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Well, another Christmas holiday season
is upon us and at the time of writing, it
doesn't look as though it will be our
busiest ever, although neither will it be
our worst! The real question is what 2003
will bring?
I'm not a soothsayer and
neither would I ever pretend to be someone
who knows everything. Other than editing a
magazine and driving a cab, my guesses are
probably no better or worse than anyone
else's. But one thing that I believe we
should try to focus on as we head into the
momentous year of Dial-a-Cab's fiftieth
anniversary, is that we are licensed taxi
drivers and that we all need each other in
order to survive as a powerful force and not
just a cute tourist attraction.
I've had many letters at Call
Sign over the years hoping that all the
trade organisations could work more closely
together, some even wishing that we had just
the one super body to represent us. Sadly,
that will never happen for two reasons; all
the trade bodies are now businesses and too
many cooks spoil the broth.
Will Bob Oddy volunteer to
stand down and ask the T&G to provide a
joint trade leader? Will the LCDC's Alan
Fleming ask Bob Oddy to provide an
organisation of national unity? Will they
all ask John Paul-Pace's SPLT to take over?
The answer to those and similar questions is
obviously no, so we'll have to manage with
what we have.
But can we at least learn to
live together? The radio circuits are
natural enemies and we and RTL have had some
huge differences over the years including
that infamous court battle last year, yet we
communicate on a civil level as do we with
ComCab. Radio circuit meetings are not
always popular with some subscribers, but
their successes when working together have
been many with the latest one being the
scrapping of the Working Time Directive when
involving taxi drivers. It was purely the
joint radio circuits over here that pushed
Brussels into giving us the answer we
wanted.
But things have changed
politically, whereas the T&G and LCDC
used to be the militant side of the trade,
they now concentrate on their members
futures and righting any wrongs that befall
those members while the LTDA have taken over
the militancy mantle and seem intent
on
being seen as the only trade
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representatives. But is it getting us anywhere or
is it being done purely as a recruitment
drive? While Stuart Pessok's TAXI can only be
described as an excellently produced trade
newspaper,
it contains some articles which seem to be
there purely to inflame - many of them
emanating from LTDA General Secretary Bob Oddy.
Mr Oddy is currently attempting
to assure readers that the loss of £100,000
through LTI affiliates declining to advertise
with TAXI because of TAXI's insistence on an
open market for taxi sales, is worth it. It
may well be, but would the LTDA Gen Sec have
said that had their bank balance not been far
and away the largest in the cab trade making
£100,000 seem like a dribble?
Does censoring LTI responses, as
they did some time ago and which was reported
in this and other mags, help the situation?
Does accusing John Paul-Pace - Bob Oddy's
equivalent in the SPLT - of the ludicrous
charge of being "self appointed"
help unity?
Call Sign has no problem with
putting the point of view of those who
manufacture alternative vehicles. In fact we
ran a series where two of the major
alternative vehicle manufacturers were give a
page to promote their vehicles. There was no
charge and neither did we ask them to start
advertising in return. We did it for the
benefit of DaC's members.
But I cannot help but worry what
will happen to our trade if the conditions of
fitness are rescinded and allows all sorts of
other taxis in. Believe me, the main two
alternatives are like Rolls Royce's compared
to some of the many other "taxis"
that I've seen.
So my guess as to the future. I
couldn't even guess...
A Special Year
As I briefly mentioned above, 2003
begins a very special year for Dial-a-Cab. It
celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of this
organisation, making us one of - if not the -
oldest radio taxi organisations in the world.
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Call
Sign will be reminding you of different
dates throughout the
yearand hopefully the
BoM will consider celebrating in the
traditional way, ie a huge party!
Sadly, our founder-Chairman
Bonnie Martyn never quite made it, but his
spirit will always live on within ODRTS.
Let's hope that it is a wonderful year...
LTI TXII And Tony
Arnold
I said earlier that Call Sign has
given opportunities to other manufacturers
to push their alternative taxis to our
drivers and I have never said a bad word
about them. But I would be failing in my job
as Editor if I didn't say the following...
After being in contact with DaC
driver Tony Arnold (F03) right throughout
his momentous taxi drive from China,
Mongolia and Northern Europe before heading
back to the UK, it must be difficult to deny
that the LTI TXII is probably the finest
taxi in the world. According to Tony, the
only problem they had - and he drove over
some of the worst roads in the world not to
mention being pretty close to some of the
world's coldest places - was a flat battery
when someone left the
rear door open and consequently a rear light
on! This occurred while the cab was being
transported to China before the drive back
to London began.
I know, it's not the most
comfortable ride on a long journey, neither
is it close to being the cheapest, but on a
trip of that nature covering many thousands
of miles over terrible terrain with no
problems, well as a taxi, that makes it
number one in my book and almost certainly
entitled to the title, "most reliable
taxi in the world." And no, they
haven't asked me or paid me to say that...
I just hope it doesn't break
down at Trafalgar Square on his homecoming!
Drinking At Christmas
Reading through a police
magazine, it seems that even our friends in
blue don't always realise how long alcohol
can stay in the body. The safest bet is the
old maxim... if you drink, DON'T DRIVE.
Have a great Christmas and New
Year holiday and just think where you would
be without your licence...
Alan Fisher
callsignmag@aol.com
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