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taxiuncle · Senior Guru

RE: Newbie OTR on 11/7/2014

chanks · New Member

Thanks TU for advise. Yeah give and take important to maintain good partnership. Anyway, my virgin drive day was not counted.. Put it this way... Whole morning just driving family around in taxi (i made my wife pay the trips using nets lol.. Good live training for me newbie) and running some urgent chores... Only had 2 real customers in the afternoon.. Total takings for first day... $26 lol.. Rental and diesel $61, so first day lose money. Sunday 2nd day... Covered 247km, after deducting rental and diesel, net income only about $80
My hirer said for me newbie.. Considered ok lar.

2nd day super siong.. I drive until my legs numb.. Cannot feel.. Never drove so long and so many hours in a day before in my life, except the drive i made to KL, but that was 4 hours or so only, and like 10 years ago lol.

Hope my drive next weekend gets better :)

Thanks again for all advises.

Taxilim · A Forum Supporter

August got 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays and 5 Sundays. Make good use of the extra days to earn more.

Next 5 Fri, 5 Sat and 5 Sun in a month will be in May 2015. Lol..

-- Edited by Taxilim on Monday 28th of July 2014 11:59:12 PM

-- Edited by Taxilim on Tuesday 29th of July 2014 12:03:01 AM

happygolucky · New Member

chanks, Thanks for sharing. How do you navigate? Use GPS or from your own knowledge? Usually I ask pax to direct me and most of the time, they are ok. Some really don't know the way, then no choice, I use GPS. Some know but make sarcastic remarks, I just brush it aside and move on to the next pax.

My philosophy is this - if I get a bad pax, then treat it as a bad dream and move on. Never never let it affect my mood and my dealings with the many pax still coming my way.

Also be careful with bookings (if you are from CDG). Make sure you know how to get to the place before accepting, don't be late and kena 'no show'.

I just finished 2 weekends and already gone to so many places I have never been to before. Still lots to learn, especially the routes, places of interest, MRT stns, taxi stands, hotels, etc. I think we newbies need about 6 -12 months in order to be considered "good".

Having lived in this country for so long, the place is still a maze to me! So many small road networks, new roads, ERPs, CBD boundary. And still got to look out for traffic police, LTA officers, CDG officers, speed trap, etc.

Still, this is an interesting job, there are lots of pax on weekends, lots of demand, yet we can only take one trip at a time. Sometimes I wish I could continue to take more pax but time is limited and got to rush to top up diesel and return cab. Also need to take lunch plus 5-10 min pee or stretch break every 2-3 hr. Anyway, remember to massage the leg while on your break time or even while waiting at traffic junction or taxi queues, otherwise you get poor blood circulation and leg numbness and cramps.

You can make a living out of this but cannot get rich because it is time consuming and you cannot leverage it. Still thinking about how to increase my earnings - more bookings, location charge, peak hour charges? I think the secret could be to increase gross takings through these channels and at the same time, reduce diesel consumption by switching off the aircon while waiting or even cruising without stepping on the accelerate too often or too hard. Just some ideas. Also try not to ply the road with an empty cab for too long, better to wait at popular taxi stands.

Good luck for your next weekend shift blankstare

-- Edited by happygolucky on Tuesday 29th of July 2014 06:32:21 AM

chanks · New Member

Hi Happy, i think i need like 12 months to be considered even "average". I am totally relying on the gps and passenger's directions. I am hopelessly lost. Luckily most of those i picked are all nice people. Imagine from pasir ris white sand taxi stand to pasir ris street 11 i also use gps lol. I even had one passenger helped me key in destination into my mobile's google map lol. Yes, must take breaks after like 2 hours driving.. For stretching the legs especially.. I am like very panic whenever pick passenger just thinking of their intended destination, bcos i am not at all familiar with buildings or roads. Just hope to faster learn so can be more confident when picking up passengers. Wish you a good and safe drive coming weekend too :)

chanks · New Member

Hi taxilim, wah you monitor the days so closely... I go buy 5550 ibet.. Hope can strike some so can relac driving next few weekends :) hehe

taxiuncle · Senior Guru

i think for a taxi uncle to drive 4 hours to KL should be very easy job. :)

happygolucky · New Member

Ha, ha, chanks. If you drive only weekends, may take longer to be good. I am also hopelessly lost on the roads,everyday got to learn the routes with the help of directories and GPS. I try to combine GPS (using google maps) with local road knowledge and pax's direction. So far so good except for some small hiccups, did not turn in time on small roads.

Things to watch out for on the roads : bus lanes, no stop area, speed cameras, U turn only when you see a U turn sign, etc

Comfort wants us to take min 2 bookings per day. I can't even take 1 sometimes. Always late because got to think where is the location, lol. But with time and experience, sure will improve. Good luck!

taxiuncle · Senior Guru

happygolucky wrote:
Ha, ha, chanks. If you drive only weekends, may take longer to be good. I am also hopelessly lost on the roads,everyday got to learn the routes with the help of directories and GPS. I try to combine GPS (using google maps) with local road knowledge and pax's direction. So far so good except for some small hiccups, did not turn in time on small roads.

