Is Being a London Cabbie Still Worth It? My Honest Take

Summary

Tom the Taxi Driver explores the life of a London cabbie, pondering whether it remains a viable career in the face of rising costs, competition from ride-sharing apps, and changes in urban planning. He addresses the key question of financial sustainability, ultimately answering that one can still make a living as a London taxi driver. However, the job does come with its challenges such as the high cost of living in London, potential loneliness due to the nature of the work, and the regulatory hurdles imposed by entities like Transport for London. On the flip side, the job offers unparalleled freedom, flexibility, and a sense of lifestyle over just a traditional job structure, making it a unique career choice worth considering for those inclined toward independence and self-employment.

Highlights

• Rising operational costs and competition from ride-sharing apps challenge the trade. 📉
• Despite these challenges, London cabbies are the most qualified drivers globally! 🌍
• Living in London is expensive but necessary for optimal work conditions. 🏙️
• Regulations by Transport for London can make life difficult for cabbies. 🚦
• Being your own boss brings immense freedom and flexibility—real perks of the job! 🕴
• Long work hours can be tough but staying balanced is crucial for sustainability. ☕
• The social aspect of the job is limited, which can lead to feelings of isolation. 🤝
• Consistent work routines are more sustainable than working excessively long hours. ⏱️

Key Takeaways

• Despite challenges, there's still money to be made as a London cabbie! 🚖
• Location is a big deal—living in or near London is costly but important. 🌆
• Driving a cab isn't just a job; it's a lifestyle with freedom and independence. ✨
• Working long hours can feel rewarding but is also exhausting—balance is key. ⚖️
• The taxi trade has unique challenges, but also unique rewards! 🎢

Overview

Tom the Taxi Driver dives into the everyday life of being a London cabbie amidst rising business costs and increasing competition from ride-sharing apps. While there are challenges, the allure of driving a taxi in London still holds strong. The golden days may be past or yet to come, but the present still offers opportunities to earn a decent living.

With London being the heart of the job, living either in or near the city is almost a necessity, and this brings its share of challenges. The cost of living is high, and the regulatory environment is demanding, sometimes leaving cabbies feeling alienated. But despite these issues, the unique lifestyle and independence that come with the job make it a fascinating career choice.

