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Either write to Call Sign at Dial-a-Cab
House or email us at
callsignmag@aol.com Phone numbers and private
hire...
Hi Alan
Just a couple of comments. First re Keith Cain’s answer to Mick Kennedy
(M30) who wanted drivers to be given client’s phone numbers to save time
when a ring out was needed. Only last week, a lady from our account in
London Wall told me she now only used Dial-a-Cab as she’d had a nasty
experience with her phone number being given to private hire drivers. That
ended with the boys in blue sorting out her late night phone calls.
Secondly, the ease in which the authorities just scrap any fines
and summonses concerning the M4 bus lane because it's the easy option. How
long will it be because we’re all licensed in the same building, do similar
jobs and now drive the same sort of vehicle, that we’re all classified as
private hire?
Colin Lewis (N55)
Allen Togwell’s article in the last issue on many drivers seemingly relying
on SatNavs was very interesting and backs up what Colin is saying. TX and
Fairways with SatNavs are bad enough, but when I see a Vito with a SatNav, I
cringe because your last sentence will eventually come true. A Vito with a
SatNav is a minicab. Incredibly, it won’t be LTPH who finally put the final
nail into the licensed taxi business, it will be our own shortsightedness.
It is we who are taking away the difference between the two sides of the
business. After all, we may have the Knowledge, but if we are using SatNavs
anyway, then what is the difference? Steve Norris, the former Tory Minister
of Transport for London, told me many years ago that once SatNavs got over
the problem of poor signals, then our trade would face its biggest battle
because the KoL would no longer be needed. What he hadn’t foreseen was that
our own drivers would start using them. The only thing I don’t understand is
why??? ...Ed
Lead times
Hi Alan
During mid-October, someone on the Call Centre’s morning shift decided
to increase lead times in certain zones by 25%. Some of the zones
that increased were SW3, SW10, W8 and W11 - although for some reason SW7
escaped this measure. I did complain to a Board member by voicing my views,
but as of 5th November the increases were still in place and I assume the
Board has endorsed the move - even through the quiet week of half term.
So there we have it; if you accept a job in these zones when
dispatched, you wait an extra three minutes on top of the six minutes you
already have to wait now on tariff 1 before you can start your meter.
Personally, I’m not prepared to wait nine minutes unpaid during my busiest
periods to start my meter knowing there are job on the street waiting for
me. My view is that longer lead times do not improve coverage and a complete
review should be undertaken.
Another question I’d like to ask is whether through bad coverage we
lost any accounts during the three tube strikes so far? One thing is for
sure; by doing miniscab work during these strikes, we have saved plenty of
their accounts, so it’s about time we told them where to go on strike days
and the busy Christmas period. Please don’t tell me that if we don’t do them
someone else will, because when the strikes are on all firms are at full
capacity.
B. Spear (Y16)
See Keith Cain’s article inside this issue ...Ed
Goodbye from Tom
Hello Alan,
I have finally left Dial-a-Cab. I would like to say how much I enjoyed
reading your magazine and also adding to it in a small way from time to
time. Can I access Call Sign online? I would like to keep up
with events if possible.
Keep well Alan and take care...
Tom Reynolds (O85)
For those that don’t know how to access Call Sign online, it is very simple.
Just go to
http://www.dac-callsign.co.uk, click on Call Sign 2010 on the left side
of the page (or any year you want to look at) and then click on the little
red PDF underneath the month you want to read. If you just click on the icon
but not the PDF, you will get a 20-page version of the mag but you will then
also be able to use the search facility. Good luck to you in the
future Tom and thanks for the interesting articles you have written over the
years ...Ed
A question to the Chairman...
Dear Brian,
I was very surprised to read in Reflections of the Chairman (November
Call Sign) that we are advertising for new drivers as at the
moment there seems to be very little work coming through for our existing
drivers and I feel this situation is not going to get any better. What is
the reason behind this? Is it to bring in more revenue via subs? If so, can
I make a suggestion and we perhaps do what Sovereign advised and do some
housekeeping by looking at how many Board members we have and exactly what
their roles are?
I look forward to your comments...
