Online grocery sites in Singapore are facing extremely high demand during this time, and many of their delivery slots are overwhelmed.
To help fulfill this surge in orders, ComfortDelGro has partnered with RedMart, which has recently shifted its focus to selling “core necessities”, to deploy its fleet of 10,000 taxis for grocery delivery.
Taxi drivers have seen a significant fall in business since the onset of COVID-19.
Due to these circumstances, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has eased regulations to allow point-to-point transport drivers to service delivery jobs until the end of June.
Over 1,000 ComfortDelGro taxi drivers have expressed interest in the program so far, and will undergo training by RedMart before embarking on delivery jobs by the end of April.
During this trial pilot, they will be trained to pick up orders from RedMart’s warehouse at Alexandra Terrace and send to customers’ doorsteps, as well as to perform contactless deliveries.
ComfortDelGro Chief Operating Officer, Tommy Tan said: “With the big mismatch in demand and supply for food and groceries, we reached out to RedMart. We have started the onboarding of drivers and have seen strong interest amongst our drivers.”
“This will be a win-win-win situation not just for our drivers [and] for RedMart, but for residents as well,” Tan added.
Besides availing new opportunities for drivers to earn income, ComfortDelGro previously announced that it will continue to support them with a daily relief of $46.50 until 30 September 2020.
This article first appeared in the Vulcan Post.