TAXI MAG NEW ZEALAND TAXI FEDERATION MAGAZINE I OCT 2015
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NZTF II NEW ZEALAND TAXI FEDERATION
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INDEX I WELCOME
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I BLUE STAR TAXIS INVERCARGILL CELEBRATE 75 YEARS
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I CORPORATE CABS
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I ALERT TAXIS LTD
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I KIWI CABS WHANGAREI LTD RED CABS (HAMILTON) LTD
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I 2015 TAXIFED CONFERENCE - CHRISTCHURCH
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I BITS ‘N’ BOBS
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I WHITESTONE POST TAXI FEDERATION PRESENTATION
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WELCOME SPRING EDITION
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i everyone and welcome to the third magazine of 2015 which means Christmas will be on us soon and before we know it the year will be over. It seems to have flown past after a slow start and now the Conference is over, we can look forward to summer. The Conference was well attended with lots of new faces including representatives from Alert and Corporate Cabs who joined the Federation during the quarter. The agenda contained a powerful set of speakers, which is detailed later in the magazine, as well as support from our regular sponsors. Obviously much attention was given to the Politicians and a decision regarding the SPSV review will be made towards the end of the year and will probably involve a secondary period of consultation and submissions. As you are aware, the Federation has a special fighting fund for the review and has kept some in reserve for this secondary submission process. Facebook: Like us now! Get out your smartphone, get on Facebook and search for “Taxi Federation, NZ� and like us. Going forward, this will be the fastest source of information for you as we will be updating it regularly with news stories. You will see how important it is to look after our customers.
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GRAFTON BRIDGE As you are aware, we recently allowed access to Grafton Bridge for Taxis and how this will save consumers money. This story has spread and has the same number of likes as our Facebook site and 20 times more likes than our other stories. It is also
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extremely important that we do not lose the Bridge access. Already a number of drivers have been pinged for overtaking cyclists on the bridge. I am sure that it was a relatively safe manoeuvre but one of the trial stipulations is “NO OVERTAKING – No exceptions!” The Federation was recently recognised by St John’s ambulance for its commitment to in-car safety and the First Aid courses that we undertake.
hours when it suits you most. We believe that this brings at least $100 in savings to you. Speaking of which, with all the changes and the review that have happened this year, we are aware that we have not been as active as we would have liked in getting driver benefits. This is something we have set ourselves as a goal for 2016.
NEW EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
As part of the AGM you have a new committee elected as follows: President and South Island Smaller Centres representative: John Mitchell (Blue Star, Invercargill) Vice-President and Auckland: Bhullar Singh (Auckland Co-Op) Immediate Past-President: Warren Quirke (Wellington Combined) Auckland: Jim McWilliams (Taxis United), Colin Sampson (Corporate Cabs) Bay of Plenty: Roman Saily (Mt Tauranga Taxis) North Island Smaller Centres: N/A Wellington: Dave Clyma (Wellington Combined), Alex Reid (Paraparaumu)
We have also come to an agreement with St Johns that should provide a considerable benefit to those drivers that undertake SESTA routes and are required to take First Aid refresher courses. As from now, Federation members will be able to undertake the theoretical part of the course on-line when and where it suits you. If you have a tablet and wifi you can do it whilst waiting for passengers at the airport (pssst – let your passenger see you – they’ll be impressed). Once you have passed your theory, you can then book your practical test. The practical course alone only takes 4-hours, allowing you to do it during the off-peak
Canterbury: Wayne Branks (Blue Star, Christchurch), Kim Hancock (First Direct) Otago: Dean Winton(Dunedin Taxis)
QUEENSTOWN TO HOST
It was decided at the AGM that Queenstown will host the 2016 Conference followed by Hamilton in 2017 Roger Heale Executive Director 5
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BLUE STAR TAXIS INVERCARGILL CELEBRATE 75 YEARS I
n 1902, Robert Muriel was leaving the railway station in a Hansom Cab, a two-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle, on his way to pick up his first customer. This is the first recorded taxi cab ride and spawned multiple copycat firms. In the 1930s, Blue Star Taxis was created by Jack Pagan with five cabs. It quickly grew to 10 drivers and in August of 1940 registered Blue Star Taxis (Invercargill) Ltd run out of the old Railway Hotel. In 1960, after several moves, the company finally settled into its current location of Tay and Jed Street and was remodelled in 1970 and again in 2010. Whilst Blue Star grew via amalgamation, the service was sporadic due to the lack of communication. Before 1950 and the installation of in-car radio customers had to hail a cab unless there was one available at the telephone located on the “Bank� corner (Jay and Dee streets).
