Welcome Home !!!

mecabby · Guru

RE: Newbies driving cab fulltime soon. Appreciates help on some questions?

taxiuncle · Senior Guru

Drive wrote:

If you can dont think about the Fare and just enjoy providing "SERVICE" in the "Public'??Transport" arena..then the rewards of earning enuff to feed and house the family is there. But if you want to live in Good Class bungalows and eat Abalone everyday then this proffesion will not support you.

-- Edited by Drive at 11:28, 2008-06-22

bro, i'm still dreaming of my bayshore park leh...

stkee · Guru

Taxiuncle... WAKE UP!!! Stay focus on the ROAD!!!

My advice will be to get one of the bro here to intro you to get a comfort toyota crown... Than you will get special cash bonus of $1000 and the bro who intro you will get $500 (than this bro will sponsor all kopi for the next few months, keke) if you continue driving for 6 months... This way you can get a feel of taxi driving and not get too stress up.... But going the relief way is still the best....

mecabby · Guru

I thought this scheme is for new hirer n doe not apply to relief ?

DC · Veteran Member

stkee wrote:

Hi DC,
Welcome and hope to see you soon. As for silver or comfort, I was with comfort for 3 year before I switch to silver for 6 month because of the kia magentis, but decided to go back to comfort and got a sonata. Below are some of my views on the 2 company and the vehicle itshelf...

1) Comfort has got the cheapest diesel and most kiosk around the island, more call bookings, established infrastructure and work proceedures.
Current comfort benefits is about $200++ bonus given every 3 to 4 months, for the sonatas, it is 1 year contract and if you break the contract is $500 penalty.
Comfort is currently giving 3 free rental days, but the cash bonuses make up for it.
Call bookings is average about 5 to 6 per days is you work both peak hours, and you have the benefits of able to collect cashless payment, eg. credit cards, nets, coporate vouchers, etc...
Comfort cashless payment will be credited into your account usually on the next working day...

2) Silver has got lots of perks and benefits to attrach new drivers, so please consider them thouroughly...
For the silver magentis, they offered a benefit package of 2 alternate weekends free rental per month, provided no outstanding rental payment for the previous month, and $600 no-claim bonus yearly.
Their contract period is 1 year.
And if you want to take bookings, you are required to sign their walkie talkie services at $29 per month for 1 year contract...
If you break the contract it will be $500 for cab and $250 for the walkie talkie service.
My 6 month with silver I only manage an average of 1 to 2 bookings per day if you are lucky.
Silver also can collect credit card payment , but if is manual method where you need to call the bank to verified and the amount will only come to you in about 1 month time. Thus, many silver drivers doesn't take credit payment.
One thing that make me leave silver is that their accounting sucks... You have to verified with them every onw and then to make sure that they record you daily rental payment correctly, or you will lose you following months free rental days... It become a pain in the a#@ in the long run...

Enough about the 2 companys... now on to the cars...

The Sonata and the Magentis are both the same if you remove the outside shell or body works... Both have the same 2.0 CRDI CVT diesel engine and 4 speed auto transmission with sports mode.
After driving both vehicles, the magentis has a sportier feel when it comes to driving it as it is a lighter car compare to the sonata, but the sonata feels more stable more refine when comes to driving...
Fuel consumptions both are the same at about 11km/ltr depends on how light is your right foot.
The sonata also sounds quieter in the cabin as compared to the magentis.
The interior trim looks more dull and plastics in the sonatas, whereas, the magentis looks better and slightly more upclass and well built.

I guess thats is all I can remember of for now... bros got anything to add? And hope that it helps... you are always welcome to ask as many questions and the bros here will try to answer them for you...

Hi stkee,
Much thks for the very detailed breakdown regarding the advantages/disadvantages of blue/silver. I guess hiring with the blue is the way to go given that the majority of the bros here are more positive towards blue perks and benefits.

