It was like that “back then”, and not that long ago: It has gotten late in the local pub. The last bus is long gone, tipsy driving is not an option. So off to the taxi, whose driver brings you home with a cozy chat. The pubs are closed, so you don’t have to go home either. Driver Horst Müller and Erdal Arslan, the head of the Leverkusen taxi service, report what it does to the taxi industry. The cooperative principle is preventing the worst there at the moment. But: “We had to take out loans,” says Arslan. And the evening business has largely given up the taxi business. “We only keep the emergency service up.” That means: ten cars are available – with 62 taxis that are available in Leverkusen.
A little hope makes Christmas. Family celebrations can be done on a small scale – taxi drivers should also benefit from this. So there are 20 cars ready in the evening and at night. Likewise on New Year’s Eve.
110 euros daily turnover is not even enough for the minimum wage
Horst Müller has spent his working life behind the wheel and has been driving people from A to B since 1975. Even now, actually retired, he is still on the road – on the day shift. There is still a lot of traffic on the Monday and Tuesday before the complete lockdown; people want to get everything done quickly. “But we have to ignore these days,” says Müller over the hands-free system in his car. The corona normality is that you often only get the first order an hour and a half after the start of work. “With a turnover of 110 euros per day, you cannot reach the minimum wage.”
This scenario will come again. “The time in the first shutdown was terrible. Now it’s going to go downhill again. ”That’s how it is. “Minus 70 percent” is Erdal Arslan’s assessment. That’s how it is when only shops are allowed to open that sell groceries and other daily necessities – and nobody else.
Horst Müller has been driving taxis since 1975. Now he’s only on the day shift. Nothing works at night because of Corona.
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The safety precautions don’t help either. The taxis Horst Müller rides in are no exception. All have a plastic partition that goes across the car behind the front seats. In addition, the drivers wear masks: “It has been recognized that the ban on masking, which actually applies to driving a vehicle, does not apply here,” explains Müller. In the meantime, these are no longer allowed to be everyday masks. FFP 2 is compulsory, “with us safety has to have priority”, taxi call boss Arslan tries to use a catchy slogan.
It just doesn’t help much. Many people are afraid to get into a taxi – or are not even on the move because they limit their contacts. Horst Müller reports: “This year you were proud when you achieved 40 percent of the usual turnover. In order to enable reasonable sales for at least a few drivers, half of the cars have now been left in the company’s yard. “
Rotation system is intended to alleviate the hardship
In doing so, the taxi call – fully committed to the cooperative idea – used a rotation system. “One day the cars with the numbers one to 30, the next those with the numbers 31 to 62,” explains Erdal Arslan. So everyone got their turn, but only every other day. That cost half the turnover anyway. Except that every day was rather poor. “In October it was still okay,” says Arslan. “From November onwards it eased a lot and with the lockdown now it looks really bad.”
In cities like London, regular taxi graveyards are now emerging. With us, the service has not spread as widely as in the big cities of other countries. But taxis parked in the yard – that means drivers who stayed at home. Unemployed drivers. At least very often. The larger companies, says Arslan, have registered short-time work for their employees. “At least nobody had to be fired that way.”
The principle of self-exploitation
That wouldn’t be good either. “You won’t get the driver back either,” the taxi boss knows. While the employed chauffeurs are still reasonably protected, the sole proprietorships have been acting on the principle of self-exploitation since Corona. No turnover, no wages. As simple as that.
Horst Müller knows that the corona crisis in the taxi industry is still costing jobs: “Some pensioners who still drove for us have now decided to quit. And I know about a colleague who has now hid with a bus company. ”They are always looking for drivers. However, they need a bus driver’s license. And it’s very expensive.
Whoever stays has to fight. “You can only feel sorry for your colleagues on the night shift,” says Horst Müller. They would have already suffered from the death of restaurants. But now nothing is going on at night.
For him there can only be one solution: more sales. And here Müller has an offensive idea.
“Have you worked out how much a car costs you per month?” He explains his approach. “That amounts to 400 euros. And many only drive their car once a week. With around 100 euros a week you could drive a lot of taxi! “
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