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

theguardian.com

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

#21

Post by tachyoff »

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.

$50,000 per year for 70 hour per week works out to $28,571.43 if it were a standard 40-hour work week. Oh, and no benefits and you get to pay for gas and wear-and-tear on your car. So I guess if you're okay spending almost every waking hour working for peanuts and no health insurance, then sure.

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

#22

Post by jeffmould »

cm2012 wrote: post #12

That seems too low. Most drivers I use have been doing it for years. They wouldn't at those rates.

The number is a bit deceiving. As the article states, that amount is after you account for insurance, gas, wear/tear on the vehicle, maintenance, etc... So really the $3.37 is their "profit" before taxes are taken out. I am actually surprised it is that high. A driver working full-time in a city or area with high demand will put depreciate the value of their vehicle and drive costs up at a much higher rate than the average person.

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

#23

Post by throwawayjava »

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…

> Unless Uber itself is working on autonomous driving technology

https://www.uber.com/info/atg/

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

#24

Post by defap »

gpm wrote: post #19
Y7ZCQtNo39 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

What product do they have on the market?

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

#25

Post by Kluny »

UncleEntity wrote: post #18

> “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 did the math on working for SkipTheDishes last year (Uber doesn't operate in my city). I really wanted it to be a good idea, but once I calculated gas, insurance and wear and tear on the car, it was an incredibly poor deal. That's with a paid off, cheap, car, too. Not for me.

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

#26

Post by simonw »

seibelj wrote: post #16
ttul wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

You saw a driverless car (with a safety driver) drive past you five and ten years ago?

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

#27

Post by UncleEntity »

cm2012 wrote: post #12

That seems too low. Most drivers I use have been doing it for years. They wouldn't at those rates.

For every one who makes it there's probably (wild guess) ten that lose money after working a few shifts and never turn on the app again -- most people are like "I can sit my ass on the couch and not make money plus not waste my gas making billionaires even richer."

Like all things there's a learning curve before you can consistently turn a decent profit too.

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

#29

Post by toomuchtodo »

throwawayjava wrote: post #23
Y7ZCQtNo39 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> Unless Uber itself is working on autonomous driving technology https://www.uber.com/info/atg/

Uber will exhaust their runway prior to reaching a level of autonomy sufficient to replace drivers. Quote me in 3 years.

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

#30

Post by im3w1l »

UncleEntity wrote: post #18

> “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 didn't know MBA's were that squeezed that they need second jobs.
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