TX4 or Merc?
I picked up the Call Sign you left in the office for me. Cheers! The one you sent is still languishing deep in the bowls of the post office in Hornchurch, after they refused to deliver it because there was not enough postage on it, although they delivered the little card to tell me I could collect it! Work that one out.
   Anyway, are you still getting a TX4 after the problems with the early (56) model? I think it’s absolutely scandalous that drivers could lose everything they have worked for because, once again, LTI have messed up big time. I drive an 04 TX2, which has been a brilliant cab. The few faults I had were soon rectified by KPM, however friends I know who have a TX4 would gladly watch them catch fire and immediately call the fire brigade after they’ve burnt out!
   So the Mercedes Vito looks like a van, but how long can the trade keep being sold lame ducks by LTI? The charges for some services on the TX4 are £400 and £500, which is scandalous in my opinion. So it may be that now is the time to give the Merc a go, what with its cheaper running costs, servicing and better mpg. It could actually save the London trade from dying under a mountain of debt brought on by a poor vehicle. The only thing is the price - £35,800, about the same as a gold spec TX4. I wonder where that figure was worked out - in Bethnal Green or Coventry!Terry Wright (P39)
I don’t believe I’ve ever heard of Mercedes servicing being described as cheap! …Ed

Engine league table?
I was interested to read your opinion on the new Mercedes Taxi. I would like to offer a different view. Up until about six years ago the cab trade had a very good Nissan engine. After introducing the TX2 Ford engine and telling us that they will be in taxis for the next ten years, within a few years they had changed it for an Italian engine, which I've no doubt no one in Italy has ever heard of! Italian cars are known for their looks and speed, not for their reliability. I am a Which Magazine subscriber and the Italian makes are always near the bottom of any league table with the Japanese makes always top. I understand that you don't like the look of the Mercedes cab, but what I want to know is why should taxi drivers spend £35,000 on a vehicle with an unproven engine, rather than a tried and tested one?
It seems to me that LTI will not learn their lessons; they are getting ready to give us an electric taxi in combination with another obscure company as well as a Hydrogen taxi in four years time. Recently I was in a Toyota Prius. This vehicle does about fifty miles to the gallon and as yet Toyota have had not one single incident of a battery failing in the UK. Why LTI would never consider this type of engine is beyond me. I will be interested in your comments on the matter.
Nicholas Fielding (O52)
Thanks for your letter Nicholas. I cannot give authoritative comments as my knowledge on engines is rather limited. As Editor of Call Sign, I can but give my views – the prime one being as you’ve stated, that I do not want to drive a taxi that can be easily mistaken for a minicab. Other than that, I remember hearing that the TX4 engine was also matched to a Chrysler 5 speed auto gearbox – hardly an unknown company! I also believe that so far as the Ford Duratorq engine was concerned, that wasn’t down to the performance of the TX2, but more towards the way Ford saw their side of the contract.
   So far as the TX4E and hydrogen cabs are concerned, I think we have to understand that the numbers involved are very small, so fitting them to a taxi body might not be that easy and could well frighten off many companies already operating in that field …Ed

TX4 fires – a letter to my MP (from Barry Spear Y16)
Dear Mr Hurd.
I am a licensed taxi driver and I want to explain the current situation I am in. I own a TX4 taxi, which is only 20 months old and still under warranty. Back in June, one of these vehicles was destroyed by fire. Since then at least 6 more have been destroyed by fire and the news has finally reached the media.
   The Public Carriage Office ordered TX4s with VIN numbers between 200000 and 200500 to be checked by the manufacturers, London Taxi International. My taxi, like many others, was checked last Thursday or Friday and given a clean bill of health with the service record book being stamped as proof. At 8pm last Friday, the PCO took the step of taking all 56 registered TX4s off the road. The reason for this being that the manufacturers could not give them assurances that they knew how the fires had started. This in my view is like the CAA asking Boeing for an assurance that one of their planes would never crash. To date, I have not received any correspondence from the PCO and any facts I have found out are from the media and third parties. I would like to ask why this was not investigated when the first cab was destroyed? As a result, I have been unable to work for 3 days and due to the number of drivers affected, it is impossible to hire another cab. I believe that the PCO and TFL have over reacted because when the bendy buses were going up in flames, they were not taken off the road even though there could have 100 people on the vehicle.
   Even today, drivers ringing the PCO were told that if their cab was checked last week they were able to continue working by uninformed members of staff. Insurance companies are telling drivers their insurance is invalid for hire and reward.
   The PCO in my view is full of Red Ken’s cronies and Mr Johnson should review this department of TFL and heads should roll.
   Today was the first time in my 38 years of working that I had no job to attend. My pride has taken a setback in the last few days, but as you can see from this letter I will not bow down to the cronies of the PCO. I will expect compensation from TFL or LTI because whilst 1000 cabs are off the road, the minicab touts and rickshaws will be thriving with no enforcement from the powers to be. I hope you can look into this matter with the utmost urgency.
Barry Spear
Barry’s MP is Nick Hurd (Ruislip – Northwood) …Ed

