# How I Survived Driving Part-Time in the Suburbs



## kcdrvr15 (Jan 10, 2017)

The next step is, check with your insurance agent, ask them how much for commercial livery insurance for your vehicle, get the recommended amount from your insurance agent for your state, if it's not too expensive, as in only $2-$300 more per year, consider getting setup for a "car service". You might find out that alot of your tipping customers in the suburbs will call you directly or even make an appointment with you for ride. You don't need taxi lic, but in some jurisdictions you will need a " Livery" lic. In my market, it only cost me an extra $200 year for commercial insurance, the livery lic cost $12.50, and my "livery permit" is my commercial drivers lic. I get a lot of calls directly from former uber/lyft pax that I gave my b-card to.


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## NotanEmployee (Apr 20, 2019)

yep, take the time and figure out what works in your area. work smarter not harder! ???


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## VanGuy (Feb 15, 2019)

I'd say take your data and identify spots that really are good for getting tips, and then see if there's anything around there you'd enjoy doing while you're on call. For example, if I could hang out at the stripper bar and know I stood a good chance of getting a good ride with a decent tip I'd be all over that.


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## TheDevilisaParttimer (Jan 2, 2019)

Your methods are flawed. All your strategies include lots of dead miles and wasted time.


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## NotMe (Sep 5, 2017)

Dilemma is simple: you can’t make money without driving but any none payed miles kill your profit. Solution is DF while commute or on the way back home. Unfortunately when probably to get ride towards your destination is low it does not work thus you should drive only when chances get home with rider are hi.


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## IMMA DRIVER (Jul 6, 2017)

Ylinks said:


> *All I wanted to do was make $200 a week driving 10 to 12 hours for Uber. I thought it would be easy but it led me on a 1,500 trip odyssey. *
> 
> A little less than 3 years ago my wife and I retired. We sold our house and moved into a condo near by. The leases on our cars ended and we leased a Honda Accord to save money. We justified becoming a one car family by saying that if we needed another car we could just take Uber. Our first Uber experience came about a year later. My wife had to fly to a family wedding and she took an Uber to the airport. A couple of weeks after her trip she came home from the store and informed me that we had put less than 4,000 miles on the Honda in over a year. She said that because we have all these miles that we're paying for and not using I should try driving for Uber. She thought it would be a good way for me to get out of the house and besides it wouldn't hurt to have some extra money. Now, it would be an understatement to say that her suggestion didn't go over very well at first. But soon enough, there I was taking pictures of my license and other auto documents. In what seemed like only hours I was approved. Because I had never been in an Uber we decided to practice before I tried driving for real. We got in the car. My wife ordered an Uber. I took the request and we headed to a local bar. When we arrived she jokingly tipped me $5. *Little did I know, at that time, I wouldn't be seeing many $5 tips. *
> 
> ...


How are you calculating your "Work Time"? Are you just guessing here? Your last screen shot seems like you're sitting at home with your app on for 7 hrs with no pings. Something doesn't add up here.


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## oldfart (Dec 22, 2017)

my market is small town/suburban and vacation home/retirement home market and our market is seasonal. My goals are to gross $1250 a week in season and $750 a week in the off season. I dont think about dollars per hour, For me the most important number is total dollars earned, but I want to do it in the most efficient way possible, ie in the least amount of time and driving the fewest miles 

So to that end (efficiency) I have been keeping three set of numbers since the first of the year. 

paid time vs total time about 33%
paid miles vs total miles about 50%

looking at your pie chart our numbers are pretty close,,, It looks to me that you are getting paid for just 25% of your time and 50% of your miles We are pretty close I think

I am always trying to balance wasted time against against wasted (dead) miles.. What Ive found when I try to improve my paid time ratio, by driving to my favorite "hot spot", after a drop off, my dead miles are out of control and when I try to improve my paid miles ratio my wasted time ratio goes all to hell Things seem to fall into a nice balance when my paid time is at about 33% (if i read you last pie chart correctly yours is at 25%) and like yours my paid miles are at about 50% of total miles.

and the third number i keep is the most important and that is

gross income to total miles. 

Year to date im at 71 cents per mile, I finished last year at 67 cents per mile. Given the number of miles I drive that's almost a $3000/yr improvement. So Im happy, but I want to do better


In any case I want to do better and other than trying limit long pickups and then working where the ride takes me, Im not sure what I can do working the uber and lyft apps to do better... So Im asking the same question as you..... What now?

What Im doing is what kcdrer15 advises in his post above I bought commercial insurance and got my Vehicle for Hire permit and formed my little airport transportation business. Now when I take someone to or from the airport I give them my card and ask for their future business. I charge the same thing uber would charge but I keep the whole fare which amounts to a 50% pay raise


I envy your position.. You are driving a car that costs you nothing (beyond the lease payments) except gas...If you had to consider depreciation, repairs and maintenance, I bet that dollars per hour number you calculated would change a lot


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## OldBay (Apr 1, 2019)

Sitting at home waiting for pings is no different than waiting in the airport lot waiting for trips. You still aren't free.

I've tried the waiting at home and it only works when I'm about to start a shift.

Depending on your market you can probably do better. Longer shifts will cut down dead miles

Sitting at home waiting for pings is no different than waiting in the airport lot waiting for trips. You still aren't free.

I've tried the waiting at home and it only works when I'm about to start a shift.

Depending on your market you can probably do better. Longer shifts will cut down dead miles


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## Munsuta (May 4, 2019)

Ylinks said:


> She thought it would be a good way for me to get out of the house


I stopped reading right here. XD dead. oh god my sides


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## Ylinks (Apr 22, 2019)

IMMA DRIVER said:


> How are you calculating your "Work Time"? Are you just guessing here? Your last screen shot seems like you're sitting at home with your app on for 7 hrs with no pings. Something doesn't add up here.


Good observation. I only drive in the afternoon. I usually turn the app on around noon and off by 4PM. I can honestly say that after more than 1600 trips I have never driven during rush hour or at night. To make matters even worse, fully half of the miles I drive are dead miles. I actually believe that it is impossible to avoid this if you drive in the suburbs. Uber has had a much greater impact on the suburbs than it has on the city. In the city you could always call a taxi. In the city Uber is just a matter of cost. Before Uber you were out of luck in the suburbs. There were no cabs. Here is a perfect example. A few days ago the battery in my Honda went dead. I pulled the battery out. Got an Uber to take me to the dealership. Got a new battery. Came home via Uber and put the new battery in the car. Total time was less than an hour. And yes, I tipped the driver $10. Before Uber, if you lived in the suburbs, this would have been a major inconvenience. If you drive the right people in the suburbs they understand the value of your service and are quite willing to reward you. Remember I said I accept less than half of my trip requests. I never accept a trip unless the combination of rider rating and pickup location tells me I have a high probability of getting a decent tip. So, yeah, I sit around at home with the app "finding trips" for about half the time. It's not unusual for me to decline 6 or 7 in a row. But it's not like I am just sitting around waiting for a ping. What do I do while I'm sitting around waiting for a trip I'll accept? Well, for one thing, I wrote this article and made the graphics while online. Maybe this week I'll write an article about how Uber has changed life in the suburbs while I'm waiting for a trip.

BTW: I just may also get a few dollars in cash tips that I didn't include. Lol.



OldBay said:


> Sitting at home waiting for pings is no different than waiting in the airport lot waiting for trips. You still aren't free.


