During the last month, we appear to be having a situation where certain drivers are behaving rather irresponsibly in that they are not carrying out the instructions of radio procedure. It is vitally important that you maintain contact with the control room at all times, so that should the customer come on the line as to the whereabouts of the cab they are expecting, they can be told of the position.
Some drivers are pulling away from the pick-up address when, so far as they are concerned, there is no reply only for the customer to subsequently come down and find that the cab has gone. This causes utter confusion and bad feeling, not forgetting the inconvenience they suffer which can show us in a bad light.
Another problem caused by a small minority, is not using the delay advise key (DA) so that we can keep the customer informed as to your ETA. Therefore, please do remember that you must not pull off a job until you get permission to do so! Also, please note that if you accept a job then you are obliged to do it ! If it is ‘As Directed’ then it means just that. It is the luck of
the draw as to where it is going.
I know that driving under present day conditions is stressful and sometimes
things can get on top of you, but for goodness sake stick to procedure and do not argue
with the voice channel operator even if you think you are right. Problems can always be
sorted out later.
I am pleased to say that the complaints that I am asked to deal with are not
of the villainous kind but silly unnecessary things that can be avoided by a little common
sense on both sides. That also means from the Control Room.
I am still monitoring the amount of work being undertaken by individual
drivers under the 40 trips a month rule. I have written to some drivers enquiring as to
why they are undertaking fewer jobs than one would expect during the past months.
Where there are reasonable
excuses, such as illness, cabs off the road, part time working, or a special
circumstance then that could be acceptable, however there will be a follow up to see how
others are doing at present. You may ask why we do this, well it is important that we
maintain a good service to our customers by using all our available cabs and not just the
ones who put themselves out.
JRTA
As Chairman of JRTA ( Joint Radio Taxi Association ), I have been asked to liaise with the
LAP committee which comprises HAL, HALT, and other interested parties that meet on a
regular basis to discuss and sort problems which may arise at Heathrow Airport. My job is
to represent all the radio circuits, put our point of view, safeguard our interests and
report back. Seeing that we contribute on a regular basis to the terminal desks and have
radio pick- up ranking facilities, it is important that we are constantly aware of the
happenings out there.
Aubrey Siteman
Complaints Officer
