MAILSHOT

DaC elections
Dear Alan
Following the CVs in the January Call Sign, I would like to ask Joe Brazil a question...
   It very nice to have these good ideas to put forward, but unfortunately you are only　one voice. You say you would like to put more income to drivers, so why don’t you then think like the big multiples who are offering very big discounts to entice people to buy?
   As　I have suggested before, why not do away with the 10% gratuity? To a company spending nearly £1million a year, that represents £100,000 a year, which they can then invest in using more cabs, which then increases our income?　
   We are suppose to be businessmen, so how about thinking like them? Dangle a carrot and see what happens...
Ivor Belkin (C97)
Joe Brazil responds: Hello Ivor, thanks for your suggestion regarding gratuities, you are a man of almost unrivalled experience in the cab trade and have always held interesting views. This issue, as you know, has been looked at many times and I think that the balance struck by our Chairman Brian Rice is correct for the marketplace we are in at this time.　The creation of new markets and increasing driver’s incomes will be the future for us and whilst keeping costs to a minimum is important, building in value for clients keeps drivers in a stronger financial position. Things that can be viewed as negative costs by clients must be approached in a different way... if run-in fees are viewed as negative parts of a product, approach the problem from a new aspect. Make the run-in fee a positive part of the product, donating as little as 20 pence from a run-in fee　from trips to a charity picked by the clients, an amount this small could easily equate to £250,000 pounds by the end of the year for worthy causes - an idea based on micro-economics or penny shares as they were once viewed. Instead of constantly trying to reduce our costs, rehabilitate the product. We have　a future, we must build towards it as soon as possible. Marketing will be important for any idea to work and　if elected I would give the project the title "fare trade." New projects would be evolved under that banner.

Dress Code?
Ladies and gents,
We all know how AL drivers and other PH firms ask their drivers to dress and it does make a difference. We all wore smart casual clothes or a suit to attend our PCO appearances in order to get our green badge. I suspect you also did that when you were interviewed and had your instruction day at DaC house by Allen Togwell - or whoever it was at the time - to become a member of the best radio circuit in London. Were you not informed then of the Board’s wishes re dress and cab cleanliness? No doubt you said ok, fine! So why change? Why do some of you go to work looking like last night’s washing when there is no need? As has been said before, Primart /M&S etc do a range of clothes - shirts and trousers etc - that are not expensive, are easy to wash and make you feel so much better. Our clients do see you (even night men) and even if you don’t have to get out of the cab. They can smell too!
   We are lucky to have a job and the trade now has its biggest-ever threat to it in PH. So what do we do? We give the public a great service, but let ourselves down by our non-dress code and cab cleanliness - and at times, our manners. Of course, this does not apply to all our drivers, but the few can ruin it for the rest.
   I for one would not object if the BoM were to introduce a dress code - nor I suspect would many others. In fact I believe that TfL should introduce one for all drivers so we can improve our image to the world. So come on ladies and gents, lets make 2011 the year we really did our little bit and made such a big difference.
Martin Freeborn (C67)
Allen Togwell responds: Hello Martin, sadly a compulsory dress code by DaC or TfL is unenforceable. I say sadly because a) how would it be policed and b) do self-employed adult taxi drivers really need to be forced to look presentable when commonsense says it’s the only way to compete against the biggest threat to their livelihood – Private Hire?
   By coincidence, I’ve just read a full-page article in the Sunday Times on dress code in the financial sector. Apparently they are banning ‘dress down’ days because dressing down appears to becoming the norm on normal working days. It was a damning article on the sloppy dress of male and female members of staff, so much so that a strict rule of dress is to be introduced, which if not adhered to will have a bearing on the member of staff’s future in that company. Their argument - and one that I gave in response to a driver at an AGM 20 years ago - is that appearance equates attitude. Dressing like a slob intimates you are a slob and it’s the wrong image when dealing with the public. I agree Martin, it doesn't cost a lot to look presentable; proof of that is the shirt shown in my　regular article mugshot which was bought at Primart for £7 with the tie costing £4!