As I wrote to IMMA DRIVER:

"What do I do while I'm sitting around waiting for a trip I'll accept? Well, for one thing, I wrote this article and made the graphics while online."

Maybe this week I'll write another article for a site that pays for content.


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## Ylinks (Apr 22, 2019)

oldfart said:


> I envy your position.. You are driving a car that costs you nothing (beyond the lease payments) except gas...If you had to consider depreciation, repairs and maintenance, I bet that dollars per hour number you calculated would change a lot


I went over my miles on the lease so I extended it for 12 months. At the end of that time I will buy it for about $300/month for 3 years (with zero down). Add $42/month for an extended warranty. So my expenses will be pretty much the same.

*Of course, by then Uber will be paying $0.15/mile and $0.02/min. LOL*

Also, please understand I did not write this article for people who need rideshare income to survive. I wrote it for part time suburban rideshare drivers. Uber says most of their drivers are part timers. My goal is a modest $200 per week with no constraints on my working hours. Cherry picking rides the way I do I would have to go online 96 hours per week to make $1200. If I passed out my card I might have an appointment to pickup somebody at 10AM on Thursday. If it's a beautiful Thursday morning I'll be on the beach. That's why Uber works for me.


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## Dammit Mazzacane (Dec 31, 2015)

How large is your city / suburb? This might be a BIG factor in local action.


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## TheDevilisaParttimer (Jan 2, 2019)

Ylinks said:


> Good observation. I only drive in the afternoon. I usually turn the app on around noon and off by 4PM. I can honestly say that after more than 1600 trips I have never driven during rush hour or at night. To make matters even worse, fully half of the miles I drive are dead miles. I actually believe that it is impossible to avoid this if you drive in the suburbs. Uber has had a much greater impact on the suburbs than it has on the city. In the city you could always call a taxi. In the city Uber is just a matter of cost. Before Uber you were out of luck in the suburbs. There were no cabs. Here is a perfect example. A few days ago the battery in my Honda went dead. I pulled the battery out. Got an Uber to take me to the dealership. Got a new battery. Came home via Uber and put the new battery in the car. Total time was less than an hour. And yes, I tipped the driver $10. Before Uber, if you lived in the suburbs, this would have been a major inconvenience. If you drive the right people in the suburbs they understand the value of your service and are quite willing to reward you. Remember I said I accept less than half of my trip requests. I never accept a trip unless the combination of rider rating and pickup location tells me I have a high probability of getting a decent tip. So, yeah, I sit around at home with the app "finding trips" for about half the time. It's not unusual for me to decline 6 or 7 in a row. But it's not like I am just sitting around waiting for a ping. What do I do while I'm sitting around waiting for a trip I'll accept? Well, for one thing, I wrote this article and made the graphics while online. Maybe this week I'll write an article about how Uber has changed life in the suburbs while I'm waiting for a trip.
> 
> BTW: I just may also get a few dollars in cash tips that I didn't include. Lol.
> 
> ...


Or you could figure out when, where, and why people move about the city and capitalize.

If you actually treated this like a real job you could meet your goals in 8 hours and be done for the week. Instead of sitting around waiting on the perfect ping.

In the afternoon people are driving to the suburbs not away so your pings are already halved because of your start time. Ideally they come back to back to cut time waste and dead mileage. Every time you go back home your racking up dead miles and time waste too. That's just two small observations.

Really rethink your plan of attack and execution. I do this part time and have a regular full time job. 3-4 hours right time and place +$100 then free for the rest of the day.


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## MadTownUberD (Mar 11, 2017)

Have you considered taking really LONG pickups, like 15-20 minutes away? At least in my market, I get paid a decent amount just to drive to the pickup, and that affects cancel fees as well. I find I do well in terms of gross $/mile on mornings when I seem to be the only car in the city driving way out to the suburbs to pick people up and take them all they way to the airport.


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## JimD (Oct 25, 2017)

If you want to understand someone's behavior, you must first understand their perspective.......
........................................................Dr. Robert G. Brown, Fl. Atl. Univ., circa 1980 something lol


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## Kurt Halfyard (Dec 13, 2017)

I do a very similar thing. I get a fair bit done around the house while 'on call' in the evenings. 
My dead miles are less expensive --both in fuel and maintenance because I'm driving EV-- and when at home I am always 'fueling'.
I generally make between $200-$600 a week. 
Tipping however is less than 5% of my earnings.
My strategy is to keep my expenses very low (fuel, maintenence).


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## Declineathon (Feb 12, 2019)

NotMe said:


> Dilemma is simple: you can't make money without driving but any none payed miles kill your profit. Solution is DF while commute or on the way back home. Unfortunately when probably to get ride towards your destination is low it does not work thus you should drive only when chances get home with rider are hi.


Some drivers set the destination filter to their home zipcode, so they dont get drawn out of bounds


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## Ylinks (Apr 22, 2019)

Dammit Mazzacane said:


> How large is your city / suburb? This might be a BIG factor in local action.


Jupiter, FL 65,000.


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## Declineathon (Feb 12, 2019)

I liked your post. 

I'd like to hear more on how you bumped the tips up to half the passengers. I used to get appx 11% digital / 4% in cash. Now I get about 20% overall. I want to improve. (have the homespun tip sign, obvious spot to glance the 1's 5's and 20's, and mention tipping when it's appropriate). How did you data mine, and find high tipping area's- I'm no where near Jupiter FLA, so I'd be keen to know if they are: Airports, golf clubs, dentist offices, etc. 

We drivers are up against a behemoth of newly minted MBA's with degrees in Behavioral Sciences, triggering our responses towards counterproductive pickups. One must take back control of ones own reactions to this invasive app.

I do something similar to you: The car is fueled up and clean ready for the morning. If my body wakes me up early enough, I turn on the app, cut the sound off (Android-Settings-Notifications-Quiet all Notifications) And just wait for a Longride 45+ with long pickup. Main point- I stay put. There's no miles on the car, it's cost free to me to wait.

From there, I park and cherrypick for <4mile pickups, etc. Eventually, using the Destination Filter to get back homeward.

I think it's really healthy for us drivers to take some time and figure out an approach. 

Driving around with both apps flashing rides is dangerous, anxiety giving, full of mistakes and u-turns, and just in general bad for your health and the rest of us driving- 

Parked, crosswords, in the shade, favorite music on- Yeah that's the trick. 

I've got maximizing time and minimizing dead miles under control, now I'd like to improve extracting the most out of each ride- namely tips.


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## oldfart (Dec 22, 2017)

Ylinks said:


> I went over my miles on the lease so I extended it for 12 months. At the end of that time I will buy it for about $300/month for 3 years (with zero down). Add $42/month for an extended warranty. So my expenses will be pretty much the same.
> 
> *Of course, by then Uber will be paying $0.15/mile and $0.02/min. LOL*
> 
> Also, please understand I did not write this article for people who need rideshare income to survive. I wrote it for part time suburban rideshare drivers. Uber says most of their drivers are part timers. My goal is a modest $200 per week with no constraints on my working hours. Cherry picking rides the way I do I would have to go online 96 hours per week to make $1200. If I passed out my card I might have an appointment to pickup somebody at 10AM on Thursday. If it's a beautiful Thursday morning I'll be on the beach. That's why Uber works for me.


