Lady Cabbie in Dorset

It's beginning to scare me. H has a worrying habit of pining after a black London cab. They are not usual in our part of the world but he did have one once as a hire vehicle after his own cab was driven into by a bus driver. He took to this cab as if his life depended upon it and was in a foul mood when he had to return it and got his own cab back.

Where ever we go, he plays an obsessive kind of 'I spy' but only cabs will feature in the game. He will happily 'spot' any type of taxi cab; that is, he likes to look at the type of vehicle, the name on the side and which county it is plated to. But any kind of London cab will leave him with a mournful expression.

Not content with that, he will spend hours on the computer looking at London Cabs on the internet, both on eBay and on other sites. Most worrying of all, he is able to identify each cab by model and year.

He is constantly nagging me to go with him to the Birmingham Taxi Warehouse, which-as the name suggests-is a HUGE warehouse housing more taxis than you can shake a stick at. For him, this would be a good day out. He did go once before with our poor son and so has longed to repeat the experience ever since. I am somewhat reluctant. While I have a certain amount of gentle affection for my own cab, that's about as far as it goes. It's still a working vehicle to me.

Personally I think his interest in black cabs is slightly odd...and I've told him so. But he doesn't give a monkeys what I think.

Yesterday he (quite seriously) said to me that he would like a black cab for Christmas.

Not really normal, is it?

In response to my blog about the over zealous police, I was left this comment which I will share with you because it tickled me:

im so glad that your local police have such an excess of resources that they can spare 3 oficers to check out such a dangerous and heinous fellow like your husband - the next time my car/van/bike(s) are stolen i wil make sure it happens near you

You are absolutely right with this comment. Their heavy handed approach would be better spent on sorting out the vast number of crimes being committed in every county, every single day. However I did laugh at your comment, so thank you for making my day!

Which brings to mind a report on the news today about Michael Schumacher. He is apparantly in trouble because he took over the driving of a cab as he wanted to make sure he and his family caught their plane. Now both Schumacher and the taxi driver are in trouble for it, which has caused no end of hoo-ha.

I don't know what the laws are like in Berlin (where this transgression took place) but over here a taxi driver SHOULD be in trouble for a similar offence. Once a vehicle is plated as a hackney cab or private hire, absolutely no-one is legally allowed to drive that vehicle UNLESS they are a licensed registered driver. When applying for taxi insurance, it is necessary to send proof to the insurance company that you are a licensed driver before they will insure the vehicle.

Before I obtained my hackney badge, I was forbidden to drive H's cab even though I am his wife and we have had joint insurance for years on our domestic cars. As the insurance company explained it, "once a cab, always a cab".

So it seems quite appropriate that the taxi driver has got some questions to answer because he gave Schumacher permission to drive his cab knowing full well that he would be uninsured to do so.

Today my husband (who I will refer to as H from now on) went to Bristol airport to collect a regular customer of ours. On bringing him back to the customer's home town, H was approached by a police car containing THREE police officers. They got out of their car and asked H to 'step out of the vehicle, please sir', rather american style.

Now the customer lives just over the county border from Dorset so when the officers said that they were stopping and checking all taxi and private hire vehicles, H gently stated that he wasn't actually plated to their county but was in fact plated to Dorset. One officer smirked and said, 'But you are in our patch'.

They ordered our customer to remain inside the vehicle, then the three of them proceeded to tear the car apart, checking everything possible. The customer was so alarmed that he even said to one officer that he knew the taxi driver well and could personally vouch for his safe driving. But the officer neither answered nor acknowledged him.

The whole thing went on for about fifteen minutes. H's plate, badge and insurance were checked along with the MOT, Tax and tyres. They couldn't find anything out of order so settled on a telling off for not wearing his badge (yes, we are supposed to wear our badges at all times).

Finally, they cross-examined him regarding his fire extinguisher in the boot (had it been checked for safety lately? Yes, his car had been hackney checked only two weeks ago). Then they turned their attention to the fact that he did not have a first aid box in his vehicle. H said he did not believe that it was a legal requirement for our council in Dorset but anyway (politely said) he was not qualified to use one. The smirking policeman said, 'That is the correct answer; however you should have one available to offer your passengers should they require one, plus you can use it on yourself'.

While we wholeheartedly agree with random checks as a good thing because it rules out the unlicensed cabs and unsafe vehicles, our objection here is that the whole thing was rather OTT. Their approach was rather formidable.

But our main objection is that it was carried out with a passenger on board. This was embarrassing for H (even though he was confident that everything was in order) and could have been potentially disastrous if the customer had been on his way to the airport or station-the time taken to do the checks would have made him very late. Surely it would have been better to insist that H should make his way to a police station after he had taken his customer to their destination?

It all seemed very bullish.

You know, it's an interesting thing but I get bigger tips than my husband. I've only been a cabbie for three months but he has been doing it for two years so he has been astonished when customers that he has taken many times and who normally never tip, end up giving me one.

On one accasion we had a double booking. By that I mean that we were both booked to collect a whole family and take them to and from a celebratory meal in a local pub. He had a tip of £5. I had a tip of £25. Of course our money is pooled and comes into the same household pot, but he is slightly narked by the blatant sexism when it comes to tips.

