Sidecar bit it.Originally Posted by Rojo
http://www.latimes.com/business/tech...229-story.html
Sidecar bit it.
http://www.latimes.com/business/tech...229-story.html
I started driving for uber dayton a week ago today. I've completed just over 30 trips with no issues. I made $192 from uber and $55 in tips. I hear tips are really rare, but they have not been for me. I drive a beautiful/sporty 2013 Audi A6 and speak good english and know the popular spots and roads having lived in the south suburbs my entire life. I think that helps with the tips. I can keep really busy out by Wright State or UD. But like to stay south by my house and get longer trips.
I have a great day job/career. I'm just doing this for something new, fun and pocket money. I have plenty of spare time after my divorce that finalized in August. So far so good.
If any of you are thinking about doing it, please message me. I get a referral bonus and I can give you any tips / tricks I have learned.
Last edited by powersackers; 02-09-2016 at 02:44 AM.
Attended 1976 World Series in my Mother's Womb. Attended 1990 World Series Game 2 as a 13 year old. Want to take my son to a a World Series Game in Cincinnati in my lifetime.
goreds2 (02-16-2016)
Do you know how much you earned after expenses? How many hours did it take to complete those 30+ trips? I ask because the amount you made looks low to me, especially given the vehicle you are driving.
For comparison, you might make 30 pizza deliveries working about 10 (busy) hours. The average pizza delivery tip is around $3, plus an extra $1.25 per delivery (mileage compensation). The total of tips, mileage compensation, and minimum wage for 10 hours of work comes to about $200. However, this is before accounting for taxes, gasoline costs, and vehicle wear/depreciation costs. Companies are able to take advantage of drivers because it is so easy to underestimate the vehicle wear/depreciation costs. While working you might "feel" like you're making $20/hour (when it's busy and tips are good), but once all costs are accounted for you're really making closer to $10/hour. The more expensive your vehicle, the greater your depreciation cost per mile.
Disclaimer: My pizza delivery estimates are based upon calculations made when helping my mother (who delivers pizza, full-time) calculate her real income.
DOT reimbursement schedule is $.54/mile currently.
You would drive around 150 miles to make 30 pizza deliveries. That's valued at ~$75 according to the DOT, dropping your real income from $200 to $125. Also, you can't deduct mileage unless you itemize. I think that DOT reimbursement is on the low side compared to the real cost of operating a vehicle for pizza delivery because pizza delivery drivers spend more time in stop-and-go traffic and less time on the highway.
I don't know how many miles powersackers drove to make those 30+ trips, but I would imagine it's in the same ballpark, if not more. Also, his real mileage cost is certainly higher than the DOT's schedule because he's driving a luxury vehicle. Each mile reduces the resale value of his vehicle more than average. The average American vehicle is 10 years old and he's driving a 2 year old vehicle that sells for around $50k when new, which is about 50% higher than the average new car sale price.
Last edited by Beltway; 02-11-2016 at 10:19 AM.
Hi, I average about 5 miles per trip. And about $5 a trip gross. I drove/waited for rides with the engine off for about 16 hours. My car seems to get me better tips and more often, so there's that. Sometimes, like this weekend they'll be a "surge" where I can get 1.x to 7x or 8x the normal fare. That's when I would make bank. But as I might have said this is more of a hobby/fun time for me. It's very entertaining!
Attended 1976 World Series in my Mother's Womb. Attended 1990 World Series Game 2 as a 13 year old. Want to take my son to a a World Series Game in Cincinnati in my lifetime.
"One problem with people who have no vices is that they're pretty sure to have some annoying virtues."
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/21/ny...-app.html?_r=0
It has been nearly five years since Uber arrived in New York City. With its Randian philosophy and proprietary algorithms, the company promised to reshape the driving industry, and in many ways that promise has come true. A million New Yorkers have become accustomed to making cars materialize by pulling out their smartphones — and not just in Manhattan, but also in the other boroughs, which have long been underserved by for-hire providers. In part as a result, taxi owners have seen their profits crumble, taxi lenders are slowly going under and taxi unions are scrambling to protect their members’ jobs.
More recently, however, Uber’s indomitable rise has been clouded by an insurgency from a small but vocal portion of its own drivers who say they feel neglected, even used. From spring 2014 to spring 2015, the company quadrupled its business in the city, and for nearly a year it has been signing up new customers at a rate of 30,000 a week. The drivers argue that such dynamic growth would not have been possible without them: They, after all, supply the cars that keep the network liquid. Drawn to the company by advertisements that promised decent wages, many now contend that they are victims of a corporate bait-and-switch. As Uber has obtained a solid foothold in the market (and a $60 billion valuation), the drivers are complaining that it has slashed its prices in an effort to destroy the competition and to finance its expansion on their backs.
Drivers complaining about wages with Uber? You know what you could do? Stop driving for them.
It seems to me that Uber's biggest threat would be more incidents like what happened in Kalamazoo. Security would be one of the biggest reasons folks don't want to use Uber.
I'm sure many people who can afford to quit have done so. If it's financially possible, that is the easiest, path-of-least-resistance action to take. "If you don't like it quit" is only an effective faux-dare to individuals who can't afford to lose that income and those are the people who should be speaking up the loudest about a fairer wage.
Rojo (02-27-2016)
In a lot of jobs, I wouldn't say "don't like it, quit", but I don't really look at being an Uber driver in the same way.
Why?
That's really a good question, and one that I don't have a good answer for. Uber sells their job mostly as a part time, do it when you want to/when you have some free time kind of thing. They sell it as a hobby, basically. While I'm sure there are some drivers who do it full time, the company isn't selling you on that. I don't know. When I think of an Uber driver, I am not thinking of someone out there working 40+ hours a week trying to make a living, I think of someone driving part time 10 hours a week. That's probably completely on me and on Uber for selling that idea, but it sort of breaks into how I think of the job being one that it menial and one you can typically walk away from if you aren't happy.
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