I am a DC uberX driver since 2013 and have SEEN IT ALL...so please, AMA
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Anonymous
Take it with a grain a salt. I'm in the top 1% of both earnings per hour and driver rating. I'm also on the original uber commission of 20%, while any driver that signed up in 2015 or after has to give up 25%. I've got four years of experience doing this and many thousands of trips under my belt. A few drivers are very profitable ($20+/hr), a TON do fair to ok ($10-20/hr), while the bottom earning <$10/hr is either driven out of the game or into debt/bankruptcy.
Sit in the back. Since a majority of trips have just a single rider or a pair, just about every driver has their "setup" for the rider to have the most comfortable ride possible in the rear passenger seat. And it's just tradition at this point to sit in the rear when you're paying for a ride. Riding in the front makes it awkward for the driver because you're in "their space" a little more than you need to be. |
Anonymous
bump. such a great thread! 
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Anonymous
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So I tried Uberpool in a city I was visiting. Fare was supposed to be $5 from one hotel to another. Then Driver picked up Passenger A. Then when we were 3 blocks away from my destination, he oddly made a left away from my destination. Turns out he picked up yet another passenger. Since it was near, I asked to just be let out. Driver said No, I'll get you there. Then, he made a few wrong turns although he had a GPS on and almost got stuck entering a highway. At this point we were about 10 blocks away from my destination per my google maps. Then he headed back towards my destination, dropped me off a half block away saying it was a one way, he couldn't make a left turn to drop me off at my hotel, when I had luggage.
I was annoyed even more when I saw the fare email. It was higher than the $5. I complained to Uber and they said that if the destination changes, then they start charging by mile and time, so the fare was correct. The driver had put in the destination as the cross street from where I was supposed to be. I am guessing him getting lost added to the fare, as it took longer and traveled a longer distance. I wanted to leave a bad review but also didn't want to penalize him if he wasn't the one charging me more for his inexperience, if it was Uber. So was it Uber or him? At least it was him who accepted the third person that took me away from my hotel right? I am about to not leave any review on the driver instead of a negative one, but I wanted to know what the driver had control over. Thanks! |
Anonymous
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I was using uber in another city to get to the airport and almost missed my flight because a driver who accepted my ride a give minutes away kept driving away from my starting location, until the time on my phone said 10 minutes away. The app also said something about finishing a nearby trip, which it didn't say at first. There weren't a lot of other options (no lyft and other drivers were marked as slightly further away) so I didn't cancel, but my driver kept getting very close and then driving away so that almost 25 minutes passed before I got on my way.
When he finally arrived, the driver apologized and said something about previous customer leaving a bag in the car (was hard to tell exactly, thick accent). So in the future, os it best to cancel as soon as I can see the driver move in the wrong direction? What's the deal with "finishing a nearby trip"? |
Anonymous
I'd like to know about this too. Had a similar experience where the driver kept driving away from me. I just canceled since I had to be at the airport and couldn't wait all day. |
Anonymous
I find this condescending, and also odd. He has a clearly defined goal and has figured out a way to reach it by investing the entire paycheck from his day job. Sounds like he is working both hard and smart to me. I wish my DH had a fraction of this financial discipline. |
Anonymous
Disagree. I wish there were more bikes on the road and less cars. And I'm a driver. People who hold up traffic without regard for those around them drive us all crazy. I'm about to start driving for Uber and will keep this in mind. |
Anonymous
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Bump
To OP, I've read this entire thread and it motivated me to sign up as a Lyft driver. I'm a divorced mom and it not only provides extra cash but it's yielded me some interesting trips, all positive! I've had some great passengers with fascinating stories. It's almost like a live Humans of NY and keeps me busy when kid is with exDH. I'm still a bit nervous so I keep it to daytime hours and dusk only for now but I've really enjoyed it. I'm only betting about $18-20/hour given my preferred schedule but it's enough to add a few hundred to my vacation fund each month. Thanks for the great thread and all the helpful tips! |
Anonymous
Hi compadre! OP here again. $18-20/hr just starting out is great! Don't forget to factor in your expenses and eventual taxes so you can really nail down what you're actually making, but you're doing fine as a rookie. I agree that every trip is different and driving rideshare is sort of like living out your own reality show where you're the host and every passenger is a new guest. It's also totally fine to restrict your hours to daylight only. The most profitable daylight hours to drive are 4-8am on Monday mornings, weekday evenings 4-8pm, any time on the weekends (brunch hours are best), and fishing around DCA/Union Station on Sunday evening. Also, try to be anywhere in the diamond of Ballston, Nats Stadium, H Street, and Woodley Park for the least amount of downtime. Best of luck to you! |
Anonymous
Thanks, I appreciate the thought. No one needs to worry about me, I'm doing just fine. It is a challenge to be truly profitable on uberX doing something as simple as driving a car. It's not an hourly wage job, it's a hustle job. Theoretically, there is no maximum limit to how much you can earn. But actually making it happen at a high hourly average is another story. If you are reading this then I'm guessing you've already browsed many pages in this thread and know my (mostly positive) attitude on the whole deal. Now read the thousands of gripes and complaints here about how hard the job is in terms of profitability: https://uberpeople.net/forums/Pay/ & https://uberpeople.net/forums/Complaints/ |
