Andy Peters Brighton & Hove Cab Trade Association
info@bhcta.co.uk www.bhcta.co.uk
OOTs AND POAW
I should be really sympathetic, but I am not, which is very much the same way my colleagues feel here in Brighton & Hove. The subject for which I have no empathy whatsoever relates to where we have hundreds of out-of-town drivers (OOTs) pre- dominantly out of area working (POAW) who are now complaining about Uber’s new fare format as it appears they are now earning less per ride. Oh dear, what a shame… never mind.
We have a couple of Uber Whatsapp groups in the city, mainly dominated by the OOTs, and I am constantly being sent screen-shots of the posts that are being made by those drivers. So, it is quite amusing to see that over the last month or so the constant moaning in the posts has very notably increased. Yes, I know that it is a tradition that once you get your badge that automatically turns you into an official moaner by default, but the moans and complaints by these Uber drivers here are quite amusing.
The main complaint now is the mileage rate which looks like it has dropped right down to less than £2 per mile. If it is considered that the local council controlled fares here are currently a £3 flag with the first mile being £6, then £3 per mile thereafter, with an increase to a £4 flag after 9pm that increases to £5 after 12 until 6am, what the Uber drivers are now earning per trip is significantly lower now compared to a few months ago.
Just to point out that the two major companies in the city run a mixed fleet of hackneys and PHVs, so all these vehicles have hard meters and use the same council controlled fares. Soft meters are not used mainly because of this.
The general trend of the moaning postings are drivers calling to go on strike and which union is the best one to join. Well, the later point is…well… pointless, because I have never ever seen any of the unions call for a minimum mileage rate. In any case Uber would not implement this because that would mean a standard national rate of fares. Importantly such a minimum
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mileage rate would never suit Uber’s model of price fluctuation and surge/dynamic pricing.
The Uber pricing structure now is to effectively ‘Stack em high and sell em cheap’. The ‘stacks’ here refer to the thousands of Uber drivers with no quantity control, and selling them cheap refers to the low fares that are offered to those drivers with the ‘fastest fingers’ bidding system. In my opinion, such a system should be outlawed as it means that Uber drivers are now driving around and having to keep looking at the driver app and being forced to make snap decisions on whether to take a low-priced job or wait, for yet another low-price job offer.
The actual fares offered to the Uber customers here are pretty much in line with the local controlled fares. This means that the Uber drivers are generally earning less per job than drivers on the local companies after Uber takes its cut and where VAT is applied. However, there is no doubt that Uber can be quite busy at times, although I still see the Uber drivers here posting: “Is it quiet” which is comforting. The issue is that using Uber is trendy, even though the two major companies here have excellent customer apps and have always provided a good service
Going back to the local Uber Whatsapp posts of moans, here are some of those, for which I have the screen shots, if anyone would like to challenge me;
“It’s Saturday night and raining guys and drivers accepting seven-mile trip for £12”
“We all need to log out to force the prices up!” (I like showing my customers that one)
“WTF have they done to Saturday prices!”
“We need legal action and to sign and say we are not happy with these prices. It has become the hunger games”
“Everyone switch off now!”
Fifteen minutes later followed by: “Why are you donkeys still working!” That one gave me a big laugh!
“We need to go on strike!” Yeah, yeah. The last time that happened there were less than twenty OOTs with banners outside the local Uber hub (which I was told was actually closed on the day).
“Does anyone know a good union to represent us! Followed by: “It’s the unions that cause this xxxx up”
OCTOBER 2024 PHTM
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