DRIVE A2B May 2018

EDITORIAL
IDENTIFY
& SOLVE
How do we make the Commercial Passenger Vehicle industry more
viable for all participating entities? Is there one easy solution?
INCREASE IN CPV
ACCREDITATION
The government has truly outdone
themselves - since September last
year they have issued 30,700 new
Commercial Passenger Vehicle
(CPV) licences to operators. So
where have all the extra point-topoint
jobs come from? Are more
people using taxis and hire cars
than they were this time last year?
Don’t think so!
There are just 30,700 more
vehicles with permits to pickup
and deliver passengers, than
this time last year - but no more
jobs. This means that the drivers
are, on average, getting less jobs,
less work, less money - this is not
sustainable.
And there is another point of
order to note. Even though the
number of accredited vehicles has
increased by 30,700 the number
of accredited CPV drivers has only
increased by 13,655.
How can this be? Does every
accredited CPV driver drive 2.2
vehicles? Doesn’t make sense.
If the vehicles have increased
by 30,700 then the number of
accredited drivers should have
increased by at least 70% of that
- 21,500. Something just doesn’t
add up here. Are there people out
there driving around in Hire Cars
(and remember that Uber etc. come
under the Hire Car banner) without
having an approved CPV driver
accreditation? For the sake and
safety of all people on the roads
and CPV passengers, the drivers of
CPVs MUST be accredited.
Research shows many gig
economy (eg Deliveroo and
Airtasker) workers earn less than
the minimum wage after costs are
factored in. There is no holiday pay,
no sick leave, no superannuation,
no Work Cover and the work can
be uncertain. Sound familiar? This
is exactly how it is in the Victorian
Commercial Passenger Vehicle
industry. Everything is the same -
little dollars, no leave pay, no super
- and so it goes on.
Our industry has been enduring
these conditions for many years -
and nothing has changed. Maybe
with the advent of a State election
this year, circumstances will get
better. We can only hope!
ATTACKS
April 2018 saw at least 3 attacks
on Melbourne cabbies.
• A 41 year old driver was
bashed after refusing to hand
over money;
• A 40 year old Doveton driver
was held at gun point while
being instructed to drive
around Dandenong North and
Noble Park to several ATMs
to withdraw cash. When the
4 DRIVE A2B magazine · May 2018