Anonymous
Some drivers simply aren't good at this. Zero common sense. They don't/can't compute the fact that passengers request rides because they need them right then and there. The "finishing a nearby trip" is a new efficiency feature. Long ago, a driver was locked into the ride they were on and once they completed it they were then available for a new ride request. Since the average driver arrival time is around 3-5 minutes anyways, uber optimized the app so that if a driver on a ride is closing in on a destination and the ride will end close enough to where a new request comes from, they will get the ping IF there's not another closer driver who's free and available. I love getting these because it means there's zero downtime between rides. What happened was his previous passenger left a bag in the car, realized it, then called him soon after he was on the way to you and asked him to return it (which the driver did). But the problem is that once the driver dropped off his previous passenger he was then on your clock, not the former's. The previous passenger will get their bag back eventually, but it shouldn't have been in 10 minutes. As soon as you notice the driver heading an unreasonable distance away (e.g. 5 minutes becomes 10 minutes), call him or immediately cancel. If you get hit with a cancellation charge (riders get charged $5 if they cancel 5 minutes after requesting the ride) let uber know you had a time-sensitive trip so you cancelled on a lollygagging driver and request a refund on the $5 charge. Lastly, complain, complain, complain to uber thru the app in an attempt to squeeze some free ride credits out of the inconvenience. They're losing millions of dollars of month, so you might as well get your cut too. Tip for other drivers out there: Glance in the back seat after EVERY rider exits. I've handed back dozens of iPhones, doggie bags, and backpacks just as the rider stepped away from the car. Doing them a quick solid like that is an easy 5-star because you just saved both parties a bunch of time, hassle, and worry. |
Anonymous
The driver did EVERYTHING wrong here. To start, uber is just a dispatcher and payment processor middleman. What goes on inside the car and along the route is completely the driver's responsibility. The app is fully customizable and the driver has the ability to make Pool pick-ups & drop-offs in the most efficient way possible for everyone in the car, no matter what the app tells them to do. Unfortunately common sense isn't common and many are not able to think outside of the app's general directions. First, since your destination was that close he should've just dropped you off first and then be on his way to the next pick-up/destination. Next, since you requested to be dropped off anyways he should've done this. I never would've put myself in his created situation, but there have been times when passengers have requested to be dropped off a little short because they realize it's most convenient for everyone (due to one-way streets, traffic, next rider's destination, etc.) and I graciously oblige. I have even more than once pulled a dollar bill out of my pocket and offered it to those quick-thinking passengers thanking them for being so courteous. Most refuse, but appreciate the gesture. If they take it, I get the dollar back on the very next ride because of the time savings...as I've said wheels rolling=money being made. Sadly, and after all this, he still couldn't get you right to the door of your destination. Uber did mess up on the fare correction, but all customer service is automated on the first contact...keep complaining and they'll usually fix it once the complaint gets to a human. You should never be overcharged for something that was 100% the driver's error. Your destination never changed, the driver just really fudged it up in getting there. I said it way back in the thread but many drivers are basically robot servants that do whatever the app tells them all day long and it only results in poor earnings for their labor at the end of the day. Lastly, always rate your driver's performance accordingly because it helps other passengers and good drivers, while pushing out the bad drivers into another gig that they are more adept at. Situations like these is where driver skill and knowledge really comes into play. There is an art to doing this. On a Pool ride I already know their destination, but I'll casually ask riders their neighborhood so everyone in the car has a general idea of how their trips are going to go. I map it out in my head about exactly how the trip(s) will go and use the app/GPS to fine tune it on the approach. DC has a lot of timed lights and traffic patterns that make cross-town trips very quick and smooth, especially at night. It takes years to fine tune the skills but if a driver just follows directions from an app all day instead of focusing and paying attention to the repeating traffic patterns, s/he has no chance to improve their efficiency (and earnings) In London, cabbies have to memorize the city's insane network of twisty streets (no GPS allowed) in order to become certified drivers. NBCI did a study (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17024677) where they found that drivers who obtained "The Knowledge" to become certified had an enlarged hippocampus and a 'plasticity' in their brains to adapt and learn new, challenging tasks as an adult: https://www.wired.com/2011/12/london-taxi-driver-memory/ Fortunately, I do believe I have been blessed with the affliction, and I'm pretty sure it's genetic from all I've seen and experienced as an uberX driver...either you're born with it or you aren't. |
Anonymous
| Is it possible to get a Uberx with my bike? |
Anonymous
| OP, what is your opinion on the Ride Pass and how do people get chosen for it each month? |
Anonymous
Thanks!! Just hit 100+ rides and over $1000 in just a few weekends. It's really been great for supplemental income but I couldn't do this full time. Driving long hours at a stretch does wear on the body. I really appreciate all the tips I learned from you in this thread!
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