One of the best resources we have in our trade, to help drivers maximise their working skills is the free UCGup account on Twitter. And yet, only around 10% of drivers are using it.
There are a lot of older drivers like myself who sometimes need help with technology. So I've put together this guild to show how simple it is to get on the UCGup account.
UCGup, was born out of need to reverse the elitist attitudes that saw our trade divide and devastated for the best part of a decade.
In a politically motivated move against certain new boys on the block, a number of high profile drivers were expelled from the Tweet a London Cab "CABup" account.
The UCG then decided to set up and sponsor their own account.
It was decided from day one, to make the account non political and available free to every driver in the trade, regardless of which org, Union or group the driver supports.
So, what are the attributes of being on this service?
Work updates.
The whole service depends on the actions of all the subscribers. If Paddington/Kings Cross/Waterloo etc...need Taxis, the observing driver sends a direct message to the app. This is then sent out as an update to all the subscribers.
Same thing with ranks at Hotels, bars, restaurants, clubs, in fact anywhere people are seen looking for Taxis.
Traffic updates:
Then their are the traffic updates, jams, roadworks and RTAs.
After being on the service for just a few days, you'll find it will become an essential piece of kit to make your working day/night easier.
So how do you get on this service?
First, you need to have a Twitter account installed on your smart phone. But don't worry, you don't have to follow anyone except UCGup, it's your call.
Once on Twitter, you will need to search for the UCGup account and click on the follow button. You won't be accepted straight away.
Next, you need to send a photo of your Bill and Badge and Twitter ID to ucgupmedia@gmail.com.
Once accepted you will have to ability to start receiving regular up dates from UCGup.
Once you get the hang of things you can advance to rhe next level and start receiving notifications on your phone without actually having the app on screen.
Image shows iPhone settings
Go to notifications on your phone and choose Twitter, click on allow notifications.
You can also choose to turn on the sound alert and notification centre, but that's optional.
Now go to the UCGup Twitter page click on the settings wheel and turn on notifications.
And basically, that's it.
You will now receive notifications from UCGup, regardless of whatever program is running on your phone or tablet. You will even get updates while the phone is in lock screen mode.
Finally listen to this short sound clip:
The Ucgup welcome Speech
And that's it, it's that simple!
But then to be honest, the best solutions normally are the simple ones.
A Jersey taxi driver has been left shaken, unable to sleep and says he can no longer work late night shifts after being threatened with a knife on Friday.
The 58-year-old taxi driver, who wants to remain anonymous, told the ITV News he was chased with a knife in Gorey Village by a passenger who refused to pay his taxi fare.
He said: “I lost a whole night’s earnings, but I could have lost my life
"Taxi drivers are on the front line just as much as police."
He added that this is the worst incident he has witnessed in his 35-year career.
The incident happened at just before midnight on Friday.
A 21-year-old was arrested for grave and criminal assault and has since been release on bail.
The police investigation continues
Source : ITV News
China’s largest ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing is suspending its Hitch services nationwide, the company said in a statement on Sunday, a day after police said a ride-sharing passenger in the eastern Chinese city of Wenzhou was raped and killed by a driver.
Didi Chuxing said it was sorry that the carpool service would be suspended from Aug. 27 due to “disappointing mistakes” while the company reevaluates the product’s business model.
The suspected murder of a 20-year-old woman, who Wenzhou police identified only with the surname Zhao, is the latest in a series of violent crimes that have fueled safety concerns about the service.
Zhao got into a Hitch carpool vehicle at 1 p.m. (0500 GMT) on Friday, and sent a message to a friend at around 2 p.m. seeking help before losing contact, according to a local police statement.
A 27-year-old driver named Zhong was detained at about 4 a.m. on Saturday and confessed to raping and killing the passenger, the local police statement said, adding that the victim’s body had been recovered and an investigation was continuing.
Did said on Sunday that the suspect had no prior criminal record, had provided authentic documentation and passed a facial recognition test before starting work.
But the company said on Saturday there was a prior complaint made against the driver on Thursday by a passenger who alleged the driver took them to a remote place and then followed the passenger after she got out of the car.
“The incident shows the many deficiencies with our customer service processes, especially the failure to act swiftly on the previous passenger’s complaint and the cumbersome and rigid process of information sharing with the police,” the company said in the statement on Sunday.
The Hitch carpool service has run over 1 billion trips in the past three years, the company said. Didi is the biggest ride-sharing firm globally by number of trips.
STATE MEDIA CRITICISM
China’s state-backed media criticized Didi’s safety record on Sunday, while celebrities took to social media and pledged to delete the application.
“You’ve had so many incidents,” an unnamed family member of Zhao was quoted as saying in the Qianjiang Evening news, an official Zhejiang province publication.
“What are you going to do about your safety and service problems?”
Wang Chuanjun, a famous Chinese actor, on Sunday shared a screenshot of his phone as he prepared to delete the application. His post was shared over 58 thousand times on China’s Twitter-like Weibo and the hashtag “Wang Chuanjun uninstalls Didi” had been viewed nearly 9 million times by the evening.
China’s official Xinhua News agency criticized Didi for not doing more to prevent such incidents and said the company should face legal punishment if it failed to put customer’s safety first.
Didi has increased its safety measures for Hitch after the murder of a flight attendant during a Hitch ride in May sparked outrage. These included limiting Hitch drivers to only picking up passengers of the same sex during early morning and late evening hours.
Source : Reuters
TAXI LEAKS EXTRA BIT :
In the last month Taxi leaks reached over 421,000 people on FaceBook alone, and was read over 180,000 times by Twitter subscribers.
