Which Taxi company to choose
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Hi all brothers here, hope somebody can help or give some advice to me...
Juz passed my TDVL exam on the 6th Feb... now in the process of waiting LTA to issue me the TVL licence. At present, I have a 9~5 job but pay super miserable... Intend to quit & go into Taxi trade.
Made some enquires with a few Taxi companies and personally went down to CDG recruitment Centre this afternoon. Machiam a gong kia.. told by by the front-desk lady i need to produce her my TVL licence b4 registering with them. This is the rough details i gathered from a 2 companies:
1) CDG Sonata - $102/mth; no contract; 3yrs and below; muz wait 2~3 mths
2) PREMIER SilverCab - $101; 3 mths contract; 2nd-hand; gaurantee ~1mth
CDG does not reimburse my STA course fee as I did not sign with them prior to the course. Unless i opt for a manual gear cab, then they willing to reimburse. Need to attend the MDT, basic Svc training & auto-gear short lesson.
PREMIER SilverCab every month has 2 types of incentives: (i)No accident +$50 (ii) GIRO deduction smoothly +$150. The -ve point is they may not have so much booking. He (Colin) said they use walkie-talkie.
In between the 2, probably i will choose one. I prefer CDG partly becos with the MDT & huge amt of customers' bookings, i think it shud be ok. Moreover, people on the street tend to take note of those CDG Blue/Yellow cab easily n identify them straight away. I m afraid while driving SilverCab, i may got miss out.
I may have to settle for SIlverCab as the waiting time is much shorter. Would appreciate bros here may give some advice n pointers to me. Thank u very much...
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whether cdg or premier, impt consideration is
convenience of refuelling
where u stay is therefore impt
do they have a pump station nearby your house?
price of diesel they charged since it will be a substantial portion of your business cost
call or no call ...can consider also
I am a cdg relief TD but I seldom take call
$2.30 ....waste time lah
by sweeping u can definitely make a decent income
any rebate, incentive for hirer...also impt
color of cab....not so impt lah
ppl will know it is a taxu whether blue, yellow or silver
thats my 2 cents worth of input
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if u intend to get a relief
is better to stick with cdg
coz they have more relief drivers on standby in their system
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lastly made of car also impt
since u will be driving 10 to 12 hours a day
do u prefer the look of a sonata or kia
get the wrong car will create unhappiness in you
consumption of diesel...also impt to consider
since it will eat up your revenue
heard i30 not bad from premier
also quite a handsome car
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car servicing time and location of service centre
also impt
coz if nearer to your house
could save travelling time and therefore save diesel cost
duration of service also impt
waste of taxi time if servicing time is long
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whether they rebate u the STA course fee
small matter lah
2 day driving u will recoup back the investment
Course fee rebate is to con you to take up sampan
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invest in a gps
will help u during your initial period when u drive
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I havent started driving Taxi yet still waiting for call from CDG (signed up in Nov 11 for 4 plus year old Taxi still waiting for call ) you can do 2 things to make your life easier
1. Invest in GPS , eastgear has a promotion of Houlux 62F for S$199 with live traffic i bought one very nice for cabby.
2. invest in smart phone like iphone or any android phone, get those data plan ( 12 gb one i think) from starhub.singtel or m1 , download "singapore map" by street directory (look for street directory on iphone/android market) this one gives you route also address of the location/business
3. learn to use them as a tool make your life easy, taxi compnay doesnt matter what matters how you are willing to ply your trade work hard& smart will make transion to this trade
this is just advice from a newbie to another newbie , good to share knowledge seniors can correct me where i am wrong
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when in doubt, just go for CDG!
+1, 28,000 more to go
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For newbie, better stick to CDG cos bookings realli helps a lot. Sweepers R for pro drivers.
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Originally posted by ALws Tired:
For newbie, better stick to CDG cos bookings realli helps a lot.
