# boycott actually working today... maybe



## nashdriver (Jan 8, 2015)

Uber alerts blowing up my phone, offering bonus for most fares and announcing surges.

So maybe drivers are staying home, maybe Uber is feeling a pinch..... Maybe!??


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## NoPings (Dec 27, 2014)

Even if it is working just a slightest of a bit, that's some News.

#FuberOn
#FuberDriverUnite


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## Luberon (Nov 24, 2014)

Someone should give 3rd grade math lessons to anyone driving at 73cents. IRS are no fools, they mean it when they say you spend 56c for every mile driven.


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## nashdriver (Jan 8, 2015)

Luberon said:


> Someone should give 3rd grade math lessons to anyone driving at 73cents. IRS are no fools, they mean it when they say you spend 56c for every mile driven.


It's the guarantee they are pushing, as long as it's in place people will still drive.... Also I think they will honor it because its the only thing keeping drivers on the road


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## Luberon (Nov 24, 2014)

nashdriver said:


> It's the guarantee they are pushing, as long as it's in place people will still drive.... Also I think they will honor it because its the only thing keeping drivers on the road


Guarantees, even when paid are total BS. See the thread https://uberpeople.net/threads/anal...w-rates-and-guarantee-math-is-involved.10597/


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## uberwatcher (Sep 18, 2014)

I would think it might take a week or two for many drivers who aren't here to figure out they are getting screwed by the low rates. In the long run at those rates it is basically working for free. In the short term it is trading your car for rent money through depreciation.


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## grams777 (Jun 13, 2014)

nashdriver said:


> Uber alerts blowing up my phone, offering bonus for most fares and announcing surges.
> 
> So maybe drivers are staying home, maybe Uber is feeling a pinch..... Maybe!??


Maybe. It is a good sign to see late announced incentives and texts. It probably means they are concerned about surge and availability. So they use piddly things to get the drivers on the road.

Uber has a history of fighting this battle. They'll keep the guarantees and incentives in place while they hire drivers through the nose.

After they have throughly saturated the market with more drivers and surge stops, then they drop the guarantees and incentives.

If the surge comes back, they will offer only some temporary incentives and guarantees to stop it.

Meanwhile they keep hiring at a mad frenzy until they get plenty of drivers at whatever rate they want.

The end game for the cycle is when all incentives stop, surge is non existent, and the low rates are in full effect.


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## cybertec69 (Jul 23, 2014)

News flash, they did the same thing here in nyc, they cut the rates to ludicrous levels, then they started with the guarantees, well those are no more and a thing of the past, including surge fairs, they over saturated the market with so many cars "drivers on top of each other" , no need for surges, drivers working for peanuts, but uber is making a killing, more cars equals more fares for uber, not the individual driver, people with half a brain can figure that out. The problem here is that there is people out there with less than half a brain, Uber's favorite kind.


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## Simon (Jan 4, 2015)

Hmm doesn't look like it in CT


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## DjTim (Oct 18, 2014)

Simon said:


> Hmm doesn't look like it in CT


WOW - that's UberX cars doing a 3-way.


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## Simon (Jan 4, 2015)

There is probably 100 cars in that general vicinity.


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## Raquel (Jan 9, 2015)

nashdriver said:


> It's the guarantee they are pushing, as long as it's in place people will still drive.... Also I think they will honor it because its the only thing keeping drivers on the road


I doubt the guarantee is the only reason...I think some can't figure out that at 0.70 a mile they are losing money... They are in essence cashing out their car's value for immediate relief. Uber is like a pawn shop of sorts..


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## Raquel (Jan 9, 2015)

nashdriver said:


> Uber alerts blowing up my phone, offering bonus for most fares and announcing surges.
> 
> So maybe drivers are staying home, maybe Uber is feeling a pinch..... Maybe!??


Hope you are right...maybe Uber.. will see the error of their ways.... NOT...

But hey at least it's a start...


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## Oscar Levant (Aug 15, 2014)

Raquel said:


> I doubt the guarantee is the only reason...I think some can't figure out that at 0.70 a mile they are losing money... They are in essence cashing out their car's value for immediate relief. Uber is like a pawn shop of sorts..


In essence, Uber drivers are subsidizing Uber by not paying enough to justify operating costs. This is theft.


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## Luberon (Nov 24, 2014)

Several drivers on this forum have done the maths it is practically impossible to run an UberX car on less than 0.35 a mile. If you expect one dead mile for every paid mile then at .70c a mile you are making 0.0$ per hour even if you have a 2008 Prius with 80k miles which is probably the most cost effective uberX workhose.
Last time I checked $0.0 hours times 100 hours a week still equals zilch.
If you use a newer prius or a different car then your costs will almost certainly be higher meaning your probably making 0/hour even at 85c a mile. 
We are not even talking about minimum wage here, we are talking about making something, anything at all.