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The company now has 50 vehicles of which four are wheelchair vans and two are 10 seat passenger vans. It joined the Blue Bubble group in 2011 and has been part of the Federation since its inception. The conference has been held three times in Invercargill and a number of its shareholders have represented the Federation in various capacities including John Mitchell, the current President. The company is typified by the loyalty and longevity of not just its drivers and shareholders but also its employees. There are a number of Blue Star drivers with more than 25 years at the company and only in 2001 was Noel Hamlin recognised for his 25 years of service in the call centre. Noel is now passing 40 years as a dispatcher!
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t Corporate Cabs we pride ourselves on having provided a professional and reliable service for more than 25 years. Back then we had less than 25 cabs and only operated in Auckland, and now we’ve got more than 370 owner-drivers across five locations nationwide. We are primarily a pre-booked taxi service – but of course we’re available to customers 24 hours a day, seven days a week by calling, booking online or using our app - and we’ve got about 260 cabs in Auckland, 75 in Wellington, 30 in Christchurch , six in Dunedin and five in Queenstown. I’ve been the Chief Executive of Corporate Cabs for 6 years now, so while I wasn’t involved when the company started 25 years ago, the same principles apply. We’re committed to going the extra mile for the comfort and satisfaction of our customers, and we keep growing as a result. Our owner-drivers epitomise our approach to service. They enjoy driving our distinctive, roomy luxurious vehicles and they relate well to our customers and in many cases form lasting relationships with them. Over the years many things in the industry have changed, based largely on legislation and technology,
but our philosophy hasn’t. We value our drivers and their professional approach to their work, which is much more than just ensuring customers arrive promptly and safely at their destination. Most of our drivers love the flexibility that driving a Corporate Cab gives them, and we’re noticing a lot more diversity across the fleet. It doesn’t just attract people who want to be their own boss, it’s a career choice for those who love driving and people, and treat others how they would like to be treated themselves. Our Corporate Cabs head office has always been in Auckland, and for a number of years out of the same building in Manukau Road, which provides a central point to coordinate services. You’ll know how people’s expectations have changed with regard to the service, and we’ve tried to keep up with that. We’ve got a raft of technology advances that we offer our customers, and we are constantly developing new initiatives. Corporate Cabs is pleased to be part of the New Zealand Taxi Federation, the key body that speaks for us collectively, especially at this time with the industry evolving as rapidly as it is. 7
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A L E R T T A X I S LT D A
lert Taxis Ltd is a privately owned company in the process of rapid growth, recognised as one of New Zealand’s leading transport providers, offering an alternative option in the transport industry.
Alert’s sophisticated technology combined with incomparable industry experience from its workforce, enables the company to provide an exceptional service, which has led to the securing of exclusive rights to a number of high profile events and key accounts.
The company has developed dramatically from its inception in 1964, and following its sale in 2002 has experienced phenomenal growth to become a recognized and trusted brand, catering for the ever changing modern environment. These results have come about through a strong partnership forged between the Management Team, the Owner/Operators and frontline staff, all who hold a common goal; “to provide safe, reliable transport to the Auckland Public and their visitors.” 8
Alert prides itself on being a taxi company for the Auckland public that is forever evolving, offering new systems and cutting edge technology for its clients.
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KIWI CABS WHANGAREI LTD RED CABS (HAMILTON) LTD A
lert Taxis took control of Kiwi Cabs Whangarei Ltd and Red Cabs (Hamilton) Ltd in May of 2010, bringing them into the fold of what is collectively call the “Alert Group”.
the growth of the Alert Brand in the competitive marketplace that is the taxi industry.
The formulae and Management style that provided results for Alert has been replicated in Whangarei in the North and Hamilton in the Central Waikato and sees these two grassroots companies moving from strength to strength. Both companies now have Alert Taxi brand alignment, share in all technological resources and benefit from the experience gained during
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ollowing its cancelation due to the earthquake, the annual conference finally found itself back in the Garden city. True to its name, Christchurch welcomed us with fine weather, daffodils and masses of flowering trees, surely a good omen for a highly anticipated and well attended event. Below is a summary of the main speakers and their themes. John Anderson, Founder of Contiki Tours: Starting with an idea and just £25, John founded a company today that carries 45,000 people daily across 4 continents and has a turnover of over $400 million annually. John shared with us the struggles, the calculated risks, failures and decision making that helped take their businesses to the next level, year after year. Throughout the speech, two themes kept recurring; innovation and quality. By the time, it was truly established Contiki had 30 competitors in the market and by the end there was only one. Contiki never discounted, never engaged in a race to the bottom but always looked to improve its product and over time, the competition fell away. John’s book “Only two seats left” usually retails at $39.99 but is available to TaxiFed members on our website for just $25.