DC

DC · Veteran Member

CamryLimo wrote:

Firstly, I make "SMART" terminate me so as not to pay any penalty. The reason given to me was I had 3 accidents in a short span irregardless if its my fault or not and also for being a hard-core client to them.

And to our new member DC, make yourself confortable in here... I also gave up my $3k salary with an IT firm and I'm also fedup with the corporate world and beiong a business minded person (had been into food business before), I decide to give taxi driving a try. I did relief driving first driving a sonata with comfort, then switch over to the new camry taxi with SMART, my conclusion? Driving with Singapore's biggest taxi company among others is still much better compare to the bonus & incentives for hirer.

Getting a new sonata comes with a 1 year contract with $1,000 as a security deposit in case of any 3rd part accident claim. If you breach the contract, there is a penalty fee that you have to pay. Less than 1 year but more than 6 mths, penalty is $500. Less than 6 mths, penalty is more than $500 (cant recall how much). Security deposit will not be forfeited unless you didn't pay the penalty fee.

I have decided to take a used sonata with less than 1 year, so my contract with them is 6 mths or less. Hopefully I can get a relief for night shift :X

Hello CamryLimo,
Your comments certainly cemented the many advantages of drivng with blue versus it's competitors. Thks for your insights and certainly hope u will find a night shift relief soon to alleviate your daily rental.

DC

DC · Veteran Member

bluenuts wrote:

Aiyo DC DC DC....don tell the lao chiao on the street tat u used to earn 4k per mth hor, they cfm say why u so stupid, got 4k/mth dowan, come on the street compete with them, sigh...
Anyway, welcome on board.
Whether u are goin to be full time or not, u r still welcome here.
U expect 1-2k per mth driving full time fm mon-sat, 2p.m-3a.m, r u crazy??
U r putting in at least 12hr per day, 6 days a week and you only expect 2k max??
Tats only $8/hr, r u sure tats wat u gave up 4k/mth for????
Not to 4get there's no off/leave, no year end bonus, no CPF, no M.C, all these benefit no longer exist, lost 4ever from the dictionary, r u sure u ok with tat?????
Quote wat a lao chiao told me what his lao chiao told him more than 20yrs ago.
"Work hard, there's no other way. No secret to success in this job, juz PLAIN HARD WORK."
Btw, it's not how much you can earn, it's how much you gona spend tat count.
Oh...one last thing, you die die muz love driving, or at least like driving, if not you can call it a day early.

Hey bluenuts,
I definitely did not give up my previous job to drive a cab though drivng a cab is on my list of jobs to consider upon leaving the corporate world.
Actually, i do not mind telling ppl what i earn prior to driving a cab if it does materialize cos my former job comes with high expectations and stress on my side and it aint easy to make that kind of money. However, the most important point is that as i grow older and my income correspondingly increases, i find myself getting more stress up and i have conclude that i really do not need so much money to sustain my simple lifestyle and i might as well get a lower pay job while still having in control of my time as well as having a "free" car to run my own errands.
I do actually understand the disadvantages of driving a cab fulltime as per your mentioning, i.e. no leave, no cpf, no mc, but then every trade wil have their shortfall so i'm not so perturb by these negative points.
Actually, when i mention 1k+ to 2k max, that is my target for sustaining my daily lifestyle and i will be glad if i can drive shorter hours to achieve my target income..haha.
Finally, i love driving alot, been driving since 1998 and i drive few times annually to Cameron highlands and Genting highlands. I can only say i can drive for longs hours till my bladder start complaining. Then again, driving a cab is for commercial purposes so i really do not know if i will enjoy driving a cab the whole day till i started out but i have a feeling i should be able to handle it cos i always enjoy driving a car and listening to radio or my fav. songs, time will tell though.
Lastly, thanks alot for your frank opinions and they do make sense.

DC

-- Edited by DC at 23:13, 2008-06-22

DC · Veteran Member

Drive wrote:

Bluenuts called in as the last thing...I must say it is the First thing to consider when taking in the Taxi driving Profession.

