Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Uber and Lyft drivers' median hourly wage is just $3.37, report finds

theguardian.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 273 posts

Re: Uber and Lyft drivers' median hourly wage is just $3.37, report finds

#11

Post by Y7ZCQtNo39 »

procinct wrote: post #5
astrodust wrote: post #2

Uber is losing billions and their drivers are making peanuts. That sounds sustainable.

They are basically biding their time until driverless cars take off it seems.

Yeah, but whoever is first to market on driverless (e.g., Tesla) has already said they will have a separate network for letting others use your Tesla to subsidize your ownership cost. Aka, your Tesla won't be a part of Uber's driverless fleet.

So, at best, they become a 40-billion dollar driver/rider match-making algorithm and a pretty CRUD app. Unless Uber itself is working on autonomous driving technology. It's so easy for drivers and riders to switch between ridesharing apps (e.g., ever see an Uber driver that also has a Lyft sticker on their car? I have, many times), I don't see how any of them can solidify a competitive advantage of sorts long-term.

Re: Uber and Lyft drivers' median hourly wage is just $3.37, report finds

#13

Post by ttul »

seibelj wrote: post #8
procinct wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are basically biding their time until driverless cars take off it seems.

Driverless cars in urban areas are decades away

Right. That must be why a Waymo drove itself past me in the Bay Area two weeks ago.

Re: Uber and Lyft drivers' median hourly wage is just $3.37, report finds

#14

Post by danielvf »

dnautics wrote: post #9
SamReidHughes wrote: post #7

Any Uber drivers want to chime in?

This seems rather low. Granted it's been almost two years since I drove for (primarily lyft) and I was making 50k/year for about 70h work a week. And also I gave myself about 6 weeks of vacation over that year and half.

Is that 50k after car depreciation, gas, and maintenance?

Re: Uber and Lyft drivers' median hourly wage is just $3.37, report finds

#15

Post by seibelj »

staticassertion wrote: post #10
seibelj wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Driverless cars in urban areas are decades away

I saw one yesterday. There was a driver but like... come one, decades?

When driverless cars are common on midwestern highways every night, they will start moving into complex urban areas. We are very far from cars navigating downtown NYC, Seattle, SF, Boston, etc.

Re: Uber and Lyft drivers' median hourly wage is just $3.37, report finds

#16

Post by seibelj »

ttul wrote: post #13
seibelj wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Driverless cars in urban areas are decades away

Right. That must be why a Waymo drove itself past me in the Bay Area two weeks ago.

5 years ago I was told the same thing, and 5 years before that. Maybe 5 years from now, but it’s been the same story forever.

Re: Uber and Lyft drivers' median hourly wage is just $3.37, report finds

#17

Post by [deleted] »

dnautics wrote: post #9
SamReidHughes wrote: post #7

Any Uber drivers want to chime in?

This seems rather low. Granted it's been almost two years since I drove for (primarily lyft) and I was making 50k/year for about 70h work a week. And also I gave myself about 6 weeks of vacation over that year and half.

[deleted]

Re: Uber and Lyft drivers' median hourly wage is just $3.37, report finds

#18

Post by UncleEntity »

> “The companies are losing money. The businesses are being subsidized by [venture capital] money … And the drivers are essentially subsidizing it by working for very low wages.”

Last time I pointed that out I was downvoted for some unknown reason.

My neighbor was talking about buying a new car to drive for lyft/uber and I was like "the trick is to tear up somebody else's car." We'll see if he heeds my advice though I kind of doubt it since he has an MBA and I'm just the resident slacker who happens to know the business.

Re: Uber and Lyft drivers' median hourly wage is just $3.37, report finds

#19

Post by gpm »

Y7ZCQtNo39 wrote: post #11
procinct wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are basically biding their time until driverless cars take off it seems.

Yeah, but whoever is first to market on driverless (e.g., Tesla) has already said they will have a separate network for letting others use your Tesla to subsidize your ownership cost. Aka, your Tesla won't be a part of Uber's driverless fleet. So, at best, they become a 40-billion dollar driver/rider match-making algorithm and a pretty CRUD app. Unless Uber itself is working on autonomous driving technology. It's so…

Isn't Waymo already first to market?

Re: Uber and Lyft drivers' median hourly wage is just $3.37, report finds

#20

Post by woah »

seibelj wrote: post #15
staticassertion wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I saw one yesterday. There was a driver but like... come one, decades?

When driverless cars are common on midwestern highways every night, they will start moving into complex urban areas. We are very far from cars navigating downtown NYC, Seattle, SF, Boston, etc.

Do you live in NYC, Seattle, SF, or Boston?
Post reply on HN