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Uber, Lyft Drivers Earning a Median Profit of $3.37 per Hour, Study Says

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Re: Uber, Lyft Drivers Earning a Median Profit of $3.37 per Hour, Study Says

#21

Post by illegalsmile »

Liquix wrote: post #18

What is the incentive to drive for one of these services at that price point? Couldn't these people make more money (and not have to replace their car in five years) flipping burgers or the like? Are drivers misled into believing they will make more? Is the cost per mile intentionally hidden from them?

The few people I know who drive like it because if they have no plans on a Thursday - Sunday night or specific windows of time throughout the week they can turn on the app, drive and make some cash. This adds a lot of flexibility and it's less about the money and more about doing something productive and meeting people. I don't know anyone that career drives for a ride service though.

Re: Uber, Lyft Drivers Earning a Median Profit of $3.37 per Hour, Study Says

#22

Post by deft »

Liquix wrote: post #18

What is the incentive to drive for one of these services at that price point? Couldn't these people make more money (and not have to replace their car in five years) flipping burgers or the like? Are drivers misled into believing they will make more? Is the cost per mile intentionally hidden from them?

Definitely being misled, read the marketing uber puts out for drivers. Also desperation, the way uber pushes for driver sign ups reminds me of MLM schemes about "running your own company!! Setting your own hours!!!"

Re: Uber, Lyft Drivers Earning a Median Profit of $3.37 per Hour, Study Says

#23

Post by cyclonetiger »

filesystem wrote: post #8

“Of the five sources of cost estimated per mile (Insurance, Maintenance, Repairs, Fuel and Depreciation), approximately 40% of costs are attributable to Insurance, Maintenance and Repairs, 40% to fuel expenses, and 20% to depreciation.” I don’t understand how insurance is a relevant cost. Insurance is required to legally operate a vehicle - this is something that they must have for their personal vehicle regardless o…

This was my problem with the article. It assumes that people own vehicles for the sole purpose of driving for Uber/Lyft. Costs like maintenance, insurance, and repairs are arguably costs that every car owner has to pay for.

Re: Uber, Lyft Drivers Earning a Median Profit of $3.37 per Hour, Study Says

#24

Post by rileymat2 »

JackFr wrote: post #15
saas_co_de wrote: post #4

It does seem that there are glaring flaws in the methodology: 1) They use average numbers for vehicle expenses which are going to be much higher than what professional drivers with strong profit incentives are going to pay 2) They report on a sampled average of all Uber drivers while acknowledging that the vast majority of these are part time and temporary employees who are not really optimizing their profits. If the…

The results also seem to defy common sense. While it's relatively easy to believe that the income from driving for Uber and Lyft is lower than most people imagine and it is relatively easy to believe that a small fraction of drivers are actually losing money by driving, it is difficult to believe that that fully 1/3 of drivers are continuing to impoverish themselves. I'm not saying it's not true, but without supporti…

I don’t see why this is hard to believe, according to the article it claims the turn over rate is high.

Re: Uber, Lyft Drivers Earning a Median Profit of $3.37 per Hour, Study Says

#25

Post by FLUX-YOU »

mywittyname wrote: post #12
filesystem wrote: post #8

“Of the five sources of cost estimated per mile (Insurance, Maintenance, Repairs, Fuel and Depreciation), approximately 40% of costs are attributable to Insurance, Maintenance and Repairs, 40% to fuel expenses, and 20% to depreciation.” I don’t understand how insurance is a relevant cost. Insurance is required to legally operate a vehicle - this is something that they must have for their personal vehicle regardless o…

Insurance for driving an Uber/Lyft is much more expensive than regular insurance, because it's considered commercial. In previous years, people could get away with not having it, but today every insurance company asks specifically if this vehicle was ever used in a driving service and will deny claims if it was found to be.

>but today every insurance company asks specifically if this vehicle was ever used in a driving service and will deny claims if it was found to be.

This seems crazy or wrong.

If I buy a vehicle used as an Uber/Lyft vehicle and that's on record somewhere, but I've never been an Uber/Lyft driver, I will get my claims denied?