It's not just men that tip me more either-women can just as likely tip generously because they like having a lady cabbie.

We have just handed over a cheque to South West Trains for my husband's annual train station pass. This permits him to sit on the rank at the station to tout for work.

We are fortunate enough to live in a town right on the mainline to London-Waterloo, which gives us two trains an hour. For the privilage of using the station rank, we have to pay the princely sum of £217.00 every December. This is annoying, having to pay so close to Christmas. All the cabbies in our town complain about the timing. But what is even more aggravating is that one of our regular customers, who works for South West Trains, has found out that taxis in Andover (just a few stops along the same line) pay £240.00 for their station passes....but they get FOUR trains an hour. Who worked these figures out, for goodness sake?

I don't have a station pass so I am not permitted to tout there. However, I am still allowed to wait at the station (off the rank) for a pre-arranged booking taken over the phone.

On quiet days there can be as many as ten cabs waiting at the station rank. The drivers can get very tetchy on days like that, sitting around waiting for each train to come in. There is a protocol that states that passengers should be guided to the front of rank as those cabs have waited the longest and so have earned their position at the front. So when they get a passenger jump in and ask to just go across town, this can really upset them. They are not allowed to refuse a fare without good reason but it will really p*** them off that they have waited all that time for a £3 fare. You can't blame them really. We are all just trying to make a living.

It's on friday afternoons that the station can be most busy. We have a huge amount of London commuters living around here and they all come home for the weekends. That's when you see the cabbies smiling because they are kept busy with decent sized fares going out to the surrounding villages.

And that's what our job is all about-earning a living in a small town and trying to beat the other cabs to the best jobs.

Thank you to Rikmos for leaving my first comment:

We recently spent a week in and around Weymouth, you live in a great part of the country. I think we'll be back down there for longer next time, we didn't get chance to see half of what's there but what we did see was worth the nine hour drive down! (Delays, delays!).

Weymouth is great and is one of our favourite boltholes when we need a night away from the business. We live on the other side of Dorset but it only takes us about an hour to get to Weymouth. However this is enough to give us the break we need to get away from it all (phone always ringing, thinking about the business, etc etc), even if it's just for one night. There is a fabulous little B&B we have found which is just off the sea front. Run by a smashing couple, it is good value and their breakfast is the best we have ever had in a B&B. It is clean and relaxing too-perfect.

Besides, I have a soft spot for Weymouth. I attended college there just after I left school which has left me with fond memories. I love to go back there and retrace old steps. It makes me nostalgic!

Although this diary is primarily about working in the taxi trade, the whole point is about what it is like working in the trade from a female perspective. Pretty well on a daily basis I am asked-almost equally from both men and women-don't I feel unsafe as a lone woman on the road at night?

The answer to that is that I take sensible precautions. We have a nightclub here in our home town and things can get pretty lary at chucking out time. Many male drivers have had some unpleasant moments from there. So I don't work at the club's closing time. I take plenty of people TO the club but I never collect from there.

I have constant radio contact with my husband which is reassuring for me...and for him! He is constantly asking me where I am and what is my position (this latter question always seems to make on-board customers titter. Can't think why)!

When I drive at night with no passengers on-board, I ALWAYS keep the central locking on. It's a simple thing but is crucial for a lone woman.

But the critical thing here is that we are based in a small market town in a largely rural area. At night most of our work involves ferrying people to and from various pubs scattered around our surrounding villages. We don't generally face the kind of threats that taxi drivers must face in cities.

But this brings to mind an issue that bugs ALL drivers in general but is particularly aggravating to a woman driver. To all taxi customers everywhere, please learn from what I am going to say here-

Too many customers fail to understand the difference between a taxi service and a chauffeur service. When a taxi is booked for a particular time at a particular place, the onus is on you-the customer-to go outside and look for your cab. Do NOT expect us to come into the pub/club/restaurant etc to look for you. For a start we probably don't know what you look like so how can we find you? And in a busy, crowded pub/club/restaurant, we really don't want to have to shout at the top of our voices just to get your attention.

Critically, in order to come and look for you, we are left with two equally unappealing and potentially dangerous choices. It doesn't take a genius to work out that a cabbie will be carrying cash, so do we:

1)Leave our money bags unattended in our cabs while we walk into the pub/club/restaurant to look for you? This scenario invites the watchful and opportunistic thief to smash their way into our cab in order to steal our money. The prospect of losing our takings isn't exactly welcome in itself but the smashing of our cab would render us unable to work for the rest of the night-and several more days besides.

2)Carry our money bags into the pub/club/restaurant when we look for you? This opens us up to a potential smack on the head from a determined and aggressive thief as we leave our cab, as well as the theft of our money.

A recent example of this was when a lady customer booked a cab at a local pub for 11pm on a saturday night. I drove to the pub and got there almost exactly at 11pm. I waited outside in my cab for a full 15 minutes but the customer didn't show up. We can't waste any more time waiting for a customer than this, especially on a busy saturday night as it has a knock-on effect to later bookings.

