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The week before Christmas, I made a two day trip to Frankfurt to
set up a reciprocal arrangement with a taxi company who would supply DaC
clients visiting Frankfurt with taxis and have the fare billed to their
account in London.
Having worked in Germany for two years, it was interesting
to see how little seems to have changed since I was last there. The old
grey stone buildings, wide cobbled streets, trams, police armed to the
teeth and even the weather which seemed to be forever raining. Compared
with London, the streets seemed almost deserted. Even the two main
supposedly-busy areas, the central Railway Station with its adjoining
red light district and the downtown shopping precinct, which even being
just prior to Christmas, seemed relatively quiet.
For the shopper, it consists of two main streets; Goethe
Strasse which is a mini Bond Street while the other is a shopping mall
comprising of all the usual multiples plus a really trendy store called
Zeilgalerie. On entering the mall, you are met with a sight and smell
familiar to every town in Germany - covered stalls of all sizes selling
various types of hot sausages, the most popular being Frankfurter
Würstchen and Bockwurst (a monster of a banger at over 15 inches long).
Also popular is Kartoffelpuffer (potato pancakes with apple sauce).
For the culture minded, there are over twenty galleries and
museums in Frankfurt. The History Museum, Städel Art Gallery, Goethe
Museum and Jüdisches Museum to name but a few. There is also a zoo, a
number of lovely parks and gardens, river cruises, a dozen or so
theatres one of which is English and many very nice, sensibly priced
restaurants.
Where I did notice a significant change was the increase in
the number of top quality hotels and new office buildings, many of which
are occupied by international banks. Less significant, but an
interesting sight none the less, were several London cabs for hire on
the rank outside my hotel.
I mention the above only on a personal note and in reply to
all the all publicity during the past year about the possibility of
Frankfurt replacing London as the financial capital of Europe. Not
wishing to offend the 800,000 inhabitants of Frankfurt and as nice a
place as it is even with having more to offer than most other cities in
Germany, I would be surprised if many non-German speaking people who
have been used to living in a huge city like London would prefer to live
and work there rather than London, particularly as almost everywhere is
closed by midnight!
Fear Of Private Hire?
Wherever you go in the world, there is always something to
learn - particularly about your own line of business. Whilst in
Frankfurt I discovered something which completely dispels the myth held
by many in our trade that we should have no fear of a private hire
company having a fleet big enough to threaten the account work of the
top three radio circuits.
On reaching the HQ of the taxi company I was visiting -
situated on the top floor of a smart building on the outskirts of the
City with a small but efficient control centre operating with the latest
GPS system - I was surprised to learn that they do not have one solitary
taxi officially associated with their company!
As in London, Frankfurt has licensed taxis some of which
belong to a radio circuit, but there are no minicabs. The majority of
the radio circuits are small, with fleets ranging from 10 to 150
vehicles. They use the old two-way radio system and their work is mainly
for the requirements of people in their local area. Because of their
size, they are naturally too small to attract business from the large
corporates.
The taxi company that DaC are dealing with realised the
difficulty and cost of trying to build a large fleet before actually
having any work available for the drivers, so they decided instead to
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a GPS system, build a control centre and approach all the small radio
circuits with an offer to install MDT's in their cabs. On doing so and
once reaching a sizeable number of vehicles, they then employed a sales
team and marketed their services to account clients.
The drivers carrying the Company's GPS system now have the
best of all worlds. They have a choice of taking work from their own small
circuit's local two-way voice system, they can work the street, sit on the
many ranks situated all over Frankfurt or accept work (cash or credit)
from their new MDT. The Company has been operating only two years and are
already very successful.
Their GPS system is also impressive. They tracked me all the
way from the moment I left my hotel until I reached their office where
they were waiting to greet me as I pulled up outside the door.
Differences In Account Work
The main differences between their account work and ours is
that their clients do not pay a gratuity, waiting time charges, run-in
charges, a booking fee or Admin charges. In fact all account work is
charged at 10% below meter!
On speaking to the drivers and asking why they would want to
work for less than what they can earn off the street, they all answered
that it was regular work. My immediate reaction was to assume that they
operated with low overheads, but on enquiring about the control and
restrictions placed on the cab trade from the State, I was told that
getting a license is not easy (they have a value like the medallions in
New York). The vehicles - mainly Mercedes - are subject to two thorough
inspections a year and are licensed annually, but only for a maximum of 10
years. The drivers (many of whom are journeymen) are allowed to work a
maximum of 12 hours a day and 6 days a week.
