Become a Taxi Driver

Fancy a career in a rewarding industry?

If you are serious about a career in the passenger transport industry then taxi driving may be the right job for you. You MUST be a people person. Dealing with people in a close environment requires high-level customer service skills and often a lot of patience.

You will meet wonderful people, make money while doing it and potentially have a very rewarding career.

How do you become a taxi Driver with Nelson City Taxis?

If you are serious about becoming a taxi driver, there are a few things you will require first...

• A ‘P’ endorsement

A ‘P’ endorsement – you need to obtain this before you can apply to drive with Nelson Taxis. You can find information about how to apply here.

Once you have your 'P' endorsement, and your application to drive for the Society has been accepted, you will need to ensure you have the following qualifications:

• Level 1 First Aid Certificate
• NZQA Unit Standard 1748 – “Transport passengers with impairments or disabilities” – We have an in-house trainer who can assist with getting this.

These certifications are at your own expense unless other arrangements are made with the Shareholder (the owner of the taxi) you will be driving for.

We recommend you obtain your First Aid Certificate before you begin your training to drive a taxi – we recommend Triple One Care, but you can choose any accredited First Aid trainer you prefer. You must present evidence of the qualification to our office.

You must obtain the P Endorsement through NZTA yourself.

General driver training: All new drivers are put through a training programme with one of our trainers – this normally entails 10 to 20 hours of on the job training, as well as time studying the various guides and manuals we provide you. To pass the driver training you need to be able to:

• Show competency with the operations of taxi equipment
• Display good driving habits.
• Have an adequate amount of area knowledge for Nelson city and surrounds (we recommend studying up on this if you are new to town, or unsure of certain areas).
• Demonstrate that you have a good level of spoken English, and can communicate effectively with passengers.
• Demonstrate fantastic customer service, and know the Nelson City Taxis Customer Service standards.

New Driver Training

Once your application has been on the board for 7 days, and no Shareholders have objected, you can begin your driver training.

You will be given an NCT new driver pack, in which you will receive the following;

• NCT Training Manual
• A copy of the Society Rules and Disciplinary handbook
• A list of Nelson areas/rank numbers and MTData condition codes
• An NCT Health and Safety Handbook
• An NCT Customer Service Standards brochure.
• A workbook for the 1748 NZQA qualification
• An information booklet on “Transporting Passengers with Disabilities”
• A Taxicharge Terminal instructions manual.

One of our driver trainers will make contact with you to organise your driver training. You will be required to complete a minimum of 20 hours training in a cab with one of the driver trainers.

Once trained, a Board Member or the Society Chairman will take you out for a short practical evaluation, and begin the induction process through the office. 

Items you will require to drive a taxi for Nelson City Taxis:

All of these items are available through our office administrator during office hours.

Uniform requirements:

• Blue Bubble monogrammed Shirt / Bouse
• Navy regulation pants or skirt
• Blue Bubble monogrammed Jersey
• Blue Bubble monogrammed Jacket – a few styles available.
• Blue Bubble Tie or scarf
• Black dress shoes

You can obtain a Nelson City Taxi uniform through our admin office. The payment of the uniform is at you or your Shareholders expense - this is something you will need to discuss with your Shareholder/Employer. All uniform orders incur a 10% freight charge.

All drivers must have a full Blue Bubble uniform before they begin working by themselves.

Nelson City Blue Bubble Taxis maintains a high level of driver presentation at all times. This means your uniform must be clean and you must be presentable at all times when representing Nelson City Taxis.

Within our society, we have 3 fleet inspectors. It is their job to make sure our drivers comply with our uniform and vehicle standards. If one of the fleet inspectors/board member, or management, finds your uniform or vehicle are not up to standard, you will be asked to log off and correct whatever needs attention.

For some answers to frequently asked questions about becoming a Taxi driver, see our Nelson City Taxis Careers page.

If you are interested in becoming a driver for the biggest and best taxi company in Nelson, please email us and we will tell you everything you need to know.

Email us