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Last month's Mailshot contained a letter from former DaC driver and 'new
terminal' trainer, Howard Sales (ex-A11). Ever since the letter appeared, Call Sign has literally been inundated with drivers asking about Howard's departure to Australia - many claiming that because of the nature of the job we do, not seeing someone for several months is nothing unusual and that they just didn't realise he had emigrated. So we asked Howard to fill us in... Howard has now resided in Brisbane (Queensland) for around a year. They moved out there to re-join his wife's mother when her husband died. Howard successfully opened up a service station with a 2-bay workshop and small shop on January 17 this year.. Howard started driving a London cab in 1978 after serving an apprenticeship fitter with Rolls Royce Aero Engines at Leavesden in Watford. He joined Mountview in 1979, but two years later emigrated to Australia for the first time staying for almost three years. He returned in 1984 and joined Lords... "I got involved with the new computer system in it's early stages when we were testing different types," said Howard. "I had mine for a fortnight! If I went to the airport I couldn't |
DaC's Howard Sets up in Australia
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back into the system until I got back to Gillette corner! It was the same
all over; it was working on a 9 mile radius of central London!" Howard then began several months of testing and trialing, which continued even after the rest of the fleet began to be fitted. Howard continued: "When I trained drivers on the new terminal, I always asked if they knew anything about computers and quite often the answer was no! Most picked it up fairly easily, but I remember one driver telling me from the off that he was too old to learn something new and that I would be wasting my time trying to teach him! I convinced him to give me the hour that it took to fit the system. He left saying that he would give it a week and if he couldn't get on with it, he would have it stripped out and work the street. He came back |
four days later and apart from one occasion when he forgot to turn on the
radio - his wife puthim right so he'll know who he is - he never looked
back!"* Howard ended by asking Call Sign to say hello to all those drivers that he met over the years that he was with DaC and also to many of the customers that he got to know. "There's Rosie Blake, the girl in the wheelchair who lives in Great Peter Street, Mrs Warburton who lives at Abady House in Page Street and Ms Gardiner from Vincent Street. If anybody picks them up, say hello for me." Good luck with the service station, Howard... *If you were the driver who told Howard Sales that you were too old to master the new terminal, let Call Sign know how you are getting on now... |
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