The point of my post was that as different as our goals and hours worked are, our results are pretty much the same. And that is:

We are only earning 25% to 40% of the time we are on line and only 50% of our miles are paid miles


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## Ylinks (Apr 22, 2019)

Declineathon said:


> I liked your post.
> 
> I'd like to hear more on how you bumped the tips up to half the passengers. I used to get appx 11% digital / 4% in cash. Now I get about 20% overall. I want to improve. (have the homespun tip sign, obvious spot to glance the 1's 5's and 20's, and mention tipping when it's appropriate). How did you data mine, and find high tipping area's- I'm no where near Jupiter FLA, so I'd be keen to know if they are: Airports, golf clubs, dentist offices, etc.
> 
> ...


Jupiter, Florida is located 85 miles North of Miami and 18 miles/20 min north of Palm Beach International Airport. Known for golf and medical facilities. Jupiter was recently in the news. NE Patriots owner Robert Kraft was arrested for solicitation at Jupiter's Orchids of Asia Day Spa. When PAX ask me why I drive for Uber I tell them it's because I don't have anything to do since the police closed the day spa.


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## Declineathon (Feb 12, 2019)

Yeah, but the tips. My medical rides are not high performers, but half my airport rides are.

Golf? Some. Not all. Torrey pines is actually full of cheapskates.

Where are the good tippers in Jupiter?


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## BobMarley (Feb 12, 2019)

oldfart said:


> The point of my post was that as different as our goals and hours worked are, our results are pretty much the same. And that is:
> 
> We are only earning 25% to 40% of the time we are on line and only 50% of our miles are paid miles


Dual apping and ignoring most long pickups, has pushed me up to about 75% of my miles being paid. I went from showing a slight taxable loss, to about a taxable profit of 30 cents a mile last week.


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## Ylinks (Apr 22, 2019)

Declineathon said:


> Yeah, but the tips. My medical rides are not high performers, but half my airport rides are.
> 
> Golf? Some. Not all. Torrey pines is actually full of cheapskates.
> 
> Where are the good tippers in Jupiter?


I have to laugh. You are near Scripts in CA. We have a Scripts here in Jupiter. High tech workers are the cheapest people on earth. They not only don't tip but they think you are a peasant. (Why do you think Uber pays you so little?) They really hate techies in Las Vegas. When they have their convention the joke is they bring 2 white shirts and 2 $20 bills and don't break either.

My experience in the suburbs tells me that people who have cars and use Uber occasionally tend to tip. Consistent Uber users without cars pretty much don't. Single family homes have garages. Garages have cars. Picking up a PAX with a 4.90+ rating from a single family home gives you a reasonable expectation of a decent tip. But, stay away from really high end housing. You'll be picking up the help.

As for golf courses, I must admit that I very seldom get stiffed by golfers.

Hey, I'm retired. Retired as in Social Security, 401Ks, VA pension. Uber driving is about the least intrusive job possible. Where else can you get a job with out being interviewed by some 25 year old kid who knows it all? $200 a week buys a lot of beer and pizza.


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## Declineathon (Feb 12, 2019)

BobMarley said:


> Dual apping and ignoring most long pickups, has pushed me up to about 75% of my miles being paid. I went from showing a slight taxable loss, to about a taxable profit of 30 cents a mile last week.


So, .89c gross revenue?


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## BobMarley (Feb 12, 2019)

Declineathon said:


> So, .89c gross revenue?


I got 87c per mile on my spreadsheet (OK so really 29c taxable). That includes cash tips, I keep track of all miles on a 3rd party app, and I deduct 8 miles for any trip in which I start at my day job and end at home, or vice versa. 8 miles being my commute distance. I was around 50c the first couple of weeks I did this.


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## Declineathon (Feb 12, 2019)

BobMarley said:


> I got 87c per mile on my spreadsheet (OK so really 29c taxable). That includes cash tips, I keep track of all miles on a 3rd party app, and I deduct 8 miles for any trip in which I start at my day job and end at home, or vice versa. 8 miles being my commute distance. I was around 50c the first couple of weeks I did this.


Thats good, i keep records too. I pull in (gross) $200 a shift in appx 200 miles. At the weeks end I net $1.09 a mile after gas.

I do take longrides, but deep a.m. only. I sit and wait. Never chase. And dont work nights.

I dont always do rideshare, but when i do i cherrypick.
Stay choosy my friend


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## FLKeys (Dec 27, 2018)

Markets are different. My market is rural/tourism. I am hard pressed to do better than 50% paid miles to total miles. I keep excellent detailed records and analysis them constantly. I can increase my paid miles to around 70% however doing so involves a lot of down time sitting in the car waiting for a ping and total revenue goes down even though earnings per mile goes up. So I have to work out that fine line park where I dropped off and wait 2+ hours for a ping or drive back to key areas and wait a lot less for a ping.

Unlike others I do not factor in my time for one simple reason. If I don't have the time I don't drive. I already know dedicating time that could be spent doing something productive is a lost cause when it comes to rideshare. The time I use for driving is the time I would be pissing away watching TV or out spending money that I really don't need to spend.


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## stpetej (Jul 3, 2017)

Ylinks said:


> *All I wanted to do was make $200 a week driving 10 to 12 hours for Uber. I thought it would be easy but it led me on a 1,500 trip odyssey. *
> 
> A little less than 3 years ago my wife and I retired. We sold our house and moved into a condo near by. The leases on our cars ended and we leased a Honda Accord to save money. We justified becoming a one car family by saying that if we needed another car we could just take Uber. Our first Uber experience came about a year later. My wife had to fly to a family wedding and she took an Uber to the airport. A couple of weeks after her trip she came home from the store and informed me that we had put less than 4,000 miles on the Honda in over a year. She said that because we have all these miles that we're paying for and not using I should try driving for Uber. She thought it would be a good way for me to get out of the house and besides it wouldn't hurt to have some extra money. Now, it would be an understatement to say that her suggestion didn't go over very well at first. But soon enough, there I was taking pictures of my license and other auto documents. In what seemed like only hours I was approved. Because I had never been in an Uber we decided to practice before I tried driving for real. We got in the car. My wife ordered an Uber. I took the request and we headed to a local bar. When we arrived she jokingly tipped me $5. *Little did I know, at that time, I wouldn't be seeing many $5 tips. *
> 
> ...


Very enlightening! I'm going to try your "on call" approach. I've found that riders aged 50+ are great tippers. Younger, less if at all. Millennials never. What came as a surprise to me is that bartenders servers don't tip. I did both in college and, as a result, became an excellent tipper. What's with that?


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## amazinghl (Oct 31, 2018)

What's is the ratio of money / miles driven?


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## BobMarley (Feb 12, 2019)

Declineathon said:


> Thats good, i keep records too. I pull in (gross) $200 a shift in appx 200 miles. At the weeks end I net $1.09 a mile after gas.
> 
> I do take longrides, but deep a.m. only. I sit and wait. Never chase. And dont work nights.
> 
> ...





stpetej said:


> Very enlightening! I'm going to try your "on call" approach. I've found that riders aged 50+ are great tippers. Younger, less if at all. Millennials never. What came as a surprise to me is that bartenders servers don't tip. I did both in college and, as a result, became an excellent tipper. What's with that?


I've noticed women are terrible tippers on Uber, but good on Lyft. The kind of rides I never get tipped on for Uber, ie someone going to work who can't afford a car, I get tipped on Lyft like 50/50.


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## Mista T (Aug 16, 2017)

Great article! Congrats on figuring out how to make it work for you (money wise) and still be happy! I'd say that's a major achievement in itself.



oldfart said:


> I envy your position.. You are driving a car that costs you nothing (beyond the lease payments) except gas...If you had to consider depreciation, repairs and maintenance, I bet that dollars per hour number you calculated would change a lot


Most drivers DO have to worry about all those other things, which brings up the question of mileage, apparently the only thing you weren't tracking. But I understand why... because you didn't need to!

