing to wait until the end of the month for a pay cheque is good. The money, meeting great people, seeing a lot of funny and interesting things on a daily basis. I get given my own car from the company so it’s a positive all round.”
One gets the impression that Luke Steers will be driving for a bit longer…
JANUARY 2019
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