The flexible nature of being a cabbie offers freedom that few jobs can match. Instead of a traditional 9-to-5, this career path offers the liberty to pick and choose when to work. However, it's not without its downsides, such as loneliness and long hours. Tom offers a realistic take on what it means to be on the road daily, emphasizing the need for a balanced work life to truly enjoy the perks of this unique trade.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:00: Introduction and Overview The introduction and overview discuss the challenges faced by London taxi drivers amidst rising business costs and increasing competition from ride-sharing services. Despite these difficulties, established cab drivers remain some of the best qualified in the world. The chapter contemplates whether one would choose to become a London taxi driver if given the chance again, affirming the value and prestige of the profession despite ongoing challenges. There is a reflection on the saying 'as London's taxis go, so goes London,' emphasizing the critical role taxis play in the city's identity. The text also notes the continued allure, or 'sexiness,' associated with the profession, a sentiment that has persisted for decades.
• 01:00 - 03:00: The Financial Viability of Being a Taxi Driver The chapter discusses the financial viability of becoming a London taxi driver. It addresses the common question of whether one can still make a living from this profession. The speaker confidently asserts that there will always be money to be made in taxi driving, regardless of whether the industry's best days have passed, are current, or are yet to come.
• 03:00 - 05:00: Challenges of Location and Commuting This chapter discusses the challenges faced due to location and commuting, particularly for a London cab driver, during different parts of the year including the pandemic. Despite difficult conditions, where people were instructed to stay home, the narrator highlights resilience by managing to earn even when it was nearly impossible. The chapter is structured to first detail the negative aspects and then the positive aspects of this profession, offering insights even for those not interested in becoming cab drivers.
• 05:00 - 08:00: Regulations and Licenses The chapter begins with a word on understanding and having empathy for London taxi drivers. It briefly mentions a sponsorship with HelloFresh, a meal kit delivery service. The promotional offer includes a discount and free meals for a set period. Following this, the chapter dives deeper into the main content.
• 08:00 - 11:00: Work-Life Balance and Hours The chapter discusses the concept of work-life balance with a focus on how external factors, such as weather, can affect one's productivity and mindset. The speaker humorously describes their experience of trying to find comfort and solace during a rainy day by choosing an unconventional seating position in a London taxi. This scenario metaphorically explores how adapting to unexpected or less-than-ideal circumstances is a part of balancing work and life. The setting emphasizes a casual reflection on how sometimes physical environment changes, like rain or lacking a usual comfort, can impact sleep and, indirectly, the work-life dynamic.
• 11:00 - 13:00: Loneliness and Social Impact of the Job The chapter discusses the impacts of loneliness and social isolation associated with jobs that require being tied to a specific location, such as a London cab driver. Despite the benefits of being your own boss and having time independence, there is a counteracting drawback of being geographically bound. The necessity to either live in close proximity to the work location or deal with additional commuting costs, such as extra fuel, emphasizes the social and personal sacrifices made in such roles.
• 13:00 - 15:00: Wages and Economic Considerations The chapter discusses the economic considerations of living in and out of London, emphasizing the cost differences. Living further from London can save money on housing costs, with a suggested savings of 200 quid a month for someone living outside and commuting. However, it may add to commute time, potentially reducing daily work or leisure time. The chapter also mentions alternative work strategies, such as cab drivers who live far away but opt to work long shifts in London to minimize commuting days. The author shares personal experience with these trade-offs.
• 15:00 - 18:00: The Freedom and Lifestyle of a Taxi Driver The chapter titled 'The Freedom and Lifestyle of a Taxi Driver' delves into the personal experiences and challenges faced by a taxi driver. The narrative discusses the geographical mobility the job provides, mentioning places like High Wickam and Watford Essex. It emphasizes the importance of accepting one's unique situation in this profession. A key takeaway is the realization that pushing oneself to work an additional hour after an already long 12-hour shift can be extremely grueling, highlighting the need for self-care and knowing when to stop for personal well-being.
• 18:00 - 19:30: Suitability and Characteristics for the Job The chapter discusses the suitability and characteristics required for a job related to the investment in the trade, specifically focusing on Transport for London (TfL) and its role. The author expresses a sense of irony regarding TfL's influence, noting that although TfL is supposed to uphold standards and ensure the taxi service is the best globally, it can sometimes feel like they are counterproductive to the operators. The strictness of licensing is emphasized, as it can be lost for various misdemeanors, whether they occur on social media, while driving, or during interactions with the public.

