5.2 For-Hire Status & Stand Queue Order

5.2 For-Hire Status & Stand Queue Order

Quick Answer: At a stand, the drivers of the first two taxis must sit in or stand beside their vehicles ready for immediate hire, and every taxi must move up as spaces open. When someone engages a taxi, the first driver should accept; others must not take the hire unless all ahead have already accepted or are not in or near their taxis. When free: show the taximeter flag and, in hours of darkness, keep the roof TAXI light on. When hired: move the flag to recording; when the hire ends: return to non-recording. Hiring time starts at the earlier of journey start or immediate availability at the appointed time and place.

Section 5.1 covered where you may stop. This section (§VI territory in the Booklet) covers how you present as free for hire and how the stand queue works when several taxis wait together. These rules are high-yield because they mix concrete numbers (first two taxis) with sequence logic and flag duties already introduced in the taximeter chapter.

Readiness: The First Two Taxis

At a taxi stand, the drivers of the first two taxis must:

• sit in the taxi, or
• stand beside the taxi,

and be ready for immediate hire.

That means the front of the queue is not a tea break. An intending hirer should be able to engage taxi one or, if needed, taxi two without waiting for a driver to return from a nearby shop. Exam options that say “only the first taxi” or “all taxis at the stand” misstate the first two readiness duty. Options that allow the first two drivers to leave the vehicle unattended also fail.

Move up as vacancies occur

Every taxi at the stand should move up as vacancies occur. When the lead taxi leaves, the second becomes first, the third becomes second, and so on. Leaving large gaps or holding a rear bay while the front empties is not orderly stand practice. The Written Test expects the simple rule: move up when space opens ahead.

Accepting Hire in Queue Order

When a person engages a taxi at the stand:

1. The driver of the first taxi should accept the hire.
2. Other drivers should not accept that hire unless:
   • all taxis ahead have already accepted hire (for example, multiple passengers each taking a cab in order), or
   • the drivers ahead are not in or near their taxis (so they cannot take the hire immediately).

This is the anti-poaching rule. Jumping the queue when the first driver is present and ready is wrong. If the first driver is absent and not near the vehicle, a later driver may lawfully accept so the passenger is not stranded. If several passengers arrive and the first taxi has already taken one hire, the next free taxi in line takes the next hire — that is “all ahead have accepted,” not queue-jumping.

Showing That You Are Available for Hire

When the taxi is available for hire, the driver must:

1. Display the taximeter indicator (flag) in the free-for-hire condition (FOR HIRE / TAXI as construction rules require), and
2. During hours of darkness, keep the roof TAXI sign illuminated.

These two signals work together. The flag is the taximeter’s hire-status indicator (linked to the FOR HIRE actuating position from Chapter 3). The roof light at night makes the free taxi visible from a distance. Turning the roof light off while claiming to be free in darkness, or hiding the flag while waiting for hire, breaks the “available for hire” display duties.

Note the night-specific limb: roof TAXI illumination is required during hours of darkness when free. Daytime free-for-hire still needs the flag; the darkness rule adds the lit roof sign.

When Hired: Flag to Recording and Back

This section restates the operational hire cycle for stand and street work: free → recording on hire → non-recording when finished. Do not leave the meter recording after the passenger has left, and do not keep the free flag up while a hired journey is running.

When Does Hiring Time Start?

Hiring time begins at the earlier of:

1. when the journey begins, or
2. when the taxi is first made immediately available at the appointed time and place by arrangement with the hirer.

Why “earlier of” matters

Pre-arranged pick-ups are the classic fact pattern. If the passenger books the taxi for 09:00 at a hotel entrance, the driver arrives on time and is ready, but the passenger is late, hiring time can start when the taxi was made available at the appointment — not only when the doors close and wheels move. Conversely, if the journey starts before any appointment clock issue arises, journey start is the trigger.

Exam traps include:

• “Hiring always starts only when the vehicle moves” — false (availability at appointment can be earlier).
• “Hiring always starts when the booking is made by phone” — false (the rule is about availability at the appointed time and place, or journey start).
• “Driver may choose whichever time is later to favour the passenger” — false (the statute-style rule is earlier of the two events).

Stand Discipline Scenario Walkthrough

Imagine four taxis at an urban stand at night:

1. Drivers of taxis 1 and 2 sit ready; taxis 3 and 4 wait behind and will move up when 1 leaves.
2. Roof TAXI lights are on (hours of darkness); flags show FOR HIRE.
3. A passenger engages the front taxi — driver 1 accepts; meter goes to recording.
4. Driver 2 becomes first; driver 3 becomes second and must now meet the ready duty; others move up.
5. If a second passenger arrives while driver 1 is still loading bags and has accepted hire, the next free taxi in order takes that passenger — not a taxi from the back of the line while ready taxis wait ahead.

Linking to Other Chapters

• Taximeter positions (Ch3): FOR HIRE / HIRED / STOPPED and the 20 m flag visibility rule flesh out “display the indicator” and “recording / non-recording.”
• Roof signs (Ch4): illuminated TAXI roof sign construction and night use pair with this section’s darkness duty when free for hire.
• Refuse hire (later chapters): stand queue order is about who may take a willing hirer; separate rules cover when a driver may lawfully refuse hire altogether (for example, cross-harbour stands in 5.3).

Exam Focus List

• First two taxis: sit in or stand beside — ready for immediate hire.
• Move up as vacancies occur.
• First taxi accepts; others only if ahead have accepted or drivers ahead not in/near taxis.
• Free: flag displayed; darkness: roof TAXI illuminated.
• Hired: flag to recording; end of hire: back to non-recording.
• Hire time = earlier of journey start or immediate availability at appointed time/place.

Section 5.3 completes the for-hire package: what must be visible inside the cab to passengers (fare table, registration mark, driver identity plate) and the special refuse rule at cross-harbour taxi stands.