As far as the next step: everyone is different, my suggestion for YOU would be to swap phone numbers with locals/regulars and offer to be their driver on a regular basis. Do the rides for cash. It's illegal, but no one is going to care if you take Angela to the grocery store and back every Wednesday for $15 cash. Get yourself 4 or 5 locals, and you will start getting the occasional call for airport rides as well. Keep it simple, keep it low key, have fun and make friends.


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## Dammit Mazzacane (Dec 31, 2015)

Ylinks said:


> Jupiter, FL 65,000.


Sorry about the hurricane destruction. This was like ground zero.


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## oldfart (Dec 22, 2017)

FLKeys said:


> Markets are different. My market is rural/tourism. I am hard pressed to do better than 50% paid miles to total miles. I keep excellent detailed records and analysis them constantly. I can increase my paid miles to around 70% however doing so involves a lot of down time sitting in the car waiting for a ping and total revenue goes down even though earnings per mile goes up. So I have to work out that fine line park where I dropped off and wait 2+ hours for a ping or drive back to key areas and wait a lot less for a ping.
> 
> Unlike others I do not factor in my time for one simple reason. If I don't have the time I don't drive. I already know dedicating time that could be spent doing something productive is a lost cause when it comes to rideshare. The time I use for driving is the time I would be pissing away watching TV or out spending money that I really don't need to spend.


I do the same balancing act all the time Do I wait near my last drop off to limit my dead miles or do I drive to a "better spot"


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## Ylinks (Apr 22, 2019)

amazinghl said:


> What's is the ratio of money / miles driven?


$220 / 300 miles is about average


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## amazinghl (Oct 31, 2018)

Ylinks said:


> $220 / 300 miles is about average


I see. I aim for $1+/mile while driving for Grub Hub, but I have long waiting time and way less miles, due to the nature of food delivery.


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## Ylinks (Apr 22, 2019)

stpetej said:


> Very enlightening! I'm going to try your "on call" approach. I've found that riders aged 50+ are great tippers. Younger, less if at all. Millennials never. What came as a surprise to me is that bartenders servers don't tip. I did both in college and, as a result, became an excellent tipper. What's with that?


If you Google "Who are the best tippers?" the results from many sources are remarkably similar. I think it is a cultural thing. I'm an early baby boomer originally from the Northeast. I must have heard my father say "If you can't afford to tip the waitress, you can't afford to go out to dinner." a hundred times when I was growing up. 
Servers and bartenders are iffy. There are a bunch of pictures on the net of drivers leaving servers who stiffed them 5 stars instead of a tip.
Two other observations. If you accept a trip and you have no idea how to pronounce the rider's name you are done. Combat veterans are excellent tippers.



MadTownUberD said:


> Have you considered taking really LONG pickups, like 15-20 minutes away? At least in my market, I get paid a decent amount just to drive to the pickup, and that affects cancel fees as well. I find I do well in terms of gross $/mile on mornings when I seem to be the only car in the city driving way out to the suburbs to pick people up and take them all they way to the airport.


I very seldom see a long pickup. In South Florida Uber starts paying after 9 minutes.


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## everydayimubering (Aug 5, 2017)

Ylinks said:


> *All I wanted to do was make $200 a week driving 10 to 12 hours for Uber. I thought it would be easy but it led me on a 1,500 trip odyssey. *
> 
> A little less than 3 years ago my wife and I retired. We sold our house and moved into a condo near by. The leases on our cars ended and we leased a Honda Accord to save money. We justified becoming a one car family by saying that if we needed another car we could just take Uber. Our first Uber experience came about a year later. My wife had to fly to a family wedding and she took an Uber to the airport. A couple of weeks after her trip she came home from the store and informed me that we had put less than 4,000 miles on the Honda in over a year. She said that because we have all these miles that we're paying for and not using I should try driving for Uber. She thought it would be a good way for me to get out of the house and besides it wouldn't hurt to have some extra money. Now, it would be an understatement to say that her suggestion didn't go over very well at first. But soon enough, there I was taking pictures of my license and other auto documents. In what seemed like only hours I was approved. Because I had never been in an Uber we decided to practice before I tried driving for real. We got in the car. My wife ordered an Uber. I took the request and we headed to a local bar. When we arrived she jokingly tipped me $5. *Little did I know, at that time, I wouldn't be seeing many $5 tips. *
> 
> ...


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## goneubering (Aug 17, 2017)

Ylinks said:


> *All I wanted to do was make $200 a week driving 10 to 12 hours for Uber. I thought it would be easy but it led me on a 1,500 trip odyssey. *
> 
> A little less than 3 years ago my wife and I retired. We sold our house and moved into a condo near by. The leases on our cars ended and we leased a Honda Accord to save money. We justified becoming a one car family by saying that if we needed another car we could just take Uber. Our first Uber experience came about a year later. My wife had to fly to a family wedding and she took an Uber to the airport. A couple of weeks after her trip she came home from the store and informed me that we had put less than 4,000 miles on the Honda in over a year. She said that because we have all these miles that we're paying for and not using I should try driving for Uber. She thought it would be a good way for me to get out of the house and besides it wouldn't hurt to have some extra money. Now, it would be an understatement to say that her suggestion didn't go over very well at first. But soon enough, there I was taking pictures of my license and other auto documents. In what seemed like only hours I was approved. Because I had never been in an Uber we decided to practice before I tried driving for real. We got in the car. My wife ordered an Uber. I took the request and we headed to a local bar. When we arrived she jokingly tipped me $5. *Little did I know, at that time, I wouldn't be seeing many $5 tips. *
> 
> ...


Thx!! This is one of the best posts I've ever seen on UP.


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## Fozzie (Aug 11, 2018)

The key to increased earnings isn't boosting your tips, it;'s figuring out how to make base miles more productive and profitable.


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## stpetej (Jul 3, 2017)

BobMarley said:


> I've noticed women are terrible tippers on Uber, but good on Lyft. The kind of rides I never get tipped on for Uber, ie someone going to work who can't afford a car, I get tipped on Lyft like 50/50.


I've neverthought of it, but your right. Exceptions being three times on Uber Select when husbands were jerks and wives slipped me very generous tips. Shame they felt necessity to be secretive.


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## Randyonr3 (May 30, 2019)

I’m just about where you are... rating are high, tips are good, and if fallen into a routine... I work early mornings, a couple days a week, 6 to 8 hours a day... I find early morning riders are more pleased and have a fresher attitude...
Also, working in SF, I have a fair amount of tourist in my car... I go out of my way to point out special places or divert to show interesting areas... a couple blocks out of the way, down the water front doing a little sightseeing can really make a hit with tips..
I also make a point on airport runs to ask the departure time... makes a decision on how I drive...
Done just over 6500 rides over 3 years and holding a rating of 98%...
And like yourself, my average per hour is around 25 to 27..


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## oldfart (Dec 22, 2017)

There is no one key to increased earnings. Rather, there are several; such as, better tips, a cheaper, more efficient car, minimize your dead miles, regular customers, private rides, work more hours, know your market, work the airport, or don’t work the airport, etc, etc, etc


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## Steve appleby (May 30, 2015)

Ok so I don’t usually comment on here, after reading this thread I figured I’d put in my 2 cents. 

