PHV Driver Drives for 22 Hours in a Day, Earning Over $1,000

For most of us, an eight-hour workday already feels quite lengthy and often makes us anticipate the day to end faster.

Now, imagine a scenario where someone works almost an entire day—yes, you heard that right.

A personal hire driver (PHV) in Singapore recently completed a 22-hour shift with just a two-hour rest. 

To put this into perspective, it’s equivalent to covering nearly three regular working days if you’re working the typical eight-hour shift.

Before you raise concerns about its legality, PHV drivers aren’t covered under the Employment Act, which limits employees to working no more than 12 hours a day.

So technically, they have the freedom to work longer hours. In fact, the very same PHV driver managed to earn over $1,000 during this marathon shift.

Now, what drove him to do this?

Behind this feat of endurance and hard work, there was a prize: a complimentary two-day-one-night stay at the luxurious Hotel Ora at Resorts World Sentosa, a five-star hotel in Singapore.

Top Earning Challenge Amongst PHV Drivers

The motivation to complete a 22-hour shift behind the wheel was initiated by Facebook user Tam Jiak Shawn, also identified as Shawn Lee by The Straits Times.

Mr Lee, 50, a PHV driver, was on a mission on social media to motivate his fellow PHV drivers by identifying the top earner in a single day.

On Friday (17 November 2023), Mr Lee posted about the privately organised challenge he created on a public Facebook page, which includes drivers from various platforms like Grab, Gojek, Tada, and RYDE. 

This Facebook page has more than 34,000 members.

Mr Lee organised the challenge to boost the morale of the local PHV driver community. He said that the community was facing the challenges of increasing expenses and decreased earnings.

In the post, he stated, “Top earners win a prize from me. 2D1N staycation,” referring to top earnings for the following day.

The eligible driver who earned the most from 12.01 am to 11.59 pm on Saturday (18 November 2023) was in for a treat. 

They would receive a complimentary two-day, one-night stay at Hotel Ora, Resorts World Sentosa, all expenses covered by Mr Lee himself, who is a Gojek driver.

Following this announcement, Mr Lee posted again, inviting PHV drivers interested in participating in this motivational challenge to join. 

In this post, he shared additional details about the challenge. He included pictures of the room he had reserved at Hotel Ora. 

To provide transparency and authenticity, he even posted a screenshot of the hotel booking, which confirmed a Deluxe King room.

A Deluxe King room at Hotel Ora typically costs $580 a night.

To be eligible for the competition, drivers of four-seater vehicles had to earn a minimum of $500 that day and privately message Mr Lee with their total earnings.

While drivers of six-seater vehicles were invited to join the fun, their participation wouldn’t make them eligible to win the staycation.

Top Earnings from the Challenge

Now that we’ve provided the background about the challenge, you can better understand why a PHV driver was willing to push himself to the limit, embarking on an impressive 22-hour shift.

After a face-to-face verification of the winner’s remarkable efforts, Mr Lee shared screenshots of the winner’s earnings on Sunday (19 November 2023).

Furthermore, he congratulated the other nine participants who surpassed the $500 during the challenge. 

James Lim, a Gojek driver, stood out by earning an impressive $1,017 across 48 trips, ultimately winning the coveted staycation prize.

In the same post, Mr Lee highlighted that Mr Lim stated that his 22-hour shift was not his usual working hours and that he did it solely for motivational purposes. 

Mr Lim clarified that his regular driving routine typically spanned 12 to 14 hours a day.

Among the top five contenders, three were Gojek drivers, with the remaining two hailing from Grab. 

The drivers who clinched the second and third positions put in approximately “around 16 to 17 hours” to earn $831 and $778, respectively.

Criticism from the Public

While PHV driver Mr Lim may be celebrating his efforts this weekend at Hotel Ora, Mr Lee was under scrutiny from the public after announcing Mr Lim’s 22-hour “shift”, which generated many discussions.

Facebook user Eddie Vedder commented: “The question I have is it safe for someone to continuously ply the roads and send passengers? Even if you incentivise this. 

“I only foresee driver fatigue that would eventually lead to more accidents on the road and sometimes taking lives of people who are the passengers or innocent bystanders,” he added.

This has raised questions among some netizens who found the challenge ethically questionable, given the nature of competing to work for 24 hours straight just to win a staycation. 

The challenge wasn’t an official competition organised by Gojek, Grab, or any ride-hailing platforms, leading to concerns about potential safety implications.

In Mr Lee’s defence, he stated that he had initially set a $500 benchmark, believing it would be achievable within 12 to 13 hours. 

He never expected the drivers to push themselves to such an extreme extent to break a record.

Furthermore, Mr Lee, an experienced PHV driver with nearly a decade of professional driving experience, admitted that he should have set a limit on the number of hours participants could work in his initiative. 

He also clarified that the winner, Mr Lim, had informed him of taking a full day of rest before embarking on the 22-hour journey.

Mr Lim had also taken a two-hour break and used any downtime in the car for rest when there were no bookings.

Emphasis that Drivers Need Rest and to be Cautious on the Road

Singapore Road Safety Council chairman Bernard Tay told The Straits Times that drivers must be focused and have sufficient rest.

He also said that driving nonstop for 22 hours could pose an unwarranted hazard to drivers, passengers and pedestrians.

He added that driving such long hours is discouraged because it may impair vision and slow down a driver’s reflexes in an emergency.

Instead, Mr Tay advised a general rule of taking a 15-minute break after driving for one-and-a-half to two hours. He emphasised that drivers should not exceed eight hours of driving in a single day.

Gojek and Grab Respond to the PHV Challenge

As the challenge has gone viral, many wonder if such challenges are allowed in the driving community. 

A spokesperson from Gojek responded and said that safety remains their utmost priority. 

They have implemented various initiatives to ensure their driver-partners are well-informed about safe driving practices. These include a learning management system with modules dedicated to safety.

Furthermore, Gojek has introduced a rest reminder feature within their driver app. This feature periodically prompts drivers to take a break or switch offline after several hours of online activity.

Grab also told The Straits Times that their app has a “fatigue nudges” safety feature. This feature serves as a reminder to drivers to take a break after an extended period of driving.

The Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) guidelines for preventing driver fatigue consist of recommendations that advocate keeping shifts within a 12-hour limit, including any overtime hours.

Additionally, the guidelines suggest implementing scheduled breaks, such as a 15-minute pause for every two hours spent on the road.