Credit card signing and GPS calling…
Dear Alan
A couple of　articles in the last two Call Signs need comment. Allan Evans　update in the December issue states that you should check the signature on the card　with the one on the receipt.　Since chip and pin came in, 90% of my credit card users do not sign their cards and as for Americans with Amex cards, forget it. Some 99% of users do not sign their cards, so what do you do then? I just process the card and send it through.
   Also in the December magazine was a page devoted to complaints, almost all about EC5. This seems to be a recurring theme in almost every issue, someone writing about changing calling etc. As someone who does not work that area, I am getting fed up with the all the comments about EC5. Anyone would think this was the only zone we use. How about the lack of work in the west of town in the early morning? I think that needs some comment.
   With regard to the comment about terminals in the January Call Sign, we have GPS. Could this be used for dispatching as let’s face it, the zonal system has had its day. I think that by the time we get new terminals I will have retired - at the moment around April 2012. Any chance of seeing a change before then?Ray Sorene (A53)
Allan Evans replies: Hi Ray, can I first clarify that the reason I stated signatures on a receipt should be checked against the cardholder’s signature, was merely to ensure driver payment. I also mentioned that if you are without a signal and unable to print a receipt,　then a manual receipt with a rubbing of the card　at the end of the journey　is essential to again guarantee payment - especially if it turned out to be a lost or stolen card. You may have read in an earlier issue of Call Sign about a　member who didn't gain a signature on a receipt, was originally paid and then had the money clawed back following non-payment by the relevant bank some weeks later　(not very nice on a reasonably large amount). This is becoming a fairly　regular occurrence and as a driver myself, I would find this hard to take! You also say that if there is no signature, you just process the card and then send it through. If I'm honest, I feel that you are taking an unnecessary risk of the　same thing　eventually happening　to you as happened to the driver I mentioned earlier and again it could be on a lucrative trip. I am pretty sure that when you receive a new credit card, you are instructed to sign and verify the card immediately. I would suggest that until our new terminals that will have chip and pin are available, you should take the safer option.
   EC5 is the zone that a majority, if not all of night/early morning drivers book into at some stage　during their working week. I’m sure that　members using this zone agree that it must be made fair and equal for everyone - along with all other zones that are constantly monitored. Terminal warning messages are not always a big enough deterrent and are occasionally ignored! In the weeks leading up to Christmas there were many uncovered trips in the West and South West zones , predominately early morning and it was a major cause for concern as some very senior accounts were not receiving the coverage they were used to, so much so that I believe lead in times were temporarily modified in an effort to improve an ongoing problem during busy periods.
   The zonal system is by far and away the fairest system. GPS doesn't necessarily pick the closest taxi to a location or rank, however it can bypass a taxi if it picks up stronger signal from another cab. Although still at the research and development stage, when the new DaC system is fitted to the fleet it will use GPRS/3G across the whole network - so lost signals in outlying areas will be a thing of the past and a trip offer should never be lost. You only have to ask some of our ex-members who have gone to another circuit that uses GPS as a means of dispatching and now want to return to see why we strongly believe in our data system and why we do not intend changing.

All Great!
Hi Big Al,
Could you please remove my motor home for hire ad from Call

Sign as it has now been leased out for a year. Thanks for your help Al; great mag, great editor
and a great society!
Dick Francis (T15)
Anything to help …Ed

No left turn mess…?
Good morning Alan
The Oxford Street no left turns eastbound never really hit me until recently when I had a job from the Selfridges rank to St Pancras International. As usual, the traffic was horrendous. Whereas we used to be able to turn left at Duke Street, that is now ahead only. The next available left turn is Marylebone Lane, which is shut for roadworks that I have heard are expected to take up to four years. So that meant going down to Oxford Circus – by which time there was almost £10 on the meter! Of course I could have attempted to u-turn into the non-moving traffic going west and then join the shorter crawl so far as Portman Street and make a right turn there, but then you have to somehow assure the passenger that you are going in the wrong direction in order to save them money and that can be embarrassing if they don’t believe you.
   I don’t see what benefit there can be from stopping the left turn into Duke Street – it certainly won’t make Oxford Street any worse. Surely someone at Westminster Council has enough common sense to see that? Mind you, you have to doubt that as they must have known about Marylebone Lane when stopping the left turn at Duke Street. Incidentally, the fare to St Pancras on rate one came to almost £20. I would also have been irritated to be asked to pay that much…
Sid Nathan (K88)
I asked Richard Massett, Chairman of the London Cab Ranks Committee, to respond:
   The left turn into Duke Street was banned as part of a series of measures to improve Oxford Street; in particular it was prohibited because of the very high flow of pedestrians crossing that junction. The package of measures implemented at the time also included benefits to the taxi trade in the form of rank improvements and as far as I am aware, the requirement to close Marylebone Lane was not then　known. All the measures were discussed in detail with Martin Low at the time and he was well aware of our objections, but decided to go ahead with the ban. All this was set against the backdrop of requests from the Oxford Street traders to reduce traffic in Oxford Street, primarily by removing taxis.
   There is not much point in bringing the matter up again at the moment as that part of Oxford Street is to be closed to eastbound traffic from next month for Crossrail works, with traffic diverted via Wigmore Street.

