# Longhauling a dollar surge trip and Uber still lost money



## nickd8775 (Jul 12, 2015)

I had a long trip after an event with a $8 surge. I of course went the long way that only added 3 more minutes but 20 more miles. Uber still adjusted the $8 surge upwards to $33. However, I received $90 and the passenger paid only $88, which meant that Uber lost money. 
I guess that Uber adjusts your share of the surge for longer trips in advance. You get that much surge no matter what route you go within reason. That could result in Uber losing money if you go the long way


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## SurgeMasterMN (Sep 10, 2016)

nickd8775 said:


> I had a long trip after an event with a $8 surge. I of course went the long way that only added 3 more minutes but 20 more miles. Uber still adjusted the $8 surge upwards to $33. However, I received $90 and the passenger paid only $88, which meant that Uber lost money.
> I guess that Uber adjusts your share of the surge for longer trips in advance. You get that much surge no matter what route you go within reason. That could result in Uber losing money if you go the long way


You are correct ?


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## highsky (Feb 15, 2017)

The problem with dollar surge is that you do not know upfront if the surge is going to be adjusted or not, it's a gamble.


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## 10G (Jul 21, 2015)

Another problem is you don't know if the rider pay surge in the first place. Sometime rider request before the surge and their request get bounce around or cancel on. It then pings you when you have a high surge attach. It was surging 13 dollar in my area. Rider are paying at least 3x. Got a ping and after dropping off them off. Trip show rider request time was 20 minute before I accept it. He pay base fare so I didnt get readjust. If this was on the multiplier. His ping would have came as base fare. I would had rejected it.

Multiplier is better. Since ping will show if rider request with surge or without. I had 5x comes in after surge drop to 2x. The rider was cancel on so it came to me with her original surge when she requested.


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## Amos69 (May 17, 2019)

highsky said:


> The problem with dollar surge is that you do not know upfront if the surge is going to be adjusted or not, it's a gamble.


But you do if you are paying attention to the circumstances. He'll in Seattle market Surge literally "rots" away.

There is some grey area on when that transition happens, but for the most part I am never surprised. I already know the situation.


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## DRB720 (Nov 5, 2018)

nickd8775 said:


> I had a long trip after an event with a $8 surge. I of course went the long way that only added 3 more minutes but 20 more miles. Uber still adjusted the $8 surge upwards to $33. However, I received $90 and the passenger paid only $88, which meant that Uber lost money.
> I guess that Uber adjusts your share of the surge for longer trips in advance. You get that much surge no matter what route you go within reason. That could result in Uber losing money if you go the long way


Doesn't Uber adjust the rate now for the route? I had a trip down by me -- I think we may drive in similar markets-- and remember talking with the pax about upfront pricing-- and seeing his rate go up a little bit as I took the next bridge south.


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## RoyalTee85 (Dec 3, 2016)

highsky said:


> The problem with dollar surge is that you do not know upfront if the surge is going to be adjusted or not, it's a gamble.


If you receive the request DURING an active surge, the surge will adjust dependent upon the time and distance traveled. If the surge isn't active when you get the request, you only receive a "shadow surge". I love that "shadow surge" with a long multi-passenger pool. Uber always lose money that way


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## Exit67 (Jul 16, 2015)

nickd8775 said:


> I had a long trip after an event with a $8 surge. I of course went the long way that only added 3 more minutes but 20 more miles. Uber still adjusted the $8 surge upwards to $33. However, I received $90 and the passenger paid only $88, which meant that Uber lost money.
> I guess that Uber adjusts your share of the surge for longer trips in advance. You get that much surge no matter what route you go within reason. That could result in Uber losing money if you go the long way


You can cover 20 miles in three minutes?


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## Tampa Bay Hauler (May 2, 2019)

Exit67 said:


> You can cover 20 miles in three minutes?


I'm glad somebody on this forum is awake.