Re: Uber, Lyft Drivers Earning a Median Profit of $3.37 per Hour, Study Says

#26

Post by bkberry352 »

FLUX-YOU wrote: post #25
mywittyname wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Insurance for driving an Uber/Lyft is much more expensive than regular insurance, because it's considered commercial. In previous years, people could get away with not having it, but today every insurance company asks specifically if this vehicle was ever used in a driving service and will deny claims if it was found to be.

>but today every insurance company asks specifically if this vehicle was ever used in a driving service and will deny claims if it was found to be. This seems crazy or wrong. If I buy a vehicle used as an Uber/Lyft vehicle and that's on record somewhere, but I've never been an Uber/Lyft driver, I will get my claims denied?

No, that's not what was meant. By "was ever used" they mean "if you, the policyholder, ever used this vehicle for ride sharing while insured by the company"

If you buy a vehicle used for Uber/Lyft but you don't drive for Uber/Lyft then there won't be a problem.

Re: Uber, Lyft Drivers Earning a Median Profit of $3.37 per Hour, Study Says

#27

Post by reynoldsbd »

filesystem wrote: post #8

“Of the five sources of cost estimated per mile (Insurance, Maintenance, Repairs, Fuel and Depreciation), approximately 40% of costs are attributable to Insurance, Maintenance and Repairs, 40% to fuel expenses, and 20% to depreciation.” I don’t understand how insurance is a relevant cost. Insurance is required to legally operate a vehicle - this is something that they must have for their personal vehicle regardless o…

My experience in a big metro area has been that almost every Uber driver does this full-time, and their vehicle is for the sole purpose of Uber. I guess it depends on where you are.

Re: Uber, Lyft Drivers Earning a Median Profit of $3.37 per Hour, Study Says

#28

Post by dsr_ »

Liquix wrote: post #18

What is the incentive to drive for one of these services at that price point? Couldn't these people make more money (and not have to replace their car in five years) flipping burgers or the like? Are drivers misled into believing they will make more? Is the cost per mile intentionally hidden from them?

Not that I'm defending these companies, but do remember that many people need flexible hours that most minimum-wage employers are actively hostile to.

Re: Uber, Lyft Drivers Earning a Median Profit of $3.37 per Hour, Study Says

#29

Post by ghaff »

cyclonetiger wrote: post #23
filesystem wrote: post #8

“Of the five sources of cost estimated per mile (Insurance, Maintenance, Repairs, Fuel and Depreciation), approximately 40% of costs are attributable to Insurance, Maintenance and Repairs, 40% to fuel expenses, and 20% to depreciation.” I don’t understand how insurance is a relevant cost. Insurance is required to legally operate a vehicle - this is something that they must have for their personal vehicle regardless o…

This was my problem with the article. It assumes that people own vehicles for the sole purpose of driving for Uber/Lyft. Costs like maintenance, insurance, and repairs are arguably costs that every car owner has to pay for.

Maintenance and repairs are much more mileage-based than time-based though. If I drive 2X the number of miles in a year because I'm driving for Uber/Lyft, my maintenance/repairs on average are going to be about 2X what they would have been otherwise.

It's hard to tease apart fixed and variable costs in car ownership and it varies based on factors like climate. But, overall, car costs are significantly more about the number of miles than the number of years given relatively typical driving patterns.

Re: Uber, Lyft Drivers Earning a Median Profit of $3.37 per Hour, Study Says

#30

Post by joncrocks »

FLUX-YOU wrote: post #25
mywittyname wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Insurance for driving an Uber/Lyft is much more expensive than regular insurance, because it's considered commercial. In previous years, people could get away with not having it, but today every insurance company asks specifically if this vehicle was ever used in a driving service and will deny claims if it was found to be.

>but today every insurance company asks specifically if this vehicle was ever used in a driving service and will deny claims if it was found to be. This seems crazy or wrong. If I buy a vehicle used as an Uber/Lyft vehicle and that's on record somewhere, but I've never been an Uber/Lyft driver, I will get my claims denied?

I think it's maybe worded a bit confusingly.

It's more likely that if you are trying to claim on your insurance, they will ask you "have you driven for a ride-share service at any point since the start of your policy" and deny your claim if you have. And presumably it's fraud if you lie on the claim.

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