The thing that drivers have got to understand is that it’s all about what market you are in.. I’m a full time suburban driver and I make pretty good money where I’m at. The mistake that I see drivers make is that they think this is going to be fast money. Luckily I live in a white middle to upper class area so I don’t have to drive out and wait places to get rides. I just sit at my house and play Xbox and wait for the next ride. A lot of factors come into play when you are playing this game. What kind of market are you in? What kind of car do you have? What are the gas prices in your market? All those factors come into play. Some markets are just not good for Uber. I was in California last week and my god I don’t know how anyone is an Uber driver over there. With gas prices at over 4$ a gallon that is insane. Some drivers say that the money isn’t coming fast enough. What you have to understand is that you have to play the game and you have to play to win. I’m single with no kids so I don’t need all that much money. But for someone who is married with kids I would say this is not the job for you... that’s just the way I look at it..it’s all about market, market, market.


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## Fuzzyelvis (Dec 7, 2014)

Declineathon said:


> Thats good, i keep records too. I pull in (gross) $200 a shift in appx 200 miles. At the weeks end I net $1.09 a mile after gas.


That math makes no sense. 200 miles for $200 is $1/mile. But you end up with $1.09 AFTER gas?


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## Declineathon (Feb 12, 2019)

Fuzzyelvis said:


> That math makes no sense. 200 miles for $200 is $1/mile. But you end up with $1.09 AFTER gas?


Appx: shorthand for approximately.


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## Toocutetofail (Sep 14, 2018)

Sounds like a presentation sponsored by Uber. This is impossible.


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## HotUberMess (Feb 25, 2018)

I guess it’s different with a lease.. I never had miles “I was getting charged for but not using” lol

One point though: have you investigated what happens to you and your car if there’s an accident?


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## ANT 7 (Oct 14, 2018)

I cannot believe it took the OP 1,500 trips to figure this out.

I had it down in week 2-3.


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## zombieguy (May 22, 2015)

Ylinks said:


> Good observation. I only drive in the afternoon. I usually turn the app on around noon and off by 4PM.


In any market, driving 12pm-4pm is the absolute worst time to drive. If you want to actually make money and work smarter, drive early mornings, like 4am-10am or late at night. Don't expect much midday.


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## Ebo (Nov 30, 2017)

Ylinks said:


> *All I wanted to do was make $200 a week driving 10 to 12 hours for Uber. I thought it would be easy but it led me on a 1,500 trip odyssey. *
> 
> A little less than 3 years ago my wife and I retired. We sold our house and moved into a condo near by. The leases on our cars ended and we leased a Honda Accord to save money. We justified becoming a one car family by saying that if we needed another car we could just take Uber. Our first Uber experience came about a year later. My wife had to fly to a family wedding and she took an Uber to the airport. A couple of weeks after her trip she came home from the store and informed me that we had put less than 4,000 miles on the Honda in over a year. She said that because we have all these miles that we're paying for and not using I should try driving for Uber. She thought it would be a good way for me to get out of the house and besides it wouldn't hurt to have some extra money. Now, it would be an understatement to say that her suggestion didn't go over very well at first. But soon enough, there I was taking pictures of my license and other auto documents. In what seemed like only hours I was approved. Because I had never been in an Uber we decided to practice before I tried driving for real. We got in the car. My wife ordered an Uber. I took the request and we headed to a local bar. When we arrived she jokingly tipped me $5. *Little did I know, at that time, I wouldn't be seeing many $5 tips. *
> 
> ...


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## RioRoja (Mar 13, 2017)

zombieguy said:


> In any market, driving 12pm-4pm is the absolute worst time to drive.


Guess I'm doing it all wrong...


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## bobby747 (Dec 29, 2015)

its to tactic driving to make a buck. a local safe pizza driver in your suburb would make $200 in 2 days ...and most all profit..very little fuel and wear and tear on that honda


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## homelesswarlock (Dec 20, 2018)

RioRoja said:


> Guess I'm doing it all wrong...
> 
> View attachment 326028


You're doing it wrong. A full time Black car driver can pull those numbers in a week, not a month.


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## RioRoja (Mar 13, 2017)

homelesswarlock said:


> You're doing it wrong. A full time Black car driver can pull those numbers in a week, not a month.


Those are just the Uber and Lyft rides I started between noon and 4:00pm during May. My point was to illustrate that in my experience in my market, those hours are not the worst time to drive (and no, a full time black car driver in Denver doesn't pull in $3,000 in a week).


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## zombieguy (May 22, 2015)

RioRoja said:


> Those are just the Uber and Lyft rides I started between noon and 4:00pm during May. My point was to illustrate that in my experience in my market, those hours are not the worst time to drive (and no, a full time black car driver in Denver doesn't pull in $3,000 in a week).


Dude, #1, you are driving lux black XL....that's not the norm. You did a 36 mile 32 min ride for $119. You did a 12 min ride for $55. The normal person like the OP driving a Honda Accord will never get that unless its NYE and 5x surge, so your comparison is ridiculous. #2 I never said you can't make money driving those hours, I said its the worst time to drive in any market during those hours meaning early morning and nights are better and mid day is the worst.

Since you put your numbers up there. The most rides you did between those hours on a single day was May 27(Mon), 6 rides, 4 other days on May 2nd (Thurs), 5th (Sun), 18th and 19th (Sat & Sun), you did 4 rides....The rest were all 1,2 and 3 rides in that 4 hour span. So like I said the worst time to drive is between 12-4pm in any market.


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## RioRoja (Mar 13, 2017)

zombieguy said:


> the worst time to drive is between 12-4pm in any market.


Even the generic Lyft demand bar graph suggests that your sweeping generalization is wrong.


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## Gone_in_60_seconds (Jan 21, 2018)

VanGuy said:


> I'd say take your data and identify spots that really are good for getting tips, and then see if there's anything around there you'd enjoy doing while you're on call. For example, if I could hang out at the stripper bar and know I stood a good chance of getting a good ride with a decent tip I'd be all over that.


Tips are far and few. I found that Lyft pax are more likely to tip. This maybe due to the fact that at least in my market, most of the Lyft pax are women.



Kurt Halfyard said:


> I do a very similar thing. I get a fair bit done around the house while 'on call' in the evenings.
> My dead miles are less expensive --both in fuel and maintenance because I'm driving EV-- and when at home I am always 'fueling'.
> I generally make between $200-$600 a week.
> Tipping however is less than 5% of my earnings.
> My strategy is to keep my expenses very low (fuel, maintenence).


The key to success is to drive at optimal hours. You have to be active when the customers are active.


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## Fat Man (May 17, 2019)

I have been reading all the cry baby Sally posts for a few months now. I drive U/L Fri. & Sat. nights 11pm till about 4am and make $25+ hour. This is a part time side hustle and THATS what it is meant to be for everyone! Period! Go get a REAL job (that gives these new things called benefits) and drive when you can make money! Trying to do this full time cause you don't want to work for THE MAN is a total delusion! WAKE UP!


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## R3drang3r (Feb 16, 2019)

zombieguy said:


> In any market, driving 12pm-4pm is the absolute worst time to drive. If you want to actually make money and work smarter, drive early mornings, like 4am-10am or late at night. Don't expect much midday.


 I've picked up some of my best paying rides during the hours of 12:00 noon to 4 pm.


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## Uberdriver2710 (Jul 15, 2015)

OldBay said:


> Sitting at home waiting for pings is no different than waiting in the airport lot waiting for trips. You still aren't free.
> 
> I've tried the waiting at home and it only works when I'm about to start a shift.
> 
> ...


