As a young boy growing up in the 00s, I once told my mum: “Ma, next time drive car can earn $912 in a day. Like not bad leh.”

Thereafter she’ll always smack me in the head and ask me to go play with my Barbie Dolls, but I never forgot about my prediction.

And today, I stormed into my mum’s room without knocking and waved my phone about.

“See, Ma, I told you!”

And she looked at me, before looking back down at the clothes she was folding. “That was me.”

“Huh? What talking you? This one is a ‘he’ leh.”

And she looked at me somberly, took out a moustache from her breast pocket and slapped it on her face.

“Look, I’m your father.”

On a serious note

I’m not kidding; someone really earned $912 in a single day, simply by driving people around Singapore. Although granted, it was a whole day’s job, seeing how he started at 12 a.m. and ended only at 11:59 p.m. But c’mon, $912 in a single day?

Mother of smoking bells.

So anyway, everything started when Grab driver, codename Pro Driver, posted his experience in the ProDriver Inc (Grab Drivers SG) Facebook Group.

Transcript:

“#earn1konmonday I prefer to play on hard mode. Just kidding. I prefer to have family time on weekends.

Anyway, those members inside the prodriver line chat knows the reason why I did this challenge.

We have been helping new and inexperienced drivers for free (no course fees) . Driving should be sustainable and realistic and not like this 24hr challenge. Daily and weekly targets should be set.

Anyway most importantly, driving 24hrs straight is not advisable. I only did it to show that it can be done for incentive drivers with better knowledge and on a weekday.

Post edited”

*End of transcript*

But of course, nobody’s jumping in the bandwagon without evidence, so Mr Pro Driver here provided a screenshot of his Ironman challenge: Grab edition.

As well as a couple of videos showcasing the highlights of his gruesome one-day challenge.

Much respects, Pro Driver. Please have ma babies.

Just kidding. Half joking.

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Breakdown

Here’s a literal translation of what exactly went down.

In the video, the driver, who introduces himself as Sonic (the Grabhog), is on his way to Changi Airport to start the first job of his “challenge”. However, he cautions his friends and followers not to pull off the same stunt.

“I strongly advise against driving such long hours because it’s actually very dangerous for yourself and the rider,” he says.

“Rest assured that I will stop if I feel too tired, but I’m very well rested over the weekend.

“I’m doing this not to challenge anybody or for any fame or any fortune but I’m just doing this to get your attention.

“There are some videos online and some courses online to teach you how to drive… I don’t think it’s a really good idea as it doesn’t show the real aspect of driving.

“I’d rather driving be more sustainable and more healthy so anyway, wish me good luck.”

Later on, at about 10:20 a.m., he takes his “first break” to get some petrol at a Caltex petrol station. He then opens the Grab app on his phone to reveal the kill count he has accumulated up to that point.

$456.

That’s like half of his total earnings, and he hasn’t even reached half day yet. Wowz.

At about 12:02 a.m., he clocked his final update.

“It’s been a gruelling day,” he says. “I’ve had a lot of support from my pro driver group members.”

A quick read of his statistics reveals his Acceptance Rate (AR), Driver’s Rating and Cancellation Rate (CR) as 92.3%, 4.86% and 7.1% respectively. He then comments that he did not “cherry-pick” his jobs, and everything’s legit.

(Well, drivers, I hope you learn from this and don’t cherry-pick, please.)

He did add, however, that his driver’s rating is “a bit low”.

At this point, he shows a quest completion screen on his phone:

59 jobs completed, $912 earned.

“I really suggest nobody try this,” he says.

“I’m tired. It’s time to go home.”

It’s Revenue, Not Profits

While the number looks impressive, do remember: Grab takes 20% of the total earning, which means he’s essentially getting $729. A day’s car rental could be about $60, and for driving 24 hours, he might need to pump petrol up to $150.

Therefore, he’s getting back about $519. If you divide that by 24 hours, he’s earning about $21 per hour: now, that’s not really that impressive after all, right?

But still, $21 per hour is still good money.

The Myth, The Legend

In any case, Pro Driver here has proved one thing:

Private-hire driving can be a really lucrative job if done right.

Though as he mentioned, and a couple of Netizens reiterated, it might not really be worth it. After all, it’s dangerous: we’ve all seen how people doze off while sleeping, killing not just the drivers but the passengers as well.

But I guess it’s called a challenge for a reason.

Anyone up for the challenge?

While Mr Pro Driver strongly advised others not to follow his example, I have an inkling humans are not one to follow the rules, particularly when they ‘mean well’.

So hands up if you’re aiming to one-up the challenge.

$1,000 this time, maybe?

But please, don’t. If you want to work 24 hours at one go, go sew some dresses instead. You won’t endanger yourself and others.

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