Road tax problems…
Dear Alan,
Can you help, I need to contact someone high up in the Mayors office. Briefly, my road fund licence ran out on 31/12/2010, which was the day that the renewal reminder arrived. I know that I'm in the 21st Century, thus I renewed it online (£425, plus £2.50) and printed off two separate official replies detailing all relevant documentation. The DVLA said that the disc should be with me in 5 working days, but owing to the backlog there was an especial order this year that their official　replies were effective up to 11/01/2011.
   Sadly　I did not know (but should have suspected) that the Cab Inspection dept is still in the 19thC. Thus when trying to plate the cab on 4 January, it　failed because the paper disc was not stuck to the windscreen.
   I wrote to Palestra ASAP and today spoke to Mr Edmund Davies, who was sympathetic. I told him that all　I wanted was for him to ring SGS and tell them to accept the DVLA’s response. But his reply was that we were all bound by and unable to vary the 'London Cab Act' (date　unknown but would like to know, suspecting sometime in　the last century). He promised to take the anomaly up with someone further up the food chain.
   Do you know whom, or which office to address in the Mayors office so that　I may put a few rockets up some dopey officials fundament?
   In my letter to Palestra and today on the phone, I mentioned that we were in the 11th year of the 21st Century and that if one government department said that the web download was all that was needed, why, how can another department not accept　them as reliable? But to no avail, thus I'm unable to work until the post office gets through its backlog.
Jon Tremlett (Y32)
I gave Jon the contact details for both the Mayor and John Mason. Hopefully he’ll get some satisfaction from one or the other …Ed