Sweepers R for pro drivers.
not true lahI also newbie
I also sweep
and I am not pro
pick, drop, pick, drop ...this type of pattern dun need call
That day I sweep 28 jobs... not even one call
income not bad
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Originally posted by decent02:
not true lahI also newbie
I also sweep
and I am not pro
pick, drop, pick, drop ...this type of pattern dun need call
That day I sweep 28 jobs... not even one call
income not bad
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Originally posted by Tiongpengk1:
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Originally posted by decent02:
not true lahI also newbie
I also sweep
and I am not pro
pick, drop, pick, drop ...this type of pattern dun need call
That day I sweep 28 jobs... not even one call
income not bad
My first pax is from road sweep just outside my place.
Makes me think of having learnt all the strokes in swimming but still standing at the edge, hessitant,
WTF, just jump in la. die die lor. Bt Panjang kanna go Jurong East. By right should know the way, but suddenly come, everything also "gabra"
lucky pax was kind enough to guide me, give my virgin trip to him.
MDT easily? kanna current call, was staring at the fucking MDT for so long, wondering where the hell this place is and by the time I realised, 15 secs gone and out came a "You have rejected one job".
Later on, decide to whatever come in, just press "5 mins" first and slowly take my time to use road directory to find it. Upon reaching the pax, another problem arise, "where is that place he want to go?"
So with road sweeping, u only got 1 problem, with calls, u got 2, locating the pax and then his destination.
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Cumfuck....
is a....
training school to many....
It is a good to start @ CDG for many reasons.
1) Good Mapping (GPRS)
2) Many MDT(IVT) calls, with the above mapping, it is easier to locate pickup location.
3) Better workshop (for serivicing)
4) Many diesel kisoks around the island. ( diesel at higher discount )
5) Cashless payment (eg NETS, CREDIT CARDs) with faster clearance.
6) Many corporates using CDG e-Vouchers, Cabcharges cards.
the bad....
You will know it when it comes....
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Ya I also start with Blue then Red then White
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Originally posted by Just_do_it_lah:
Cumfuck....
is a....
training school to many....
It is a good to start @ CDG for many reasons.
1) Good Mapping (GPRS)
2) Many MDT(IVT) calls, with the above mapping, it is easier to locate pickup location.
3) Better workshop (for serivicing)
4) Many diesel kisoks around the island. ( diesel at higher discount )
5) Cashless payment (eg NETS, CREDIT CARDs) with faster clearance.
6) Many corporates using CDG e-Vouchers, Cabcharges cards.
the bad....
You will know it when it comes....
Guess what's on CDG's mind?
knn u TD make use of me as yr training ground.
wanna suck every drop of blood from me. diesel, call jobs, cashless, corporate jobs!
until one day I cannot help u, u just dump me!
what to do?
u wanna wear t-shirt and slipper and ppl complain, it's my fault?
u kanna accident so many times also my fault?
u speeding kanna camera, TDVL revoke also my fault?
u smoking in cab, kanna stomp also my fault?
u overcharge pax also my fault?
so what u kanna so many certificate? u mean many cert can make u more "garang" and these cert can exchange for favour when u at fault?
You mean after 20 years, u collect the whole wall of cert, u can smoke in cab, over charge pax, speed at nobody's business liao?
How many cert or years of service = 1å…�æ»é‡‘牌??
200 post liao, call for a celebration!!!!!
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i prefer sweeping, learn the routes faster.
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Choose Fit lor Endorse by ALN leh Cheap cheap wor Like that lor
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i30 not suitable for new bird .... cos 2 years contract .
I encourage new birds to be relief first .
No contract , no giro , can chose the days u wish to drive , and off which day .
Relief for Comfort is by far easiest , cos they have the biggest pool of taxis , around 16000 of them .
Follow by TransCab some 8000 of them including Wish .
Then SMRT , Premier , Smart , Prime .
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Contracted drivers and contracted OMO are solid drivers .
Won't die one .
Newbird to sign contract , if fail , wanna quit , also quite troublesome .
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Originally posted by Bingjames:
My first pax is from road sweep just outside my place.
