During the course of drivers being at Roman Way, we have noticed that there are a number who are not complying  with the Society rules. These drivers are claiming the reduced subscriptions for allowing the company logos to be displayed on both front taxi doors, a yellow CCC sticker on the windscreen and a we take credit cards sign on the centre partition.
   Drivers, who do not display all of the above company stickers could have their subscriptions increased from £124 (+ VAT) to £175 (+VAT). This can be done without warning if an official of the Society sees your taxi is not complying with the rules.
   I would also like to advise you that all members that joined after January 1996 have all agreed and signed to comply with the above regarding the carrying of our logos.
   If you have damaged the outside of your front doors and have just had repairs completed, then you should inform the Compliance Officer or Driver Services that you currently have no logo. There is no reason for the inside stickers not to be attached; Roman Way fitters have been informed that if a taxi comes in with any stickers missing, then they are to replace them.

the coats that were last year’s Christmas presents; that includes the special one-off order we had to get for drivers we could not accommodate on the initial order. I would ask any driver that has not collected his coat and is size L or XL to please collect it. We do not have any other sizes left.

On Friday 15 August, we were fitting the first Mercedes Vito onto our fleet, with the agents prior to the launch having caused a delay thanks to a lack of liaison. Drivers bought the new taxi only to be told by us that we could not fit our computers or terminals as we did not have brackets or posts to hold the equipment. Also, we were being denied permission to put a hole in the roof to fit a correct aerial. We were being instructed to fit a magnetic aerial; this would make you look more like a private hire than before. For drivers who purchased these vehicles before talking to us, they found there was a delay in fitting and that they had to be non-radio drivers for longer than they had anticipated.

I mentioned some months ago about the number of drivers you now see on mobile phones whilst moving. The police and Government say they have tackled it and it is going down. What a load of rubbish! They should come into the real world where it is on the increase. They should increase the fine to £150 fine and 3 points on your licence. That might make it more of a deterrent
   A driver spoke to me recently about combating the growing menace of knife and gun crime in addition to the drivers who cause death whilst driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
   If a person is found guilty of causing the death of any other person, it should be a stiff jail sentence. But the sting in the tail should be that as we do not have any spare prison space, to franchise it out. Let’s pay Russia to build some jails in Siberia and we could send these killers there for their sentence. If you consider this too harsh, think of the person who has lost their loved one to these selfish killers. We have done away with the death penalty, so send them to these Russian jails where they would get no creature comforts and be guarded by armed guards. Visiting rights would be nil, then they would know how the families of the person they killed felt at not seeing their loved one again. I can almost guarantee that they would come back a changed person and they would not commit a crime again.

Ladies and Gentlemen, if you make use of the free tickets that we acquire for the theatre or just read the messages, could I ask you to keep it within the Society? Many get very jealous to think that those ‘greedy taxi drivers’ are always getting offered freebies. They don’t realise we’re offered them for a reason; so you can tell your passengers how good the show was…

One of our drivers went to the manufacturer of the cleaning fluid Sparkling Dri, which was advertised in the July Call Sign. Whilst there, he got the makers to reduce the price to £12 from £19.99 (the £11 in the July magazine was a one-off). He also bought an extra 8 bottles that he brought to the fitting bay for any driver wishing to purchase. After I gave some demonstrations to drivers who attended the depot, the bottles were all snapped up! It saves drivers postage and packing of £6.
   This driver is now going to travel up to the makers again to purchase more Sparkling Dri to allow drivers to get it direct from the depot. Sparkling Dri allows you to clean and polish you taxi or car without the use of water. That is unless it has really caked-on mud, but normal dirt and dust on a taxi that has decent paintwork will come up with a great shine.
   One driver came to Roman Way with a taxi where the paint had lost its bloom and expected the cleaner to act like T cut. This is a really good product - but it cannot produce miracles! If you would like a demonstration, just  drop into Roman Way and see me.

All the staff at the fitting depot were shocked to hear of Doreen Freeborn’s death. Martin had called into the depot on his way home from the hospital after visiting with Doreen and the staff who spoke to him felt that she was a lovely lady. I cannot say that I know how Martin must feel at this moment and I pray I am never put in that situation.
   Martin, all of the boys at the depot and myself wish to send our condolences and hope you can find some way in which to ease the sadness you feel at this moment.