Why you continue to drive Uber?

Drivers Advice, Experiences
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#1

The only reason I continue to drive is the hope that Uber Plus/Select will come to my market. I am assuming existing active Uberx drivers with qualifying cars will be the first to be added, so I want to be in that group. So I continue driving part time to keep that status.

Running my car at UberX rates has been netting me around minimum wage after Uber’s cut and my car costs (it’s not just gas). As Uber has added more and more drivers to the market I’ve been making less than minimum wage recently. I suspect this will just get worse and worse as Uber shows no sign of slowing down its hiring.

If Plus/Select does not come to my market, there is absolutely no reason to keep doing Uber. Even if I had a Prius, all the hiring will make even Prius drivers struggle to make minimum wage. The Uber X rates are just too damn low and the amount of drivers too damn saturated, and there is nothing in the free market forces at work here to compel Uber to raise rates or have fewer drivers.

#2

Speaking only for myself, I really enjoy driving and meeting a lot of great pax. The driving aspect of this job has been an overwhelmingly positive experience for me up to this point.

#3

I rode in a 4.6 uber yesterday (my second time as a rider), and yeesh, it was pretty awkward and uncomfortable - very slow driving, soft-spoken and not great at communicating (thought I wanted the radio on even though I asked what my rating is), looking seemingly lost even with GPS (unconfident), making swishing sounds with his mouth from time to time, not following directions on where I want to be dropped off exactly, etc.

#4

I myself am a student, and I see this as a good opportunity to fund myself with great flexibility. I think positively about my experience, otherwise I’m unnecessarily stressing myself more than I already am with other things.

#5

When I look at map are the cars I see only the ones without pax? Seems like if you are looking for a ride it would be pointless to have cars already with passengers show up

#6

I think there are two types of angry drivers. The ones that are angry because it is cool to be angry at a big corporation and the ones that have been with uber for a while and have been deceived time after time. I don’t know how long you have been driving. But some of us have seen our take home $ slashed in half in a year with measures taken by uber that promised more business. … some have it even worse, the ones that financed new cars with uber…some of the anger is legitimate.

#7

Personally, I have my good moments and bad ones with Uber. Since doing Uberblack now I can say the pay and clientele are way better, yet mostly the business is slower. I use it as a gap fill between my regular work and it is the perfect part time job within the job I’m already doing at the same time. So in that aspect I’m happy. I think the rating system is unfair and saturation in the ATL market is ridiculous. If I was still running UberX like a lot of people on this board I would probably have their exact sentiments…it kept getting worse in the course of the 4 months I ran it.

#8

I happen to come in when the rates were what they still are now, so I guess I didn’t get to experience the rate cuts, but I can empathize and would also be infuriated knowing my ability to generate income was slashed in half, with the false pretense of getting more requests, which is difficult given the driver saturation.

#9

Been driving actively, albeit part-time, for the past couple months, so I’m new. As I see it, über has made their ride-share business model pretty clear… Über provide the tech to hook drivers up with passengers, and to set the rates. They provide feedback to drivers, and incentives to get us out on the roads. But ultimately we are self employed contractors on our own and we take on much of the expense / risk.

#10

Thanks for the answers guys and keeping this thread classy.
Another noob question. Just stuff I like trying to figure out.
So say I see a car travelling north on the freeway and I am a block east of that car. Will they say that car is like 2 minutes away?

#11

Bam! You read my mind again. I was thinking the exact same thing. It’s a little different mind set for those who came after the cuts but i can totally understand the frustration for those who had to go through it, especially those who are working full time. That has to be tough. However, the saturation issue is affecting all of us and that can be a little frustrating. You have to put in a little more time each week to try and attain that goal you set. I used to be the early bird on the weekends, trying to get that worm.

#12

Since you’re new, Remember when they show a car, or for you a pax, being x minutes away. Choose a random number between 1 and 2 and multiply it by x. That how long it takes for the car to get to the pax (assuming they don’t cancel)

#13

I had not looked on Craigslist for the current Uber ad in a few weeks. The current ad states that you can make $21 hour or up to $1500 a week in fares. If you do the math that would mean you would need to work 71.4 hours @ $21/hr to get to $1500 in fares. And we all know that $1500 in fares is only $1200 to the driver. (Its actually less if they are including the $1 safe ride fee in the fare total.) Then the guessing game is how many miles were driven to get those $1500 in fares. If there are little or no surge miles then you could easily have driven over 1,000 miles to get the $1500 in fares, and if you have a lot of dead miles, the number could be much higher.

#14

Earning about the same overall, but I’ve only driven a few times as plus. More hours on the road, with fewer fares, but earning the same. I expect that as I learn more and as more people become aware of plus, my overall earnings will increase with fewer fares. The pings are not constant, like with x sometimes. I have to do more “fishing”, and as I do, I am learning which areas ping for plus more often, or not at all. For example, I have yet to receive a singular plus ping from North Hollywood.

#15

that 1500 figure per week is such boulderdash… there are only so many riders and fares, and with such marketing, you’re divvying it up with all those who signed on. Unless Uber can expand ridership and/or raise rates, no one is making that much, unless they are advertising driving for uberlux.

#16

I feel like if you believe the claims to begin with, without doing your due diligence, then you have to be accountable for a little of that frustration. You can’t run into a situation on hearsay. Besides, i doubt those craigslist ads are even coming from the company. For all we know they might be coming from someone trying to get a referral bonus. Did that ever cross anyones mind?

#17

I agree. ANY claim that says you can make $1500 a week is going to be BS or everyone would quit their day jobs and do it. It’s just like when you see an add saying you can work at home and make $100,000 a year working 4 hours a day. If it sounds to good to be true…