As in Paris, they have a timer showing the time they must
clock off. They apply for a meter increase each year but not always with
success, the last being 5% three years ago. Receipts must be given with
each journey and a numbered copy must be retained for tax purposes.
There are two taxi unions in Frankfurt but only for the
proprietors and not all of these are members. The unions are very
conservative and have little influence on the Government. However, of the
many taxi drivers that I spoke to, I was generally impressed with their
attitudes. Many were second and third generation cab drivers who were
extremely proud of their profession. Also their manner, politeness,
appearance, how clean they kept their vehicles - plus the fact that so
many were bilingual.
Quite often when comparing the lives of others, it makes you
grateful for your own lot, be it the environment, freedom, family, your
job or above all, your health and the importance of protecting it.
As far as our trade is concerned, we have had two extremely
good years and only a fool would think it is going to last forever. At any
time, the bubble could burst with the return of price wars, dog eat dog,
being screwed by the corporates, plus the added problem of competing with
the soon to be legalised private hire. Or conversely, the trade could
remain buoyant and with it the convergence of entrepreneurs looking to
make a killing at our expense, and believe me they exist and will be ready
to pounce at the earliest opportunity.
At the moment, we are in a position of strength and we should
use that strength to consolidate what we have. It will be no use
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waiting until our work is under threat, because the damage would have
been done. The opposition will have gained access into your core
business offering far more than we ever can and reclaiming that lost
work would be an impossible task.
Every one on Dial-a-Cab must seriously decide exactly how much they
value the business that has taken us all years to develop and whether or
not they feel it needs protecting. If the attitude is to only think
about today, which has often been the cause of so much apathy in our
trade and why we've been so slow in moving forward, then don't be
surprised if we lose it.
How To Protect The Future?
If, however, there is a genuine concern for the future - even
the immediate future - then let's do something positive about it. For a
start, act like you are proud to be an owner of the coveted green badge.
Act like you are proud to be a member of your Society. Smile, eradicate
this perceived attitude that the world owes you a living. Show the
client you appreciate their business. Open cab doors, help with the
luggage, offer assistance, be courteous. Give them a service when THEY
want it, not only when it suits YOU. And when the client has got a
grievance, don't retaliate. After all, it is they who are paying the
bill and if they don't like the service they are getting,, they have
every right to complain just as any of you would if the roles were
reversed.
On my return from Frankfurt, I landed at London City
Airport at about 6pm. The moment I got off the plane I used my mobile to
book a cab, but the line was continually engaged, so I decided to try my
luck on the rank. There were plenty of cabs, but having no English money
I couldn't take a cab off the point. After 10 minutes or so searching
the rank in the rain. I was delighted when I eventually spotted a taxi
with a DaC logo, but my pleasure was short-lived when the driver said
that he didn't wish to do account work, only cash. Standing there in the
rain, cold, tired and humiliated, I was feeling thoroughly peed off.
I am certain that had I been a client, my immediate
reaction would have been to close the account and take my business
elsewhere. By refusing that ride, for whatever reason, we are reneging
on our agreement that cabs carrying our branding can be stopped on the
street or a rank and used on account.
As the person responsible for negotiating contracts, I
constantly have difficulty in persuading clients to remove the word
'guarantee' from our service agreement. That is simply because unlike
private hire who can give a guarantee, we with a fleet of 1700 drivers,
all of whom are self employed free agents who have the choice of
accepting or rejecting credit work or taking cash off the street, to
allow the word 'guarantee' in our contracts would find us being sued
every day of the week.
Fortunately for us, the vast majority of our members are
long serving, with a memory of what a 'kipper' season really means and
because of this, have adopted the logical business attitude of first
looking after their bread and butter, in other words our clients, and
only when there is no account work do they take cash off the street. Ask
any of these drivers and they will be quick to tell you that as the only
circuit with an £8.80 minimum, there is no such thing as a bad credit
ride on DaC.
Ask any driver supporting our account clients in E14 and
they will tell you that the average ride is £25. The fare for my
particular journey was in excess of £30. To our long serving drivers,
that work is their bread and butter. The question many of our newer
members (those with little idea of what it is like sitting behind an
endless queue of empty cabs and being grateful even for a local) should
ask themselves as we all enter the new millennium is this: Is that bread
and butter work worth protecting?
Allen Togwell
Editor's note: Allen Togwell has pulled no punches in the above
article. Whether you agree or disagree, Call Sign would like to hear
your views... |
