# Origins of the $1/mile minimum acceptance criteria



## Heisenburger (Sep 19, 2016)

What are the *real* origins of the oft-repeated $1/mile minimum acceptance criteria?

Like *who* started it (like an old timer taxi driver)?

What *year* did it start getting air play? 

Does it predate Uber in the earliest US cities?



dctcmn said:


> My goal is >$1/mile average gross revenue for all miles (empty and loaded).





NotMe said:


> $1/mile include return, all cash paid upfront.





Sorien said:


> $1/mile, unless it's drive thru only then I need more.





Ms. Mercenary said:


> I think $1/mile is more realistic. I would be very busy if I were still doing $1/mile like when I just started.





homelesswarlock said:


> In order to extract $1 per mile out of your car with the existing rates,





Ms. Mercenary said:


> Not that long ago I posted about vividly remembering that when I first began looking into deliveries, the standard was $1/mile, and using this standard all the time.





FL_Steve said:


> $1/mile is my rock bottom absolute minimum,





Uber4lyfe said:


> 1 mile for $1 minimum, including pickup miles. Anything less than 1=1, better to go get a job.


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## ObeyTheNumbers (8 mo ago)

The math is easy for drivers and pax.

Back in the day, before meters, taxi drivers had to do the fare calculations in their head. This is likely the main reason. Cheap taxis, no meters, they just used odometer miles and ran off that. 

Also back then costs usually ran about 50 cents a mile, with the other 50 cents going to the driver.

Now of course it's more like 75/25 or 60/40.

A $1 a odometer mile daily or better is a good baseline for Uber drivers to shoot for, reduces deadheading and driving around aimlessly etc. Gives them a daily goal not to do more miles than what one earned on the meter if they want to make money at this.

I did .95 cents a odometer mile last year. Bills are paid, money for a replacement vehicle in the bank, rent paid etc.

There are still taxi companies using the $1 per mile formula and they are buying themselves houses. So it must work. 🙂


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## Ms. Mercenary (Jul 24, 2020)

Moses. Moses came up with it. In the desert.


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## Heisenburger (Sep 19, 2016)

ObeyTheNumbers said:


> Back in the day, before meters, taxi drivers had to do the fare calculations in their head. This is likely the main reason. Cheap taxis, no meters, they just used odometer miles and ran off that.


Pre meter days?! Yikes! Talk about an outdated metric!


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## Rampage (8 mo ago)

Because kilometers are for sissies. This is ‘murica.


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## Nats121 (Jul 19, 2017)

A dollar per mile may be tolerable for rideshare but it SUCKS big time for delivery work.

Unlike rideshare, delivery drivers have to park twice and exit their vehicles twice. They have deal with restaurant waits and apartment buildings and elevators, etc, etc.

Thus it usually takes much longer to complete deliveries than rideshare trips of the same distance.


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## W00dbutcher (Jan 14, 2019)

When this upfront price started just about a year ago here in, I just looked back and figured out a normal mile would take around 3 to 5 minutes to complete averaged. At that time we were getting paid $0.65 a mile nine cents a minute.

So that's where $1 a mile came out for me as a marker. Now I know it's different prices for every market but this just worked out great for here.

My bills were paid everything was okay and I had plenty money left over for cocaine and hookers.

Now we get this....








$.28 a mile round trip.


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## Ms. Mercenary (Jul 24, 2020)

Rampage said:


> Because kilometers are for sissies. This is ‘murica.


I love the metric system!! So much easier! The 7/12 of an inch drive me bonkers!! Masochists!


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## ANThonyBoreDaneCook (Oct 7, 2019)

Ms. Mercenary said:


> Moses. Moses came up with it. In the desert.












"Who am I, that I should go unto Dara, and that I should bring forth the 60 cases of bottled water out of Walmart for 25 cents per mile!!!"


