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Call Sign February 2012
Every issue of Call Sign takes a look back at ODRTS history through the pages of the magazines of
the time with a flashback
DIAL-A-CAB FLASHBACK
they all vanished in an
them for a year. I wasn't exactly a night man,
This month's Flashback returns to October
instant.
more of a late afternoon driver but I arranged to
1998 and a regular column of the time writ-
Flashback
ten by drivers about their butterboy collec-
Somehow I muttered
start at four pm and end about midnight.
1998
tions. This one is from the late Bernie
OK and we set off. In
On the first evening after I got my Bill, I
Pressman...
those
days
the
turned up full of hope and apprehension. I'll
Marylebone
Road
never forget it; the skies were dull, grey and
From Call Sign, October 1998
wasn't like it is today and
threatening. The cab was fully fuelled, the oil
A BUTTERBOY'S RECOLLECTIONS
getting there was also a problem,
and water checked and I got in to start the
Several issues back, Mike Son (V52) told
but we moved slowly towards our desti-
great adventure. Almost immediately there
of his memories of the first passenger
nation. I kept trying to think desperately
was a giant clap of thunder and the heavens
he had ever picked up. Now Bernie
where the hell Clifton Court was. After about
opened up. Sam grinned at me and said:"You
Pressman (M31J) casts his mind back to
thirty minutes, we got to St Johns Wood Road
won't have much trouble getting off in this!"
that fateful day when you first utter the
and at last to the corner of Maida Vale. As we
I grinned weakly and pulled away.
magic phrase: "Where to Guv?" If you
did so, I gave a large sigh of relief as I saw the
Within minutes I was heading down
would like to share the memory of your
name of the court on the corner.
Kingsland Road, excited yet terrified that
first trip or day as a cab driver with Call
There was twelve shillings and sixpence on
someone would put up their hand! As I got to
Sign readers, please send your story to
the clock and I had been told that you could
the lights at Old Street, they changed to red
the Editor...
ask for double for over six miles, but I was
and I was trapped. A thin, middle-aged man
thankful to arrive at all! As he paid the fare
came running across and flung himself into
I don't think it matters whether you have
(my first legal) I turned to him and said:"I'm a
the cab before I could do anything about it.
been driving for many years or just months,
new driver and you're my first fare." He sniffed
He had a shocking cold and through his
one thing everybody remembers is their first
and said "I could see that by the bleedin' way
coughs and sneezes I heard him mutter
fare. Mine came just about thirty three years
you bought me!"
Clifton Court, Maida Vale. I panicked! My mind
ago in 1965...
Ah happy days I thought, welcome to the
went a complete blank. Where was Clifton
I was driving for Sam Leighton who had a
cab trade.That passenger won't recollect that
Court? Where was Maida Vale? All those days
garage in Andre Street, Hackney.The practice in
night, but I'll never forget it...
and nights pouring over maps and runs, those
those days was that if they gave you a cab for
Bernie Pressman (M31J)
long days in the sun and rain on my moped,
your wangle, you agreed to work nights for
RMI Petrol Chairman tells the Chancellor...
"REFORM FUEL TAX OR FACE CONSEQUENCES!"
In January, Chairman of Retail Motor Industry Petrol Brian Madderson wrote to Chancellor
George Osborne with a Briefing Paper urging reform of fuel tax ahead of the deferred duty
increase on 1 August. Mr Osborne detailed in his last November Autumn Statement that this
would add 3.02p per litre plus 20% VAT, making a total increase of 4p per litre at the pumps.
Taxi diesel is already priced at around 140ppl. Mr Madderson said in the 12-page Briefing Paper
that whilst accepting Government has little control over global demand and pricing of crude oil,
or even the vital exchange rate between Esterling and US$ - the international petro-currency it
has absolute control over UK taxation.
The Paper continued that whilst all taxes were unpopular, fuel tax now topped the list because
as the Chancellor had said in November, fuel was not a luxury for most people but a necessity.
So by recognising this fact, Government should also recognise that it is a deeply flawed tax as
being not directly related to income or wealth, it becomes a consumption tax that unfairly
penalises working families, low income earners, rural communities and businesses and many
other poorer sectors of society.
RMI Petrol C
hairman Bria
The RMI Petrol Briefing Paper went on to add that fuel crime was escalating, retailers were
n
Madderson
shutting up shop, commercial businesses were closing, unemployment increasing and economy
stalling. Mr Madderson said that fuel volumes had collapsed in 2011 and that with the already
For a great deal in taxi tyres
tight margins for independent forecourt operators, it would lead to further site closures. Quoting
the Palmer &Harvey last quarter Forecourt Report 2011, he said the UK was fast becoming a
TRY THE TIGER!
nation of fuel deserts, not just in rural areas but in urban ones too. Thus motorists would have
to drive further and pay more just to fill their vehicles.
Mr Madderson ended by telling Call Sign: "It must be time for change and new thinking on
fuel tax to provide a much needed boost to our society and to the economy. The consequences
of continuing to hit the motorist and consumer with this unfair tax are now clear to all, as was
so passionately debated by MP's in the House of Commons on 15 November, led by Harlow Tory
MP Robert Halfon."
Diesel is also expected to increase in price with growing tension between Iran and the western
world over their nuclear intentions with the EU trying to force an embargo on crude oil supplies.
Iran has responded by threatening to blockade the Straits of Hormuz through which 30 to 40%
Tiger Tyres
of the world's oil supply is shipped. Another cause concerns worries over EU refinery activity and
472 Hackney Road, E2
specifically diesel capacity after Petroplus Holdings were forced to shut down 3 out of 5 plants
0207 729 5237
due to banks freezing US$1billion of the company's loans, cutting crude oil supplies.
In addition, Repsol, Spain's largest oil company halted production at its Bilbao facility due to
weakening profit margins.
