How much does a Lyft driver earn?
brent-noorda.blogspot.com
How much does a Lyft driver earn?
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Re: How much does a Lyft driver earn?
#2> According to this Consumer Reports article, “the median car costs more than $9,100 a year to own” over the first five years of ownership driving 12,000 miles a year. That means the median cars costs about 76 cents per mile driven ($9100/12000). I’m just guessing that I’ll average a speed of 30 miles/hour while I’m doing my Lyft job. So my expenses will come to about $22.80 per hour (0.76*30).
Doesn't that $9100 a year median include a bunch of fixed costs (or at least costs that wouldn't grow linearly with the mileage driven)? e.g., the lease/cost of car itself, insurance, etc. I'm not saying this would take the profitability of being a Lyft driver from pretty terrible to great, but it does seem like a pretty significant oversight.
Re: How much does a Lyft driver earn?
#3> I’m just guessing that I’ll average a speed of 30 miles/hour while I’m doing my Lyft job. So my expenses will come to about $22.80 per hour.
You're implying that you will driving 30 miles each hour, on average. That is a ridiculous overestimation for the type of urban driving Lyft will involve. I'd guess closer to 15-20 in off-peak periods, and perhaps something close to 10 miles on average. That brings maintenance expenses down to $7.60/hr from $22/hr.
Re: How much does a Lyft driver earn?
#4> According to this Consumer Reports article, “the median car costs more than $9,100 a year to own” over the first five years of ownership driving 12,000 miles a year. That means the median cars costs about 76 cents per mile driven ($9100/12000). I’m just guessing that I’ll average a speed of 30 miles/hour while I’m doing my Lyft job. So my expenses will come to about $22.80 per hour (0.76*30). Doesn't that $9100 a y…
But it's not like his car payment magically disappears when he becomes a Lyft driver. Or magically stop having to carry insurance. It's a good estimate to use for cost, especially considering the author did not even own a car and would have to purchase one.
Re: How much does a Lyft driver earn?
#5> According to this Consumer Reports article, “the median car costs more than $9,100 a year to own” over the first five years of ownership driving 12,000 miles a year. That means the median cars costs about 76 cents per mile driven ($9100/12000). I’m just guessing that I’ll average a speed of 30 miles/hour while I’m doing my Lyft job. So my expenses will come to about $22.80 per hour (0.76*30). Doesn't that $9100 a y…
But it's not like his car payment magically disappears when he becomes a Lyft driver. Or magically stop having to carry insurance. It's a good estimate to use for cost, especially considering the author did not even own a car and would have to purchase one.
> But it's not like his car payment magically disappears when he becomes a Lyft driver. Or magically stop having to carry insurance.
Right, my point is that those costs are essentially fixed w.r.t miles driven, not that you wouldn't need those things. If you drive 36000 miles a year as a Lyft driver your car payment is still the same as someone who drives 12000 miles a year, whereas the author's model assumes the payment would be 3x as much. And re insurance, I know insurance companies take mileage into account in determining insurance premium, but it's certainly not the only thing in the formula.
Re: How much does a Lyft driver earn?
#6> According to this Consumer Reports article, “the median car costs more than $9,100 a year to own” over the first five years of ownership driving 12,000 miles a year. That means the median cars costs about 76 cents per mile driven ($9100/12000). I’m just guessing that I’ll average a speed of 30 miles/hour while I’m doing my Lyft job. So my expenses will come to about $22.80 per hour (0.76*30). Doesn't that $9100 a y…
But it's not like his car payment magically disappears when he becomes a Lyft driver. Or magically stop having to carry insurance. It's a good estimate to use for cost, especially considering the author did not even own a car and would have to purchase one.
I think what he means is that you cant turn those costs into a "cost per mile rate" since that rate will decline once you excedd 12000 miles assuming a bunch of the costs are fixed costs.
But I don't know, if you're exceeding 12k miles working for Lyft, im sure the cost/benefit analysis takes on a whole new life.
Re: How much does a Lyft driver earn?
#7Earlier quoted context omitted.
But it's not like his car payment magically disappears when he becomes a Lyft driver. Or magically stop having to carry insurance. It's a good estimate to use for cost, especially considering the author did not even own a car and would have to purchase one.
> But it's not like his car payment magically disappears when he becomes a Lyft driver. Or magically stop having to carry insurance. Right, my point is that those costs are essentially fixed w.r.t miles driven, not that you wouldn't need those things. If you drive 36000 miles a year as a Lyft driver your car payment is still the same as someone who drives 12000 miles a year, whereas the author's model assumes the pay…
jinx
Re: How much does a Lyft driver earn?
#8@Brent Noorda, awesome! You've identified a market opportunity to provider a more consumer friendly and driver friendly alternative! Give back to the community! All you need is some servers and lattes.
Re: How much does a Lyft driver earn?
#9> According to this Consumer Reports article, “the median car costs more than $9,100 a year to own” over the first five years of ownership driving 12,000 miles a year. That means the median cars costs about 76 cents per mile driven ($9100/12000). I’m just guessing that I’ll average a speed of 30 miles/hour while I’m doing my Lyft job. So my expenses will come to about $22.80 per hour (0.76*30). Doesn't that $9100 a y…
It's amortizing the cost so it makes sense. The real thing missing is assuming all the miles are lyft miles, and assuming the car provides no value outside of lyft
Re: How much does a Lyft driver earn?
#10Uber just announced that it has struck deals with auto manufacturers to chop $100-200 off monthly payments for those that are approved to drive for them.