# Am I losing money? I want to know



## plocp (Apr 1, 2015)

So on the week day, I need to drive from my place to city for uber, I need to pay 15 dollar toll total to get to city/back home, I need to drive 90 dead mile get to city/back home

So my cost of dead mile gas plus toll is around 40 dollar, and I make 110 after uber 20% a day driving 12 hour from 7am to 7 pm，90% of the fare is no surge 4 dollar, 5 dollar trip, occasionally over 10 dollar but that's rare, so I make like 70 after cost not include depreciation of my car for 12 hours shift, like making 5-6 dollar an hour，am I losing money here?
Should I just find macdonal or Home Depot job instead? Any advice?


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## plocp (Apr 1, 2015)

Btw I getting all 5 star rating on the week days lol


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## Fuzzyelvis (Dec 7, 2014)

plocp said:


> So on the week day, I need to drive from my place to city for uber, I need to pay 15 dollar toll total to get to city/back home, I need to drive 90 dead mile get to city/back home
> 
> So my cost of dead mile gas plus toll is around 40 dollar, and I make 110 after uber 20% a day driving 12 hour from 7am to 7 pm，90% of the fare is no surge 4 dollar, 5 dollar trip, occasionally over 10 dollar but that's rare, so I make like 70 after cost not include depreciation of my car for 12 hours shift, like making 5-6 dollar an hour，am I losing money here?
> Should I just find macdonal or Home Depot job instead? Any advice?


Yes. Work at Mcdonalds by your house.


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## plocp (Apr 1, 2015)

weekend though, city is good fare, all surge fare, ave 200+ a day, guess I will only do weekend then


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## TimFromMA (Mar 4, 2015)

How many miles are you driving total for Uber?


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## plocp (Apr 1, 2015)

I drove around 10k mile, been doing for 2 month


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## TimFromMA (Mar 4, 2015)

plocp said:


> I drove around 10k mile, been doing for 2 month


If you use the IRS number of $0.57 per mile, you have $5700 in expenses since you started (not counting tolls)


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## plocp (Apr 1, 2015)

I don't even earn that much, lol , u guess I losing money then, well **** it at least I know now I am losing money on the weekday driving all that far to city for the none surge short trip fare
Thx guys for the advice


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## TimFromMA (Mar 4, 2015)

plocp said:


> I don't even earn that much, lol , u guess I losing money then, well **** it at least I know now I am losing money on the weekday driving all that far to city for the none surge short trip fare
> Thx guys for the advice


That's the conclusion most of us come to at some point.


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## Lidman (Nov 13, 2014)

plocp said:


> So on the week day, I need to drive from my place to city for uber, I need to pay 15 dollar toll total to get to city/back home, I need to drive 90 dead mile get to city/back home
> 
> So my cost of dead mile gas plus toll is around 40 dollar, and I make 110 after uber 20% a day driving 12 hour from 7am to 7 pm，90% of the fare is no surge 4 dollar, 5 dollar trip, occasionally over 10 dollar but that's rare, so I make like 70 after cost not include depreciation of my car for 12 hours shift, like making 5-6 dollar an hour，am I losing money here?
> Should I just find macdonal or Home Depot job instead? Any advice?


Go with Costco.


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## Lidman (Nov 13, 2014)

plocp said:


> I don't even earn that much, lol , u guess I losing money then, well **** it at least I know now I am losing money on the weekday driving all that far to city for the none surge short trip fare
> Thx guys for the advice


If the weekends are good. I would keep it to that. Mainly doing it part time. You're better off.


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## Simon (Jan 4, 2015)

Lidman said:


> If the weekends are good. I would keep it to that. Mainly doing it part time. You're better off.


This


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## UberCSR (May 1, 2015)

rest assured you are making money, uber drivers can earn $35 / hour. The average median for a full time uber driver is 75k a year.


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## Oc_DriverX (Apr 29, 2014)

UberCSR said:


> rest assured you are making money, uber drivers can earn $35 / hour. The average median for a full time uber driver is 75k a year.


LOL. This probably isn't true even if they are only talking about gross fares.


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## TimFromMA (Mar 4, 2015)

UberCSR said:


> rest assured you are making money, uber drivers can earn $35 / hour. The average median for a full time uber driver is 75k a year.


Not factoring in 90k per year in expenses


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## UberCSR (May 1, 2015)

Oc_DriverX said:


> LOL. This probably isn't true even if they are only talking about gross fares.


