Call Sign January 1999

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THE OLDER VIEW?
As a ‘mature’ taxi driver, I do very little work nowadays but I still take and read all the trade papers. I would like to offer my heartiest congratulations to you as, in my opinion, Call Sign is far superior and leaves all other trade papers far behind. It is clear, concise, well laid out; it is informative, interesting and humorous. The Editorial is always well worth reading - although sometimes provocative. I am also glad to see Big Al back - I always enjoyed his articles. I particularly enjoy the variety of contributions and look forward to each issue.
Long may you continue.
Arnold Stanton
Ilford

THE CALL CENTRE VIEW OF CALL SIGN
An in-depth survey was carried out in the Call Centre recently to establish staff members opinion’s of Call Sign. 25 Calltakers were asked: "Do you enjoy reading Call Sign Magazine? Nineteen said they did with six saying they did not. Of the approving readers, Emma Chandler - evening shift Calltaker and mobile phone expert - said that the magazine could be improved by having more pictures of nude men!
Those drivers who complain about poor diction and vocabulary coming from the Call Centre will be glad to hear that one person - when asked - said that she did not understand the question!
On a more serious note, all the Call Centre staff were delighted with their bonus very kindly donated by the drivers and hope to carry on with your continuing support into the new year.
Joe Brazil
Call Centre

LETTER TO LORD HAW-HAW - MINISTER OF PROPAGANDA
It must be post traumatic stress following the shock of my recent yellow carding(!) but I still can’t see our recent financial figures as a wonderful performance. The Chairman’s cry of "record figures" fall on deaf ears as I look at the previous records. If we take into account depreciation, interest payments and inflation, then 1990’s readjusted figures would have far outstripped any profit made today. Paying back Ł1 million in data despatch repayments plus over 200 grand profit was a far superior performance and the Society was in a far healthier position.
   Today’s surplus owes more to improved market conditions (a more buoyant economy) allied to a 65% tariff increase (1990 - 98) than to anything our current management have done.
In reality, our record figures show a decline in gross profit from 18.6% in 1990 to 14.36 in 1998 - a drop of 4.24%. This would not be so bad if it was allied to an increase in trips, however, that is not the case as trips remain at the same level. Any increase would see levels reduce further leading to an increase in subscriptions - which despite Management claims to the contrary have substantially increased.
   In 1990 subs were Ł60. In 1998 they are Ł110 - an increase of 83%. When taken into consideration with the quality of work, (gratuities in 1990 were 12.5%, down to 10% some capped or non-existent (fixed price trips, some below meter readings), it can be shown that an average driver doing Ł300 a week in credit has seen an increase in real terms of aprox Ł30 - Ł40 a month in subs.
   In total, drivers paid Ł1.75 million in subs against the clients Ł4.2 million service charges; a ratio of 2.4 - 1: In 1990 this was 4.7 - 1. Drivers subs accounted for 29% of Dial-a-Cab’s total income. In 1990 it was 17.5% - an increase of almost 12%
   Looking at the projections for data despatch given by Mike Tovey to the Membership at the 1986 AGM show how we should be doing. These figures were based on a very conservative 5% growth, having taken generous allowances for both inflation and inflation / depreciation, they show substantially higher values for service charge income and profit! We have a mass volume despatch system (which is in need of replacing…processing please wait…message not acknowledged!) yet at times, particularly daytime, has no work! Are the day-men aware that the nightmen regularly outperform them despite being far fewer in numbers?!
   We also have increased numbers of mobiles, the only thing really keeping subscriptions down. More cabs less work!