Who knows what?
I am the owner of one of the currently suspended 56’s. Can you could help me? I know you have a lot of connections within the trade and hear much of the news. Obviously there is a long way to go before this latest situation is resolved, but it now feels particularly difficult to obtain true information regarding the cause and rectification of the problems affecting the TX4. Do you know now of any drivers that have organised any sort of group to try to get to the truth of the problems? Or individuals who may know more than LTI are letting on or even have inside info yourself? If you do, I'd be very glad if you could let me know.
   I used to say that my cab went like a rocket. It seems more apt to say like a Hindenberg air ship now!
Paul Willett (V12)
I know what you mean Paul and by now you will have heard of any such groups in addition to having had your cab fixed. But in the same vein, I must emphasise that any group contemplating legal action could be placing all TX4 drivers in a terrible position and I don’t think I would want to be part of that. That isn’t to say that they should not be compensated, but taking a risk of putting a company out of business would not help those with a warrantee that suddenly became useless …Ed

So what was it all about?
Re the problems with 56 reg TX4s; at first a message went out on our screens saying 56 plate TX4s were being suspended because LTI couldn't locate the cause. We on DaC are lucky because we get messages on our screens, but that night I saw about ten 56 plate TX4s driving around. I don't believe for one moment these drivers would risk their Bills by driving the cab if it had been suspended, so I had to assume they were unaware of the situation. I pulled up beside one and asked the driver if he had heard? His reply was that he had not been informed by the PCO, TfL or LTI to take his cab in or ordered off the road. He said it was taxed, insured and plated by the PCO and as a result he believed he was legally allowed to ply for hire until  informed by any of them. He said he would keep working, to which I totally agreed with him. He also said the only people telling him what to do were other cabbies and that they were just rumours and hearsay until he heard something official. Again I agreed with him.
   But what really worried me was the 56 plate bit; an 07 plate could also have been affected because as you know, the number plate only relates to when it was registered with DVLA and an 07 plate could quite possible have been made before one of the unlucky 56 plate ones, yet registered with DVLA later in the 12 month period. I know that can happen

How much longer?
   I am finding it impossible to get any news from M&O about where I am on the VIN list. I have this morning discovered two garages that have jumped the VIN queue, claiming they supposedly offered their cabs as guinea pigs. But they would say that wouldn't they?
One fleet owner also told me that the engine has to come out in a 9-hour operation per cab.
Knowing what sort of delay to expect is imperative to drivers. Also you may want to warn drivers who may be tempted by any solicitors offering to represent them in class actions or the like for reparation on a No win No fee basis. It is likely that the firms require drivers to
sign a contingency fee agreement, which normally works out at a 35% cut of any settlement.
After three weeks plus of being without a cab, I have just found one from a garage that apparently jumped the queue to get their TX4s back on the road. I have e-mailed and phoned LTI without success or response about their lack of an up-to-date briefing. Do you have any clout?
Jon Tremlett (Y32)
Jon’s letter is one of many I have received on the subject. My view of the situation as it stood on October 21 is in my Editorial. I am hoping that LTI will give me the statement on the situation that I have asked for …Ed

Waiting for passengers
Could someone in authority please answer a couple of questions for me. Firstly can you tell me what is the maximum time that I am compelled to have to wait for an account passenger? And secondly, if I accept an account trip with a stated destination and the destination changes to one that doesn't suit for any reason prior to the POB being pressed, can I have the trip recovered and redispatched with the correct destination? Definitive answers to both these questions would be appreciated.
Stephen Gander (V20)
Allan Evans responds: Hi Steve, as a rule a driver would be asked to wait for an hour before requesting to be removed from the account trip he has accepted (although there may be extenuating circumstances that would obviously be taken into account). It is then that the trip will be recovered and only when the replacement taxi arrives would the original taxi be cancelled. If a driver accepts a trip and the destination was completely different or in a different direction from the offer, the driver may request that the trip is reallocated should he not be in a position to complete the job.

