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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op is all about bragging about himself but not about answering any questions when someone wants help to become a driver. "AMA, but only if I can blow my own horn".

Relax. There are a number of questions here that OP has not gotten around to answering yet. He does have a day job. Did you miss this answer to a very similar question?

Know the rules...you can't win the game if you don't know the rules.
Never drive when tired or groggy as that only leads to mistakes and/or accidents...an hour-long nap does wonders.
Know when to quit...a ride ends a half-mile from your house but you planned to drive another hour? Log out and go home, because the next ride is likely going to take you out to BFE.
Use the rider app to gain position on other drivers...closest to the pin gets the requests.
Take notice of cars with TNC tags around you and gain position on them also...once again, closest to the pin gets the requests.
Know the "best" way to go certain places...which is not always the fastest or the shortest.
ALWAYS use the HOV lanes on the 14th Street Bridge, especially on the weekends and late evening hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op is all about bragging about himself but not about answering any questions when someone wants help to become a driver. "AMA, but only if I can blow my own horn".

Relax. There are a number of questions here that OP has not gotten around to answering yet. He does have a day job. Did you miss this answer to a very similar question?

Know the rules...you can't win the game if you don't know the rules.
Never drive when tired or groggy as that only leads to mistakes and/or accidents...an hour-long nap does wonders.
Know when to quit...a ride ends a half-mile from your house but you planned to drive another hour? Log out and go home, because the next ride is likely going to take you out to BFE.
Use the rider app to gain position on other drivers...closest to the pin gets the requests.
Take notice of cars with TNC tags around you and gain position on them also...once again, closest to the pin gets the requests.
Know the "best" way to go certain places...which is not always the fastest or the shortest.
ALWAYS use the HOV lanes on the 14th Street Bridge, especially on the weekends and late evening hours.

exactly! jeeze

[Anonymous]

lol, thanks to the 2 posters above

Anonymous wrote:Op is all about bragging about himself but not about answering any questions when someone wants help to become a driver. "AMA, but only if I can blow my own horn".

As for you, I interpret this as, "I heard that driving for uber is good money. How do I get in on it without putting in all the hard work first?"

Do exactly like everyone else does...sign up, go drive, and then figure it out. Everyone can drive a car, but only a few can make driving uberX profitable and worth their time. Best of luck to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you explain the pool rides more? Do I have to do them if I'm a driver and if so how do you get around it? You seem to have a nice system going. I'm in LA, is uber good to drive out here as well?

Pool rides are almost half of the volume on uberX now. You have two choices: drive pool rides and earn pennies for the effort OR reject pool ride requests until you get an uberX/surge request. If you want to actually get paid somewhat fairly for your time, the latter option is the best choice BUT uber will sit you in a "time-out" ranging from ten minutes to an hour out of the driver app if you cancel too many ride requests. Uber does this to force drivers into accepting all rides, pool or uberX, no matter what. Drivers who are new to the game don't realize that there is a choice and will accept any ride that comes them (and I gladly let them). So to make the most of your time, choose wisely.

LA is a top-5 uber city along with DC. If I could pick an ideal area to drive, it'd be a place with millions of people spread across a wide area who have above-average incomes, like LA and DC.

Anonymous wrote:PP again- If I want to drive, should I stick to fri/sat nights? I have a FT job.

The 62 hours between Friday at 5pm and Monday at 7am are all great times to drive.

Anonymous wrote:Would you ever drive when it's not surge?

Not if I can help it. Surge is too easy to game if you know where it's going to be as it pops up around the city in cycles based on the day/time. If it's not surging with regularity when expected, business is not going to be brisk that day at all and I'd probably just go home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you report a driver? I believe the man who assaulted me is an Uber driver.

Did this happen on an Uber ride? Did you call the police?

If this happened on a ride, report it thru the app. History > Ride > Need Help? > I Had An Issue With My Driver > Report a serious incident with a driver:
-image-

If you believe this man happens to work for uber, let the police know, and then follow-up with them that they contacted uber.

Got to disagree. If your driver physically or sexually assaults you, you report it through 911, not through the Uber app.

Yes, I totally meant to include this...call the police first always. Uber is a business, not the police. I took the question as something that may have came to light a day or two after. I really meant to say to send a report to uber after you've contacted and made a report with police. The above steps are the best way to make contact with uber directly in regards to serious incidents that happen on ride.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you report a driver? I believe the man who assaulted me is an Uber driver.

Did this happen on an Uber ride? Did you call the police?

