How Do You Hire and Train a Chauffeur?

codename47 · Apr 13, 2012

Re: How Do You Train Your Chauffeur?

My skyline I can never give anyone to drive there are just so many things okay let me tell you

1. Before engine startup you have to turn the car on ACC for about 10 seconds when Cusco Fuel Catch can does its job

2. Start the car (ignition)

3. Wait for the Oil pressure to come to Idle

4. Make sure you read the RPM (shouldn't be more than 1200)

5. Do not ACCELERATE too much otherwise the car's turbo will kick in and instead of revering you'll end up in crashing

6. Whilst on the road constantly read boost gauge and keep the boost under 0 mark.

7. If its Raining , DO NOT TAKE SKYLINE OUT

8. On the turn , do not try to accelerate or the car will start doing fishtails

9. Be Smart on the road there are many potential ricers that will try to race with you

10. If you see a cop,slow down don't let the blow off valve whistle.

11. When you have to shut down the engine you have to keep the car ON for about 1-2 minutes to prevent oil coking

rahul4640 · Apr 13, 2012

Re: How Do You Train Your Chauffeur?

Superbad said:

My decisions exactly! But once or twice a month I have to go for the services of a hired driver when I have to take my mother to her doctor or my wife needs it for some shopping and I am at my office. Fortunately I have a young man in my locality who drives an auto rickshaw in the morning, who is usually available in the evening. Nothing on a permanent basis. He is also a reasonably good driver, though he tends to press the clutch very liberally.

ilango[speed thirst] · Apr 13, 2012

Re: How Do You Train Your Chauffeur?

We dont have a driver for our car , but from other's experience here.

A mid 30's and above aged driver is mostly good drivers.

As pointed here its there job for money . So they dont have passion. [ How many have passion to work in IT field or as accountant in banks or as marketing executives or as sales rep etc]

People tend to bargain a lot , they want the driver to sit idle inside the car the whole say with just 2 to 4 trips may be to office or schools and they cry to pay 6000/- saying that most of the time he is sitting idle in car. [heck , all the time he is working for you]

So for low salary only people who need to gain experience just come for job - no point in arguing with them.

Driving classes in trekkar - job at innova with sal of 5.5k. - Most of people dont know hows he driving , kind of his clutch usage etc. He has zero knowledge in mechanical.

Good drivers are hired by taxi people any time they are better than drivers serving home!

350Z · Apr 13, 2012

Re: How Do You Train Your Chauffeur?

It seems that I am much luckier. Just like others, I too avoid giving the car in someone else’s hands about whom I’m not sure. Then there are certain occasions when a driver is required under all circumstances. We have a casual driver from about eight years now (works as full-time elsewhere). He is a family man and extremely responsible, well educated and has fair know-how of the automobiles but since his availability was a concern, later on we hired another man who although has interest in automobiles but lacks the driving sense and is not educated enough (Can’t read directions, sign boards etc). We still prefer calling up the former one whenever he is available. Anyways that was about our drivers. Coming to the topic, I feel following are a few of the things which must be taught to a driver or hired on basis of this:

> How To Properly Drive a Car: Sounds obvious but there are a few drivers out there who consider themselves as more than the owner of the car. I have seen this especially in case of bigger cars (Accords etc). While the owner himself might drive it carefully but some of the drivers attempt to abruptly cut lanes / drive rashly. And it’s heyday for them when they are alone.

> Must Have Knowledge of Routes: What is the point of having a driver when he is a total newbie to the city routes? I experienced this issue with the second driver. Neither he knew the routes of Delhi NCR nor could he read the sign boards correctly.

> Must Be Educated Enough: In continuation to the previous point, a driver should be educated enough to read the signboards in Hindi / English. Moreover, make sure that he is well aware about the basic traffic rules and norms. I’m sure you won’t prefer getting the car challaned because of someone else’s negligence. There are also some minor points about which he should be taught (as mentioned in the opening post).

> Keep a Check on the Odometer: This is important when the driver is leaving you for an airport / railway station trip and drives back the car alone. Note the odometer reading and ask one of the family members to check it again for the difference when he arrives home. This although cannot totally prevent the driver from misusing the car and roaming around in the city but can definitely reduce those chances.

raj_5004 said:

Passion comes from with-in. You cannot force / expect from someone to suddenly start liking the car or start treating as its own for the sake of keeping the car maintained. In such situation, what could be done is to hire a responsible driver in first place or put some firm and clears conditions such as that the amount of damage / fines (if occurs) will be compensated from his salary etc.

Drive Safe,
350Z

TSIVipul · Apr 13, 2012

Re: How Do You Train Your Chauffeur?