No U-turn in Southampton Row and Call Sign
I recently received a PCN in respect of my doing a U-turn in Southampton Row and I have to ask why the PCO require us to have a vehicle which can perform U-turns when organisations like Camden Council introduce random regulations like this one, which penalise us when we make one?
   Anyway, I digress. I could see no way out of paying the fine, but on the very next day I received my copy of Call Sign. In this issue you had an article on this very subject in which you described how several drivers had appealed the offence on the basis of poor signage and their PCN's were subsequently cancelled. I therefore appealed on the same basis and lo and behold my PCN was also cancelled. I write therefore to thank you and all concerned for
saving me £60.
Mike Holleyoake (M06)
Please to be of service Mike. You can read the advice of a solicitor in this issue in Ask Gary …Ed

W101…
Some time ago W101 was disbanded after 8pm. I thought this was due to drivers wanting Lazard work later in the evening without the risk of taking a ‘walk up’ off the rank. It was then disbanded altogether. The answer was revealed in last month’s Call Sign. I was reading the article whilst on W101 when I was hailed by the doorman with a LAP T3 (not all bad). This rank was very useful in taking a short cut to a Berkeley or Stratton Street job, the same as EC11 EC9 EC10 etc. It seems like one person complaining brought about this change. I would like to suggest that W101 be resurrected to be in force from 10am to 10pm.
Alan Nash (A95)
Alan, I have to assume there were no cars about! …Ed

And more…
John Smithen (C03), writing about the former Mayfair hotel in Stratton St in the October Mailshot, has got it wrong. I was ranked up there about 10 weeks ago with 3 other Dial-a-Cab drivers and one ComCab driver. The doorman, a chap in a bowler hat named Nuno, came up to all of us one by one and asked if we would "give him money for an airport job." When the last one of us had stood firm and said no, he went back to the hotel, got the passenger and the cases, hailed a cab off the street and negotiated with him. He then put the cases in and the cab drove off. When I challenged him about it, his words were: "I did not see you or any other cabs on the rank." John Smithen seems to think its ok to pay for work, but don’t we pay enough already? It starts off at a fiver, then rises to six quid. Mr Smithen decides he doesn’t want to pay six quid so it goes to bloke who will and we are back to where we started.
   Incidentally, the Marriott, Swiss Cottage also puts any long job into PH. Even if they just walk up to the reception and ask for a taxi, they get them to wait while they phone for one, even with a full rank of licensed cabs sitting outside. I recently emailed the Front of House Manager and apparently: "Taxis and PH work seamlessly together at this hotel." I don’t know about seamless, but they now see-less of me as I don’t put on or pick up from there anymore either!
Mickey Lappin (E46)
I’m with you Mickey; I refuse to pay for doing my job …Ed

Three-hour read!
My Call Sign arrived on 1 October and because it was the Jewish New Year and I wasn’t working, I just sat down and read the magazine from cover to cover – the first time I have ever done it all at once! It took me three hours and made me wonder how you do it and also drive a cab? It made excellent, entertaining reading, but even more amazing was the fact that for a monthly magazine, you even scooped TAXI (which came out at the same time) with news that the TX4 fire problems had been sorted and that upgrades were about to start.
   In future I will ask my wife if I can take an extra day off in order to just sit down and read Call Sign! Mind you, I know what she will say!
Sid Nathan (K88)
Thanks Sid. Your sentiments are appreciated …Ed

Aubrey’s birthday…
Many thanks for your kind mention in September’s Call Sign Flashback and birthday article in
 

Speeding in the fog…
I read the article in the October Call Sign re DaC driver Alex Laird (O64) who was involved in an accident in the fog. He has left me feeling truly amazed. By his own admission it was very foggy and visibility was compromised, yet unless there was a printing error, his speed was in the region of 40mph!
   With the Highway Code declaring that one should drive with the ability to be able to stop safely, if I was the driver I would be concerned that my insurance company might well refuse to pay out on a claim.
   Yours in horror…
Joseph Batty (W90)
It is a good point although, I got the impression that the fog suddenly deteriorated and before he could slow down, it was already too late …Ed

Nash’s Numbers and something for nothing…
About 150 drivers have taken up my offer of the Nash’s Numbers Useful Information Document (UID). I offer this every month at the bottom of my articles on page 2, but maybe many of you miss it. As most of you read Mailshot, I think it might be a good place to let you know if you are missing out. I do this work for free, so updates may be a little slow coming out, but it now contains over 70 pages of info including the fare table, distance to towns, hotels, pubs and bars, nightclubs, restaurants, lap dancing clubs, MP stations Heathrow and Gatwick terminal info, LCA arrivals, Eurostar arrivals, postcodes (both inner and outer London), street numbering, What’s On at Earls Court, Olympia, ExCel and O2 plus more. If you would like a copy, simply send an email to alan@nashsnumbers.co.uk with the subject as UID then very simple text containing your name, email address, call sign, badge number and a contact phone number, which will only be used if your email address fails.
Alan Nash (A95)
It really is free with no hidden agenda and a very useful item to take to work every day …Ed