Greenwich wastelands!
Dear Al,
I’m glad my last letter made you smile, the wife says it's the first thing I've raised in years! You’re right when you say I don't need a map to find the O2, but it might come in handy at Greenwich Millennium Village where we have a number of account customers, but which appears on our map as a wasteland. Similarly we all know Boardwalk Place, which isn't on our map but there are thousands of addresses within a couple of miles not shown. Surely you are not saying we can't have a decent map because we did the Knowledge 30 years ago when the modern day Docklands was a distant dream? You say you have only used your SatNav three times in 4 years. I understand you work the Finz so I can believe that. I would guess that your knowledge of Croydon, Bromley and Bexley is similar to mine of Upminster, Romford and Enfield. I can get you there but away from main roads and shopping centres I’m a bit sketchy and if it's a choice between driving along with a map book on my lap and using a SatNav, well the SatNav is safer and I believe more professional - although you disagree.
   Yes Geographers did pull the plug, but there must have been provision in the original agreement for regular updates to the map? You say the fact that the terminals have lasted this long is a testament to their durability; I see it more as an indictment of a lack of investment at the sharp end. The map is only one symptom, how much would it have cost to get a reject counter that actually counted the rejects? I agree that we shouldn't spend millions just to get a new map, but if we had spent some money in the past maybe we wouldn't have to spend a fortune now to leapfrog the opposition we have fallen behind.
   On the subject of the new terminal, I have heard about it and yes you are right it is supposed to be the business and you are of course privy to better information than I, but I am sure I can remember you saying almost exactly the same thing 3 or 4 years ago. Let's hope it is as good as you say because we will probably still be using it in 2024.
   We are constantly told in Call Sign that we have to give the customer what he wants and not to forget he has a choice. Well I'm sorry Al, but what he wants overwhelmingly is the Vito. It's here and it's not going away, just take a look around. And I can't see anyone uninventing the SatNav anytime soon. If we ignore the technology and the opposition embrace it, then we are doomed.
   Finally regarding pictures of Board members, a couple of drivers have told me they conduct what they call a Rice-Watch where they count how many photos of the Chairman appear in Call Sign each month. I must have picked the wrong month because the average is 5 and the record is 8. You will be pleased to know you were back up to average in January. I wouldn't worry too much about this obsession with photos of the Chairman though, I was the same about Debbie Harry and despite dire warnings from my dad, it never affected my eyesight! Well that's my letter writing days over you'll be pleased to know. Thanks for indulging me; I’m off to the opticians now…
C.S.Clark (F25)
Ok Charlton, let’s look at the important part of this letter – your infatuation with Blondie, ie Debbie Harry. Mind you, as there are quite a few younger people reading the mag, so perhaps we’ll skip that bit. But I can recommend a good doctor!
   You’re right that I was probably talking about new terminals at least four years ago. What happened? I believe it was called a recession and anyone in this business spending £millions on new terminals when their current system worked adequately well would have been deemed as being totally irresponsible. Have you seen the differences between our terminals and those of the opposition? Theirs may have more bells, but the bottom line is that they all send out trips. Not rushing out to buy new terminals at a time of recession when not only was it dead out there, but a time when cash was something you hung on to for dear life, I believe showed far more sense – even though I too would have loved a new terminal. Ask drivers on those other circuits what they think of their systems and you won’t hear anyone fawning over how wonderful they are. In all honesty and contrary to what you obviously think, I know very little about what our new terminals will involve, but I do believe that providing we don’t go back into recession, that we’ll see them sometime this year. As it will probably have a built in SatNav, mapping will be irrelevant anyway.
   But speaking of SatNav, I don’t think you understand my point about having them on display. We are supposed to know our way without them, that was the whole point of the Knowledge. If we now rely on them, we become no different than private hire and as they are often cheaper than us, could you blame passengers for wondering why they use taxis? The vehicles are often older than PH, we are often more expensive on longer rides and using SatNavs, drivers will end up using the same routes as PH. That’s why I keep saying that we should not keep them on show!

Photos at Goldman Sachs?
Hey Al,
Mike Galvin of Addison Lee was at Goldman Sachs last night for ages, standing by the front door bold as brass having photos taken. Was he looking to wind drivers up?
Gary Cox (O46)
I couldn’t believe how many drivers phoned me that evening! I wasn’t at GS otherwise I would have asked Mike whom I’ve known for many years and contrary to some who have a built-in dislike of him from his time at ComCab, have always got on well with. Mind you, I’m not mad on his new boss! So for Gary and all the others that phoned, all I know is what I’ve pieced together - Danny Sullivan from LCDC’s The Badge was the photographer and Mike wasn’t there to have his photo taken. That means he was there for a GS chat, Danny saw him and flash! Sorry, but that’s all I know. However, no doubt the photo will appear on some website or other with a criticism of Dial-a-Cab thrown in! …Ed

Kenya calls!
Hello Alan
I just wanted to say thank you for providing magazine so that it can be read on the internet. We have no magazines for taxi drivers in Nairobi and although we do not claim to be anywhere near as knowledgeable as taxi drivers in London, by reading Call Sign we can at least have something to aim at.
Lipapwiche Kibaka
Nairobi, Kenya