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Prof. Graham Currie, Monash: Uber and its effect on public transport. Professor Currie is neither friend nor foe to either taxis or Uber. His job is to study the effects and help create policies that ensure the best public transport solution for cities. So interestingly, he had some proUber opinions and some not so pro-Uber opinions. The pros centred on the ease of use and utilisation of new technologies to connect passengers and drivers in a manner acceptable to both in terms of recognition and the ability to satisfy moments of peak demand. The Cons focussed on the lack of regulation, safety and cherry picking. The last has already resulted in significant reductions in wheelchair vans in San Francisco and poor services in the suburbs. In summary, there is still a lot of data missing but clearly Public Transport and its links need to be protected and standards maintained with new services regulated. Small Centre Meeting Of particular interest was an inspirational talk given by Murray Bell from Whitestone Taxis. We heard a sadly
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familiar tale of a struggling taxi company and a need to change without knowing what to do or how to go about it. The introduction of a business manager led to a focusing of the minds and a different approach. Today, Whitestone is a thriving business with growth aspirations, well supported by the community. Murray’s speech is included as an appendix and I suggest you read it and see if there are things in it that you can relate to and use.
DAY 2 Roger Heale, CEO, TaxiFed: Explained what the Federation’s approach to the review has been over the last 18-months. He was now able to provide tangible results showing how our public image has improved dramatically whilst that of Uber has somewhat reduced. He also explained how Uber are trying to construct a new network whilst destabilising the existing establishment. 11
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The two figures below (4a and 4b) show this in action. The green arrows in Fig 4a, are what Uber is trying to create whilst the pink arrows show the reality that awaits for the driver. However, the problem for Uber is getting drivers. Some of you will have received fliers tempting you to join Uber and sell your shares. There have also been rumours about the stability of your ATOs published in the press and guarantees of income. These are classic destabilisation tactics designed to encourage drivers to join Uber and should be ignored. Ministry of Education: Cameras will be mandatory for all SESTA vehicles from 2016 onwards but the current contract will roll for another year. NZTA and Ministry of Transport: A summary of the SPSV review process was undertaken 12
but little ancillary detail was provided given that there has been no official decision taken. Most questions and answers centred around the prerogative of safety for both the driver and passenger and accountability from the company. Assoc. Minister for Transport, Craig Foss MP Understandably, Associate Minister Foss was unable to give too much detail with regards to the pending review decision but was at pains to stress that the government were keen to embrace technology but not at the expense of safety and neither was this review designed to help one company in particular but rather provide frameworks for the advances over the next 10-years. In a similar vein to John Anderson, he pointed out that New Zealand’s size does not allow it to compete on price. However, in the fields of quality and innovation, it regularly punches above its weight. The Minister views Transport as a huge opportunity for New Zealand to
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lead the way in providing an integrated and dynamic transport solution for everyone and urged us, as the incumbents to take advantage of our market situation to maintain our market leadership. Julie Anne Genter MP, Transport spokesperson, Green Party Julie Anne’s speech came from a different angle to that of Minister Foss. She started by highlighting why the transport situation is the way it is and accepted that Highways and peak hours would not change until there was a major shift in transport philosophy. Nevertheless, with respect to the taxi industry, she envisioned more work for Taxis going forward, as car ownership continued to decline and city planners looked to recapture the village feeling within the city centres. However, the nature of the work would change to shorter trips, linking people to improved mass transit hubs via integrated technology.
