INDUSTRY IN REVIEW

By Don McCurdy

But wait…

It has been reported that Washington DC, which has meters in its taxis, has decided to start issuing new taxi licenses. DC has always been the bastion of open entry but stopped issuing licenses in 2005 when the answers to their licensing exam became public.

Huh? How hard is it to alter the questions on a test? I wouldn’t want you to think I’m bragging or anything but when I was a trainer for the city of Charlotte I changed the test every week. It has to be a bit of a statement about the flexibility of the DC Taxi Commission that something as minor as the test answers being revealed shuts down the licensing process for three years. No doubt a committee had to be formed to create new test questions. All that aside the real story is the response from some of the drivers complaining that the new licenses were coming at a difficult time and would make it hard for them to make a living, especially with the new meters and all. In other words, we’ve go our license there’s no need for any more.

DC has had wide open entry for decades but suddenly the drivers need protection from new licenses. Lots of big cities have protection from new licenses where the driver pays through the nose so the medallion holder can be “protected”. New York, Chicago, and Boston jump to mind as examples. Truly, it would be a sad state of affairs if the drivers and passengers for generations to come had to pay the premium that “protection” costs. I say, it ain’t broke so don’t fix it.

Won’t be long now!

Well, the current president dropped the drilling moratorium and then congress dropped their drilling moratorium so it won’t be long now, right? Well, not so fast there pilgrim. My prediction is that there won’t be a single new well drilled off shore. Now that the price of gas has dropped and more importantly the election is over we can all stop pretending that there was ever a prayer that anyone in Washington had the foresight or fortitude to actually realize that drilling our own oil is not only a good idea, but a necessity.

The US economy is on the brink of collapse and yet we continue to allow billions of US dollars to pour out of our economy for a product that we can produce here at home. Beyond just the jobs that would be created there’s the ability to positively impact the price of gas. Sooner or later the market will regain its composure and gasoline prices will once again begin to climb. A lot of cab drivers are going to have to suffer financially before they come out with a vehicle durable enough to be a taxicab that runs on alternative fuels.

What was he thinking?

Its been reported that a federal judge has issued a ruling blocking NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plan to have all new cabs be hybrids. Various outcries about the dangers of global warming, including the mayor’s rant, were of course prominently depicted in the press. The mayor is reported to have said that the “greening the taxi fleet is a major priority”, which translates into the mayor bullying the taxicab operators into doing what the mayor thinks is a good idea.

Not to be dissuaded by the judge’s ruling, the mayor is reported to be instructing the taxi commission to develop some incentives, and of course disincentives, to green up the taxicab fleet. What does it all mean you wonder? Well, it means that when the issue of global warming comes up in the next presidential election the mayor will be able to refer to his exemplary record of beating up on the taxicab industry to show he understands “the big picture” when it comes to global warming. It obviously also means that political posturing is considerably more important than the law or passenger safety but what politician didn’t know that?

Speaking of Hybrids…

While not yet a full trend, there has been an alarming number of Ford Escapes escaping gravity and rolling over. The Escape is a popular choice for taxicab use mainly because of its size. It really doesn’t have much to do with the hybrid part of the equation but rather the SUV part of the equation.

The Escape has a higher center of gravity which makes it more prone to roll over in a collision with a vehicle with a lower center of gravity. Unfortunately, the Escapes in the roll over collisions were totaled which makes it an even more difficult sell for the industry. Pay more up front and lose more when the vehicle rolls to its final resting place.

Manganese Bronze stock slides.

Citing slumping sales due to the economic downturn Manganese Bronze announced that its sales dropped 38%. All good stuff boys but the story downplayed the amount it would cost to get the TX4, sometimes referred to as the London Candle, retrofitted to stop catching fire. While the taxi gets high marks for durability, maneuverability and general cab worthiness, it gets extremely low marks for the customer service provided to those who bought one only to have it catch fire.

While repairs are reported to only take a few hours it apparently takes a few weeks to get the vehicle into the shop to get the few hours work started. Throw in a class action lawsuit by the London driver’s trade organization and you pretty much have a stock drop that can be attributed to a bit more than the economic downturn.

Truly, it is a sad state of affairs when the premier taxicab manufacturer in the world has a problem and is seen to be slow to step to the aid of its customer. I highly recommend that you pull your head out boys and step up while you still have a chance. If the drivers have to go to court to just get compensation it will forever be a mark against the company that, when there were questions about its product, it didn’t do the right thing.

Speaking of Hybrids….

Recent reports out of San Francisco have hybrid batteries holding out in excess of 300,000 miles. Unlike the Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade (MTBOT) of New York, operators in San Francisco are happy with the durability and economy of the hybrids, including the Ford Escape. Drivers are reported to be saving $9,000 a year in fuel costs alone with even more savings possible when fuel prices again rise to their pre-election highs.

One has to wonder exactly what the NYC MTBOT problem is with the hybrids. If maintenance costs are comparable then perhaps they should consider helping the mayor out with the hybrid rules. I mean after all, if Mikey gets elected to some national office at least you get rid of him.

—dmc

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