You must LOVE to drive. Hours on end. Drive till your knees hurt, your back stiff and your bladder bursting. Drive till your eyes blurred, your road sense blanked then quickly park by the roadside and grab some shut-eye and continue again..........

Be prepared not to be another statistic of the road...........all for another fare... flag down rate of $2.80 or $3.00 or $3.20.

If you can dont think about the Fare and just enjoy providing "SERVICE" in the "Public'??Transport" arena..then the rewards of earning enuff to feed and house the family is there. But if you want to live in Good Class bungalows and eat Abalone everyday then this proffesion will not support you.

-- Edited by Drive at 11:28, 2008-06-22

Hello Drive,
I do enjoy driving and infact also enjoy riding a bike and i have both for many years till recently when i sold off my car prior to leaving my last job to cut down on my expenses.

As to regards on what u mention, my intention to drive a cab fulltime is just to earn enough for my daily family expenses and we live a simple life, i.e. eating/drinking at coffeeshop mostly, buying necessities at sheng siong, no mega oversea holidays nor yearly upgrading of new handphones blah blah blah..heehee. Anyway, i only eat abalone on chinese new year though i still got 1 can left over from this year cny..hahaha.

I do understand what u r driving at and i'm grateful for your advice.

DC

Drive · Guru

taxiuncle wrote:

Drive wrote:

If you can dont think about the Fare and just enjoy providing "SERVICE" in the "Public'??Transport" arena..then the rewards of earning enuff to feed and house the family is there. But if you want to live in Good Class bungalows and eat Abalone everyday then this proffesion will not support you.

-- Edited by Drive at 11:28, 2008-06-22

bro, i'm still dreaming of my bayshore park leh...

Every successful groundbreaking entrepreneur starts with a dream..... biggrin

...................and every inmate in IMH havent woken up from their dream... weirdface

DC · Veteran Member

8_trigrams wrote:

Hi welcome.

My advice is to be a relief first.

I start as a relief to try out. The beginning was fine even though I took a lot of wrong roads and giving rebates to the paxs. But after a few months, it become more and more mentally stress. The same roads, the same working space( your cabin), lone ranger when no paxs, long hours hunting. Now after the farehike, more taxis and less paxs, but fare more. It means if you cannot win other taxis to find enough paxs, fare more also no use. And driving on the road for months, 6 days a week, 12 hours a day is no joke. Your focus must be "on" for 8-12 hours, not like office where you did something wrong, you might able to cover up. There is no 2nd chance on the road. Right now, I'm still driving as a relief and still find it stressful, so no way for me to be a full time as I know I wouldn't be able to take the contract stress. Yes, more benefit, but extra stress.

Cab wise, I start with sonata, then sliver, then back sonata again. Reasons is as mentioned by bros above. I add one more that is when raining, you can at least have bookings coming in. It is hard to find paxs on the road when raining, so cruise for booking. But one more thing I personnally find: slivercab seem faster than sonata.

Alll the best with safe driving.

Hey 8_trigrams，
With yr 8 trigrams formation which is 1 of the strongest of heavenly formation among the Taoist sect, i think u should be able to get many pax on the roads smile

.

Actually i did try to look for a day relief sonata cab at cabby.com.sg but can't find any in my area. Infact, there aint much daytime relief openings around. My main reason of driving fulltime is bcos i need to use the cab often for some daytime household errands and hence i can't drive in the nighttime unless i got my own cab.

Also, i'm actually prepared to pay the contract penalty should driving a cab fulltime prove to be unsuitable for me for whatever reasons. Imho, paying the penalty to go into a completely new job/career is still acceptable to me, esp. if it's paying 500 bucks after the first 6 months. I always believe in the quote "no risk no gain" and i'm all for it considering the "risk" here is not that harsh.

Again, like all the bros here, thanks for sharing your views/insights and safe driving to u too.

