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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

#91

Post by dsfyu404ed »

savanaly wrote: post #61
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?

When you flip burgers you have to show up at predetermined times, no matter if you're having a bad day or something inconvenient comes up, have to wear a cheesy uniform and put on a smile, tolerate whatever coworkers you get thrown in with, and of course you are about as far from your own boss as it's humanly possible to be. It's totally plausible to me that the sum of avoiding these costs is equal to five bucks per…

>It's totally plausible to me that the sum of avoiding these costs is equal to five bucks per hour.

It's only a choice when viewed from an ivory tower. If you have to make ends meet on fast food wages you're not gonna take a massive pay cut in exchange for slightly more autonomy.

Also, the customer interaction side of things is about the same in both jobs and in fast food you'll have to do less bending over backward for customers.

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

#92

Post by kirkland »

csomar wrote: post #66

Two things: 1. The cost is absorbed by another entity, usually the parents. It is the parents' car, or your parents bought you a car. You need some quick cash, so you basically "eat out" of that car to generate that "cash". 2. You are trapped in a situation where you need quick cash. So you "eat out" of your vehicle to generate that cash. This also happens when you have a low "realization" consciousness. (ie: You are…

Is "eat out" a real term, or just something you made up? The term I've heard for this sort of thing would be "capital consumption".

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

#93

Post by andymal »

cypherg wrote: post #79

Questionable statistics. I know several people who driver rideshares for a secondary income and do quite well. They're not irrationally wasting their time. They're using vehicles that they're _already_ paying insurance on, et cetera. From their POV, they either drive rideshares and make money (couple hundred bucks maybe), or stay at home and relax. They've explained to me that they do it because their bored or have f…

Most personal insurance doesn't cover driving for Uber or Lyft. Your friends may want to double check that they're actually covered.

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

#94

Post by graeme »

In my city (Montreal) there are some Uber drivers who seem very content and have driven for 3+ years.

They often have very nice cars. What is going on: are these drivers just doing it as a hobby? Are they somehow earning more than others?

One would assume that you can be fooled and stay in the game for 3-9 months at $3.37 an hour, but not 3+ years.

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

#95

Post by csomar »

mseebach wrote: post #87
csomar wrote: post #66

Two things: 1. The cost is absorbed by another entity, usually the parents. It is the parents' car, or your parents bought you a car. You need some quick cash, so you basically "eat out" of that car to generate that "cash". 2. You are trapped in a situation where you need quick cash. So you "eat out" of your vehicle to generate that cash. This also happens when you have a low "realization" consciousness. (ie: You are…

Uber has deals with car rental agencies in several places that doesn't "allow" you to "eat out" your vehicle equity (I've seen Enterprise in CA and, I think, one other place, and Otto in London). The viability of such deals suggests that the numbers work out even without spending your equity.

Uber was more expensive than a Taxi for me in Paris. Uber gave me a 10-14 euros quote. And for the same distance the taxi took only 7 euros. I'm pretty sure the math might be working on some places. I'm only suggesting that it is possibly not working on other places and users are not aware of that.

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

#96

Post by _emacsomancer_ »

davemel37 wrote: post #73

Ironically, Lyft is advertising to recruit drivers on this very article! Sometimes ad targeting misses the boat.

Maybe. But there are probably enough people for whom $3.37/hour profit sounds better than $0/hour.

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

#97

Post by CodeWriter23 »

aianus wrote: post #72
chimeracoder wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Do they allow you to set a destination area so that your fares are limited to this, or do you just get to review and accept fares so you can choose ones in the right direction? Uber didn't last I checked, but Lyft does.

Uber has had this feature since I started driving with them in December 2016. You can only use it twice a day, however.

Ostensibly this is for use at the beginning & end of your shift to help with the “commute”. But you’ll probably be find yourself out in the sticks with a choice of waiting long periods for each local ride request (~$2-$3 keep per ride), or using the destination geofence in the middle of the shift to avoid double-digits is deadheading.

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

#98

Post by csomar »

kirkland wrote: post #92
csomar wrote: post #66

Two things: 1. The cost is absorbed by another entity, usually the parents. It is the parents' car, or your parents bought you a car. You need some quick cash, so you basically "eat out" of that car to generate that "cash". 2. You are trapped in a situation where you need quick cash. So you "eat out" of your vehicle to generate that cash. This also happens when you have a low "realization" consciousness. (ie: You are…

Is "eat out" a real term, or just something you made up? The term I've heard for this sort of thing would be "capital consumption".

I just made it up as it is easier to understand than capital consumption.

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

#100

Post by mseebach »

csomar wrote: post #95
mseebach wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uber has deals with car rental agencies in several places that doesn't "allow" you to "eat out" your vehicle equity (I've seen Enterprise in CA and, I think, one other place, and Otto in London). The viability of such deals suggests that the numbers work out even without spending your equity.

Uber was more expensive than a Taxi for me in Paris. Uber gave me a 10-14 euros quote. And for the same distance the taxi took only 7 euros. I'm pretty sure the math might be working on some places. I'm only suggesting that it is possibly not working on other places and users are not aware of that.

Was this before UberX? Checking just now Uber quotes about the same as a taxi for UberX in Paris. The premium Uber (called "Berline" in Paris) is 60% more, so matches your experience.

The rentals I'm referring to are all UberX.

https://www.uber.com/fare-estimate/

https://www.taxifarefinder.com/main.php?city=Paris-France

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