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## highsky (Feb 15, 2017)

RoyalTee85 said:


> If you receive the request DURING an active surge, the surge will adjust dependent upon the time and distance traveled. If the surge isn't active when you get the request, you only receive a "shadow surge". I love that "shadow surge" with a long multi-passenger pool. Uber always lose money that way


There is no way to know the adjustment rate, is it going to be 1.4, 1.8, 2x or 3x? taking a long trip with deadhead miles is not worth unless it has a minimum 2x surge, with the old surge it was clear how much you are going to get paid but now it's a crapshoot.


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## DriverMark (Jan 22, 2018)

highsky said:


> The problem with dollar surge is that you do not know upfront if the surge is going to be adjusted or not, it's a gamble.


Yea. Why I don't long haul out to the concert venues in my area. I've been burned with only $5 of the surge instead of it multiplying out to whatever magical number they pre-determined. Ends up not being worth the risk for me in those scenarios.


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## Disgusted Driver (Jan 9, 2015)

Exit67 said:


> You can cover 20 miles in three minutes?


Umm, short way could be on city street with lights going 15 mph, long way on highway going out of the way at 70 mph.


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## KK2929 (Feb 9, 2017)

Exit67 said:


> You can cover 20 miles in three minutes?


-------------------------------
Frankly, I that is not possible in a car, even on the freeway with little traffic. Maybe he meant 2 miles.


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## Disgusted Driver (Jan 9, 2015)

KK2929 said:


> -------------------------------
> Frankly, I that is not possible in a car, even on the freeway with little traffic. Maybe he meant 2 miles.


I think you folks are missing the point or not understanding. I'm not the OP but I think what they are saying is something along the lines of:
Route A: City streets 15 miles an hour over 7.5 miles would take 30 minutes
Route B: All highway, I drive around the loop or out of the way and drive 35 miles at 65 miles an hour, would take about 32 minutes

I get paid a lot more for route B!!!!

Get it now? Do we need a class on longhauling? Perhaps @New2This can school you!


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## New2This (Dec 27, 2015)

Disgusted Driver said:


> I think you folks are missing the point or not understanding. I'm not the OP but I think what they are saying is something along the lines of:
> Route A: City streets 15 miles an hour over 7.5 miles would take 30 minutes
> Route B: All highway, I drive around the loop or out of the way and drive 35 miles at 65 miles an hour, would take about 32 minutes
> 
> ...


I'll give you and @KK2929 both autographed copies of my #1 UPNet bestseller:










I have to make an audiobook for this. Maybe either James Earl Jones or Morgan Freeman reading it.



Exit67 said:


> You can cover 20 miles in three minutes?


Three minute difference in the route times was what he meant. Highway miles always make you more money than surface streets.

Here's an example. Downtown D.C. to Silver Spring MD. Assume non rush hour traffic.

There are two ways to go:

Example A: through town, hitting every goddamn mistimed light in the city and going over roads so horrible that people in Afghanistan laugh at their condition:










Example B: a nice highway, must less stress on you and less wear and tear on your car:










Which would you pick? Notice that B is TWICE the miles and 10 minutes less time.

You make more money for mileage not sitting in gridlock traffic.

In this example if you take Route A you're shooting yourself in the foot financially.


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## sporadic (Jan 20, 2016)

Unfortunately, most drivers don't have the idea that 30 miles on the freeway can be cleared faster than 15 miles on a street with 10 traffic lights. Traffic lights always tack on time as well.

The best taxi drivers in the trade would also be longhauling the heck out of any trips that they get. Freeway mileage is gold to them.

Also, most drivers wouldn't have an inkling that Uber would have charged them the longhaul route upfront, either.

Imagine charging the pax upfront for Route B and using the Uber GPS to send the driver down Route A?

Goodness, Uber would be making their way out like a bandit. Especially if the driver is an obedient antployee who follows the GPS to the last turn.

Then those antployees get onto an online forum and complain that the pax paid $20 but they only got paid $8, and those "wages" are unfair. Oh, brother.



New2This said:


> I'll give you and @KK2929 both autographed copies of my #1 UPNet bestseller:
> 
> View attachment 361165
> 
> ...


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## The Gift of Fish (Mar 17, 2017)

Exit67 said:


> You can cover 20 miles in three minutes?


Oh Dios mio.


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