Is Being a London Cabbie Still Worth It? My Honest Take Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 Rising costs of business less new entrance into the London taxi industry and competition from ride sharing would I become a London taxi driver if given the choice all over again without any doubt best qualified cab drivers on the entire planet let's remember that as London's taxis go so London goes this game's finished always has been people have asked this question for decades sexy they call it doing the
• 00:30 - 01:00 knowledge when people ask me this question I think what they're trying to actually say is if I became a London taxi driver is there still money in it can I still make a living from it is it worth my time and to that I would give a resounding yes there's always going to be money in this game maybe we've already had the Golden Ages and maybe the golden age is right now maybe it's Yet to Come who knows but you will always be able to go out and make some
• 01:00 - 01:30 money there's going to be quiet parts of the year there's going to be good parts of the Year even on my very worst day in the pandemic a time when people were instructed to stay at home I still managed to go out and earn £50 yes I know that's not a sustainable income but even at a time when it should have been impossible to make any money it was still possible now with the money bit out of the way I'm going to split this video into two halves the bad bits and the good bits even if you don't want to become a London cab driver you're you're going to get some insight and have some
• 01:30 - 02:00 empathy for your average London taxi driver let's go now before we get deep this video is sponsored by hellofresh many of you will know my general EOS on less faf and time wasting activities now we're going to rustle up a tasty meal later on in this video but if you use my link which is hellofresh.com 20% off your next 2 months and free
• 02:00 - 02:30 desserts for life that's awesome now let's begin with the bad bits first of all it's raining quite a lot I might add so you know what I'm just actually just going to Cozy up in this portion here it's so wet out there right this is pretty weird I've never really sat in this portion here there is no front passenger seat on London taxis location and this is a weird one that's cost me a lot of sleep
• 02:30 - 03:00 over the years in a world of work from home location Arbitrage the thing that sucks most about being a London cab driver is the London bit the greatest benefit of being time independent or being your own boss which we'll cover later on in this video is instantly wiped out to the fact that you are tied down to London which means you either have to live in London or be in close proximity to London okay let's say it cost you an extra 1010 a day in fuel
• 03:00 - 03:30 because you live further out of London 50 Quid a week if we assume 5 days a week that's an extra 200 quid a month you could put towards having a more expensive Mortgage in London and maybe living out of London is an extra half hour on your commute so you can save an extra hour a day by living in London and in that hour you can get another job in town one example is that some cab drivers might live 2 hours outside of London so what they do is they'll just work fre really long days in town rather than having to commute constantly find days a week and I myself have tried this
• 03:30 - 04:00 formula in so many ways I've lived out in high Wickam I lived out in Watford Essex so many different ways of doing this and really you just got to make peace with your own individual circumstances from doing this job long enough I know that grinding for an extra hour can be torture if you've already done 12 hours and you're forcing yourself to stay an extra hour that can be a pretty long hour and especially if you just want to go home get to bed because you just had enough of work
• 04:00 - 04:30 tfl and our investment into this trade I say this with some Gest because I know that tfl transport for London as our operator are here to uphold our standards and ensure that we are the best taxi service in the world but sometimes it does feel like they are completely working against us it's so easy to lose our license for just about any misdemeanor whether that's on social media out driving or just interacting with the general public
• 04:30 - 05:00 back in I think it was 2021 when I had my letter about my conditions of Fitness to be licensed one of the things that was explicitly stated in that letter was that I could not use the fact that I had this taxi on finance or if I was a private H driver I could not use that car as a reason as a financial hardship reason for my conditions to remain licensed and I'm not against tfl for doing this but the fact I've invested so heavily into this vehicle and
• 05:00 - 05:30 specifically transport for London cannot be used as a mitigating circumstance against any misdemeanor whether that's taxi related or not which is nuts because you hear of people going to court for certain misdemeanors the idea that if they lost their license the hardship it would then cause them because they would not be able to pay their bills their mortgage Etc means that the court has to be lenion for whatever those circumstances are the longer that I'm in this trade for the more unemployable I am you know if I was
• 05:30 - 06:00 in like an office job working as a marketer and I lose my job you're fine then I can just go apply for a job as a marketer elsewhere makes sense I could go to a different country I can do anything but if I lose my job as a London taxi driver you're fine not only am I uniquely qualified for London that's not a skill set I can take anywhere else I've also invested heavily in the accoutrements and the trappings of the job so I might live close to London for the job and of course this vehicle I've had to buy this vehicle vle cuz it's the only one you can do the job
• 06:00 - 06:30 in so what this then does is it makes me more paranoid and cautious than I need to be not just within work but in my personal life as well not only am I having to save enough to kind of cover the running of this vehicle as you'd expect but if I lost my job I need to bank enough to kind of cover my ass so I feel like if I was to do this again and I enter the trade from day one that's probably the point when you're the most vulnerable you know it's like when you look back at your younger self and you got like no savings no safety net and