Okay,let me follow an another style of explaining:-
My Chauffy:

Name:Mr.Ramesh Pal
Age:About 48-49 years.
Experience:Have been truck driver,bus driver and car driver.So have a net experience of lacs of kms.
Time serving us:Last 11 years.
Pros:Very clean record,not even a single accident till date(ignore minor scratches etc),very cool minded and does not show hurry in any case,brilliant control on the car and can handle any kind of road or traffic conditions without any issue,nothing like jerks or rash driving,he knows nearly every engine and knows how to drive it,he drives straight and follow the lane discipline and many more..
Cons:He is a chauffy and thinks that he has got a lot of experience,always demand a salary hike(for last 11 years)despite being paid handsomely(for the profession,anything above 10k per month is handsome salary),you may direct him how to drive or how not but he will drive the way he wants,you take the wheel and he will point put a 100 faults of you within 10 kms but will not accept even one of himself instead will argue to prove how he was right.Most important:You praise any other chauffy and it hurts his ego a lot,he will bombard you with your negatives and many more crap but will never accept that the other chauffy is as good as him or better than him.

Why I find him best?
Because he is the person who was sitting beside me when I first time in my life laid my hands on the steering wheel.From the very same day he has been giving me instructions of what to do and what not and how to drive or how not and I agree that this has made a serious driver out of me too(okay not serious,I am still a novice somewhere and have some lack of maturity too...).
From dense city roads of Meerut,Delhi,Jaipur etc,to high hilly roads of Uttarakhand,Himanchal,J&K etc to wide highways,he is the person who taught me how to drive safely there and hence for maintaining a quite clean long term driving record(not completely,but 'quite' clean)I owe it to him.

How a good chauffy can make the difference?
I have seen zillions of my father's friend's praising the chauffy saying "you got a great chauffeur" and same is with my father,but why this happens is as follows:-
1):I drive the Laura and he drives the same,where I do Meerut-Jaipur in 4.5-5 hours in midnight,he does in maximum 5-5:15 hours.Only difference is that where my net FE never rises above 11-12 kpl,his never comes down below 13 kpl.In fact once he made the Laura to deliver 15.4 kpl in a 300 kms long trip.

2):I drive Corolla and seldom get above 16-17 kpl overall while his overall kpl lies somewhere between 19-20 kpl,despite the road being same and traffic too.
In other words,a good chauffy saves a lot of fuel.

3):Maintenance..haha maintenance,even the service center guys too many times get quizzed on seeing the odo reading of our cars and comparing the way they drive.I still remember the day when we went to a Toyota service center and the SA asked us "sir,it looks like your cars is driven quite less".
We asked why?He said "Sir there is no sing of high mileage,the car sounds good,suspension is simply okay and is having just a scratch or two".
We simply showed him odo reading of 90+k and he was surprised and said "kuch log bahut badhiya rakhte hain gaadi(some people keep their cars really well)".
Our Laura and Corolla are also yet to go to the A.S.S for any issue except the regular service and accidental repairs.
In other words,a good chauffy saves a lot in the maintenance,especially when your car is having quite costly spares..

4):Here is one small incidence,when Laura was new we went to Jwala Ji in the car.Since I was driving so I was quite busy enjoying winding hilly roads and sometimes took some turns at high speeds too for just enjoying.While returning chauffy had the wheel and on the highway near Ambala he had a minor argument with me and then he sped up the car to 210kph(Father still busy with his phone on his seat) and said "beta,we just drive clam else we can be faster than you"...

In other words,good chauffy can drive any way and any where you want him too and can do it better than you..

Hence after seeing all,I came to a result that:-
Good chauffy is not available for anything below at least 8-9k per month and if you own any car costing above 10 lacs then its advisable to get a costly chauffy else the low cost guy will make you spend a lot more on the maintenance of the car that you save on the salary.

jayadev · Apr 13, 2012

Re: How Do You Train Your Chauffeur?

I dont see any way. just change them for goodness sake.you can wake up sleeping guys but cant do anything who are pretending sleep.
most of the drivers suffer inferiority complex "Seth ki gadi, hamara kya" and they thrash to their content and will.

Better be pre-cautious before some serious mishaps .
___________________________

With our company employed chauffeur once in two weeks car has to visit workshop for differential,tire,or gearbox related issues.

now I drive myself and it is running fine since last 6 months.
(ford Ranger and Dakota is the case)

TSIVipul · Apr 13, 2012

Re: How Do You Train Your Chauffeur?

jayadev said:

You are right Jayadev.Now a days finding a good chauffy is really very hard.And giving your car in the hands of a bad chauffy is extremely dangerous.
If you want a good driver then just look at the salary they demand and you will feel that inflation had its most effect on them.My uncle hired a chauffy and what was great that every guy coming expected at least 6-7k(They used to say that people who take them on their cars also pay at least 200-300 per day),and if you go for good experienced guys then be ready to shell out at least 10-11k per month or be ready to face various issues with your car.
At last the uncle hired a guy for 4k per month.About one month everything went on well and then one day he got a call from police saying "Your car has done an accident,driver has fled the spot and kindly come to the police station"..