Finally, 45 minutes after the scheduled time, the customer phoned our office to ask where her cab was. It was explained to her that the cab was there for her at 11pm, waited 15 mintes but then gave up. She then asked why didn't the driver come into the pub to look for her? She was told in no uncertain terms that it was up to her to look for the cab outside at the appointed time as it was a taxi service, not a chauffeur service and why should any driver face the risk of leaving their cab unattended. She didn't like this and got fairly gobby on the phone so she was informed that not only would no more cabs be sent for her on that night but also on any other night. She would have had grave difficulty obtaining another cab that night in our area at that time. Tough luck.

So taxi customers everywhere-please consider this when you book your cabs.

Some people can be so annoying. Take these questions that we are routinely asked on the phone:

'Have you got a cab?"
I get really annoyed by this-of course we have a cab, we're a taxi company for Gawd's sake. One of these days, when I am in a particularly facetious mood, my reply to this will be, "Why? Do you wanna buy one?"

"Can I have a cab?"
A variation of the first question. Irritating because how do I know when they want the cab? And how am I supposed to know where they want collecting from and where they want to go? These variables all make a difference in whether or not a cab is able to be available.

"I phoned last week and asked about a taxi for tomorrow to go to (xyz) at (123). Can I book it now?"
This one makes me want to scream. When you phoned a week ago, we had a free slot at the time you asked for. But guess what, some other person-rather annoyingly for you-has since booked a taxi for that time. So now we can no longer provide a cab tomorrow at the time you wanted. You're too late. You should have booked a week ago when you first phoned.

On phoning us for a price for a particular journey but not being able to book because we are already taken at their preferred time:

"How much will the other companies charge?"
How do I know? They are separate companies to us and do their own thing. How can I possibly say? We get along fine with the other taxi companies in town but we are not joined at the hip.

On booking a cab to collect from a pub at night:

"Will the driver come into the pub to find me?"
No dear. He is a taxi driver, not a chauffeur. Why would he want to leave his taxi unsupervised and come into a crowded pub to find a person he has never seen before? This is how it works-at the time you booked, you are supposed to be waiting outside the pub for your cab. Not hard, is it?

"Will the taxi be comfortable?"
Jeez, had you meant to book a limo? And let's not forget here that the reason you booked with us for your airport run is because we were the cheapest. So although our cars are averagely comfortable and perfectly clean, the price does not include being taken by Rolls Royce. Live with it.

Any taxi firm will no doubt be able to add to these. It's a small flavour of what we get on a daily basis.

It's a funny thing but we have loads of bookings for people needing to go to hospital, wait then return. No doubt our prices have a large part to play in it, but it also reflects how many people need to go to hospital for one reason or another.

In this busy world, I suppose it is too difficult to get family or friends to take the patient to hospital. Bur also so few people are entitled to the Hospital Car these days. So this is where we come in. It's not always the same hospital either; today we have had both Shaftesbury and Southampton. Yesterday we again had Southampton but also had Salisbury.

And of course we drivers love doing these long-haul jobs. Makes a good day's work for us.

Living where we do here in Dorset, we have some seriously wealthy people in the area. So it isn't unknown for cabs here to pick up famous people. Recently my husband picked up at a party only to discover that he was taking the Manager of both Suggs (of Madness fame) and Fatboy Slim plus wife Zoe Ball. He was asked to go back to the party to collect the above named guys but when he returned, they weren't ready to leave the party despite their manager's best intentions to get them safely tucked up for the night. So then it was suggested that he take Zoe Ball back to the guesthouse but like the others, she wasn't quite ready either and so asked for the cab to wait.

Obviously they think we are running a chauffeur service. All the time a cab is just waiting, he is losing money when he could be at our local nightclub and picking up a stream of work. They asked R to return later but he didn't bother. They also asked for our company to send a 'load more cabs'. The Manager memorised the number from the side of R's cab but I had already switched the phones off, as is our custom at 2am on a Saturday night (or Sunday morning!) because R won't take bookings from the nightclub. He prefers to just tout and take what's available. They will have a devil of a job finding another cab from anywhere around here now.

At one point, some other people at the party asked R where the 'taxi rank' is. This made us laugh. They are in the middle of the Dorset countryside and they expect there to be a taxi rank? The most they can hope for is a tractor on a nearby farm! We find this happens regularly-people staying in this area from London expect to find a surplus supply of cabs here like they would in London so they get a shock when they find out that actually there is a shortage of cabs around here. They never seem to learn to book in advance which is a necessity in this area if a cab is to be secured.

As for us sending a load more cabs to that party, R was the only driver available at that time. He decided to head back to the nightclub so that he could pick up more lucrative work.

This isn't about greed though. This is about making a living and knowing that the weekends have to be worked in order to make our income up. Sitting around and waiting for people who may or may not decide to come out of a party is just not an option if we have any hope of earning a living wage.

In the past, R has had the presenters of 'Under the Hammer' in his cab (Martin Roberts & Lucy Alexander) who were both very nice people. As it is one of our favourite programmes, R enjoyed chatting to them. He has also driven Georgie Fame.