Is easier to poo at home!


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## MiamiKid (May 24, 2016)

Ylinks said:


> *All I wanted to do was make $200 a week driving 10 to 12 hours for Uber. I thought it would be easy but it led me on a 1,500 trip odyssey. *
> 
> A little less than 3 years ago my wife and I retired. We sold our house and moved into a condo near by. The leases on our cars ended and we leased a Honda Accord to save money. We justified becoming a one car family by saying that if we needed another car we could just take Uber. Our first Uber experience came about a year later. My wife had to fly to a family wedding and she took an Uber to the airport. A couple of weeks after her trip she came home from the store and informed me that we had put less than 4,000 miles on the Honda in over a year. She said that because we have all these miles that we're paying for and not using I should try driving for Uber. She thought it would be a good way for me to get out of the house and besides it wouldn't hurt to have some extra money. Now, it would be an understatement to say that her suggestion didn't go over very well at first. But soon enough, there I was taking pictures of my license and other auto documents. In what seemed like only hours I was approved. Because I had never been in an Uber we decided to practice before I tried driving for real. We got in the car. My wife ordered an Uber. I took the request and we headed to a local bar. When we arrived she jokingly tipped me $5. *Little did I know, at that time, I wouldn't be seeing many $5 tips. *
> 
> ...


Have done a very similar strategy, except my focus is inner city only. Go for the shortest rides, possible, in the least amount of time.

The intown business, professional crowd is all I'm interested in. Daytime only.

Mileage cost is substantially lower, while $/hr have increased.

Avoid bar hours and sporting events like the plague.



R3drang3r said:


> I've picked up some of my best paying rides during the hours of 12:00 noon to 4 pm.


Totally agree. Have tried every shift, and combination of hours, possible.

By far the best, for me, is starting early AM (5:00 AM) and driving straight through. When I'm done, I'm done. Period. Never venture back out.


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## OldBay (Apr 1, 2019)

The problem with the "sitting at home, cherrypicking" strategy is that if your next door neighbor decides to adopt the same strategy, you are only making half as much.

That strategy does not scale to full time hours or busy markets.


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## Ylinks (Apr 22, 2019)

OldBay said:


> The problem with the "sitting at home, cherrypicking" strategy is that if your next door neighbor decides to adopt the same strategy, you are only making half as much.
> 
> That strategy does not scale to full time hours or busy markets.


Fortunately for me, none of my neighbors would be caught dead driving for Uber. Lol
You are absolutely correct that this strategy is only viable for part time, suburban drivers.


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## Jaackil (Aug 27, 2016)

Ylinks said:


> *All I wanted to do was make $200 a week driving 10 to 12 hours for Uber. I thought it would be easy but it led me on a 1,500 trip odyssey. *
> 
> A little less than 3 years ago my wife and I retired. We sold our house and moved into a condo near by. The leases on our cars ended and we leased a Honda Accord to save money. We justified becoming a one car family by saying that if we needed another car we could just take Uber. Our first Uber experience came about a year later. My wife had to fly to a family wedding and she took an Uber to the airport. A couple of weeks after her trip she came home from the store and informed me that we had put less than 4,000 miles on the Honda in over a year. She said that because we have all these miles that we're paying for and not using I should try driving for Uber. She thought it would be a good way for me to get out of the house and besides it wouldn't hurt to have some extra money. Now, it would be an understatement to say that her suggestion didn't go over very well at first. But soon enough, there I was taking pictures of my license and other auto documents. In what seemed like only hours I was approved. Because I had never been in an Uber we decided to practice before I tried driving for real. We got in the car. My wife ordered an Uber. I took the request and we headed to a local bar. When we arrived she jokingly tipped me $5. *Little did I know, at that time, I wouldn't be seeing many $5 tips. *
> 
> ...


Great post! I am in a similar situation to you. Semi retired. I say semi because I drive part time. I do about 20 hours a week. While my strategy is very different from yours I basicly went through and still go through the same analytical exercise you did. I decided where and when I wanted to drive. Then I looked at what my best trips were from the stand point of not just miles but also people I most like to drive. Then I went through the same process you went through of figuring out how could I repeat more of my better rides and eliminate the ones that weren't. I still keep data and review it regularly to keep increasing my earnings. My goal is to figure out how to make more in the same or less time. One thing I have done as others have mentioned is printed business cards and give them out to riders I want to drive again letting them know I am available for hire. They usually open the door by saying "I was so worried that I would not be able to get an Uber in time or at this hour or at this time of day in the suburbs. I give them my card tell them to call me in advance and I will be waiting in their driveway when they want to go. I take credit cards. This results in anywhere from $200 to $500 in additional fares scheduled in advance every week. You like being "on call". This would work well for you. Maybe you should look into what it would entail in your area to do it in addition to your ride share income. It is where the real money can be made. You keep 100% of the fare no commisions to Uber or Lyft that is a 100% increase in pay and all of my "private clients" tip which is another 20% minimum on top of that. But the best part is they are people I really enjoy driving.


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## Ylinks (Apr 22, 2019)

Jaackil said:


> Great post! I am in a similar situation to you. Semi retired. I say semi because I drive part time. I do about 20 hours a week. While my strategy is very different from yours I basicly went through and still go through the same analytical exercise you did. I decided where and when I wanted to drive. Then I looked at what my best trips were from the stand point of not just miles but also people I most like to drive. Then I went through the same process you went through of figuring out how could I repeat more of my better rides and eliminate the ones that weren't. I still keep data and review it regularly to keep increasing my earnings. My goal is to figure out how to make more in the same or less time. One thing I have done as others have mentioned is printed business cards and give them out to riders I want to drive again letting them know I am available for hire. They usually open the door by saying "I was so worried that I would not be able to get an Uber in time or at this hour or at this time of day in the suburbs. I give them my card tell them to call me in advance and I will be waiting in their driveway when they want to go. I take credit cards. This results in anywhere from $200 to $500 in additional fares scheduled in advance every week. You like being "on call". This would work well for you. Maybe you should look into what it would entail in your area to do it in addition to your ride share income. It is where the real money can be made. You keep 100% of the fare no commisions to Uber or Lyft that is a 100% increase in pay and all of my "private clients" tip which is another 20% minimum on top of that. But the best part is they are people I really enjoy driving.


In my first weeks of driving I took a fellow to the airport a couple of times. He was a decent guy, a good tipper and had been an Army Ranger in Afghanistan. He flew once or twice a week. I didn't set it up legal wise. I just told him he should sit in the front seat and if we had an accident I was driving a friend to the airport and he was insured by my personal policy. Pretty soon I had three more riders like this. Compared to Uber the money was great.

Then things started to go wrong. My wife would say "Let's go to the beach" and I would say that I couldn't because I had to pick Tony up at the airport. She would say "Let's go out to dinner" and I'd say "I can't because I have to take Nicole to the airport." We only have one car since we retired and a couple of times she had to take Uber because I was driving one of my privates. My wife started complaining that this was like I had a job. I told her that the money was good. She said that if I wanted to make good money why didn't I just go back to work.

I don't do privates anymore.


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## Fuzzyelvis (Dec 7, 2014)

Declineathon said:


> Appx: shorthand for approximately.


Still makes no sense. After gas it would HAVE to be less than $1. You're just using approximately (shortened ~ btw) to inflate your numbers.