• 06:30 - 07:00 how vulnerable you could be to just like well going to zero basically it's kind of like a Chinese finger trap the more that I invest the more I have to cover myself because if something does go foul I'm more invested in it I had people who reach out to me and have these crazy Notions of oh if I work 14 to 16 hour days and I do six days a week I could retire off into the sunset at age 45 or whatever but they discount
• 07:00 - 07:30 their actual lived experience what it's actually like to do that it's really easy to come up with this notion on paper and say that you're going to do it but it's a bit like saying oh I'm going to go to the gym on Monday and you know what I'm going to go Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday if you've never been to the gym in your life you can ramp it up but I believe it's inversely proportional to the quality of life that you will have more hours worked the time off work you're not going to enjoy as much and the drivers that do work those long and crazy hour hours well because
• 07:30 - 08:00 they need to they're the ones that might have gone out really really hard had a bit of Lifestyle creep got a mortgage got a car on finance and now they have to come out to work to sustain that lifestyle or you earn a lot to satisfy this increased income and lifestyle you then have a big tax bill you then need to work a lot to pay that tax bill because you work a lot your taxes higher and you're then stuck in this Perpetual cycle my eost the job is that it's way more enjoy able and way more sustainable
• 08:00 - 08:30 if you can just do consistent hours treat it like any endurance effort 5 days a week 9 hours a week don't burn the candle at both ends get to bed on time wake up refresh the next day and go again if I went out and did a 16h hour day one day the next day I'm going to have a Lon I'm probably not going toble repeat it and if I do go to work I might only be able to work 6 hours well I might as well just gone in and done the more sustainable hours to begin with and for my personal experience I found that doing this YouTube channel has made my
• 08:30 - 09:00 job in the taxi far more enjoyable and sustainable because I'm not grinding out 6 seven days a week I'm out home I'm doing some filming and editing and I'm excited to get back out in the cab not because it's physical graft because it's not but it's just mentally draining and straining and repetitive and you're just seeing your everyday existence converted into hours in the saddle each day working is another day lost another day that you could be with your family at home in the garden or on the golf
• 09:00 - 09:30 course so for those of you that are thinking about this the idea of I can work lots of hours and I can have freedom you can't have both you can have one or the other and I'd recommend to pick the latter and ultimately that's why we become cabbies not to grind it out if you want a job that pays you stupidly well then I'd maybe find a job that has more financial webside than being a taxi driver I'll get a bit more into the wage bit in a second
• 09:30 - 10:00 [Music] and it's a pretty lonely job I don't mean that as in oh you're going to be on your own a lot as a cab driver or like oh it's a lonely existence cuz I don't mind that so much I mean that in the grand scheme of your life of loneliness when I finished school I went to college I went to University I came out of University flopped around in some graduate jobs for a bit before eventually studing to become a London cab driver and some of the best friendships that I still have to this day people that I can really count upon
• 10:00 - 10:30 and depend upon and have real deep meaningful conversations with are the people that I kind of met on that in between bit I guess what I'm trying to say is like have some life experience before becoming a cab driver because this job will Silo you how many friends do you know met their partner through a friend of a friend through a work colleague someone when they went to University with college or traveling something like that I'd argue it's pretty high and that then affects your potential life partner your overall
• 10:30 - 11:00 happiness in life the kids whether you have kids because of choosing this job you know if the option came up between like working in a bustling office environment with lots of social interactions or what I call social collisions or becoming a taxi driver I would probably argue that the office one would probably be better for a young person these are all different like roads and routes that might just Veer your life off into the most random and interesting of directions whereas you
• 11:00 - 11:30 know what you're going to get with this you know you're going to sit inside of this taxi you might have some Illuminating conversations with people but it's going to be quite hard for that to progress anywhere it could be very easy to trap yourself and just go right I need a mortgage cool got a mortgage and then you park yourself in a particular area a place to live and your life is incredibly lonely and it gets even lonelier because it's really hard and difficult for me to connect with people about what I actually do people always want to see prog depression if someone's just moved in somewhere new if
• 11:30 - 12:00 they've got a new job if they've had a kid or whatever that's then like the Hallmark that you're doing well or that you're moving forward and because this job doesn't progress it does become quite lonely to talk about and people don't really connect too well with it it's weird it's why cabbies kind of do huddle together whenever we're at like a a dinner party or whatever not only are you siloing yourself because you are lonely in your job even outside the job when you talk about it it's quite a lonely existence as
• 12:00 - 12:30 well the wage I can't quantify this as good or bad because this comes down to how you value time and I can't give you a pound amount because that's hugely variable and I've made a video previously about what a cab driver could potentially earn if like me you came from a basic background like I came from a basic retail job I no qualifications were needed you could just roll straight into that job right then driving a taxi
