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Back again…
It’s nice to be back after my month off
and to begin my twelfth year in the
Call Sign hot seat! But I
have to say that it does seem to be
ever-harder getting back into the swing
of things – this year more than most
after spending time in magnificent
Snowdonia with probably the best weather
the UK had seen this year.
Returning also has its problems in that there is so much news, much
of it occurring during our hiatus. I
don’t want to produce a mag where much
of its’ news has already appeared in the
trade press, so reluctantly I have
decided to leave out many items
specially sent in and which I would
usually find space for. That especially
applies to the trade charities who do
such amazing work. However, there can’t
be many of you who haven’t by now read
about the amazing War Disabled
trip back to Normandy and the always
enjoyable LTFUC trip to
Chessington World of Adventures. It’s
difficult enough trying to get a monthly
mag to be up-to-date without publishing
items you would have seen over a month
ago. So apologies to anyone I’ve left
out and I hope you understand my
reasoning
New cabs galore!
There’s weird, there’s weirder and then
there’s the London Taxi business where
you can go years with nothing changing –
and then suddenly nothing remains the
same for more than two minutes!
The May Call Sign wrote of next year’s projected
electric cab and while Linda and I were
three quarters of the way up Mount
Snowdon, the phone went (yes, some sad
people have to take their phones
everywhere – even on holiday). My
informant explained that LTI were going
to jointly build a cab that runs on
hydrogen in time for the 2012 Olympics.
If the hybrid Metrocab ever appears,
suddenly London is going to be awash
with different types of taxis!
But then came, surely, the shock of the month when the Mail on
Sunday "revealed" the existence of a
new and specially designed Mercedes taxi
that would bear close resemblance to a
TX4. Sure enough, on June 26 in Halkin
Street, the trade press saw it in all
its glory!
Most in our press had heard reports about the Merc paying "secret"
visits to the PCO over the past year and
that the people involved with Mercedes
were none other than KPM, using the name
of Eco City Vehicles Plc – a company
born when KPM and Pannal were involved
in a reverse takeover and of whom KPM
were the dominant partner.
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In November 2007, Call Sign
quoted the new company saying they would
be building
environmentally friendly vehicles for
local authorities and urban vehicle
fleet owners. But I don’t think anyone
actually mentioned a taxi for London!
The two questions now are whether KPM will remain as an LTI Main
Agent while selling a vehicle in direct
competition to the TX4 and whether the
new taxi looks like the TX4 or like an
Addison Lee people carrier?
And for those who were concerned about my safety when I said we
were three quarters of the way up Mount
Snowdon, I of course meant on the train!
Alan Fleming
It took me quite some time to get used
to Alan Fleming, the former Chairman of
the LCDC and now in the more honorary
position of President. His ‘shoot from
the hip’ style was different than what I
had been used to before, but eventually
I ended up liking him and appreciating
just what he had tried to do for his
members and the trade.
Now with his decision to stand down in his seventieth year, I wish
him luck for the future. If that future,
according to some whisperings, involves
a place with TfL, then that organisation
had better be ready for some lively
debate. Rumour has it that Alan knows
some swear words that haven’t even been
invented yet!
It would also be churlish of me not to congratulate Grant Davis on
his appointment as LCDC Chairman. But I
must also congratulate myself on a
recent editorial when I forecast that if
Alan was to lose the Chairmanship, it
would end up costing the LCDC money
because of the work he did with very
little recompense. Now I hear that the
new administration at the LCDC have
awarded themselves a 20% increase plus
an hour travelling time when attending
meetings. I hope it wasn’t me that gave
them the idea!
Proprietors v cab drivers and the
6-month safety check…
There is something of a split happening
within the trade press. Dave Allen is a
prominent and |
well-respected member of
The Company of Hackney Carriage
Drivers, editor of The Cab Driver
and also a very nice guy. But his views
on the 6-month SGS safety check differ
greatly from mine. According to Dave’s
latest Editorial, we are better off with
the 6-month check because otherwise
we’ll have an increase in PCO/TfL
inspectors roaming around checking cabs
in the street and in addition, have to
pay for a retest should a cab fail its
overhaul.
LTDA General Secretary Bob Oddy has gone into print pointing out
that the increase in failures was more
to do with technicalities rather that
anything connected to the cab’s safety
and I too believe that to be the case –
in fact my cab failed because the PCO
gave me incorrect information as to what
paperwork was needed. DaC Chairman Brian
Rice has also come out against the
mid-year check and I’ve spoken to trade
writers Steve McNamara and John Pace,
neither of whom is in favour of the new
test.
So far as paying for a retest is concerned, the Mayor has announced
that as being fact but there is no way
that we should be expected to pay
anything like the original cost of £178.
I’d have a guesstimate at around £25 -
£30. Anything more is unacceptable.
But even with all that, I and every cab driver I’ve spoken to
consider the mid-year check to be
totally unnecessary, because in the vast
majority of cases our vehicles are
second to none when it comes to safety.
The half-yearly is an unwanted, gross
inconvenience to a group of workers who
are just trying to earn an honest living
and who are becoming fed up with the red
tape surrounding our lives.
Dave’s loyalties are split, but his claim that drivers would be
surprised to find most garages in favour
of the 6-monthly check has to go down as
rather astonishing. He adds that it
isn’t because of the extra work it
brings them. Sorry Dave, as much as I
respect your views, I think it IS
because of the extra work it brings
them.
Dave ends by saying that the best thing we drivers can do is to
wipe our mouths and accept the check,
because it will otherwise cost us more
in the long run. His view is that we
can’t beat the system. Well I, for one,
don’t agree with that and neither does
any driver I have spoken to since.
My views are that of a cab driver while Dave’s are of a fleet
proprietor and the two, sadly, are a
million miles apart…
Alan
Fisher
callsignmag@aol.com |