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## NoPings (Dec 27, 2014)

Agree.


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## UberHammer (Dec 5, 2014)

Luberon said:


> Several drivers on this forum have done the maths it is practically impossible to run an UberX car on less than 0.35 a mile. If you expect one dead mile for every paid mile then at .70c a mile you are making 0.0$ per hour even if you have a 2008 Prius with 80k miles which is probably the most cost effective uberX workhose.
> Last time I checked $0.0 hours times 100 hours a week still equals zilch.
> If you use a newer prius or a different car then your costs will almost certainly be higher meaning your probably making 0/hour even at 85c a mile.
> We are not even talking about minimum wage here, we are talking about making something, anything at all.


I love the posters that respond to the posters who have done the math with the "well, they're ignoring the tax deduction benefits".

Yes it's true, claiming $0.56 in costs for every mile driven while doing Uber (including empty miles) will result in a tax benefit when the real cost for every mile driven is $0.35 (or $0.30, or $0.40, or whatever). The benefit however depends on the tax rate you would pay on your next dollar of earned income.

So, say for example, someone has a job making $100,000 per year and is just doing Uber on the side for a little more income. Their tax rate on their next dollar earned is probably 20% or more. So let's use 20% just to show the math. If they claim $0.56 costs per mile, but their real costs is $0.35, then the benefit is they don't have to pay tax on $0.21 ($0.56 minus $0.25) times the number of miles they drove, of their other job income. So if they earned $100,000 from their other job and drove 10,000 miles for Uber, then their taxable income from their other job is now $97,900 ($100,000 minus 10,000 times $0.21). So if the tax rate they would have paid on that $2,100 is 20%, this benefit of the tax deduction saved this person $420.

But how about a person who is trying to make a living on Uber driving alone. Many, if not all, full time Uber drivers will end up showing negative income after expensing $0.56 per mile. This is because nearly all drivers put just as much empty miles on their car as billable miles. So the earnings from Uber would have to be $1.12 per mile or more before this would produce taxable income. Not only is the tax rate on the first few thousand dollars of income nearly 0%, the earned income credit is something Uber drivers actually lose at this level of income when they reduce their taxable income. Earned income credit is essentially free money from the government. For example, if you have two kids and have $18,000 of income for the year, the government literally gives you another $4,000. And I mean literally literally. This free money requires that you make income in order to get it. If you make $0, then you get $0 in earned income credit. As you make more and more up to $18000, the more of the credit you earn up to $4000 (for two kids). Then as you make more and more up to $30,000 the credit gets smaller and smaller.

To sum up the above paragraph, pretty much all full time Uber drivers at these new rates would be better off not even claiming the costs of operating their car as a deduction, as they would be able to maximize the earned income credit and net more after taxes then they actually made. Claiming any deduction, let alone the entire $0.56 would result in a net loss.

In the end, the only drivers who benefit from the deduction are those with another job earning more than $30,000 before the extra Uber income.


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## dominicr (Jan 2, 2015)

What I notice is that a lot of drivers are just standing still at apartment comcomplexes. Ergo they are watching tv or so untill the app beeps.


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## Luberon (Nov 24, 2014)

dominicr said:


> What I notice is that a lot of drivers are just standing still at apartment comcomplexes. Ergo they are watching tv or so untill the app beeps.


Point is when the app beeps you have to drive 10-15 minutes on average to pickup your passenger and also drive a few miles back home or to the next hot spot after dropping off your pax. These miles are not paid for by the rider. These are the (un)dead miles.


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## Luberon (Nov 24, 2014)

UberHammer said:


> I love the posters that respond to the posters who have done the math with the "well, they're ignoring the tax deduction benefits".
> 
> Yes it's true, claiming $0.56 in costs for every mile driven while doing Uber (including empty miles) will result in a tax benefit when the real cost for every mile driven is $0.35 (or $0.30, or $0.40, or whatever). The benefit however depends on the tax rate you would pay on your next dollar of earned income.
> 
> ...


Driving uberx for tax deduction benefits is like getting into credit card debt solely to gain rewards points.
Even if you made 100k a year which no uberx driver does  there are a million better ways to make/save 420$ than driving drunk smelly brats10,000 miles. 
Tax deduction benefits is nothing more than a troll point. It is potential tax releif of 03.06 cents (15.3% of 20cents) of self employment tax per mile due on whatever profit you make on uberx. 
So for every mile you drive for uber you pay the govt 3.06 cents in taxes less than you otherwise should if you used your real expenses .36 instead of .56.
In simple terms drive 1000 miles for uber and save 30.6$ in self employment tax for every 1000 uber miles. The only caveat is the deduction applies only IF you made a profit.


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## UrbanFisherman (Jan 2, 2015)

http://www.atlantaintownpaper.com/2...ers-protest-marta-mlk-schedule-trees-atlanta/


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