Things to watch out for on the roads : bus lanes, no stop area, speed cameras, U turn only when you see a U turn sign, etc

Comfort wants us to take min 2 bookings per day. I can't even take 1 sometimes. Always late because got to think where is the location, lol. But with time and experience, sure will improve. Good luck!

i thought all the MDT is equipped with GPS to the pickup point?

the one i'm driving now has it. but sometimes it sent me to ho lan. biggrin

happygolucky · New Member

taxiuncle, the MDT map suck lah. Sometimes just hang there. Not really helpful. I use Google Maps but sometimes also bring me to horlan, lol. Ask you something, if there is a current booking offer, will be matter if you press 3,5,7 or 10? I mean if you press 10 and some other driver press 3, he will get the job right since he is saying he will reach there quicker? Just thinking... because most of the time, I am not sure how to go to the location, so I press 7 or 10 and can't get the job one....

legionchaos · New Member

happygolucky > u are like me only weekend driver. For me i am still learning the road, try not to depend on GPS too much ask the pax to lead if possible.

Taxilim · A Forum Supporter

happygolucky wrote:
taxiuncle, the MDT map suck lah. Sometimes just hang there. Not really helpful. I use Google Maps but sometimes also bring me to horlan, lol. Ask you something, if there is a current booking offer, will be matter if you press 3,5,7 or 10? I mean if you press 10 and some other driver press 3, he will get the job right since he is saying he will reach there quicker? Just thinking... because most of the time, I am not sure how to go to the location, so I press 7 or 10 and can't get the job one....

Hey happygolucky, it is the fastest finger that wins...not the fastest time to reach...

But if you press 7 or 10 mins, then when you reached location and the pax is not there, then you have to wait for a longer time for the pax no show button to appear compared to if you had pressed 5 mins. That's time wasted.

happygolucky · New Member

Hey, thanks, Taxilim. I find the current job booking a bit erratic - sometimes can get but most of the time cannot get the job, even if press early, almost immediately. And it tends to be late so that it is difficult to estimate how long it takes to make a turn back to the pax place. I once did 6 in a shift but most nights (i now drive nights), I do zero or 1 or 2 the most.

I find driving a cab needs some strategy to get the best returns (or yields) but still a lot depends on how many hours you put it. Everything takes time - cruising, waiting, driving pax, breaks, pump fuel, etc. It is a labour intensive job that can never make you rich but can put 3 square meals on the table.

Not something I like to do for the long term but something that I can use to survive and maybe invest the extra cash for better yields

fata · New Member

happygolucky wrote:
chanks, Thanks for sharing. How do you navigate? Use GPS or from your own knowledge? Usually I ask pax to direct me and most of the time, they are ok. Some really don't know the way, then no choice, I use GPS. Some know but make sarcastic remarks, I just brush it aside and move on to the next pax.
My philosophy is this - if I get a bad pax, then treat it as a bad dream and move on. Never never let it affect my mood and my dealings with the many pax still coming my way.
Also be careful with bookings (if you are from CDG). Make sure you know how to get to the place before accepting, don't be late and kena 'no show'.
I just finished 2 weekends and already gone to so many places I have never been to before. Still lots to learn, especially the routes, places of interest, MRT stns, taxi stands, hotels, etc. I think we newbies need about 6 -12 months in order to be considered "good".
Having lived in this country for so long, the place is still a maze to me! So many small road networks, new roads, ERPs, CBD boundary. And still got to look out for traffic police, LTA officers, CDG officers, speed trap, etc.
Still, this is an interesting job, there are lots of pax on weekends, lots of demand, yet we can only take one trip at a time. Sometimes I wish I could continue to take more pax but time is limited and got to rush to top up diesel and return cab. Also need to take lunch plus 5-10 min pee or stretch break every 2-3 hr. Anyway, remember to massage the leg while on your break time or even while waiting at traffic junction or taxi queues, otherwise you get poor blood circulation and leg numbness and cramps.
You can make a living out of this but cannot get rich because it is time consuming and you cannot leverage it. Still thinking about how to increase my earnings - more bookings, location charge, peak hour charges? I think the secret could be to increase gross takings through these channels and at the same time, reduce diesel consumption by switching off the aircon while waiting or even cruising without stepping on the accelerate too often or too hard. Just some ideas. Also try not to ply the road with an empty cab for too long, better to wait at popular taxi stands.
Good luck for your next weekend shift

-- Edited by happygolucky on Tuesday 29th of July 2014 06:32:21 AM

Thanks for sharing.. Ill be collecting my Silvercab Optima on 3 September.Should start the meter on 4th Sept. onwards. Very kan chiong feeling..haha

-- Edited by fata on Sunday 31st of August 2014 01:19:32 PM

Taxilim · A Forum Supporter

Hey fata,

Good luck and Drive Safe.