When it comes to driving around high-profile clients, your job as a chauffeur can get a lot more complex than simply getting them from A to B in a civilized manner.
For the purpose of learning the ropes himself but also to give us a taste of what it takes to drive around famous people, Auto Express’ James Batchelor got himself a Maserati Quattroporte and an experienced instructor to go with it.
So then, what’s the difference between being a celebrity chauffeur and driving a cab or driving for Uber? Well, it all starts with your demeanor and of course your attention to detail.
Batchelor was instructed to immediately lock the car as soon as his client and himself are both inside the vehicle – it’s meant to be secure and respectful at the same time. Then, he learned about the “tires and tarmac” rule, which states that whenever you pull up behind another vehicle in traffic, you should leave enough room so that you can see their rear tires and some tarmac.
If you think this rule is just so you can leave yourself enough room to brake or to inch forward in case of a rear-end collision, it’s not. Well, not entirely anyway. The main reason why you want to leave room is because in case of an emergency, you need to be able to break free of traffic and make a run for it – yes, just like in the movies. Probably.
Another interesting piece of advice is to always pretend like you didn’t quite hear what the client said to you in case it’s something even remotely ambiguous. The purpose of doing this is actually to appear respectful and reply with something along the lines of “I’m sorry sir/madam?” In other words, pretend you didn’t hear them even if you did.
In the end, it may not be what you’ve seen in Transporter, but there’s certainly a craft here to consider, especially if you’re trying to be a true professional.