# Does the $ in your trip history add up to what your payed? if so Im missing $50 out of my first pay



## umbra88 (Feb 22, 2015)

I've tried going through uber for help but even though i dont think its automated it sure feels like it. And I've gotten no real help. So..
My first week of uber i made $159.17. I got that number by adding up all my trip history fares. The payment i recieved was almost $50 short of that. Am i not calculating my costs correctly or am I not getting rightfully paid? Its a simple question, Im not sure why after emailing back and forth to two different uber reps I still dont know.
Thanks for the help and time
Jake


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## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

$50 difference is prolly your Uber phone deposit installment.

To calculate your payout:
($Fares - SRFs) x 0.8 = Payout
$Fares = total of a week's Fares
SRFs = # of Fares @ $1/Ride SRF


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## umbra88 (Feb 22, 2015)

Thanks for the response. Way more helpful then the reps at uber.
So if I add my total $ from fares in the trip history minus it by the number of trips I took and times it by .8 then It it comes out exactly to what I was paid. $112.936. 
My misconception was that the safety fare and 20% of what uber takes was included in the fare that you see in trip history. Im like 90% sure I heard that through Uber. 
What exactly does SRF stand for? Safety rate fee?


so all in all after 2 nights and a lil over 6 hrs of driving for my first uber experience I made 112.936. Somewhere around $15 an hr. considering gas. 
Not that bad really. I have to say uber is by far the sketchiest company i've ever worked for. First of all taking 20% of tips isn't cool to me and also probably illegal. Then I feel like it was misrepresented to me what the fares consist of. Working with uber for support seems as difficult and bureaucratic as calling a 1800 number. And after hearing about so many law suits, ruthless behavior, and complaints about Uber I'm still not sure if I'll actually start driving for them seriously...


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## Fauxknight (Aug 12, 2014)

umbra88 said:


> Thanks for the response. Way more helpful then the reps at uber.
> So if I add my total $ from fares in the trip history minus it by the number of trips I took and times it by .8 then It it comes out exactly to what I was paid. $112.936.
> My misconception was that the safety fare and 20% of what uber takes was included in the fare that you see in trip history. Im like 90% sure I heard that through Uber.
> What exactly does SRF stand for? Safety rate fee?


SRF = Safe Rider Fee, $1 per ride and in all reality, on Uber's side it's likely just pooled in with the rest of their take as part of their profit. If you work Lyft as well this can get a bit confusing as Lyft only shows you the fare before they add the $1 fee, but overall both companies charge the customer and pay the driver in an identical manner.

Otherwise they then take 20% of the rest and that is what you are paid, possibly minus a device fee if you are using their phone, if so they might charge $10/week.



> so all in all after 2 nights and a lil over 6 hrs of driving for my first uber experience I made 112.936. Somewhere around $15 an hr. considering gas.
> Not that bad really. I have to say uber is by far the sketchiest company i've ever worked for. First of all taking 20% of tips isn't cool to me and also probably illegal. Then I feel like it was misrepresented to me what the fares consist of. Working with uber for support seems as difficult and bureaucratic as calling a 1800 number. And after hearing about so many law suits, ruthless behavior, and complaints about Uber I'm still not sure if I'll actually start driving for them seriously...


Uber isn't taking 20% of your tips, they take 20% of your fares. The only way to receive tips is for the customer to hand you cash, and you get to keep all of that.

Otherwise not too bad of pay, but remember gas is only a small portion of your expenses, maintenance, repairs, and depreciation will cost more than your gas does.

99.8% of the time there is no reason to contact Uber support (at least for me, I've contacted them 2-3 times in over 1500 rides). The market depends on how fast their response and how good they are at supporting their drivers. All support I've sent in has been replied to rather quickly, but I've been lucky enough to not have any major issues yet.


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## Uber SUCKS for drivers! (Jan 1, 2015)

umbra88 said:


> Thanks for the response. Way more helpful then the reps at uber.
> So if I add my total $ from fares in the trip history minus it by the number of trips I took and times it by .8 then It it comes out exactly to what I was paid. $112.936.
> My misconception was that the safety fare and 20% of what uber takes was included in the fare that you see in trip history. Im like 90% sure I heard that through Uber.
> What exactly does SRF stand for? Safety rate fee?
> ...