If this happened on a ride, report it thru the app. History > Ride > Need Help? > I Had An Issue With My Driver > Report a serious incident with a driver:
-image-

If you believe this man happens to work for uber, let the police know, and then follow-up with them that they contacted uber.

Got to disagree. If your driver physically or sexually assaults you, you report it through 911, not through the Uber app.

Yes, I totally meant to include this...call the police first always. Uber is a business, not the police. I took the question as something that may have came to light a day or two after. I really meant to say to send a report to uber after you've contacted and made a report with police. The above steps are the best way to make contact with uber directly in regards to serious incidents that happen on ride.

No. It didn't happen on a ride. It's scary to me to think my rapist is driving single women around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any foods you absolutely won't eat before an evening of driving?

Ummm, I doubt I'm going to stop by Taco Bell right before a shift, lol. And I really try to eat very light or not at all before driving so I'm not stuck out in residential DC or the burbs trying to find a bathroom.

Oh, and that reminds me...need a bathroom in DC? During daylight hours just walk straight into any hotel lobby, act like you belong there, breeze past the front desk, keep your eyes peeled for a sign and then use the lobby/bar restrooms. DO NOT ASK ANYONE! And to not ruin it for everyone else, don't leave a mess when you're done, lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hey op, did you see this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzpAn2EvE0s

Ashton Kutcher on Jimmy Kimmel talking about tipping Uber (he's an investor). Jimmy's a tipper! I thought of this thread when I watched it.

I did see this. Ashton does a good job on stating the reasons for not tipping (many of which I agree with), but breezes over how little uber drivers really make. Ashton also described a very typical uber ride, one in which he was so drunk he didn't even remember taking it, but his driver still got him home safely. Who knows what occurred or was said along that ride.

Jimmy seems like a nice guy. Someone provides a good service and you tip them appropriately in gratitude. You'll always tip $3 on a $17 taxi ride, $8 on a $42 haircut, and a dollar per drink to your bartender. UberX really isn't much different.

There are so many differing opinions on tipping that I wish we could just do away with it all and pay fair set prices for good service, but I don't see that happening any time soon, and especially so in the restaurant business.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ugh. My last 3 UberBlack rides have all been Suburbans -- so I'm guaranteed to arrive for dinner in DC headachy and green with carsickness. And worse, last night the app said driver was 8 minutes away but he arrived 25 minutes later. No tip for that $75 ride. Do UberBlack drivers more expect a tip because I'm already over paying for the ride? I want to be able to select my car and driver.

No one else gets carsick in Suburbans?

[Anonymous]

What do you do if you have downtime between rides?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the driver is allergic to money then they may balk at a BWI trip, but most are going to want to take you. And yes, uber works at BWI just the same as every other airport.

The reason I asked is Uber doesn't work at all airports due to regulations. For example, last time I was in LAX, UberX was not allowed to pick up there and you couldn't even order in the app -- only license TLC drivers so UberBlack was OK. Then in Las Vegas, same thing -- no Uber pick-ups at the airport, and also no drop-offs unless the driver had a TLC sticker also. I had 2 Uber drivers refuse my trip to the airport once they knew where I was going.

Also, is it still required when doing an airport pickup in Virginia that you have to call the rider to confirm?

Lyft and UberX are now able to pick-up and drop-off at LAX for a $4 fee to the LAX airport authority. Still way cheaper and more pleasant than a crappy, smelly, dirty, and over-priced LA cab.

Alright, getting back around to this one. As far as I know, you can now request an uber or lyft at any major airport. You MAY have to do something special like going to a special area to request and hop in, or confirm your terminal/door number with your driver. The "pay to play" method described above with the airport authority fees is how it's done about everywhere now. MWAA charges $4 to pick-up at the DCA/IAD and this charge is passed on to the passenger. Likewise, taxis are charged $3 to pick-up at DCA and this is passed along to the passenger as well. MWAA also charges all ridesharing companies $4 to drop-off at the airport as well, which is a crock, but I won't get started on how dumb that is.

A phone call is no longer necessary for airport pick-ups, unless the details aren't confirmed by text. Feel free to call your driver if this confirmation doesn't happen.