Fat Man said:


> I have been reading all the cry baby Sally posts for a few months now. I drive U/L Fri. & Sat. nights 11pm till about 4am and make $25+ hour. This is a part time side hustle and THATS what it is meant to be for everyone! Period! Go get a REAL job (that gives these new things called benefits) and drive when you can make money! Trying to do this full time cause you don't want to work for THE MAN is a total delusion! WAKE UP!


Maybe in your market--but eventually ALL markets will suck. Yours just isn't there yet, I guess. Or you're not Uberx only. OR that is the ONLY time to make money in your market.

Btw that's still shitty for driving drunks around at night (with drunks around also driving).


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## Jaackil (Aug 27, 2016)

Ylinks said:


> In my first weeks of driving I took a fellow to the airport a couple of times. He was a decent guy, a good tipper and had been an Army Ranger in Afghanistan. He flew once or twice a week. I didn't set it up legal wise. I just told him he should sit in the front seat and if we had an accident I was driving a friend to the airport and he was insured by my personal policy. Pretty soon I had three more riders like this. Compared to Uber the money was great.
> 
> Then things started to go wrong. My wife would say "Let's go to the beach" and I would say that I couldn't because I had to pick Tony up at the airport. She would say "Let's go out to dinner" and I'd say "I can't because I have to take Nicole to the airport." We only have one car since we retired and a couple of times she had to take Uber because I was driving one of my privates. My wife started complaining that this was like I had a job. I told her that the money was good. She said that if I wanted to make good money why didn't I just go back to work.
> 
> I don't do privates anymore.


Same thing here. My wife says I want to go to the beach, I say I can't I have an airport run. My wife says I want to go out to dinner I say I can't I have someone to pick up at the airport. My wife says I want to go to a show I say gee honey I am sorry I have to go to the airport. I think it works great! Lol.


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## Tom Oldman (Feb 2, 2019)

Ylinks said:


> *All I wanted to do was make $200 a week driving 10 to 12 hours for Uber. I thought it would be easy but it led me on a 1,500 trip odyssey. *
> 
> A little less than 3 years ago my wife and I retired. We sold our house and moved into a condo near by. The leases on our cars ended and we leased a Honda Accord to save money. We justified becoming a one car family by saying that if we needed another car we could just take Uber. Our first Uber experience came about a year later. My wife had to fly to a family wedding and she took an Uber to the airport. A couple of weeks after her trip she came home from the store and informed me that we had put less than 4,000 miles on the Honda in over a year. She said that because we have all these miles that we're paying for and not using I should try driving for Uber. She thought it would be a good way for me to get out of the house and besides it wouldn't hurt to have some extra money. Now, it would be an understatement to say that her suggestion didn't go over very well at first. But soon enough, there I was taking pictures of my license and other auto documents. In what seemed like only hours I was approved. Because I had never been in an Uber we decided to practice before I tried driving for real. We got in the car. My wife ordered an Uber. I took the request and we headed to a local bar. When we arrived she jokingly tipped me $5. *Little did I know, at that time, I wouldn't be seeing many $5 tips. *
> 
> ...


Great post. Thank you for sharing, it's almost thev same


Ylinks said:


> *All I wanted to do was make $200 a week driving 10 to 12 hours for Uber. I thought it would be easy but it led me on a 1,500 trip odyssey. *
> 
> A little less than 3 years ago my wife and I retired. We sold our house and moved into a condo near by. The leases on our cars ended and we leased a Honda Accord to save money. We justified becoming a one car family by saying that if we needed another car we could just take Uber. Our first Uber experience came about a year later. My wife had to fly to a family wedding and she took an Uber to the airport. A couple of weeks after her trip she came home from the store and informed me that we had put less than 4,000 miles on the Honda in over a year. She said that because we have all these miles that we're paying for and not using I should try driving for Uber. She thought it would be a good way for me to get out of the house and besides it wouldn't hurt to have some extra money. Now, it would be an understatement to say that her suggestion didn't go over very well at first. But soon enough, there I was taking pictures of my license and other auto documents. In what seemed like only hours I was approved. Because I had never been in an Uber we decided to practice before I tried driving for real. We got in the car. My wife ordered an Uber. I took the request and we headed to a local bar. When we arrived she jokingly tipped me $5. *Little did I know, at that time, I wouldn't be seeing many $5 tips. *
> 
> ...


Thank you for the great article. It's similar to our situation, almost. My weekdays mornings are spent trading the market, mostly options. After staring hours at blinking charts and numbers on my monitors for few hours, I appreciate getting out in fresh air and fubering around. And yes, we live in one of Los Angeles suburbs, thank God far enough to not smell the smog. My LAX trips usually brings me $60'plus another $30 to $40 with DF setting on U/L back home.

Your idea of "on call" is great and I would love to follow it but I'm afraid I will sink back in my little trade station. The money from rideshare doesn't make much difference. I'm not being arrogant, it's just the reality, it used to be good money couple of years ago but now ants area everywhere, crawling over each other. The rates are getting cut, tips are getting stolen. It ain't fun anymore. But I will try your "on call" system.


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## oldfart (Dec 22, 2017)

Jaackil said:


> Same thing here. My wife says I want to go to the beach, I say I can't I have an airport run. My wife says I want to go out to dinner I say I can't I have someone to pick up at the airport. My wife says I want to go to a show I say gee honey I am sorry I have to go to the airport. I think it works great! Lol.


No question work interferes with a normal life

Some years ago I owned rental houses. The best advice I ever got was this; less than 10 houses is a fun hobby, and more than 100 is a nice business, but anything in between is just work. Less than 10 you can do your own turnovers, maintenance, collections and everything else. With more than 100 you have the income to hire help. Anything in between is too much to do yourself and not enough to pay for the help you need

So applying this lesson to private rides. A few customers is just an interruption to your home life, a lot of customers makes a nice business but anything in between does not work

I have decided to sacrifice my home life to try to build a busines. I am in that dreaded middle ground now, where it's just work, and a lot of time. There are several of us doing this that have formed a loose association where we cover for each other when we have conflicts

My advice is; make a decision. Buy the commercial insurance, and go for it. Find another driver that wants to do the same thing. He can cover for you and you for him as you build your business. Or forget it; enjoy your retirement and treat Uber like a hobby


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## MiamiKid (May 24, 2016)

oldfart said:


> No question work interferes with a normal life
> 
> Some years ago I owned rental houses. The best advice I ever got was this; less than 10 houses is a fun hobby, and more than 100 is a nice business, but anything in between is just work. Less than 10 you can do your own turnovers, maintenance, collections and everything else. With more than 100 you have the income to hire help. Anything in between is too much to do yourself and not enough to pay for the help you need
> 
> ...


Good advice


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## denise gray (Jun 7, 2017)

Ylinks said:


> *All I wanted to do was make $200 a week driving 10 to 12 hours for Uber. I thought it would be easy but it led me on a 1,500 trip odyssey. *
> 
> A little less than 3 years ago my wife and I retired. We sold our house and moved into a condo near by. The leases on our cars ended and we leased a Honda Accord to save money. We justified becoming a one car family by saying that if we needed another car we could just take Uber. Our first Uber experience came about a year later. My wife had to fly to a family wedding and she took an Uber to the airport. A couple of weeks after her trip she came home from the store and informed me that we had put less than 4,000 miles on the Honda in over a year. She said that because we have all these miles that we're paying for and not using I should try driving for Uber. She thought it would be a good way for me to get out of the house and besides it wouldn't hurt to have some extra money. Now, it would be an understatement to say that her suggestion didn't go over very well at first. But soon enough, there I was taking pictures of my license and other auto documents. In what seemed like only hours I was approved. Because I had never been in an Uber we decided to practice before I tried driving for real. We got in the car. My wife ordered an Uber. I took the request and we headed to a local bar. When we arrived she jokingly tipped me $5. *Little did I know, at that time, I wouldn't be seeing many $5 tips. *
> 
> ...


