SINGAPORE: Some private bus operators and tour companies in Singapore are feeling the pinch from delays in securing overbooked driving lesson slots, with their foreign employees unable to take to roads here without converting to a local licence.Class 4 licences to operate heavy motor vehicles such as buses can only be attained at SSDC, located at Woodlands.
“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.” 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.Earlier in 2024, the high turnover rate for local drivers prompted Mr Farid Khan, CEO of Singapore Cab Booking, to consider hiring foreigners instead.
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.