A "smart" driver only works during the best hours (mornings and late evenings).Try to get in all the airport runs you can (because airport fares are better than average hauls, and usually come in twos: one there, another back. And work "surge hours"-the times when Uber multiplies pricing during high demand. Lastly try to accept around 90% of your pings.


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## TimFromMA (Mar 4, 2015)

A "smart" driver wouldn't drive at all. They'd go work any minimum wage job and make more.


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## Go3Team (Aug 20, 2014)

UberCSR said:


> A "smart" driver only works during the best hours (mornings and late evenings).Try to get in all the airport runs you can (because airport fares are better than average hauls, and usually come in twos: one there, another back. And work "surge hours"-the times when Uber multiplies pricing during high demand. Lastly try to accept around 90% of your pings.


Thanks Travis.


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## Selcric (Sep 1, 2014)

L


UberCSR said:


> A "smart" driver only works during the best hours (mornings and late evenings).Try to get in all the airport runs you can (because airport fares are better than average hauls, and usually come in twos: one there, another back. And work "surge hours"-the times when Uber multiplies pricing during high demand. Lastly try to accept around 90% of your pings.


Lol. I've only read two of your posts. By far uberCSR, you are my new favorite member. Please don't leave. Your avatar brightens my day.


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## Huberis (Mar 15, 2015)

UberCSR said:


> rest assured you are making money, uber drivers can earn $35 / hour. The average median for a full time uber driver is 75k a year.


75K a year? I assume before expenses. How many drivers drive full time? I thought the average driver logs about 14 hours a week. How many hours is the average full timer working a week? I bit it jumps far above 40 hours a week. Just a guess.


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## 20yearsdriving (Dec 14, 2014)

This is going to be interesting .


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## plocp (Apr 1, 2015)

I can predict no way u can make over 50k per year driving uberX, even you drive full time, i mean net profit, not gross.


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## Huberis (Mar 15, 2015)

I'd love to know how many hours the average full time driver puts in per week. I hope this CSR person responds. I was under the impression the average Uber driver drives about 14 hours/week. My guess is that once a person commits to driving full time, chances are they are driving way more than 40/week. Whatever the number, those figures wont include time spent taking the car in to get an oil change or running around doing general maintenance. Those hours count too. As for 30+ an hour, I only buy that if you are true blue cherry picker. 

To average $35/hour over a forty hour week....... you have got to be flying the entire time. It means you can hardly drop below those numbers. I do not believe that claim if that is the claim. I would also be curious how those top earners are distributed throughout the country. How many drivers have driven for more than a year or two?


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## TimFromMA (Mar 4, 2015)

Ok, let's do some math. For this calculation, I'll use the Boston rate of $1.20 per mile.

$1.20 per mile -20% uber cut = $0.96 per mile.

$35 / $0.96 = 36.45

To average $35 per hour, you need to have 36.45 billable miles EVERY hour with no dead miles. Miles cost about $0.57 each so if we assume 1/3 of your miles are dead, you will have to drive about 48.5 miles every hour to get 36.5 billable miles. Those dead miles will cost you $6.84 so you will need an extra 7 miles to make up the difference.

Conclusion,

At a $1.20 per mile rate, you will need to drive 55.5 miles every hour and have a passenger for 43 0f them to average $35 an hour BEFORE taxes and expenses. This figure willl vary depending on surge, your market rate and actual number of dead miles.


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## UberDC (Jul 12, 2014)

Fuzzyelvis said:


> Yes. Work at Mcdonalds by your house.


I agree, McDonald's will work much better for you and I'm NOT kidding.


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## UberDC (Jul 12, 2014)

UberCSR said:


> A "smart" driver only works during the best hours (mornings and late evenings).Try to get in all the airport runs you can (because airport fares are better than average hauls, and usually come in twos: one there, another back. And work "surge hours"-the times when Uber multiplies pricing during high demand. Lastly try to accept around 90% of your pings.


A 'smart driver' only takes high surge trips.


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## Huberis (Mar 15, 2015)

UberDC said:


> A 'smart driver' only takes high surge trips.


A smart driver knows what bullshit smells like and doesn't need a taste test.


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## Fuzzyelvis (Dec 7, 2014)

UberDC said:


> I agree, McDonald's will work much better for you and I'm NOT kidding.


I wasn't kidding either. Maybe part time on the weekends MIGHT be a viable option but clearly the numbers he gave us for what he did so far are not good.


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## Lidman (Nov 13, 2014)

Hmm then we'll have to call you the McFuzzer.


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