   To my mind it looks as if we under-performing at record levels! Please don’t regard a Ł1.2 million profit as anything substantial - if we replace the terminals this will be wiped out at a stroke. But then, perhaps, we’re not going to replace them - maybe the plan is to manage us into a crisis so that we can be ‘rescued by a predator with their own satellite system.
Mark White (B86)
PS. I wish to express again my disappointment that you refused to publish my original letter in which I tried to explain more fully our position with regard to "Ascough’s" Management Consultancy Report of 1991 on which the Society spent substantial funds and which has largely been ignored! I appreciate that it was rather long, but surely it’s got to be more important than taxi driving in Alaska? And do you really expect every cab driver to have access to a computer / word processor to participate in the Society’s in-house magazine?
PPS Please do not attempt to dilute.
Dear Mark
I would normally pass on letters involving facts and figures to a member of the Board to get a comment. However, as you also seem to be having a dig at me (Minister of Propaganda, plus your PS) I am answering this myself. I was in a difficult position re your first letter. Not only was it by far the longest letter I had ever received (fourteen sheets of hand-written A4 paper) but the contents were - in my opinion as Editor - likely to send readers into a comatose state. It was filled with percentages, under-linings, open-and-close-brackets, comparisons with years gone by and a virtual complete breakdown of Roger Ascough’s eight year old report. Your comment in the unpublished letter of … "unfortunately the drivers are easily bored at AGM’s and only by having a row do they seem to take notice…" may well be true but in my experience, they usually only become bored when they disagree with someone’s views - especially if that person continues to spout those views. The fact that 90+% of drivers present didn’t vote for you must tell you that on this occasion, they listened but were not interested. But you still carried on. That is why they became restless. Then you decided that if they wouldn’t listen to you at the Metropole, you would use Call Sign to put across your views and use me as your skivvy to type out 14 hand written sheets of A4 paper! I certainly do not expect everyone to have a WP or computer and many of the letters I get are hand written. But no-one has ever sent one of 14 pages in length!
   Yes, anything to do with Dial-a-Cab is more important than Alaska - but not necessarily more interesting. I try to vary the contents of Call Sign but if everyone sent in letters such as yours containing substantially over 2000 words (the double page article on Alaska had less than that), this would be the dullest mag around and I wouldn’t have still been in the job (maybe I still won’t be after this response).
   As for your points, if you really think that we are doing the same number of trips as 1990, then fine. It is your prerogative but I think you are living in cloud-cuckoo land to even consider it. According to records, the 1998 number of credit rides were over a quarter of a million up on 1990 and that was with the grand total of 106 extra mobiles, which according to you is all that is saving us from a subscription increase.
   Mike Tovey’s projections from 1986? Do me a favour, Mark, that was twelve years ago. Why don’t you go back to Bonnie Martyn in 1953 and see if you can trip him up on any projections that he may have made. Look at successive Chancellors of the Exchequer; ask them how many of their projections make the grade. My view is that we have done absolutely brilliantly and if market conditions helped - then so what? Had we done badly when outside forces were favourable, what would you have said then?
   Finally, I would be amazed if daymen didn’t realise that nights were much better. They obviously prefer the social aspect of working days; it is their choice. You don’t have to be a member of a club to work nights, you just turn up on the day - or night. So long as the traffic

conditions during day-time hours remain so heavily congested, account clients are going to say to themselves: "Will it be quicker by cab?" Their answer decides which mode of travel they will use. At night the cab is nearly always quicker - which both you and I know as night-time drivers.
Finally, the comparison percentages that you load your letter with; you know as well as I do, Mark, that figures and percentages don’t always mean anything. When I started to drive a cab in 1971, diesel cost (aprox from memory) about 40p per gallon. Four star petrol cost about 75 p per gallon. That meant that diesel was almost half the cost of petrol (there was no unleaded). The difference between diesel and four star petrol in 1998 shows an average difference of 6p per litre which equates to about 27p per gallon. The differences between the two then and now are negligible, yet in ’71 that difference represented half the cost but now it is about 8%. It proves nothing other than that figures can be made to do whatever you want them to.
And as a final point, Mark; You are constantly telling me that I am a BoM lackey. There will never be any way I can change your view because no one ever changes your view (just as few change mine!). But, believe it or not (and I know you won’t) the above answer is mine and has had no interference whatsoever just as I have always had total freedom with Call Sign. No one gave me instructions or said "write this" or "write that". I did it myself - other than asking for relevant AGM papers containing job figures. But as you won’t believe me anyway, we’ll call it a day … Ed

THANK YOU DIAL-A-CAB
I just wanted to thank two Dial-a-Cab drivers who handled a mini crisis so well. I booked 2 cabs for Friday 11 December

to collect a wedding party from Highgate to take the bride and her parents in one cab and myself and two friends and two little bridesmaids in the other, our destination was Chelsea Register Office on the King's Road.
   The cabs arrived well in time (which was a worry this time of year), helped us all into the cabs and we drove in convoy all the way from Highgate to Chelsea - which seemed to take forever because of the traffic. All this while my friends and I in the second cab were successfully managing to keep two gorgeous two-and-a-bit year olds occupied during the journey when the bride's little girl, Abigail, became hot and irritable. At this stage, we where only 10 minutes away from the Registry office and making good time so the driver in front had communicated to our driver that we were going to kill time going around the block. At this point everything became too much for little Abigail and she became violently ill. As luck would have it, we were in fact travelling right past the Registry office in our journey around the block. My friends and I made every effort to avoid Abbie's dress from getting ruined but unfortunately all the excitement, plus a bit of motion sickness paid it's toll and she was covered everywhere, as was I since she was sitting on my lap!
   Our driver saw the problem immediately and contacted the other driver to alert the bride that her little girl was ill. He quickly provided me with tissues and a bottle of water and returned me straight away to the Registry Office. I fled the cab with Abbie in my arms in search of a bathroom.
   Anyway, I never got the opportunity to thank the drivers and to let them know that we cleaned up Abbie's dress (and my coat), my friends were married and the celebrations continued well into the morning. So, on behalf of the bride, groom, Abbie and me, a big thank you for all your help and a very merry Christmas.
Elizabeth Flanagan
Human Resources
Edison Mission Energy

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