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Uber is dropping rates for drivers down from 80 cents/mile to 60 cents/mile

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Re: Uber is dropping rates for drivers down from 80 cents/mile to 60 cents/mile

#71

Post by School-Cotton »

wonnage wrote: post #68
School-Cotton wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that's the point of the argument you're replying to. Assuming Uber drivers are rational, it means they're better off driving with Uber than they would be otherwise. In which case, why does Uber attract so much criticism? I'd understand if you criticized the general economic/social system that causes shitty jobs to be people's best option, but why criticize specific actors within it that (1) didn't create it,…

People like you miss the point that companies like Uber could pay drivers more at the expense of paying you less, and come up with all sorts of handwavy econ 101 justifications for why that's morally acceptable.

I don't work for Uber (or any "gig economy" company).

Please engage with my actual arguments, rather than attacking what you (inaccurately) perceive to be my motivation for making them.

Re: Uber is dropping rates for drivers down from 80 cents/mile to 60 cents/mile

#72

Post by remote_phone »

fiblye wrote: post #7
remote_phone wrote: post #5

These people are complaining that they’re not being paid enough. Isn’t the proper solution to find another job? If more people stopped driving for ridesharing companies the prices would rise to attract them back. I don’t see why they are complaining when unemployment is at an all time low and they can find a job easily elsewhere. It sounds stupid.

A lot of people turn to jobs like Uber because they can't easily find a job. There are many people who desperately try for weeks or months to find employment. Companies like Uber love to prey on such people.

The idea that Lyft and Uber prey on these “people who can’t find jobs” in record low employment is laughable. There are hundreds of thousands of drivers for Lyft and Uber in California alone. If these were only those poor victims that were preyed upon by Lyft then that would be a huge number. The fact is they aren’t victims or preyed upon. They know how much they get paid and if they want to take the job, they can. If they don’t want, there are plenty of other jobs out there. I know for a fact because I use the jobspotter app and I see hiring signs everywhere.

Re: Uber is dropping rates for drivers down from 80 cents/mile to 60 cents/mile

#73

Post by creato »

usaphp wrote: post #69
empath75 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it’s obscene how much I make for what I do, having grown up in a blue collar family, working jobs that are far harder than what I do now, making minimum wage. If I didn’t have a family, I’d probably still rather be a software developer at $10 an hour instead of working at a KFC kitchen making what I make as a software developer now.

I don’t know what you do but to me working as a programmer, thinking all day and solving problems, is much harder than just driving around people.

Programming is certainly harder than most jobs in the sense that fewer people are capable of doing it, which is the one that matters for economics. That doesn't mean other jobs are not harder in other ways that matter too.

Re: Uber is dropping rates for drivers down from 80 cents/mile to 60 cents/mile

#74

Post by pishpash »

https://www.dailynews.com/2019/03/22/uber-drivers-prepare-to...

Found more context:

“In September 2018, we increased the per-minute rate and minimum fares in hopes of making it more worthwhile to drive with Uber in L.A.,” the company said. “Unfortunately, these changes did not have the intended impact.”

As a result, Uber said it was increasing the per-minute rate drivers earn but reducing the per-mile rate and minimum fare. The per-minute rate jumped from 15 cents to 21 cents. But the minimum fare dropped from $3.75 to $2.62 and the more crucial per-mile rate dropped from 80 cents to 60 cents.

https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2019/03/uber-lyft-nyc...

Organizers with Rideshare Drivers United started planning Monday’s action two weeks ago, responding to Uber’s decision to reduce per-mile fares from 80 cents to 60 cents—months after the company raised rates from 60 to 80 in September 2018. Uber says it’s now reversing the move to put its fares more in line with other ride-share companies, and that it expects the net effect of this 25 percent cut will mean that average driver earnings will return to the same level as before the September increase. Uber also noted that it increased its per-minute rate again on March 11. Lyft, meanwhile, has not changed driver rates in the city of L.A. for 12 months.

Re: Uber is dropping rates for drivers down from 80 cents/mile to 60 cents/mile

#75

Post by petschge »

School-Cotton wrote: post #24
PopeDotNinja wrote: post #9

If I were Uber, or any ridesharing service, I'd be optimizing to pay driver's as much as possible. But that's just me.

OK, let's be concrete -- how much should they pay them? Keep in mind that Uber currently operates at a loss.

The IRS deduction rate per mile plus minimum wage per hour. Anything below that is so low that it is immoral (and would be illegal in any civilized country).

Re: Uber is dropping rates for drivers down from 80 cents/mile to 60 cents/mile

#77

Post by creato »

frotak wrote: post #61
quadcore wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess they should form a union and strike.

I imagine that would only be orders of magnitude harder to manager in this circumstances than in previous generations. Especially for Uber who can incentivize payouts in an elastic fashion as the available labor pool shrinks. Service quality might decline a bit as available drivers decrease...but Uber won't even have to explicitly go out and find "scabs" - they can simply temporarily surge pricing to entice some of t…

I mean, the surge in pricing wouldn't even be a thing someone has to do. It would just happen automatically.

That's the whole problem with this issue: Uber has made the market for taxis/rides incredibly liquid, which has driven the prices down to pretty much exactly the marginal costs. There are plenty of people who have already sunk the cost of a car, and have nothing else to do, so it still makes economic sense to do this with their time.

If the demand for unskilled labor doesn't increase, this will get worse.

Re: Uber is dropping rates for drivers down from 80 cents/mile to 60 cents/mile

#78

Post by nradov »

adamio wrote: post #21

This must impact quality at some point. Either driver competence will decline or vehicle maintenance will be dangerously put off.

When I take a Lyft or Uber ride the vehicle is frequently showing some sort of warning light or overdue maintenance indicator on the dashboard.

Re: Uber is dropping rates for drivers down from 80 cents/mile to 60 cents/mile

#79

Post by pishpash »

pmorici wrote: post #26

The IRS deduction for business vehicle use in 2019 is 58 cents per mile. So they have effectively reduced the per mile payment to the cost of operating the vehicle. Seems like they are on the verge of turning driving for Uber into a reverse mortgage for your car.

Which is what it should be no? Drivers are still paid by the minute on top of that, which in LA is 21 cents/minute according to the news, working out to $12.6/hour. Not quite $15 minimum wage, but close.

Re: Uber is dropping rates for drivers down from 80 cents/mile to 60 cents/mile

#80

Post by sdinsn »

PopeDotNinja wrote: post #9

If I were Uber, or any ridesharing service, I'd be optimizing to pay driver's as much as possible. But that's just me.

That doesn't make sense for a real business. For a non-profit ride share service that can gather donations? Maybe.
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