With a family to support, becoming jobless at late fifties is a nightmare in Singapore. Unable to find a suitable job, I became a taxi driver. My real life stories may seem trivial and my views may lack substances of a learned professor, but I shall write without inhibition and embellishments. In also sharing my thoughts, love for music and food, I hope my blog will be more pleasurable. More importantly, I blog to make a dull job a bit more interesting.
Hi Mr.Lim....need some advice fr.u.....I'm 42 yrs old with a diploma cert.....been working as a ass.engineer in the manufacturing sector for almost 17years without a single promotion achieved...since last year been xfered to other department coz my dep.closed...up till now unable to adapt to new environment coz jobscope totally different and the supervisor is a very hostile person to work with...I'm thinking of resigning and become a taxi driver instead..just want to know if I drive for 15 hrs/day...mon-fri..how much can I earn...?right now my take home pay after cpf is $2400....I got 4 children..all still studying..my wife not working...really need your advice so that I won't make the wrong decision...thk u....rgds MZ
Driving a taxi for a living should be the last resort. It's a dead end job with no prospect for advancement. However, if you disregard this aspect of the job, then taxi driving can provide you with a reasonable income to upkeep your family.
Presently, if you drive the night shift for about 9 - 10 hours a shift from Mon - Sat ( Sunday Rest), you can earn nett about $120 - $150 per shift i.e. about $3,000 per month (without CPF). A day shift driver probably earn a bit less than 3k. because of less surcharges.
No need to drive 15hrs/day. You won't last long. Don't be a hirer, be a relief driver. Less stress.
Before you quit your present job, you should start to drive part time as a relief driver on your rest days (eg. Sat & Sun) and find out whether taxi driving is your cup of tea. Give yourself a trail run on the job. Go to Comfort Office for help on this. If need more advice, come to this page of my blog.
Hi Mr.Lim....thk u for your advice..really apprreciated it....i got a few question if u don't mind....can i be a relief driver for 2 taxi...1 morn. 1 night?...need to contribute to medisave how much...? which taxi company is good.....? thx.....
If you're thinking of doing 2 shifts in a day, forget it. You won't make it!. Lots of time wastage at your expense and we're not robots. You'll land up at Mandai earlier.
I think you can be a relief driver for 2 different taxis with 2 different companies. But with same company, I'm not sure.
Medisave contribution is based on your income tax declaration. I don't know the percentage. Check with CPF.
Comfort, Citicab and Transcab are good companies. Don't join Prime.
Scan through couple of the articles, and find that this blog has a Great Value in reflecting some untold stories that would never be covered by the public media. Keep up the excellent job and would surely drop by again.
Uncle, happy new year! May i know if you can provide daily service from jurong west to taman jurong at morning time abt 645am?
ReplyDeleteHi, Piyo,
ReplyDeleteSorry, I drive the night shift.
Try LTA or Comfort website.
Hi Mr.Lim....need some advice fr.u.....I'm 42 yrs old with a diploma cert.....been working as a ass.engineer in the manufacturing sector for almost 17years without a single promotion achieved...since last year been xfered to other department coz my dep.closed...up till now unable to adapt to new environment coz jobscope totally different and the supervisor is a very hostile person to work with...I'm thinking of resigning and become a taxi driver instead..just want to know if I drive for 15 hrs/day...mon-fri..how much can I earn...?right now my take home pay after cpf is $2400....I got 4 children..all still studying..my wife not working...really need your advice so that I won't make the wrong decision...thk u....rgds MZ
ReplyDeleteHi, Anon...
ReplyDeleteDriving a taxi for a living should be the last resort. It's a dead end job with no prospect for advancement. However, if you disregard this aspect of the job, then taxi driving can provide you with a reasonable income to upkeep your family.
Presently, if you drive the night shift for about 9 - 10 hours a shift from Mon - Sat ( Sunday Rest), you can earn nett about $120 - $150 per shift i.e. about $3,000 per month (without CPF). A day shift driver probably earn a bit less than 3k. because of less surcharges.
No need to drive 15hrs/day. You won't last long. Don't be a hirer, be a relief driver. Less stress.
Before you quit your present job, you should start to drive part time as a relief driver on your rest days (eg. Sat & Sun) and find out whether taxi driving is your cup of tea. Give yourself a trail run on the job. Go to Comfort Office for help on this. If need more advice, come to this page of my blog.
Good Luck.
Hi Mr.Lim....thk u for your advice..really apprreciated it....i got a few question if u don't mind....can i be a relief driver for 2 taxi...1 morn. 1 night?...need to contribute to medisave how much...? which taxi company is good.....? thx.....
ReplyDeleteHi, Anon,
ReplyDeleteIf you're thinking of doing 2 shifts in a day, forget it. You won't make it!. Lots of time wastage at your expense and we're not robots. You'll land up at Mandai earlier.
I think you can be a relief driver for 2 different taxis with 2 different companies. But with same company, I'm not sure.
Medisave contribution is based on your income tax declaration. I don't know the percentage. Check with CPF.
Comfort, Citicab and Transcab are good companies. Don't join Prime.
Good Luck.
Good day, James Lim
ReplyDeleteHappen to drop by your blog by synchronicity...
Scan through couple of the articles, and find that this blog has a Great Value in reflecting some untold stories that would never be covered by the public media. Keep up the excellent job and would surely drop by again.
Bless you
KH Tang
Please visit www.cabby.sg to look for Taxi hirer if you want to be a relief driver.
ReplyDelete