Taxi Driver: What is the cost of hiring?

Why hire a taxi driver?

Adding taxi drivers to your team can affect both your existing staff and your operational bottom line. However, a great taxi driver can help you:

• Increase the number of taxis you’re able to keep on the road
• Increase competition among your existing drivers
• Decrease the amount of time it takes to dispatch drivers, which can improve customer satisfaction

Deciding between a full-time vs freelance taxi driver

Taxi and rideshare businesses regularly hire freelance drivers to work for them. This allows the company to provide transportation for a larger number of people without having to pay a full-time driver to stand by. Some of these businesses, such as Uber and Lyft, are run entirely with freelancers. 

Freelancers can also rent taxis from fleets and operate as taxi drivers for that business. 

Very few taxi companies have full-time taxi drivers, but it might benefit your company to have a couple of drivers to rely on if there are no available freelancers. 

What are the types of taxi drivers?

In the taxi industry, there are a few types of taxi drivers. These include:

• Owner-operators: Owner-operators purchase a taxi and use it as a business. They can set their own schedule and rules for the car. Owner-operators can also lease their taxi out to other drivers. 
• Independent subletters: Independent subletters lease a cab from a specific taxi company and pay to use it. They still have the freedom to make their own schedule, but they represent that company. 
• Taxi renters: Taxi renters rent cabs for one shift and represent that company for the day. This allows them to keep their own schedule, but there’s no guarantee of work when they want it. 
• Taxi leasers: Like renters, leasers contract with a taxi company to use their cab. A leaser’s contract is long term, however. This gives them more job security but takes away from schedule flexibility. 
• Rideshare drivers: Drivers who work with a rideshare company use their personal vehicle to provide transportation for customers. They sign up with the rideshare company on a freelance basis. 

Where to find taxi drivers

To find the right taxi driver for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

• Use a temp agency. If you need a taxi driver temporarily and on short notice, use a temp agency. They can send an employee to your company to take on the responsibilities. 
• Hang help wanted signs. For entry-level positions, hanging flyers about the job is one way to obtain a few applications. Set up interviews with quality candidates.
• Search online. There may be freelance taxi drivers in your area who are advertising their services online. Connect with these individuals to see if they’d be interested in working with you. 
• Post your job online. Try posting your taxi driver job on Indeed to find and attract quality taxi driver candidates.

Skills to look for in a great Taxi Driver

A great taxi driver candidate will have the following skills and attributes as well as work experience that reflects:

Hard skills:
• Thorough familiarity with the streets and traffic in your service area
• Understanding of navigation, communication, and payment processing tools
• Driver’s license with a clean driving record

Soft skills:
• Attention to detail
• Clear communicator
• Outstanding customer service skills

Writing a taxi driver job description

A thoughtful description is important for finding qualified taxi driver candidates. A taxi driver job description includes a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities and the required and preferred skills for the position.

When writing your taxi driver job description, consider including some or all of the following keywords to improve the visibility of your job posting . These are the most popular search terms leading to clicks on taxi driver jobs, according to Indeed data:

• Driver
• Taxi driver
• Hiring immediately
• Taxi
• Non CDL driver
• Truck driver
• Driving
• Driver non CDL
• Transportation
• Overnight

Interviewing taxi driver candidates

Strong candidates for taxi driver positions will be confident answering questions regarding:

• How to handle problematic customers
• Handling navigational challenges
• Maintaining a clean vehicle

Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of taxi driver interview questions for examples (with sample answers).