Makes me think of having learnt all the strokes in swimming but still standing at the edge, hessitant,
WTF, just jump in la. die die lor. Bt Panjang kanna go Jurong East. By right should know the way, but suddenly come, everything also "gabra"
lucky pax was kind enough to guide me, give my virgin trip to him.
MDT easily? kanna current call, was staring at the fucking MDT for so long, wondering where the hell this place is and by the time I realised, 15 secs gone and out came a "You have rejected one job".
Later on, decide to whatever come in, just press "5 mins" first and slowly take my time to use road directory to find it. Upon reaching the pax, another problem arise, "where is that place he want to go?"
So with road sweeping, u only got 1 problem, with calls, u got 2, locating the pax and then his destination.
dun need to stare at MDT
if u know there is pax outside
just ignore the MDT and sweep
if no pax on sight, take call only if u r familiar with the pick up point
my advise ...press 10 mins
now cdg current call very the taiko .... sometimes pick up point quite a distance away
but i always say ... $2.30 ...not tempting to me
say u take 10 mins to reach the pick up point... u asked urself.... 10 mins of your time worth $2.30 ???
can u use the 10 mins to earn more than $2.30 by sweeping ?
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Originally posted by Poolman:
i30 not suitable for new bird .... cos 2 years contract .
I encourage new birds to be relief first .
No contract , no giro , can chose the days u wish to drive , and off which day .
Relief for Comfort is by far easiest , cos they have the biggest pool of taxis , around 16000 of them .
Follow by TransCab some 8000 of them including Wish .
Then SMRT , Premier , Smart , Prime .
agree ... new bird should try out first as relief.
if want to plunge immediately as hirer ... in my opinion ...also can
I made some income on my first day as TD with zero experience.
Is a matter of earning lesser as hirer during the initial stage
after 3 months as hirer, can fly liao.
Taxi driving is not as difficult as many ppl thinks.
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No offense but reading some posts in this thread, it's no surprise taxi companies like CDG can more or less do as they please, be it how they treat drivers who may owe them rental or made some mistakes, or how they can send COE prices rocketting with newer vehicles, set new fares etc.
Whatever you think or consider them, there's no doubt they are still tops in marketting themselves and creating a positive image to the public and unsuspecting new drivers.
I'm saying everything they do is wrong or has an ulterior motive, they definitely have some plus points. But as long as they can continue to lure newbies to into hirers, they are in a Comfort zone.
I'm saying that all newbies should be hirers, but like in any job, you'd normally expect to start slow or from an easier learning point and gain knowledge along the way. You won't expect joining a new firm to be put directly incharge of running the show when you've got no prior experience.
Anyway that's my view, and to each his own I suppose.
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Originally posted by Bingjames:
Guess what's on CDG's mind?
knn u TD make use of me as yr training ground.
wanna suck every drop of blood from me. diesel, call jobs, cashless, corporate jobs!
until one day I cannot help u, u just dump me!
what to do?
u wanna wear t-shirt and slipper and ppl complain, it's my fault?
u kanna accident so many times also my fault?
u speeding kanna camera, TDVL revoke also my fault?
u smoking in cab, kanna stomp also my fault?
u overcharge pax also my fault?
so what u kanna so many certificate? u mean many cert can make u more "garang" and these cert can exchange for favour when u at fault?
You mean after 20 years, u collect the whole wall of cert, u can smoke in cab, over charge pax, speed at nobody's business liao?
How many cert or years of service = 1å…�æ»é‡‘牌??
200 post liao, call for a celebration!!!!!
Let me part answer some things you suggest, maybe if got time next time, I explain my view.
You go for their training? Is it free?
Their current and advance booking, their NETs and credit card, is it an FOC service? Do they earn just a pittance from it? CDG has at least 50k calls a day, usually more. They used to earn 40cts and 50cts from current, now 30 and 40cts. To make up the shortfall, they've now made advance levy up to $1 from 50cts. Just taking the 30cts as the standard, that's $15k a day, or 180k alone a month before overheads. Even with NETs and card, they definitely will get a cut.
Will touch on the rest later.