I am a DC uberX driver since 2013 and have SEEN IT ALL...so please, AMA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You've mentioned customers not making you wait for them a few times. Why is this such a problem? I use uber a lot and sometimes they end up at my house a little sooner than anticipated and I'm not quite ready to walk out the door. I do try to rush but it does happen.

This is why you order the Uber when you're ready. The few times I took Uber pool (it was the default on the app) it was annoying as hell waiting on people at their houses. If I was a driver I would be PISSED.

[Anonymous]

I love you even moe OP for using DCUM code names.

"so little Larlo and Larla should be in bed if I'm out on the streets"

[Anonymous]

OP, given your experiences, have your perceptions of people in the lower, middle, and upper classes changed since you started you job and got to interact with people from across the SES spectrum? If so, how?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You've mentioned customers not making you wait for them a few times. Why is this such a problem? I use uber a lot and sometimes they end up at my house a little sooner than anticipated and I'm not quite ready to walk out the door. I do try to rush but it does happen.

Not OP. Isn't this obvious? Because you're tying him up and they're not making any money.

Yeah, I figured that, but is that it? I mean, no other reason?

That's enough of a reason. I wouldn't want to sit at my job and not be getting paid.

Thank you, you get it.

I'll put it plainly...every 3 seconds you make an uber driver wait is the same as stealing a penny from him or her. The meter starts when you get in the car, not when you request the ride or when the driver pulls up. Do you steal pennies from the tip jar at Subway? Does a taxicab wait for you? No, you're waiting on them while trying to flag one down. Let's split the difference and meet each other at the curb at the same time.

If you're requesting a ride, you should be ready to go then. When the notification pops up that the driver has arrived, please, please, please either be on the curb already or heading out the door. This is a business, not a charity.

And to wrap up the back end, uber drivers are free to cancel the ride as a no-show if you don't show up within five minutes of the driver arriving. You get charged $5, $4 of which goes to the driver. Since that $4 will be earned for driving zero miles, you better believe that you are on a countdown timer if I'm your driver. I cancel as no-show a second past five minutes without mercy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You've mentioned customers not making you wait for them a few times. Why is this such a problem? I use uber a lot and sometimes they end up at my house a little sooner than anticipated and I'm not quite ready to walk out the door. I do try to rush but it does happen.

This is why you order the Uber when you're ready. The few times I took Uber pool (it was the default on the app) it was annoying as hell waiting on people at their houses. If I was a driver I would be PISSED.

LOL, yes...this is happening a lot more often with Pool becoming popular. If you are the first rider in a Pool you get sort of a behind-the-scenes look at the b.s. that an uber driver goes thru daily.

[Anonymous]

I'm another guy, same age as you, and I just wanted to say how impressed I am at your "hustle" and willingness to work a second job to reach your goals. I've enjoyed reading every one of these posts. I love that you're a fellow Boglehead who really "gets it" on aggressive investment, dividends, and compound interest.

I wish you continued luck and happy motoring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, given your experiences, have your perceptions of people in the lower, middle, and upper classes changed since you started you job and got to interact with people from across the SES spectrum? If so, how?

Not really. I've lived here a long time so I know the deal. Everybody's in the rat-race just trying to get around town to where they need to go. People are about all the same top to bottom. Kindness goes a REALLY long way. College kids using daddy's credit card aren't going to get any special treatment, but I'll go out of my way to help someone who's taking uberX to get to a minimum-wage job if they ask for it. I'll even end the ride early in the app to charge the minimum fare ($5.40) if they happen to be getting me to the part of town I really need to be in. I've been there, just trying to pass it on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm another guy, same age as you, and I just wanted to say how impressed I am at your "hustle" and willingness to work a second job to reach your goals. I've enjoyed reading every one of these posts. I love that you're a fellow Boglehead who really "gets it" on aggressive investment, dividends, and compound interest.

I wish you continued luck and happy motoring.

+1.

I'm a little worried about the insurance issue, though. If I read it right, OP is on his own insurance until a rider gets into his car, when Uber's insurance kicks in. Great.

The problem is, if he were to have an accident, hit a pedestrian or something, on the way to an app-dispatched pick up, Uber's insurance hasn't kicked in yet and the private insurer will be off the hook because OP was engaged in commerce, responding to the dispatched call.

OP, for God's sake have a conversation with your insurance company about this and don't stick your head in the "I'm a safe driver" sand. You could get ruined, all your effort for naught and all of your savings gone.

Good luck though and great thread!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm another guy, same age as you, and I just wanted to say how impressed I am at your "hustle" and willingness to work a second job to reach your goals. I've enjoyed reading every one of these posts. I love that you're a fellow Boglehead who really "gets it" on aggressive investment, dividends, and compound interest.

I wish you continued luck and happy motoring.

+1.

I'm a little worried about the insurance issue, though. If I read it right, OP is on his own insurance until a rider gets into his car, when Uber's insurance kicks in. Great.

The problem is, if he were to have an accident, hit a pedestrian or something, on the way to an app-dispatched pick up, Uber's insurance hasn't kicked in yet and the private insurer will be off the hook because OP was engaged in commerce, responding to the dispatched call.