Alastair Davis, CEO, Toyota NZ As a car manufacturer, Toyota is also concerned about the new trends in technology. The advent of automated cars with less car ownership clearly points to a double dip in sales trends going forward. Toyota is also working on its autonomous vehicles with combinations for Hybrid, Electric and Hydrogen and has an eye on how the fuelling of these vehicles will play out compared with the high median age of vehicles within New Zealand. For example, technology is being developed to allow charging plates to be placed under the asphalt on roads and traffic lights. Thus your car can charge whilst waiting on the road or airport and not just at a charging station. Is this a path that the taxis may take going forward? Additionally, check-out this video about platooning on you tube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydvYvNzl16s Could this be an avenue of revenue for Taxi drivers in the future as authorised drivers? 13
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BITS ‘N’ BOBS amilton Taxis recently won some free publicity on the back of the local bus company. Perhaps we are getting more integrated with Public Transport than we thought.
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Please find enclosed a printed copy and a sticker for your car. These are designed to educate your customers should they be interested in how we are doing with respect to Uber (very well, thank you), the things that go on in a Taxi that they may take for granted and the confirmation that they are making the right choice. We will be looking to constantly update these cards so if your client wants to take one, please let them.
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WHITESTONE POST TAXI FEDERATION PRESENTATION Hello everyone, my name is Murray Bell and together with my wife Liz, we own Whitestone Taxis based in Oamaru. But before I go into what diversification strategy we have developed, let me overview our last 5 years – it may ring true with many of you here. What I am about to cover today there are no magic bullets – but there is, as we’ve learnt, always solutions if you look hard enough. 16
Whitestone Taxis is a small taxi firm that services the town of Oamaru. Basic facts of Oamaru are:Has a population of about 12,700 Is the centre of the Waitaki district which stretches from Palmerston in the south to the Waitaki River in the north, and inland to Omarama, which adds an additional 7,500 residents.
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Oamaru has a large proportion of elderly residents, with the main employers being meat processors, tourism and a significant transient workforce employed in the dairy industry. Whitestone Taxis operating model traditionally was:Owns / operates 7 cars and 3 maxi taxis, which double as wheelchair vans, Employ approximately 15 full and part time staff, who are paid on an hourly rate plus a commission basis. Because they are all employees, we are required to top up their wages to the minimum wage when there is no taxi work. We are the only taxi business in town with competition mainly from “Driving Miss Daisy” – but principal competition is apathy of residents to being required to travel to entertainment destinations. Up until 5 years ago, we also managed all aspects of the operation of the Oamaru Airport, from passenger transport, loading, and plane marshalling, to delivery of lost baggage, and air crew transport, but this contract was cancelled with closure of airport and our income was badly affected from thereon. Our primary business operation subsequently has been taxi patronage. During the day we are mainly quite busy, but at night times during the week, there are very limited calls for taxis. Night time weekend work has also dropped off, with the associated drop off in hotel patronage that the publicans have been experiencing. What therefore this meant was we owned a business that was exposed to ever increasing negative economic events and we as owners had no idea what to do about it.
Compounding this problem over those first 3 years of the last 5 years, we were becoming increasingly frustrated by driver apathy, lack of income, and our ability as owners / managers to create worthwhile changes. Essentially, as business owners, we had completely felt like we had lost control of our business and lacked direction.
POTENTIALLY THIS MAY SOUND FAMILIAR TO SOME OF YOU SO WHAT TO DO!!!??? We both knew we needed help and by chance we answered an advertising promotion to attend a business coaching seminar and subsequently engaged the services of a Dunedin based Business Coach. The Business Coach squarely placed the focus of the problems we were facing on US – and our management style. Correctly he had held us accountable to become more demanding and authorative in our business management which rapidly resulted in deliberate exiting of our weak drivers and replacing them with motivated and reliable team members – what a difference this made. From there we could start to function as entrepreneurial business people open to new ideas – then all hell broke loose and we started to turn the tables on our perception of being small business victims. With this renewed focus, The Coach then gave us tools to better manage our business, and provided advice on how to increase incomes. It was very clear that any profits made during the busy times was being eroded during the quiet times,………. so what to do? 17
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Firstly he held us accountable: increase our prices – something we’ve done 3 times in 2 years – with no negative effects. He then suggested looking outside the box for additional quiet time work so adopted the new ‘strapline for our business –
PEOPLE, PAPERS, PARCELS, POST Effectively he identified we are a business that specialises in delivering a wide range of items – not just limited to taxi fares. As an example - We have been a contractor for the Otago Daily Times for a number of years, and the income generated by the drivers overnight from those deliveries provided a modest offset to their wages. Our Coach then proposed that we investigate delivering mail overnight for local businesses based on the GUARANTEE of overnight delivery. While I was reticent at first, as I had trouble getting my head around the small individual pricing, once we found the volume of mail that was involved, the income became quite significant, and the only real costs were vehicle r u n n i n g co st s , u s i n g ve h i c l e s t h at wo u l d otherwise sit idle.
