SINGAPORE: Some private bus operators and tour companies in Singapore are feeling the pinch from delays in securing overbooked driving lesson slotsbc88bet, with their foreign employees unable to take to roads here without converting to a local licence. 

The situation has been made worse by students using bots to secure slots at driving centres such as the Singapore Safety Driving Centre (SSDC).

Class 4 licences to operate heavy motor vehicles such as buses can only be attained at SSDC, located at Woodlands. 

Tour agency WTS Travel, for one, has about 30 per cent of its bus drivers in limbo as they wait to take lessons and pass their tests.

Up to half of all drivers on its payroll are foreigners.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, it took about four to five months for foreign employees to obtain their driving licences, said a WTS spokesperson. 

It now takes about six to seven months - and this has cost the company about 20 per cent in lost revenue.

“We are unable to cater to available jobs, because we don’t have the drivers to fulfil the jobs,” said the spokesperson. “We are basically stagnant.” 

WTS also has to continue paying foreign employees their basic salaries as well as meal and accommodation allowances, on top of a foreign worker levy, even as the worker is unable to drive. 

“In fact, the foreign divers feel very frustrated, because for six to seven months they can’t work, and in between they can’t do anything else (to earn more) either,” said the spokesperson. 

CNA has reached out to the Traffic Police on how it's looking to deal with the shortage in driving lesson slots. 

Public bus operators such as SMRT, SBS Transit and Tower Transit told CNA that they conduct their own in-house training for drivers, and so are unaffected by the shortage of driving lesson slots.

For private sector companies, the delays in securing lesson slots could stretch up to a year.Earlier in 2024, the high turnover rate for local drivers prompted Mr Farid Khan, CEO of Singapore Cab Booking, to consider hiring foreigners instead.

He currently employs 15 local drivers for his fleet of 12 buses.

But hearing about the long waiting times put a stop to Mr Khan’s plans.  

The foreign worker recruitment agencies he had approached for help in finding workers told him about the delays, which started earlier this year. 

“We have to find a time and date for the test that would synchronise with their lodging here. It’s very difficult, the demand is there, but the supply (of drivers) is less,” Mr Khan added. 

The director of another bus charter company with a fleet of 90 buses, who asked to be anonymous, said the situation was unfair on firms like his.

“The driver cannot do anything else. During this time, he’s not supposed to do anything and just wait for the licence,” he reiterated. 

Work permits typically only last for two years, and workers might fail the Class 4 driving test on their first attempt, after waiting 10 months for a test date. By the time they wait for their next test date, their permits might be close to expiring, said the director. 

While foreign work pass holders do not make up the majority of his employees, he has stopped hiring new drivers for now because it is “impossible to wait that long”. 

“We feel that workers who need the driving licences for their vocations should be given priority,” he added. 

For private bus operator Westpoint Transit, the impact of the delays has been less pronounced. 

Director Lionel Lee said only 10 per cent of his drivers are foreigners, and currently only two Malaysians are awaiting their Class 4 licences. 

For drivers in such circumstances, they spend time shadowing colleagues on their shifts to get “oriented on the requirements of the job”, said Mr Lee.

They are also sent for other additional driving-related courses to sharpen their skills. 

“It’s almost like a much lengthier orientation processbc88bet,” he added.

• Singapore
• Operators
• Private
• Bus
• bc88bet