Don't waste your time along with frustration and wear and tear on your vehicle driving senseless idiot's for a few dollars it's not worth it !


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## Sketch2000 (Jun 4, 2019)

Great Posts. Interesting viewpoints from everyone. Great info for someone new like myself.


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## MissTN (Jun 26, 2019)

In my previous life, I was a Lyft & Uber rider, so I still have the app. I turn it on & see where there's no cars & usually drive there. Within 10 minutes, there's usually a ping.

It also helps if I get in a good mood. There's a saying, 'Water attracts its own level', so if I'm in a bad mood, I can tell by the riders I pick up. If they're irritable, depressed, or anxious, so am I. So, it helps my mental state to be in the most positive mood possible (easier said than done, I know). I listen to good music, get a Starbucks & turn the app on. I get better people that way. Power of thoughts, not cracking algorithms of data & figuring out % of this & that, will net you the most money. That other stuff will bog you down & best not to get overwhelmed with things you cannot control.

In my previous life I was a pharmaceutical/med rep & there's a forum like this called Cafepharma. They too complain about workload, big dogs & the pay. These guys are making $75-100k & they're still complaining :rollseyes: Here's screenshot of them talking about moonlighting for Uber/Lyft. Got a chuckle out of it, cause you have to laugh... at all of it.
We're all cogs in the wheel, even Uber/Lyft Execs & VPs, who have public & private investors to answer to now. It's all a big circle.

I'm just grateful that these companies were conveniently here when I got laid off. I've made a lot of good contacts, it's a good networking forum. Stay in a good mood & people will be appreciative & tip. If I dissect it even further, I've wasted energy & time.

If I don't want to do it, there's always McDonald's & hotel rooms that need cleaning, but I digress... 
Driving doesn't look so bad when you look at the big picture. Stay positive, it could ALWAYS be worse. Have you heard about North Korea?

In my previous life I was a pharmaceutical/med rep & there's a forum like this called Cafepharma. They too complain about workload, big dogs & the pay. These guys are making $75-100k & they're still complaining :rollseyes: Here's screenshot of them talking about moonlighting for Uber/Lyft. Got a chuckle out of it, cause you have to laugh... at all of it.
We're all cogs in the wheel, even Uber/Lyft Execs & VPs, who have public & private investors to answer to now. It's all a big circle.

I'm just grateful that these companies were conveniently here when I got laid off. I've made a lot of good contacts, it's a good networking forum. Stay in a good mood & people will be appreciative & tip. If I dissect it even further, I've wasted energy & time.

If I don't want to do it, there's always McDonald's & hotel rooms that need cleaning, but I digress... 
Driving doesn't look so bad when you look at the big picture. Stay positive, it could ALWAYS be worse. Just look at the poor folks in North Korea... ?


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## DDW (Jul 1, 2019)

stpetej said:


> Very enlightening! I'm going to try your "on call" approach. I've found that riders aged 50+ are great tippers. Younger, less if at all. Millennials never. What came as a surprise to me is that bartenders servers don't tip. I did both in college and, as a result, became an excellent tipper. What's with that?


 the bartenders and servers now days are millennials that's why


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## LONG Time screwed (Jul 7, 2019)

Ylinks said:


> *All I wanted to do was make $200 a week driving 10 to 12 hours for Uber. I thought it would be easy but it led me on a 1,500 trip odyssey. *
> 
> A little less than 3 years ago my wife and I retired. We sold our house and moved into a condo near by. The leases on our cars ended and we leased a Honda Accord to save money. We justified becoming a one car family by saying that if we needed another car we could just take Uber. Our first Uber experience came about a year later. My wife had to fly to a family wedding and she took an Uber to the airport. A couple of weeks after her trip she came home from the store and informed me that we had put less than 4,000 miles on the Honda in over a year. She said that because we have all these miles that we're paying for and not using I should try driving for Uber. She thought it would be a good way for me to get out of the house and besides it wouldn't hurt to have some extra money. Now, it would be an understatement to say that her suggestion didn't go over very well at first. But soon enough, there I was taking pictures of my license and other auto documents. In what seemed like only hours I was approved. Because I had never been in an Uber we decided to practice before I tried driving for real. We got in the car. My wife ordered an Uber. I took the request and we headed to a local bar. When we arrived she jokingly tipped me $5. *Little did I know, at that time, I wouldn't be seeing many $5 tips. *
> 
> ...


Aother B.S> b uber is the airport queue......don't ever wait in the queue......totally useless.....develop your own steadies.....give them your card and they will call you direct.....people love to get the same driver who they know and trust.......not some wierdo stranger who does not know the local roads...... Remember Miami area is the only place within the country you will need a passport.....HA HA!!!


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## oldfart (Dec 22, 2017)

LONG Time screwed said:


> Aother B.S> b uber is the airport queue......don't ever wait in the queue......totally useless.....develop your own steadies.....give them your card and they will call you direct.....people love to get the same driver who they know and trust.......not some wierdo stranger who does not know the local roads...... Remember Miami area is the only place within the country you will need a passport.....HA HA!!!


As much as I like your advice to develop your own client base, the question is; how to do it

I wait at the airport. After a 2 or 3 hour wait the passenger I get may be a "frequent flyer" and need rides to and from the airport several times a year. At the very least the person you pick up at the airport will probably need a ride back, after their business or vacation is over.

In any case I find the best marketing for my airport ride service is converting an Uber customer to my customer

How do you do it


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## stpetej (Jul 3, 2017)

DDW said:


> the bartenders and servers now days are millennials that's why


Makes sense. Love Boomers! Almost always tip well. Elderly and young never.


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## RichardB (Jun 27, 2019)

You a tabbed guy?


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## tomabq (Jan 14, 2015)

stpetej said:


> Very enlightening! I'm going to try your "on call" approach. I've found that riders aged 50+ are great tippers. Younger, less if at all. Millennials never. What came as a surprise to me is that bartenders servers don't tip. I did both in college and, as a result, became an excellent tipper. What's with that?


Stop tripping them! I've found that those who earn tips for a living are the worst tippers. When ever I find out what they do for a living they always get 2 stars. It has rarely backfired on me.


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## rivirobo (May 7, 2019)

I do the exact thing. Stay at home, get little rides, go back home. Don't like waiting in parking lots. Hardly anybody tips X or XL in Houston. And the airport waiting lot at IAH is a joke, no parking 3.5 hrs wait. Good thing I have no bills to pay, retired. However, while waiting at the airport parking I spoke with a few drivers who showed me $2100 per week using Uber and Lyft. They also said they get up 4 am and work till after 7pm to get this. A tank of gas a day. Lots of waiting and driving to spots. I have a XL and rarely get one. They are all X and no tip, they stink, some are rude, and Houston Uber needs to raise rates to make it worth it all.


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## Uberyouber (Jan 16, 2017)

This thread is very time consuming...


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## NoPooPool (Aug 18, 2017)

R3drang3r said:


> I've picked up some of my best paying rides during the hours of 12:00 noon to 4 pm.


Me too, come to think if it.


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