Actually,if they are new boys then they think that they are the kings of the road in the car,and if the car is powerful then they are life threatening..or say,you give them power,but they can't take its responsibility..

The only difference between we and them is "WE DRIVE FOR DRIVING AND THEY DRIVE FOR EARNING"...I hope you people understood my words...

carabiker · Apr 13, 2012

Re: How Do You Train Your Chauffeur?

TSIVipul said:

Thats a nice explanation Vipul and congrats on having a good chauffy. If he keeps your cars in pristine condition, then i hope you have to bear with him for his experience based attitude. May be , after that many years of driving , you or any of us could have similar thoughts.

My earlier chaufy Pushkar (more than 10 years driving exp) had been with me for almost four years without causing any accident . He always drove smooth, had good road manners and managed to complete major part of 2lac km on ODO in my wagon R without any issue with Car service. The car got sold at a good price for its model year only because of its good engine and maintenance. Whenever I read something new about car or driving , I used to share it with him and he used to listen to it positively and imbibe where necessary.

My current driver , a young guy with 3-4 years experience is a different ballgame altogether.He tends to drive with youthful spirit, cutting lanes often.However he heeds my advice on driving sense, lane discipline, smooth jerk free driving and whatever else can make the usage of car easy for me and my pocket. With his efforts and my prodding we manage 14kmpl in Delhi/Noida often in peak traffic. I also managed to get him follow the weekly /fortnightly checks on Air filter, oils , tyre pressure,overall cleaning.

type-r · Apr 13, 2012

Re: How Do You Train Your Chauffeur?

@carbiker - my new driver is just as your current driver. in fact, my new driver drives a Xylo like a wagon r and trust me it gets scarrryyy!!

TSIVipul · Apr 13, 2012

Re: How Do You Train Your Chauffeur?

carabiker said:

Buddy consider yourself lucky that although he is a young guy,he still hears you and drive your way.Else most of the young guys just drive the way they want.
If this goes on this way,then I'd advise you to keep this guy as a long termer as in just about an year you can make a very good chauffy out of him.Really this type of guys are tough to find.And going by the FE you people get,I am quite sure that he can manage traffic quite well,especially the dense one.

type-r said:

Then why don't you try to teach him some good driving lessons?Else get a new driver.
A changed driver is better than an overturned car..... [anger]

BTW guys,can you people give me a minor estimate of how much you people are paying to the chauffeurs of yours(with their experience,qualities you felt etc),this will help me decide if mine is underpayed or overpayed?

type-r · Apr 14, 2012

Re: How Do You Train Your Chauffeur?

yes i told my dad to change him. but the thing is that the driver is willing to change his style. he is willing to learn and he has calmed down to a great extent i tell you but sometimes his inner beast shows.

TSIVipul · Apr 14, 2012

Re: How Do You Train Your Chauffeur?

type-r said:

That's great,if the guy is willing to change his way and gonna accept the way you like then you need not to change him.
About the beast inside,even mine too wakes up many times.But it has some advantages too:
(note:My personal views they are,so kindly don't bombard me now declaring me culprit)As per my own observations,a person who regularly drives fast reacts faster in the emergency situations as compared to the ones who drive slower.

type-r · Apr 14, 2012

Re: How Do You Train Your Chauffeur?

i know what you mean. his beast shows when he is alone and occasionally when we are all together. no doubt i know that he is very rough at times but for sure he is alert always and his car control is EPIC. thats another reason why he still is working for us.

350Z · Apr 14, 2012

Re: How Do You Train Your Chauffeur?

TSIVipul said:

Our long-term casual driver usually demands minimum Rs.200 - 300 for 8 Hours within Delhi NCR.

Drive Safe,
350Z

autosafari · Apr 14, 2012

Re: How Do You Train Your Chauffeur?

TSIVipul said:

Our driver in Daman charge Rs 500 per day.

He always prefer to be a casual driver and won't work for a monthly salary.
{Many times he does two trips (to Mumbai) for two different clients and earn Rs 1000}

For his skill level and professionlism, we can pay 500 without a doubt.

When there was another driver on monthly Salary, we paid Rs 7000 last year.

How Do You Hire and Train a Chauffeur?

codename47

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rahul4640

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ilango[speed thirst]

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350Z

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TSIVipul

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jayadev

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TSIVipul

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carabiker

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type-r

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TSIVipul

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type-r

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TSIVipul

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type-r

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350Z

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autosafari

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