Possibly the largest business expense a taxi driver has is the cost of fuel whether that be petrol or diesel. So what can you do to help mitigate such expenditure?

Well, unfortunately, what you are not able to do is just increase how much you charge passengers as the amount you can charge is set by your local council. So, you could always get in touch with your local council to see if they are prepared to increase the amount you can charge. Perhaps it is better to do this along with other taxi drivers.

You could seek out the petrol forecourt in your area that has the lowest price for petrol or diesel and use them but that is something that you may already be doing on a regular basis. If you happen to travel further afield to the same area such as taking passengers to an airport and you are able to buy fuel at a lower rate in that location than you normally pay then it is worth considering filling up with fuel if you happen to be passing.

The way you drive has an impact upon the amount of fuel that you use on a daily basis. For instance, avoid accelerating rapidly as this uses up more fuel. After all, as a taxi driver, you really do not need to get from 0mph to 60mph in a mere 6 seconds. If you have a manual gearbox then pay attention to the gear that you are using i.e. avoid driving at 30mph in second gear. When travelling on the likes of a motorway try to avoid travelling at 70mph if you can get to your destination on time by travelling at say 55mph.

Having arrived somewhere such as a restaurant or pub to pick up a passenger turn your engine off whilst you are waiting for him or her to come out as this may save you some fuel.

You could consider investing in an electric vehicle but before making such a decision you really need to sit down and do some calculations to work out if it is a viable option.

We hope that the above has given you food for thought.