Please dont use the term "I made", you didnt "make" anything, all u did was just "sell a chunk of ur car" (at a discount). It just "feels" like U "earned" some $, but unfortunately, u actually lost $, or lets say you "stole some $ out of ur car".
Every Uber driver in the country is actually losing money now, from the moment they leave their driveway.
Every mile you drive costs you approx. 55cents total (gas is already in there), so if you drove 300 miles total over your 2 nights, it actually cost you $165 to "make" $113. So you just went from "not too bad, +$15/hr" to actually LOSING $52, or "pretty awefull, I actually LOST -$9/hr"! This is the "Uber Illusion" and why all the smart drivers have already quit. Nobody actually "earns" anything, you are just selling your car one piece at a time, and calling it "income", but its not.
Its "cashflow" above gas, thats why it "feels" like income, but its not, ur just "borrowing" $ out of ur car. Sorry for the brutal reality call, but I am just trying to "save" one driver at a time! :-(


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## umbra88 (Feb 22, 2015)

extra expense/wear and tear on your car is a factor to be considered and I appreciate yall reminding me that. I admit I never thought of it being more of a cost than gas. So how are you figuring 55cents a mile? If thats the case then Its more like $13.231 an hr. Still not all that bad. I went just over 60 miles in the 2 nights of driving I've done. 
maintenance repair and depreciation I cant imagine being that bad If your using uber like me and only driving for like 4 or 5 hours on particularly busy nights. super part time kind of thing. I imagine if it was more a full time gig it would be more of an issue, but loosing 9$ an hr or saying any money your payed is basically taken out of the value of your car/resale money I think can't be 100% accurate. Please enlighten me other wise. 
I'm not trying to defend Uber so dont get me wrong. All in all I think its horrible that with the power/money and potential uber has to give people real well paid jobs and to see them squeeze the drivers is soooo ****ed up. But on the flip side I think it does give people with no work otherwise some kind of money. Even if its not very good money.


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## Fauxknight (Aug 12, 2014)

Value of car divided over life expectancy in miles, or current value minus future value divided by miles driven during that time.

Depreciation is usually a pretty big hit, but it varies wildly on the current value of the vehicle. Newer vehicles depreciate very quickly, but are very low in the maintenance/repair costs. Maintenance and repairs work the opposite, they're just a few cents a mile on new cars, but go up quickly as the vehicle gets older.

Regardless of all these costs you can indeed make a profit. Keep the miles low and drive during your markets profitable hours, usually Fri/Sat nights. Early mornings are often good for airport runs, but you'll rack up a ton of dead miles, so they aren't good for the long term profit.


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## Uber SUCKS for drivers! (Jan 1, 2015)

umbra88 said:


> extra expense/wear and tear on your car is a factor to be considered and I appreciate yall reminding me that. I admit I never thought of it being more of a cost than gas. So how are you figuring 55cents a mile? If thats the case then Its more like $13.231 an hr. Still not all that bad. I went just over 60 miles in the 2 nights of driving I've done.
> maintenance repair and depreciation I cant imagine being that bad If your using uber like me and only driving for like 4 or 5 hours on particularly busy nights. super part time kind of thing. I imagine if it was more a full time gig it would be more of an issue, but loosing 9$ an hr or saying any money your payed is basically taken out of the value of your car/resale money I think can't be 100% accurate. Please enlighten me other wise.
> I'm not trying to defend Uber so dont get me wrong. All in all I think its horrible that with the power/money and potential uber has to give people real well paid jobs and to see them squeeze the drivers is soooo ****ed up. But on the flip side I think it does give people with no work otherwise some kind of money. Even if its not very good money.


Well, maybe ur doing better than I expected? But, there's no way you totaled $160 in fares, driving only 60 miles??? How did that happen?? Something doesnt add up. Unless you were incredibly lucky with all 4x surging? (U probably dont even know what that is?) What is the per mile rate in ur city? Most major markets are at 75c/mile now, which would require driving passengers 215 miles to gross $160, plus typically another 200 unpaid miles, for a total of 400 miles, costing you $220! Typically, if your markets per mile rate is below $1.50 (& they all are) then ur actually losing money. Remember, we're not just talking about just paid miles while driving a passenger, all miles driven from ur house & back cost about $.55/mile, this is the normal total operating cost for a vehichle (& IRS standard), yes, 5 times just gas$. It doesnt matter at all that u just drive "a little", or part time, all miles cost the same. These deferred hidden total costs is what creates the "Uber illusion" of "making $". Desperate drivers nievely look only at "cash flow" over and above gas, but are really just "selling their car" in little pieces, not "earning any real wage". Please explain how you did $160 in only 60 miles??? Thats almost $3/mile (doesnt exist anywhere in the country) with a paying customer the whole time (and no "dead miles"), not possible, somehow ur confused?


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## Uber SUCKS for drivers! (Jan 1, 2015)

Ok, I see that Austin is still at $1.30/mile, which is one of the highest left in the country (good for you, but about to drop soon). That being said, (without surging) 60 miles would give you gross fares of only $80, and about $60 net to you, before expenses, but cost you about $60 in true total operating expenses, with half "dead miles" (which is normal), so ... Basically working for free. It just "feels" like ur making $. :-( please explain how you think u "grossed" $160 only putting 60 miles on ur car??


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