Dave Bull (D33) |
Brian Rice replies: As I explained in
my Chairman's report, I knew not all members would be happy with us fitting
more members even though we did allow the fleet to diminish in size during
the last couple of years. It is being done purely and simply to improve
coverage and for no other reason. If we wanted to increase income from
subscriptions, then we would increase the cost of subs, but that is not the
case.
September was the busiest month we have had since November 2008 and
we are beginning to get complaints regarding our service levels,
consequently we have recruited more Call Takers and Members to accommodate
the increase in demand. If we had not instigated the above, then there is
not any question we would lose accounts and in this climate that would be
criminal.
You state we should perhaps reduce the size of the BoM. Well Dave,
the ball is in your court on that one, all you have to do is introduce a
rule change so that members can vote on the issue and believe it or not, you
would get some support from the BoM on the issue.
Over the years some of the business that was conducted by
individual Board Members has been moved to staff that have been employed to
do a specific job, so much so that two Board Members attend Board meetings
only, one attends the office four days a week (Compliance/Complaints) the
fourth for two days a week with the remaining Board Member and myself being
the only ones to attend full time!Now I bet that surprised you!
When you receive the End of Year Report, you will see how
good our Housekeeping has been with our overheads being reduced quite
dramatically to the extent that we have shown quite a sizeable surplus this
year. This has, in my opinion, been due to the fact that your business has
been run in the correct manner, which includes determining the size of the
fleet. A wee problem...?
The problem of where to visit a loo as a Taxi driver (Nov
Call Sign), has been in existence for a thousand years.
Speaking from personal experience and appreciating that numerous guys within
the industry have experienced problems on this subject that have eventually
led to severe medical problems, one has to accept that there is no
one out there that is interested or able to help the individual driver -
except himself!
Years ago when on the rank slope leading down into Paddington
Station on a day when it was slow and stop all the way
through, I recall the guy immediately in front of me getting out of his cab,
leaving his door slightly ajar so all you could see was his feet! He
remained there a while and then with a smile on his face and obvious
relief, he looked at me and said: "Fantastic! I feel so
much better now!"
I then noticed a large sized
McDonald's drink carton in his hand! This gave me an idea of
which I used from that very day until my last day of driving a cab
- I bought from John Bell and Croydon, the famous
chemist in Wigmore Street, a Urinal Bottle and then popped across the
road to buy a length of black cloth from Alexanders Curtaining Shop
for covering oneself. I never ever experienced the problem of where to wee
again! I respectfully suggest that one and all can bid goodbye to
the variety of unhelpful establishments including hotels, clubs, pubs, the
Iron Lung and simply just drive into a quiet and safe spot away from the
public glare and you can enjoy yourself to your hearts delight!
Also, with a bit of practice - and I can assure you I have done
this several times - you can ‘do a
wee one’ whilst driving if the situation becomes desperate - even the M4 on
route to LAP is easily possible! Sadly I have not resolved ladies problems
yet!
Cheers for now - maybe I'll see you in a wee
while...!
Ronald S Colman (Ex-J09)
Before leaving the trade, Ron Colman spent several years writing Colman’s
Mustard for Call Sign. He always said it would one day make him an expert in
something. But who’d have guessed in what! Nice to hear from you Ron ...Ed
M4 bus lane
Alan
I read your Call Sign story about the scrapping of the "dedicated bus
lane" on the M4 freeway. I saw that there were black cabs running with
the buses in the bus lane, so I understand why you would want the bus and
cab lane to remain. But apart from the cabs losing that benefit, why is
it "bad for the environment" to let the bus lane revert to being an ordinary
lane? Is it the argument that the cabs carry more passengers than private
autos?
Here in San Francisco, many places we have HOV lanes (high occupancy vehicle
lanes) aka car pool lanes. Only cars carrying the minimum number of
occupants can use them.
Jack Barry
San Francisco
Jack, there are two reasons. The first is the obvious one; those passengers
arriving from an airport and using a taxi, expect to get to where they are
going as quickly as possible. The M4 was always a terrible motorway as it |
narrowed into two lanes
from three when it got into London. The traffic always went back a few
miles. Then they made the outside lane for buses and taxis only, allowing us
to bypass the hold up. But because putting 3 into 2 caused the hold-up, the
traffic changed very little because it just became 2 lanes that bit earlier.