WHITESTONE POST WAS BORN. We now produce our own stamps, and prepaid envelopes, giving us an income stream before we deliver the letters, so debtors are reduced, and all mail delivered advertises our operation, which generates even more income. 18
Our mail system has grown from the envisaged local delivery, to an exclusive agreement with NZ Post, whereby they will deliver any mail outside of our region. To achieve this we have needed to make adjustments to our initial model to therefore encompass all client’s requirements, and now operate a permit post as well as prepaid. By selecting who we offer this to, we still have not impacted on our debtors. Our 2 local stationers retail our stamps, and prepaid envelopes on our behalf. We provide overnight delivery of mail locally, 5 days per week, at 70 cents per item, resulting in faster payment of accounts, more response from client’s customers, and give ourselves a very high profile within the community, as well as saving our client’s money. In opposition NZ Post take up to a week to transport mail to a sorting centre, transport it back for delivery, and then household delivery 3 days per week. The South Island Mail Sorting Centre is in Christchurch, so mail is picked up from Invercargill and centres all the way north, before being returned after it is sorted. We have employed 2 people to sort the mail on a daily basis, so all drivers are required to do is deliver the mail in the sorted order. At busy times of the month, we require extra staff to deliver mail, but day time drivers are keen for the extra work, and we have a couple of extra people we can call on. Our original investigation and budgets were done when NZ Post postal rates were at 70 cents, so that is the model we have worked with. We allow 20 cents per item for pickup and sorting, which leaves 50 cents per item for delivery. Drivers with ambition can deliver more than 100 letters per hour, so a realistic return of $50 per hour is achieved, in what would otherwise be a $0 per hour time. All of the drivers have embraced the operation of the mail service, as it provides work during the quiet times, and additional income for them.
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AND – AS OUR COACH POINTS OUT, NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED HAD WE NOT CHANGED OUR MANAGEMENT STYLE AND GOT OUT THERE AND JUST DID IT. We h ave h a d co n s i d e ra b l e s u p p o r t a n d encouragement from NZ Post, and have had investigative discussions with them regarding delivery of NZ Post mail. These discussions have also included Rural Mail deliveries. We now have in place exclusive agreements with NZ Post, and the specialist supplier of our counting and franking machines, so that any mail that we introduce to the NZ Post system attracts a discount, the income from which pays for the lease of the machines, and the wages for handling the mail. Our clients include Accountants, Real Estate companies, many local garages and other businesses, as well as Doctors, and Dentists, Beauty Salons and anyone sending out direct mail, accounts or appointments. Our original intention was to deliver local mail overnight to provide some wages relief for our business, but a much greater opportunity has emerged. We are in a position to offer NZ Post a turn-key solution to the delivery side of their mail operation in North Otago and potentially NZ wide. Our Coach advises we now have a model that can be duplicated NZ wide so we must stop thinking “OAMARU” as this will hinder our VISION being just local. In reality, if our business model can work in provincial Oamaru, it can work anywhere in provisional NZ.
What we want to achieve now, is to replicate our systems that we have put in place in Oamaru, in other centres around the country, so that we can provide NZ Post with a consistent solution in those centres. While any contractor would be able to be set up to provide the delivery service, I see taxi firms as the logical choice, as they all have vehicle dead time during the night, so there is no need to purchase any addition vehicles, we all have extensive knowledge of the layout of our towns, and we all have staff dead time during the nights. We still have new ideas to implement and still working hard but it is now a pleasure to go to work. Our latest achievement was to be sacked as a driver by my Coach – a huge milestone for management.I am now largely free to work on the business and “drive” it rather than it drive us. Our challenges remain however, the fall in fare patronage is still real with particularly the drop off in the hospitality industry. But I can assure you our business model as it was some 3 years ago would have seen us struggling both financially & personally had WE not changed as business owners and taken the brave steps by adopting new ideas. Whitestone POST is a true opportunity to develop a more robust business model for provincial taxi firms – maybe even suburban firms – why not? So that in a nutshell has been our journey over the last 3-5 years – we’ve got exciting ideas we want to launch into the next financial year – something I can now achieve given I’ve been sacked as a driver We’d be more than happy to answer any questions you may have about Whitestone Post and what we’ve overviewed here for you. 19
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