Anyone who is thinking of driving as Uber driver-partner(LOL) or as Lyft driver is curious about what will be the earning per week or month. I have the experience of 3.5 years driving with Uber and Lyft in Seattle, WA. I am able to consistently earn $1,900 to $2,100 on an average per week. Your Uber or Lyft driver earning will depend mostly on how many hours you dedicate to driving and knowledge of busy areas at specific times. Here are some tips which can help you achieve the goal of $2,000 Uber and Lyft earning:
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Number of Hours: If you want to earn good money, you have to put in lot of time. It is not easy. During weekdays you should at-least drive 10 hours and during the weekends maybe even 12 or more. The approach I take is earning somewhere from $250 to $300 during the weekdays, which will bring in $1,000 to $1,200. As the weekend is mostly busy, I am able to earn up to $1,000 when I am driving Friday and Saturday. And please do take one day off to refresh and calm down your brain. Driving is a very dangerous and stressful work. If you are not serious about rest, you are taking a big risk and may end up with fatal consequences. If you start on Tuesday and end the week on Sunday, you will be able to score more hours.
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Drug use and partying - It is very obvious that if you want to achieve higher Uber and Lyft driver earning, you have to stay away from any alcohol and drug use. I donāt even drink coffee or tea, as that will interfere with my sleep cycle and I donāt feel fully rested after sleeping. If you live a clean and healthy life, that will make you more productive and thus more money in your pocket.
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Sleep Aids - If you drive during the day and sleep at night, just stay away from bright lights as you are about to sleep. But if you drive during the night like me and sleep during the day, it gets a bit tricky due to sunlight. For me It was very hard to fall asleep if my room was not dark. So I started using this sleep mask which I bought from amazon and the result was truly amazing. Deep sleep with dreams and full relaxation.
http://amzn.to/2AThE2s
4. Seating - The most difficult part of driving is sitting for long hours. If you donāt have proper seating your legs will go numb, your back and knees will start aching. If you want to drive for longer times, it becomes very important to get a good seat cushion. I tried three cushions. The third one I have now is the best one and highly recommended. The two, which I tried before, were a mesh and a memory foam one. But their shapes and material didnāt help my cause. I love this cushion because it maintains your blood flow and reduces the stress on your lumbar area, thus reducing any backache. Below you can see the third cushion I used :
5. Weekend Updates - Always read the weekend update emails sent by both Uber and Lyft. It is very important to keep an eye on the events. Games and concerts bring in big crowds and is the best time to tap into the surge or prime-time pricing. Try to stay close to the venues where some event is taking place. To get a longer trip at the time of higher surge I always set a destination, doing this I have gotten lucky many times. I score $40 to $100 trips using this trick.
6. Airport Trips - Early morning and afternoon airport trips are a good way of earning money. I donāt know much about other cities, but in Seattle 3:30 am to 6 am, and 1:30 pm to 6 pm, are the best times to score an airport trip. Depending on the surge pricing, an airport trip can earn you somewhere from $20 to $60. Now, both Uber and Lyft have launched the āAirport Rematchā feature, which makes it even better. Drivers who are not familiar with Airport RematchāDrivers will be prioritized in the FIFO line and moved to the front of the line if you are dropping off a rider at the airport. Sometime I am able to get a round trip and make a minimum of $40 in an hour.
7. Hybrid Car - Your choice of car is very important in rideshare business. My recommendation will be a used Toyota Prius. These are amazing cars with very low maintenance(Toyota Prius 2010 not recommended due to transmission issues). In my case, I just had to do regular oil and brake pad changes. I never faced any other problems. I bought my Toyota Prius at 85,000 miles for $9000 and now it has over 2,30,000 miles, still runs like new. As I drive around 300 miles a day, I am able to save $10 per day compared to other similar cars.
8. Dash Cam - It is a highly recommended investment, you should invest for your safety and time saving. As Uber and Lyft driver are on road for long hours, our risk of getting into accidents is much higher than other drivers. It is a very handy tool to collect evidence during a crash and will make the process of obtaining insurance money much easier. I am truly regretting my decision of not having one when I got into a crash. I had to rely on the independent witnesses which can be a bit tricky. If the crash took place on a freeway, it is very hard to prove someone guilty. If you have all the evidence recorded on your dash cam, you can just exchange insurance and LIC# information and you donāt have to wait for the cops which may take up to an hour. I would recommend the dash cam shown below:
Below I am sharing my earning for a good summer week:
Lyft Driver Earning
Uber Driver Earning