TÜV Nederland’s Peter Kauwenbergh inspecting a taxi at the Schiphol airport.
Anyone who often takes a taxi will find that the quality can vary from vehicle to vehicle. Stichting TX-Keur, founded by KNV, the Dutch employers’ organisation for freight and passenger transport, certifies Dutch taxi companies, thereby setting standards for taxis and helping to ensure that they are upheld. And TÜV Nederland’s Mobility business unit is one of the partners who have been making the system of voluntary quality control so successful for many years.
These inspections are concerned, on the one hand, with the vehicle itself: for instance, whether it is damaged, whether loose objects might endanger drivers and passengers or whether the tyres have sufficient tread. On the other, the interior of the vehicle is monitored for cleanliness, the presence of a first aid kit and the existence of an adequate load securing system. Finally, the driver is obliged to provide all necessary documents such as driver’s ID, passport and driving licence. Of course, language and local knowledge play just as big a role as the appropriateness of the driving style.
TÜV Nederland evaluates the vehicle and the driver according to a predetermined quality system; the inspectors work through a checklist without alerting the driver in advance. The examiner must however reveal himself as such to the driver.
The inspectors come across vehicles and drivers that need to be checked at taxi ranks at airports, hospitals, rehabilitation centres and special schools. In total, there are more than 300 taxi ranks throughout the Netherlands – and 9,000 inspections are carried out annually. The results are included in the TX rating of taxi companies. “Our evaluations and TX certification help create distinctions between the companies operating on the market. This is why it’s so important for the vehicles to be in good condition and the drivers to be competent,” explains Job van der Zwart from TÜV Nederland, who heads the Mobility Profit Centre. What’s more, TX-certified companies are preferred when it comes to carrying people on behalf of customers. About a third of all Dutch taxi companies are TX-certified.
Job van der Zwart and Ingo Albes, Head of Business Development Europe TÜV NORD Mobilität, agree that the inspections help taxi companies competing for business to maintain their own quality standards and communicate them to the outside world. TÜV Nederland has also diversified sensibly by offering these inspections to coach companies such as Flixbus.