|
It's nice to be back. You will all have heard by now about the
Disclosure Application form that you need to complete in order to renew
your licence. Jimmy Pullum (R45) was one of the first drivers to have
to fill in the new form in order to renew his licence - a form that is
then sent to the Criminal Records Bureau. He was also probably the
first driver to refuse to fill in the notorious section E, which asked
some disturbingly personal questions. Now drivers have been told that
section is not compulsory, but it is only because guys like Jimmy
Pullum said no. Consequently, I've left Jim's story in even though it
asks a question that has now been answered because it's still
interesting to see how far we can be pushed without saying
"enough!"
Steve Smith
When Call Sign received a letter from a couple in Australia
asking for help in tracking down any friends of their late-son Steve
Smith, a London taxi driver who sadly died several years ago at a very
young age, the chances seemed remote. Yet within 5 minutes of a
terminal message going out, a DaC driver called me with the info that
his parents wanted to hear. That driver, Keith Baxter (L78), also
arranged for Steve's best friend Brian to contact me in case Steve's
parents wanted to know anything else. Taxi drivers don't always get the
press they deserve, but most of them are real diamonds.
But Not All...
Can I say that last sentence again: Taxi drivers don't
always get the press they deserve, but most of them are real diamonds.
That is a fact that no one will ever convince me isn't true. Look how
many drivers on this circuit alone put themselves out to help those
charities that would fail totally otherwise. In addition, contrary to
reports saying otherwise, drivers do try to help out their fellow
workers when they are in trouble. But as the saying goes, there's
always one who will spoil it for the rest.
The following is a far from an awful tale of corruption or
greed - although greed does come into the equation - but it is a
perfect example of how all the good is forgotten because of something
done by a tiny minority. In this case it involves theatre tickets given
away to DaC drivers as freebies to try to get them to promote that
particular play or show. One such show was the excellent Abba Mania.
The theatre manager spoke to Tom Whitbread - who
gets all the freebies for us -
|
and offered up to four free tickets for each driver on production of their
badge while supplies lasted. Tom heard no more until he received a phone
call from an irate theatre manager.
One of our drivers had been in, showed his badge and taken four tickets.
No problem. Soon after, another three DaC drivers in quick succession also
took four tickets each. Hopefully they would all spread the word if they
enjoyed the show. Then someone in the theatre noticed that the badge
numbers for the last four drivers were all the same! Within the space of
five minutes, one greedy DaC driver had gone in and taken sixteen tickets!
We have to assume that he used them all, because several years ago "a
taxi driver" was caught outside the Prince of Wales by no less a
person than Cameron Mackintosh, trying to sell a ticket for the show at
that theatre. Mr Mackintosh had assumed the person was a tout and bought
the ticket to have its source traced. To say he was astonished to find out
that the ticket had been a freebie given to the cab trade would not be an
exaggeration. He said that he would never offer freebies to cab drivers
again after that but later accepted that it wasn't the norm.
All the good this trade does can so easily be wiped out by a
few greedy individuals.
New Licenses
I see that the "terrible trio" in Taxi Newspaper are
still going on about the issue of new taxi
Licenses. Don't get me wrong, I also earn my living by driving a taxi and
I don't want the market to be flooded with new drivers any more than Barry
Hooper, Gerry Slattery and Steve Hawes do, but the Knowledge isn't a tap
that you can turn on and off when you feel like it. Never mind about the
so-called "quickie" KoL, there are drivers who have been on it
for 3 to 4 years - even suburban drivers are lucky to get out in 18
months, some even longer. If a driver has done the Knowledge and is ready,
you can't then tell that person that he can't have a licence because it's
quiet out! That would certainly achieve the Taxi trio's
aim to stop new drivers
|
getting out until business picks up because no one would bother with
the KoL any more and then this trade would gradually die out.
I know it isn't tearing busy - although I suspect that it will be soon - but
if it is fairly quiet, how come we are outnumbered by around 3.5 to one by
minicabs? If license issuing slows down because it's quiet, that 3.5 will
soon reach 4 and then 5 to 1 because minicabs seem to be working - and not
just the touts.
You have to look at tomorrow and not today. Rubbish about
"vested interests" - as though trade organisations are not vested
interests themselves - does nothing to help.
Stories that radio circuits want to recruit as many drivers as
possible are not worth wasting time on so far as DaC is concerned. Ask those
on our waiting list.
This trade must keep expanding or else it will eventually die
because we will eventually play second fiddle to the much larger private
hire industry.
And as a final word on the LTDA, General Secretary Bob Oddy in
his TAXI report expresses upset that the 4.8 increase isn't going onto
Tariff 3 as well. I must be seeing things.
Put the increase on T3? Nah, he couldn't have said that...
Heathrow Congestion Charge
We can only speculate at this early time regarding the Mayor's plan to place
a "congestion levy" around Heathrow Airport. It does seem,
however, that taxis will not be exempt and assuming that Mr Livingstone does
not expect us to cough up every time we take someone there, does that mean
there will be a £5 levy on all fares to the flyers, because there certainly
will be no levy on those travelling by bus or train to Heathrow! A BAA
spokesperson has claimed that they were committed to getting more airport
passengers to use public transport, so we can only assume that the Mayor and
the BAA do not consider us to be any worthwhile form of transport otherwise
there would be no question of getting us or our passengers to pay. I await
developments...
Paying "Up front"
Until there is no choice, then I refuse to pay for my fuel in
advance when in my taxi. I don't object if I'm driving my car, but I have a
Police licence number on the back of my cab. That should be enough for any
garage and indeed it is for most. But to the Texaco garage on the
corner of Forest Road and St John's Road, Walthamstow, I say: Stuff
your diesel back up your pump...!
Alan Fisher
|