DC

DC · Veteran Member

Drive wrote:

taxiuncle wrote:

Drive wrote:

If you can dont think about the Fare and just enjoy providing "SERVICE" in the "Public'??Transport" arena..then the rewards of earning enuff to feed and house the family is there. But if you want to live in Good Class bungalows and eat Abalone everyday then this proffesion will not support you.

-- Edited by Drive at 11:28, 2008-06-22

bro, i'm still dreaming of my bayshore park leh...

Every successful groundbreaking entrepreneur starts with a dream........................and every inmate in IMH havent woken up from their dream...

Infact alot not only havent wake up but mostly never wake up from their dreams yawn

. I know that cos my mum use to work in Woodbridge hospital as a "Ah Ma" for 30 years before she was force to retire.

DC

stkee · Guru

Hi DC,
Grad that you got your answers. Hope to see you on the road soon and a round of kopi on you for all the bros here... Please remember to update the reception area and get the decal from taxiuncle...

DC · Veteran Member

Bryan wrote:

Hi DC,

Firstly welcome to this forum and hope you will find it useful. Just shoot whatever questions here and Im sure there will be someone to give you a answer.

As for comparing silver to the blue, Silver will have at least 2 free sunday every month provided payment is prompt. You must not have any outstanding payment and need to clear before 15th and 30th of the month to entitle the free rental. Im was driving a 3 years old crown so accident free I am paid $70 per month. Other than these there is basically nothing much and the diesel price is not that cheap .

As for the blue company, I can feel that I am earning more because the diesel is cheaper, cashless payment like nets, visa, mastercard, amex, corporate charge card etc. Please do not underestimate their corporate charge card which will help you bring in lots of income too. Next there is the booking call system which bro stkee already mentioned earlier and it will be an average of 6 call per day but if you know how to position yourself in a better position then your call booking may exceed 10 and above.

My reason for leaving the silver company : expensive diesel, no cashless, no booking.

My advise to you will be to join the blue maybe as a relief to see if you like the job or you may like to consider driving a crown to start off first.

-- Edited by Bryan at 12:30, 2008-06-22

Hi Bryan,
Again, much thanks to you and the other bros for providing so much info regarding the perks and benefits on blue/silver.

As i mention to 8_Trigrams on my previous reply on trying out as a relief driver, i can't find any daytime relief sonata cab to try out and i need to run daytime errands frequently.

From what i gather so far, alot of bros here switch to blue eventually after a few tryst with the various cab company and i can only conclude that blue seems to be the most preferred cab company to hire with currently.

DC

DC · Veteran Member

mecabby wrote:

Hi DC,

Welcome onboard...

I will not try to answer your questions , as our fellows bros provided info enough for you to digest.

Looking at your style of writing.. you are certainly going to be a different driver...I mean a professional one.

Providing the service that is required by you will bring you the mileage n money you deserve...

It is tiring i do not deny.. but discipline n effort is very important. Max your hours on the road properly n you will have your rewards.

Must be positive minded n do not let other negative drivers influence your thoughts..

It is a good thing you found STC... our Bros - young n old are very gung ho ..

All the best n safe drving on the roads....

Hello mecabby,
I think as long as everyone of us aim to lead a honest and conscience-free life and conduct our daily job in the proper manner, we are all professional in our own ways. Unlike those mercedes cab touts which exploit foreigners and tarnish the taxi drivng profession, bringing a bad sheen to proper and professional drivers here, i think they have their due karma soon smile

It's true that i'm lucky to find STC and really gain alot of infos/advices from every bros here who reply to my queries and i'm really thankful to every each of them for their selfless sharing.

Wish u safe n sound on the road too mecabby bro.

DC

DC · Veteran Member

stkee wrote:

Hi DC,
Grad that you got your answers. Hope to see you on the road soon and a round of kopi on you for all the bros here... Please remember to update the reception area and get the decal from taxiuncle...

Hahaha, no problem stkee bro. Kopi, kopi-o, kopi-see, teh, teh-o and teh-see.. all also can. i will update again once i finalize everything and make a decision on this matter.

DC