Lastly, I've been doing airport pick-ups since my first day forever ago. There have been varying degrees of il/legality regarding airport pick-ups over the past three years. For six months, MWAA police had no clue what uber/lyft even were, so I picked up and dropped off freely. I also treated pick-ups like I was picking up a friend or family member so I wouldn't stand out. Nowadays to pick up at DCA or IAD, a driver needs only a Virginia TNC tag and an uber/lyft "trade-dress" mounted on the passenger side rear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ugh. My last 3 UberBlack rides have all been Suburbans -- so I'm guaranteed to arrive for dinner in DC headachy and green with carsickness. And worse, last night the app said driver was 8 minutes away but he arrived 25 minutes later. No tip for that $75 ride. Do UberBlack drivers more expect a tip because I'm already over paying for the ride? I want to be able to select my car and driver.

No one else gets carsick in Suburbans?

I know what you're talking about. A lot of the big newer SUVs have an air-ride suspension can feel similar to drifting on a boat. It smooths out the bumps but still has some motion in the ride.

UberBLACK drivers probably shouldn't be expecting tips, especially if they were late and provided sub-par service. They're paid well enough for their time based on the current BLACK rates.

I think we all would prefer to select a car and driver, but it's just not going to happen in the foreseeable future. In the meantime, make use of the cancel feature to get choosy about your ride. (Cancelling is free if done within five minutes of requesting.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you drive on the 395 HOV lanes during restrictions even when there's only 2 people? I know cabs can do this (I see them on there at 8am and 5pm all the time), curious if Uber is the same.
I've thought about getting an Uber home from work (downtown to Braddock Rd) but scared we'd get stuck in traffic on regular 395.
Thanks for the terrific thread OP! I hope you are my driver some day. PS I always tip, whether it's Uber, Instacart, Postmates, etc.

A taxicab can drive in the HOV-3 legally with only 2 people (himself and paid passenger), but an uber cannot. An uber could of course if they had the required minimum for HOV in the car. Also, a cabbie can't drive solo in HOV. I could teach a class on HOV. Knowing the HOV rules can save a TON of time when you have a passenger in the car, especially on I-66.

If I was making that trip in an uber from 4-6:30pm on a weekday, I'd have the driver get across 14th Street Bridge the quickest way possible, take the Arlington Ridge Rd exit, then go the back ways to wherever you need to be on Braddock. Toughing it out on 395 the whole way wouldn't be that bad either, because you're really not paying for the time in an uber as much as you are the miles. Sitting in traffic doesn't "run up the meter" like it does in a taxicab because uber's rates are so dirt cheap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hey Op,
So you say you're interested in buying a sfh in Arlington. I know you want to do all cash, but maybe you should consider going ahead and moving forward on that while interest rates are low.
I live in south Arlington ( so not the most desirable part) and homes in my hood are going well above 600k now. These are older homes on small lots. If you want new - it's around 1 mil. The market can always slow down, but it might not... Just a thought.
Ps - you seem nice

I'm ok with waiting. I'm not leaving DC for the next 20 foreseeable years, so I have nothing but time. I also know the area really well and know lots of neighborhoods/streets that I'd be happy with. I'm not adverse to a mortgage either, it's only that I qualify on my day job W-2 earnings, and not on my wildly variable uberX "income" that doesn't count. And that's ok, I don't want to get overextended anyways. And between now and when I'm ready, I'll still be working on that mountain of cash for a huge downpayment.

Ps - thanks, always the Golden Rule

You are a boglehead so you probably already know, but I really recommend buying at the best real estate timing possible not when you feel most ready, esp when rates are still low. Price rising can eat up savings. Anecdotally, we didn't buy any of these 650k houses in fall of 2010 in Mclean because even though we had more than 20% down, we wanted a smaller mortgage. We saved another 100k by 2014. We started looking again in the fall of 2014. But by then, those same houses were going for 850k. We looked for a bargain for a year but still ended up paying 850k in 2015.

I appreciate the advice. If real estate really does have a never-ending upward trend in the DC area, then I'll probably be a renter for the rest of my days in DC and take what I've got to somewhere else where it'll go a little farther when the time comes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do you do if you have downtime between rides?

First of all, it's rarely ever not busy on the weekends. "Family" holiday weekends are the exception..Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas. I can leave out of the house here in a bit and stay busy from 9pm-4am. I'm always out to drive, not sit around and play on my phone.

But, if a ride takes me way outside the Beltway and I'm out in the middle of nowhere, I drive very slowly towards some place I can catch a rider.

If I'm sitting in an area that's surging, I'll browse reddit/DCUM, or check the surge and the number of drivers out around town in the passenger app while I'm waiting for a request to come. If I sit 20 minutes with nothing and I'm close enough to home, I just log out and go home. This rarely happens. Most nights I have to physically turn the app off to stop request pings. It's kinda crazy how late some people stay out doing whatever (5...6...7am).