The real problem wasn't more traffic but the jealousy of seeing taxis flying
past and because minicabs wanted to use it too. There was also the
possibility of a court case by the Chairman of a large minicab co and the
Government were afraid of the consequences had they lost it.
The second reason is that buses and taxis let out more particulates into the
air because of their diesel fuel, especially in traffic, so putting them
into traffic would increase the amount of rubbish in the air and the bus
lane helped eradicate that problem.
Jack Barry is a former taxi commissioner in San Francisco and
rather astonishingly, a Fulham supporter!...Ed
Addison Lee?
Hi Alan,
I understand that Addison Lee is now being used alongside Dial-a-Cab in
servicing one of our major accounts. This account uses the Concierge system
for its transport services, so are we now taking bookings for one of our
major competitors?
As we are constantly being told: "We are all in it together."
Never a truer word spoken...
Paul Smyth (R11)
Brian Rice replies: It always amazes me how these rumours begin, the only
problem is that they are usually incorrect - as in this case. However Paul,
you have done the right thing by asking the question instead of believing
the rumour. Also, you can always telephone me to ask a question instead of
writing - something many members already do. We do not take bookings for AL
and never have, neither do we do work for AL. Where the confusion arises is
that as from 9 November, Morgan Stanley has included AL in their list of
minicab operators that service them in the evening, along with us as taxi
supplier. Morgan Stanley is not on the Concierge platform but on an
independent platform called Oscar. We have been requested by MS and other
accounts to service the Oscar platform, but we have refused.
After all, it has taken us over 50 years to build our fleet, why
would we then hand it over to an independent software house so they can
dictate and just give us what they fancy? That is why we must have our own
platform to compete against these companies.
To the best of my knowledge, there are three clients (not ours)
that use the Oscar system exclusively with cars, as taxi circuits do not
wish to be added to Oscar, probably for the reason I have already stated. In
addition, why would any of us go onto these platforms when they are in
direct competition with us? That is why, in my opinion, it is imperative we
have our own system to compete with the independents, after all, with the
Concierge system the client can have taxis and cars. I know it’s hard to
digest, but that is what being in the service industry is all about - the
client has the choice!
DaC at Butlins Golf Day in aid of The Princess Royal Trust
for Carers
Hi Alan
Firstly can I apologise for only getting back to you now. Call
Sign was received in our office on 3 November but I’ve been on
annual leave, so it was a lovely surprise to come in and find it waiting for
me today with a report of the Butlins Golf Day in aid of our
Princess Royal Trust for Carers (November Call Sign).
Thank you so much for sending me my very own copy of the
issue. What a fantastic article, this is such an added bonus for us as you
have given us such a great platform to raise awareness about unpaid
carers. I can’t thank you enough for this and to say that I and my
colleagues are delighted is a real understatement.
I have sent the copy onto Lesley at Butlins and also a link to the
online PDF versions. We have been so lucky to have the support of Butlins as
their chosen charity, they work tirelessly to raise funds and awareness for
unpaid carers and they are just a joy to be involved with. I sit back in
amazement at their energy.
Call Sign is very impressive and must be a full time job,
especially as you publish one every month. It’s full of really interesting
articles and gives a real insight into Dial-a-Cab. You seem like one big
family.
Please convey my thanks to the DaC team – Peter Boxall Junior and
Senior, Keith Cain and Howard Pears. It would be wonderful to see them all
again next year and winning trophies!Trish Brown
The Princess Royal Trust for Carers
Tie pin measurements?
As a regular reader of what must be the best magazine in the cab trade,
Call Sign, just one thing puzzles me. In all the photos of
Chairman Brian Rice, his tie pin is always in exactly the same place on his
tie. How does he do this?
Barry Epstein
Volunteer General Manager, DaC Credit Union
Brian Rice responds: That's very observant of you Barry, my valet will be so
impressed that you noticed! |
