Hi again...If this issue of Call Sign seems weighted towards LTI
and their TXI, well, in a month when the most important announcement to
hit the trade for many years was officially made, that should hardly be
surprising. Naturally, for those of you who claim not to read any other
trade mags, we have the news on the TX1's new Ford 2.4 DuraTorq diesel
engine. For those of you who have already read it and are perhaps tired
of seeing it, then I apologise. However, it is a fact that for a trade
of some 22,000 drivers, there are more magazines per head than possibly
any other business and there is only so much news that can go around.
Call Sign tries very hard to include as much Dial-a-Cab
info as possible. When general trade news is included, I get some
drivers telling me that because of the proliferation of trade mags, it
isn't needed here. However, I get a surprising number of drivers who
tell me the reverse and who go on to say that they only read Call Sign
because it is sent to them and that they have no interest in any other
magazines. I do try to please everyone... If I'm not succeeding then
please let me know, when it comes to Call Sign, its readers are its
eyes and ears...
Viz Livery
I'm pretty much of an easy going type and enjoy a joke as
much as anyone - even those that may perhaps be a bit too spicy for
Call Sign's Smile for the Day column. However, I can't help wondering
whether an advertising company acting for, say the Ford Motor Company,
would allow an advert that called them rude names? No, I don't think so
either. Yet one of the companies that put liveries on taxis - yes, the
kind that DaC drivers cannot have - have allowed one from Viz comic
that has a prominently displayed logo on the driver's door which says
'Wan-Cab'. Now you don't need me to tell you what viewers standing
outside the taxi would say about several cabs all with the Wan-Cab ad.
Does "a bunch of Wan-Cab's" sound particularly nice to you?
Nor me. The advertising company concerned
are the villains in my book, not Viz who must have been staggered to be allowed to get away with it. So to the company concerned, my Goo award for the month - the Genital Owner Operative award...!
The Toggers Way...!
It seems that Allen Togwell has upset a few people for a change
with some drivers complaining to him about his reply to Brian McKenzie
(A63) in last month's Mailshot, when he wrote on the way he treats his
passengers when driving a taxi. Among other things, he spoke of the effort
he makes not to drop his H's and the complaining drivers have taken that
as a criticism of how they speak! I've spoken to Mr T about the inference
that we don't talk proper like wot we should and he assures me that there
was no intent to criticise anyone else. He was merely emphasising what he
tries to do in trying to gain the initiative. He was not advocating others
should do the same, as he knows that there are many different approaches
that could be adopted to achieve the same result. And why didn't I ask him
to write this himself? I just wanted to keep the reply under 5000 words!
Michael Delew
I had been thinking just how to mention that May 21st represents my
thirtieth anniversary as a licensed taxi driver when the horrific news
came through that Mickey Delew had died from Bronchial Pneumonia. I only
knew Mickey from EC5 and quite honestly we agreed on little except for the
way that EC5 operated when uncovered jobs went to back-up zones. We both
agreed that coverage would be far better on a first cab - first job basis.
That eventually came back. But more importantly, we always agreed to
differ.
However, the above facts
become so paltry compared to this tragicically appalling news. Mickey was only 37, with what should have been a full life still ahead of him. All I can do is to tell his family (his father Syd is on DaC) that the thoughts of all our drivers are with them and to wish them all a long life. David Kupler (Y74) was a close friend of Mickey's and has written a very moving eulogy in this issue.
Grandfather Rights
There are two reports in this issue on meetings that Brian Rice
had at Mayor Livingstone's Romney House headquarters during April. One
meeting was with Annie Marjoram, the lady charged with looking after the
rights of women, while the second was with the big boss man himself, Ken
Livingstone.
One of the points raised by the Mayor was in regards to the
so-called 'Grandfather Rights' for first batch of minicab drivers who will
already have been driving their cabs for a substantial period of time when
PH licensing finally arrives. I don't like the idea of ANY minicab driver
being given a licence without doing the necessary topographical Knowledge,
but if they are, I would hope that the Inland Revenue would be invited to
check that every single name on the 'Grandfather Rights' list is down as
having declared an income from driving a full-time minicab for at least
three years previous. And I do hope there isn't any group who will say that
the suggestion carries too many problems. We all know that it takes as long
as typing in a name to a computer to check whether that person has a
birthmark - never mind whether they pay tax!
Ken Livingstone is on the mailing list of Call sign and if he reads this, I
hope he will bear the suggestion in mind when legislation finally comes into
being...
Epilogue
And so ends my fourth year as Editor of Call Sign. Beginning the
fifth one in June will seem strange without DaC memory man Trevor Clarke,
who retired last week. My very best to you, Trevor, for a long and happy
retirement...