Addison Lee
Hello Alan,
John Griffin isn’t anything new to our trade and everyone knows who and what he does. However I do find it a little outrageous that he writes to Call Sign with "a butter wouldn’t melt in my mouth" attitude. It was plain to see that he had an "if I can’t have it, you are not having it either" approach to　the M4 bus lane and even though the Conservatives have had a long term ambition to take it away, I believe that it was through Mr Griffin’s self righteous behaviour that sped up the process. Its a simple argument that the more time London taxis spend in traffic, the more the cost of the journey and it is　part of the Addison Lee marketing jargon　about fixed prices　against the cost to customers using Taxis and　sitting in traffic. He wanted access to the bus lane so that his drivers could do a greater number of journeys from Heathrow in a day.
   Mr Griffin speaks with forked tongue and you only have to read the article at the following website (especially paragraph 13) to see how he holds the London taxi trade in complete contempt. Go to http://tinyurl.com/36cympa.
   I wrote to my MP as regards the M4 bus lane and received the standard reply from the DfT. The problem that the Taxi trade has is that without a London Taxiboard-type committee, we are chasing shadows when we need to be part of the　consultation and negotiation process as and when these decisions are being made - not when they are announced as going to happen. We can all kick up a stink, but it’s too late by then.
   Finally, I would like to congratulate Barry Spear (Y16) for picking up Mr Griffin, as it speaks volumes that Mr Griffin preferred to use the　best on demand taxi service in the world rather than Addison Lee… the company he owns!
Richard Potter (T51)
Interesting letter Richard. An unusually high number of Dial-a-Cab drivers phoned regarding my publishing a letter from AL Chairman, John Griffin. Some said that I shouldn’t publicise his company, while other agreed with my philosophy that it’s better to know how the opposition thinks rather than to pretend that it doesn’t exist. Mr Griffin was responding to a Call Sign article from former Tory Minister of Transport for London, Steve Norris, who said that licensed taxis would always have the advantage of London bus lanes even if they had lost the M4 one. And as this magazine seems to be the only one with an open and pretty-much uncensored forum for drivers, then I feel it’s important for us to know what is going on out there because Private Hire isn’t going to go away. And if John Griffin would like to write to Call Sign to say whether he still intends giving his drivers a similar instruction as he did re M4 bus lane – but this time in regards to a London bus lane, I’ll publish that too. But I somehow think he may keep that one to himself until he says "go!" Now see the next letter …Ed

Publicising the opposition?
Dear Alan,
I make no apologies for writing and complaining about the content of the Mailshot pages in January Call Sign. Why on earth do you give space in OUR magazine to the opposition, the enemy? To make matters worse, in the December issue there is a full page with headlines praising the opposition and enemy. In my book they don't have the right to exist. If you　look at their modus operandi, no official training of drivers, no disabled vehicles, no legal tariffs, no separation of driver and passenger, no respect for the laws ie M4 bus lane. Well Mr Griffin, lets see if you have the balls to instruct your drivers to ignore the bus lanes in central London?
   Now onto another subject close to my heart and that is old cabs. Old cabs have not done us any favours and I welcome the new limit on aged cabs. I really think 10 years should be the maximum operating life of a London cab.　I have always replaced my cab on a three year cycle, as the economics dictated that this was the correct way and there is great pleasure from operating a new vehicle - although that was up until now. My current cab, a TX4 is nothing but a p*ss take from the manufactures. £420 for the road fund licence tells me it’s an old dirty engine and I know that within the next 12 months Euro V will be the requisite. So who's fooling who?　Anyone considering　buying a new cab now must think very carefully. It took almost three years for M&O to diagnose and repair a leaking front heater matrix, which started leaking from day 1. I lost count how many times I returned the cab for the same fault. They finally fixed it and it’s blown again and yes, my warranty has expired. I won’t even talk about the fuel consumption.
   Returning to my first point, I know you take the moral high ground regarding what is acceptable and what is not to advertise in the pages of Call Sign, and for that I hold you in high esteem, so please no more enemy articles or letters.
Stuart Benjamin (B10)
Thanks for the letter Stuart and I understand your point about allowing the enemy onto Call Sign’s letter pages. However, should we then pretend that they don’t exist while they go into all our accounts, making them offers they find hard to refuse? I can’t do that any more than I can now just throw insults at them, because like them or not, whether they give driver training or not, they’re here and they do exist. You only have to read driver’s letters to see how often the opposition are mentioned. There is certainly no chance of them ever getting their own regular pages while I’m here, but neither will I pretend they aren’t there because that would be another step on the road to disaster. I consider the fact that people of the ilk of former Transport Minister for London and Mayoral candidate, Steve Norris, feels he can write to Call Sign in response to John Griffin, as a compliment.
   The full page article in the December issue was written by Eddie Lambert and brought in much interest from DaC drivers. He unashamedly took the idea from Addison Lee and I certainly wasn’t too proud to publish that fact, after all John Griffin has taken enough from us – including one of his trump cards, that all his cabs look the same and are of the same colour, the one we are known by – black cabs!
   I’m not here to defend M&O – now the London Taxi Company (London) – but my TX4 is just over two years old and I have had no leaks and pretty much trouble-free motoring. But you are right that Euro V is getting closer and from 1 April 2012 all new taxis must be up to Euro V or better …Ed