OPERATOR'S AND MAXI OPERATOR'S MEETINGS REPORT

On Wednesday 11th February our Operator's Group met at The Riverview Hotel (a major client of Black & White Cabs) for one of their regular fleet meetings.  Chairman Per Dinesen welcomed 40 of our Taxi Operators who were brought up to date with company matters by General manager, John Tighe.

Guest speakers on the day were Robert Mathers, the CTP Insurance Manager for QBE and Blair Davies, CEO of the Taxi Council of Queensland.  Robert spoke about the recent hefty increases in CTP premiums for Class 3 taxis (sedans and people movers, not maxis).  Robert's message was a sobering one for the taxi industry as further CTP premium increases were anticipated for 2009. 

CTP premiums for the taxi industry (Class 3 vehicles) are calculated on a relativity basis; i.e. the current Class 1 premium (this is for standard motor vehicles) multiplied by 18 times to arrive at our premium.  The relativity factor is the sting in the tail for taxi operators.  The high cost to obtain CTP cover for a taxi is simply one of mathematics.  There are only 2,600 vehicles (sedan taxis) in this class.  A normal sedan may travel only 20,000 kilometres a year, whilst a cab travels up to 180,000 kilometres a year, thus increasing the risk factor of having an accident that results in personal injury.

The cost to repair a vehicle following an accident is capped to the value of the vehicle in the case of a write-off or to the cost of the repair bill up to the insured value.  It is a fact of life that the cost to cover medical costs and to provide ongoing care for someone injured in a motor vehicle accident is not limited, but rather is dependent upon the unique circumstances of the person injured.

Hence the crazy situation where Class 3 taxis are faced with hefty CTP costs, it is very difficult to fund for such costly claims with only 2,600 vehicles "in the pool".  At current CTP premiums it delivers gross revenue of around $13,000,000.00.  When you consider that Class 3 cabs travel approximately 470,000,000 kilometres annually thus increasing the opportunity for a serious accident, the resultant pool of money to cover any potential costs is rather thin.

What is the solution?  Quite simply our drivers need to be more careful.  The increase in the number of accidents in the past two years is now costing the industry a lot of money in the cost of repairs, downtime and hefty premium increases.  The average cost of repairs for cabs involved in accidents in the past two years has doubled.

Is it any wonder we are facing an uphill battle with increasing costs when the trigger for these increases appears to be self manifested!

Blair Davies presented an update on matters the Taxi Council was currently dealing with.  Blair did make comment that since QBE Insurance had made a concerted effort to capture the majority of the CTP Insurance for the taxi industry; at least we were able to be privy to some meaningful claims data.  This was something that was denied to the industry when other CTP insurers had the majority of the market.  Blair also made the comment that ever increasing cost of CTP Insurance was a serious problem for the taxi industry and would require a concerted effort from all industry stakeholders including taxi operators and drivers if our position was to improve.

Not only is QBE lower with its CTP premiums for class 3 vehicles, TI(A)IB the industry insurance broking business also gives a $50.00 shopping voucher as a reward for being part of the QBE CTP scheme.  Why not transfer your CTP Insurance cover to QBE today. 

During the Operator's meeting a bucket was passed around to raise funds for the Victorian Bushfire Appeal with about $1,200.00 being raised. 

Chairman of the Operator's Group, Per Dinesen updated the meeting on the continuing success of our Rank Supervision program, making comment that we attracted more than our fair share of cabs at venues where we provided supervision.

Following the Operator's meeting the first maxi operator's meeting of the year was held, with a reasonable number of new maxi operators in attendance.  The General Manager John Tighe outlined the company's philosophy for maxi operations within the organisation.  He stated that the maxi fleet had grown substantially in the past 5 years and with that fleet growth job numbers had grown as well.  Of particular note was the quantum leap in the number of high occupancy jobs that Black & White Cabs was now handling with month on month increases of up to 39% in some cases.  The wheelchair market was steady with slowly improving service levels, but still with room for improvement.