FUEL RIP-OFF?
Better late than never, I suppose, but it's not before time that the
media picked up on the fact that we are being ripped off every time we buy
fuel. This column spent some considerable space on the subject in both
November 1998 and reiterated it in March of this year.
I said - and please forgive me for repeating myself:
"...I am worried about the escalating price of diesel. A pattern
seems to be evolving that suggests the fuel companies could be taking us
to the cleaners!
Bearing in mind that oil prices have been at rock-bottom
prices, that the Arab oil producing countries have long forgotten their
unofficial 'rationing' system that was keeping the price of crude
artificially high and are now pumping as much as we can use, it just
doesn't make sense for the price of a gallon at the pump to be so
high."
Barrels of crude went down to a low of about $10 - yet prices
went up. Now the fuel companies are making much of the fact that the price
of crude "...has doubled to $20." But compared to several years
back, crude at $20 is still reasonably cheap. So, if you put your prices
up when crude is on the way down - and it couldn't have got much cheaper -
we just know that you'll put them up twice as fast when it goes up.
Rumour has it that OPEC are now rationing supplies in order
to force prices up. Maybe, maybe not, but $20 a barrel is not an
unnecessarily high price. So why is the price of fuel going through the
roof?
I'll tell you why. It's because we Brits have proved time and
time again that we moan briefly and then accept the unacceptable. That's
why we don't complain in shops and accept shoddiness as part of the game.
There isn't much we as taxi drivers can do on our own, but if we all
belonged to just one trade organisation, maybe, as a start, we could get
an acceptance of our legitimate place as a part of London's transport
system and with it, pay the same price for Diesel as London Transport
buses do.
I have been in the Editor's chair since June 1997. When I
took the job, the price of a litre of diesel was 54.9p per litre or £2.47
a gallon. What is it now? About 75p per litre or £3.41 a gallon. In just
27 months, it has gone up by almost £1 a gallon. Read that again. It has
gone up by almost £1 a gallon! And what have we done? Bugger all is about
the only expression that comes to mind.
And what about our dear government? Well they must be
having a real good chuckle because our tax to them has increased by an
average of about 5 gallons a day at the AA's estimate of 85p tax per
gallon or £4.25 a day. You work five days a week? Well, low-tax payer (as
HMG keep telling us) your tax has risen by £21.25 a week or £984 a year!
By the way, bad news for our American readers on the
Internet. Before long the cost of a gallon of petrol at your local gas
station will cost you almost £1 a gallon. But I suppose it isn't that bad
as it didn't cost much more last year.
But we are British - stiff upper lip and all that - we
shouldn't really complain. It's not nice...
MOUNTVIEW MERGER
On the two following pages replacing his usual Chairman's Report, Brian
Rice has answered a list of questions - most that I have asked and some
that drivers have asked me to ask. There are no whitewashes. Brian answers
all the questions truthfully and there was not one occasion during the
session where the Chairman said that he wouldn't answer.
I would like to comment on one raised subject - the possibility of a
merger with Radio Taxis. The Chairman says - without commenting on whether
it will or won't happen - that a merger between us and Mountview would
certainly provide a force to be reckoned with (which it obviously would).
Brian also says that that as a Board, they must look at all possibilities
and explore all avenues. He goes on to add that he is neither recommending
it nor dismissing it. There is nothing there that anyone could argue with.
All possibilities should be examined.
However, I would like to throw my hat into the ring. I don't believe that
Radio Taxis are our equals. Come to that I don't believe that Com Cab are
either. In my opinion, we are streets ahead of anyone else in the
business. As
such, I would be against a merger with Radio Taxis.
Last year we earned in excess of £1 million. According to
the Chairman, we are going to do the same again this year.
Yet Radio Taxis lost money last year. According to drivers that have come
here from there, the system they have implemented isn't working as well as
was hoped.
London needs a strong radio taxi force and in my view, a
combination of both us and Radio Taxis could possibly be a phenomenal
success. But that should (in my view) only happen NOT as a merger, but if
Radio Taxis agree to be taken over by Dial-a-Cab.
COM CAB AND TAXICARD
This may not be a Dial-a-Cab matter and it could be seen as promoting
the opposition, but I would consider it to be appalling if, as seems
probable, Computer Cab are unsuccessful in retaining the Redbridge
Taxicard for the disabled. Com Cab have provided this service successfully
for many years and many of the recipients are more than happy with it. Now
Redbridge Council intend taking the service away from Com Cab using
mini-buses and possibly cars instead to save money.
According to some of the locals who use the card, they will
be lost without Com Cab, as the alternative - Dial-a-Ride - is considered
to be a waste unless you can book your trip several days in advance. The
residents have little hope that Redbridge Council's alternative Taxicard
plan will work as this Council are considered by many to be totally inept.
This is the same Council whose parking policy of flooding the
area with wardens while allowing only a few parking spaces, forced shop
after shop to close. When it was too late, they reopened a multi-storey
car park that usually stands empty!
This is a Council that has several councillors who claim to
be 'friendly towards the licensed taxi trade', yet when the vote came to
decide whether to continue using Com Cab's successful service, NOT ONE
COUNCILLOR VOTED IN FAVOUR! Perhaps we should remember that when they make
their pilgrimages to residents homes at local election time - especially
the ones that "support the trade".
This Council has 'no overall control' and I would say that
describes them perfectly...