Post Office cock-up
I thought I'd drop you a line concerning a couple of things in the October Call Sign. Firstly on the matter of the great Call Sign postage cock up; our postman left us a card to say the Post Office was holding a delivery for us and that there was a fee of £1.24 to be paid on it. When I phoned my local sorting office, they said that they didn't have it but it was being kept at another sorting office. When I then contacted the second sorting office, they said they didn't have it either! They then told me to go online and quote the reference number on the card. I quoted the number and paid the £1.24 and was then told the item would be re-delivered to me. I have now received an email from the Post Office saying they no longer have the item and it had been returned to sender. Do you know of any of those particular Call Signs that have been returned?
   Secondly, the case of John Shakeshaft (P52) and his PCN in Moscow Road. This incident reminds me of another of our drivers who received a PCN containing a picture of his cab in the infamous Holborn box junction. The council, Camden I think, said that the driver had committed an offence by stopping in the box (as shown in the picture), but on viewing the video footage it was clear that the driver had not stopped in the box at all. Now what occurs to me is that in both of these incidents, the councils in question are trying to obtain money by deception, which as far as I'm aware is a criminal offence? If the drivers in question are in a trade organization, they should be talking to their legal departments, and if not they should at least pay a visit to a police station to make a complaint! I'm sure Dial-a-Cab would back them up as someone needs to stand up to these councils when they are clearly trying to deceive us!
Peter Kelly (Y96)
Thanks for that Peter. I have been speaking to Westminster about a similar PCN as that issued to John Shakeshaft and managed to get that cancelled as well. Yes, I agree that whilst no one is perfect, some of these PCNs are obviously being issued – at best – without the Council remotely checking for any reason.
   And no, there were no Call Sign’s returned to sender that I know of …Ed

DAB radios
I remember last year when drivers were asking in Call Sign about DAB digital radios in taxis and the reports weren’t good. I notice from your editorial that you now have one in your taxi. Is it any good so that I too can listen to my beloved Spurs lose in crystal clarity!
Kevin Went (N19)
The DAB comes with the TX4 ‘gold’ models and it is really excellent quality. Sadly the same can’t be said about Spurs …Ed

Annual report
Dear Alan
In the last Chairman’s annual report, we were told that there were proposals to bring in outside experts and professional managers to take over some of the functions carried out by our elected Board members. At the AGM, this was elaborated on and it was explained that final responsibility for decisions and policy would still rest with Board members. Can you please send one of your trusty investigative journalists to find out answers to the following: 1.  Have any outside consultants or managers been brought in?
2.  How many and what functions are they carrying out?
3.  How much has been spent on recruitment and wages?
4.  How much has been saved by employing these new people?
5.  What improved efficiencies have been noted?
6.  How much extra income has been generated?
7.  By how much has the wage bill for Board members been cut?
Laurence Kelvin (W88)
Brian Rice replies: Laurence, yes, everything you ask about was recommended by me in the last Annual Report, however we have experienced a huge downturn in our fortunes - as indeed has the whole of the Taxi and Private Hire industry. Consequently, I do not feel we are currently in a position to add to our wage bill. Quite the contrary in fact, our wage bill has been cut with fewer staff and Board Members working fewer hours. When things improve - and I have no doubt that they will - then that will be the time to employ these top managers. But in my view now is not the time to increase our costs, we have to cut them to ensure we remain a viable business. 
   I know you quite well Laurence and I have never been anything other than totally honest with you, as I try to be with all our members, however, the next part is quite difficult for me to convey to you. One of the reasons we are somewhat more successful than some of our competitors is because we do not have too many chiefs - but more Indians. For instance, one of our competitors employs a Key Account Manager, Sales Manager, someone to market their Platform, Chief Operating Officer and a Chairman - we just have a Chairman. 
   I don't think the way in which we operate is necessarily correct, in fact I know it's not and it will most definitely have to change one day, but not at the moment in this current economic climate. Laurence, I hope you will accept my answer in the spirit in which it is intended…

Lou Gitlin
Could you please publish my regards for good health, strength and prosperity to Mr Lou Gitlin. As you said (Oct Call Sign), only those of us on the circuit long enough will know what a genuinely nice person he is.
Louie Christian (A48) 
Lou has had trouble with a collapsed bladder following prostate problems and asked Call Sign to thank all those who remembered him in phoning Call Sign …Ed

Rafted by George!
I just wanted to correct your item on George Raft and the Colony Club (Oct Call Sign). As you rightly said, Raft was involved with a casino of this name that I believe was based around Berkeley Square. However, this had no connection with the Colony Room Club in Dean Street. That was a drinking den popular with the likes of Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, Tom Baber and Jeffrey Bernard. It was run by a formidable woman called Muriel Belcher, who couldn’t always remember people’s names so she called them by a four-letter expletive. I bet even George Raft and his mates would have been shocked! It’s still in business, but its future is uncertain…
Geoff Levene (K43)
If they were the last clients, I’m not surprised it’s doing so badly! …Ed