• 12:30 - 13:00 was a huge upgrade for me that was like the jackpot not just within the money but also within the time Freedom that I could come and go to work when I like I didn't have to work Saturdays anymore that was amazing although oddly enough I do enjoy working Saturdays now if you've already got a trade then I'd imagine working a taxi would be similar maybe even worse depending on your individual circumstances you know with an electrician or a plumber you could be a oneman band or you could expand it out into a bigger company so if you're
• 13:00 - 13:30 already within a trade you might already have a pretty good standard of living pay Rises you do and you don't get a pay rise in this job some cabbies have done the mental math and believe that adjusted for inflation we was earning better decades ago yeah back in the '90s we could expect to earn about £ 17 minimum per hour up to £50 60 per hour you can go higher than that you can also go lower than that but that would kind of be the average and for a week's money we would be looking for £1,500 to £2,000
• 13:30 - 14:00 a week back in the mid90s so I'm just wanting to explain Dean's point a bit further and that is that he believes the mid90s you was earning more money as a cab driver than what you are now because adjusted for inflation we're not at those 3,000 to 4,000 a week figures if anything we're nearer to the figures that he supplied in the mid90s you might be asking why is this well one reason could be the fact of course Uber private higher drivers more we getting those and that just
• 14:00 - 14:30 means that we have less Journeys in a cab overall so even though our meter may have gone up over time we're probably not as busy as what those drivers were in the mid90s in terms of back-to-back jobs so that could be where the discrepancy is also considering cost of living so back then in the mid90s I was renting a three-bedroom house on the temps in Edward Square for £1,000 a month now you wouldn't be renting a £2,000 a month would rent you a two-bedroom apartment with no special view but it's not all that bad because other than the few years during covid we
• 14:30 - 15:00 do get a meter check every single year what's happening with inflation if the cost of living is going up we get a pay rise to reflect the fact that petrol goes up the cost of this vehicle goes up insurance goes up so that we should have a Meed increase to reflect that one thing I found since being a cab driver is that I'm never really sure of money I'm not exactly like oozing in money and maybe it's because since being self-employed I'm a little bit more self-aware of like where the money goes
• 15:00 - 15:30 or that my time in equals money out so I'm a bit more conscious on my spending because I know how hard it can be to earn that money but I generally find I can get all my bills paid and nothing's really that much of a shock to me which is nice now before we get onto the good bits I did promise I was going to rustle up a pretty awesome meal so let's go see what I've got from hellofresh and I'm excited for hellofresh to be sort me out because I hate faing around in the kitchen so if I can cut down my time in the kitchen and make taste your meals
• 15:30 - 16:00 this is where they're going to be a game changer so not only we going to make a sweet and sticky Korean chicken stir fry we're going to be doing it with minimal waste as well that's what I love about the pre portioning let's get this show on the road 20 [Music] minutes I did it I did a thing so the meals come portioned for either two three four people I for the two portion sizes so I can cook one for myself save one for later so to get
• 16:00 - 16:30 started on your hellofresh journey go to hellofresh.com [Music] the fact that I can go to work when I
• 16:30 - 17:00 want I still have to work becoming a London cab driver isn't like winning the lottery mil you know what this means don't you Rodney we're millionaires but it's just nuts that I can just wake up on a given day and just do what I want like today I'm not going to go to work I'm probably not going to go to work tomorrow or over the weekend it's pretty nice if you can't stand that awkward conversation with your boss or HR about you know having to have the Friday and Monday off so you can have a long
• 17:00 - 17:30 weekend away skiing with the lads someone's like do you want are you free to do this yeah I can book a weekend away whenever what what we talking let's let's go I kind of forget how trapped I felt in a previous job maybe you could replace those holidays with being more present with your family being a super dad picking up your kids from school insert wherever you want to do there it's so refreshing to be able to work as and when you feel like
• 17:30 - 18:00 it and to be honest this job feels more like a lifestyle than it does a job I come to work as me I'm not having to put on some corporate Persona or face I speak with passengers as me if I want to help people out I can do that if I want to stop and just have a relaxing afternoon I can do just that it all just Blends into my daily existence I don't really see it as work basically just going out for a drive
• 18:00 - 18:30 albeit a very long one so I've covered the good and the bad but who is this job really for this job is not suitable for someone who has a pretty good work from home sort of life balance the kind of job where you get paid for not putting a lot of effort in you my friend definitely cannot be a London taxi driver if you like to be fiercely independent hate corporate struct es and office politics
• 18:30 - 19:00 or taking orders or doing all that kind of offish political smoing then this might be the job for you you need to be diligent with your saving have rainy day money and hold yourself back from lifestyle creep but if you want a nice big house somewhere and a brand new car on the drive this probably isn't the job for you you need a good work ethic if you can't will yourself to work this is going to be an incredibly stressful job for you but on the flip side if you want of those people that's always pottering about
• 19:00 - 19:30 tinkering around and always trying to find jobs this is going to be a very rewarding job for you you need basic people skills you're not going to be having crazy interactions all the time and most of my Journeys are conducted in sheer silence but you're going to need to be obliging and people first at a minimum so if you think this is the job for you and you want to learn a little bit more about how much a cab driver could earn well I made a video about that over here