OP, for God's sake have a conversation with your insurance company about this and don't stick your head in the "I'm a safe driver" sand. You could get ruined, all your effort for naught and all of your savings gone.

Good luck though and great thread!

That pp guy again. That's a good point. Few other Uber drivers will have any personal assets worth pursuing--certainly not the entire collected and compounded earnings from a full-time professional day job.

Talk to your insurer, OP, and at the very least get an umbrella policy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm another guy, same age as you, and I just wanted to say how impressed I am at your "hustle" and willingness to work a second job to reach your goals. I've enjoyed reading every one of these posts. I love that you're a fellow Boglehead who really "gets it" on aggressive investment, dividends, and compound interest.

I wish you continued luck and happy motoring.

+1.

I'm a little worried about the insurance issue, though. If I read it right, OP is on his own insurance until a rider gets into his car, when Uber's insurance kicks in. Great.

The problem is, if he were to have an accident, hit a pedestrian or something, on the way to an app-dispatched pick up, Uber's insurance hasn't kicked in yet and the private insurer will be off the hook because OP was engaged in commerce, responding to the dispatched call.

OP, for God's sake have a conversation with your insurance company about this and don't stick your head in the "I'm a safe driver" sand. You could get ruined, all your effort for naught and all of your savings gone.

Good luck though and great thread!

That pp guy again. That's a good point. Few other Uber drivers will have any personal assets worth pursuing--certainly not the entire collected and compounded earnings from a full-time professional day job.

Talk to your insurer, OP, and at the very least get an umbrella policy.

Thanks to you both.

I know the deal on the auto insurance, I've heard it a thousand times...and to this day it is still very gray and very risky. And I know everyone says "I'm a safe driver", and I know that I can't convince you that I'm just that much "better". But you're just gonna have to trust me, I was born to do this. A big part of why Uber is so successful here is because driving in DC is not easy at all for the casual driver.

Lastly, driving at night removes a lot of the risk of both traffic and pedestrians. I do carry an umbrella policy for more liability coverage, and I have the bases covered on the other what-ifs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Going back to the kid thing. I have a three year old and 8 year old. Obviously the 8 year old is fine without a car seat (and he's BIG). But I often just put the 3 year old in between us and buckle her up with the regular seat buckle. Is this illegal and can uber drivers refuse to take us?

It is illegal to not have a kid in a car/booster seat up to whatever age/weight the law says nowadays. Some drivers may refuse, but I personally would not care in the least bit. Most other good drivers wouldn't either...this is business as usual. If you hop in like you do it all the time and not mention it, the driver is less likely to notice or care. This is really not a big deal at all in my eyes. On trips in town, the fastest speed we're going to reach is rarely ever over 30mph anyways. Larla is yours not mine, so if you're cool with it, I am too.

Sidenote: There is essentially zero enforcement of traffic laws in DC, so the likelihood of this ever being a problem in regards to the law is practically nil.

Another sidenote: I've driven close to 100,000 miles over the past three years, most all of them inside the Beltway. I do some wild stuff in the streets daily while driving...mid-block U-turns, darting thru alleys, lots of "creative" manuevering. I have been pulled over by an MPD crusier exactly once in my life. He said, "it looked like you were doing "something" out of my vision", lol! He promptly let me go after he got a good look at me. They really do not care and MPD is the textbook definition of a responsive police force instead of a proactive one.

What about the other jurisdictions inside the beltway?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:...car/booster seat...

What about the other jurisdictions inside the beltway?

In VA a kid has to be in a booster seat thru age 7, weight doesn't matter.

In MD it's thru age 7, unless they are 4'9" or taller.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:...car/booster seat...

What about the other jurisdictions inside the beltway?

In VA a kid has to be in a booster seat thru age 7, weight doesn't matter.

In MD it's thru age 7, unless they are 4'9" or taller.

(sorry, hit submit too quick)

As far as enforcement outside of DC, I'm sure it's stricter, but I do not know first-hand. I do know it's one of things Virginia officers are looking for in a traffic check line.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:...car/booster seat...

What about the other jurisdictions inside the beltway?

In VA a kid has to be in a booster seat thru age 7, weight doesn't matter.

In MD it's thru age 7, unless they are 4'9" or taller.

sorry, I meant about the general traffic comments in the last para.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:...car/booster seat...

What about the other jurisdictions inside the beltway?

In VA a kid has to be in a booster seat thru age 7, weight doesn't matter.

In MD it's thru age 7, unless they are 4'9" or taller.

sorry, I meant about the general traffic comments in the last para.

Gotcha. I drive totally by the book in both VA and MD because officers there write tickets like their job depends on it. DC is the wild-west in comparison. I get a free-pass in Arlington because a lot of ACPD officers know my vehicle and how many drunks I'm taking off their hands weekly, but then again, I'm not out there driving like an idiot maniac either.

I think I mentioned it earlier, but I have never received a moving violation ticket or even had to attempt to talk my way out of one.

I did trigger one speed camera ticket on a completely empty road doing 41 in a 30 on Irving by Michigan Ave at around 4am. Any speed 10 mph over the limit will set the camera off. I was pretty pissed about that one. It was $100.