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## Judge and Jury (Oct 19, 2019)

Heisenburger said:


> What are the *real* origins of the oft-repeated $1/mile minimum acceptance criteria?
> 
> Like *who* started it (like an old timer taxi driver)?
> 
> ...


The one dollar per mile ratio predates ridesharing and gig app food deliveries.

The hallowed and revered ratio was written in stone far before pizza and Chinese restaurants began food deliveries in the before times.

It was recorded on the missing tablet.

The Eleventh Commandment.

Moses decided the tip was too low and blamed the missing tablet on the Merchant of Salvation.

As the New Testament superceded the Old, the One Dollar per Mile ratio has been replaced by the New Two Dollars per Mile revelation, from driveway until return.

Beware the heretics on YouTube who preach the dollar per mile ratio.

They are evil and unprofitable. ((Unprobitability being the eighth deadly sin.)


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## Judge and Jury (Oct 19, 2019)

Nats121 said:


> A dollar per mile may be tolerable for rideshare but it SUCKS big time for delivery work.
> 
> Unlike rideshare, delivery drivers have to park twice and exit their vehicles twice. They have deal with restaurant waits and apartment buildings and elevators, etc, etc.
> 
> Thus it usually takes much longer to complete deliveries than rideshare trips of the same distance.


Seems to me that every mile incurred generates costs.

Excessive amount of time expended per offer reduces gross revenues. This would apply if you are calculating your profitability by dollars per hour.

Gross revenue minus expenses equals profit.

Time is not a factor in the equation.

Unless you were blessed by the voters of CA.


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## Jumpin Jim (Mar 4, 2018)

Ms. Mercenary said:


> Moses. Moses came up with it. In the desert.


Yeah but he could have easily gotten $2 for getting those unruly pax across the Red Sea.


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## Judge and Jury (Oct 19, 2019)

I would swear it was you.

Or maybe @ObeyTheNumbers.

He swears by the dollar per mile ratio.


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## ObeyTheNumbers (8 mo ago)

Judge and Jury said:


> I would swear it was you.
> 
> Or maybe @ObeyTheNumbers.
> 
> He swears by the dollar per mile ratio.


I am Moses, of the minimum $1 per mile ratio. 😇

I will bring my brethren Uber drivers out of the desert of poverty and show them the path to profitablity!

We will show our Egyptian slave masters that we will not take their abusive compensation any longer!


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## Judge and Jury (Oct 19, 2019)

ObeyTheNumbers said:


> I am Moses, of the minimum $1 per mile ratio. 😇
> 
> I will bring my brethren Uber drivers out of the desert of poverty and show them the path to profitablity!
> 
> We will show our Egyptian slave masters that we will not take their abusive compensation any longer!


False prophet.

May you burn in Hell for your heresy.

Unprobitability is the eighth deadly sin.


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## W00dbutcher (Jan 14, 2019)

Judge and Jury said:


> False prophet.
> 
> May you burn in Hell for your heresy.
> 
> Unprobitability is the eighth deadly sin.


Unprobability or unprofitability?


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## Judge and Jury (Oct 19, 2019)

W00dbutcher said:


> Unprobability or unprofitability?


Yep.


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## Judge and Jury (Oct 19, 2019)

W00dbutcher said:


> Unprobability or unprofitability?


Unprobitability.

Google it.


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## W00dbutcher (Jan 14, 2019)

Judge and Jury said:


> Unprobitability.
> 
> Google it.


Just checking.. I want to make sure I got all these commandments down right. That's all.


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## Judge and Jury (Oct 19, 2019)

W00dbutcher said:


> Just checking.. I want to make sure I got all these commandments down right. That's all.


Ha Ha!

Typo.

Commandment 12 through 15:

Moses swore me to secrecy upon pain of death.


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## Heisenburger (Sep 19, 2016)

W00dbutcher said:


> Unprobability or unprofitability?


J&J be struggling today.


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## Judge and Jury (Oct 19, 2019)

Heisenburger said:


> J&J be struggling today.


Ha Ha!

Typo.

Did you Google the misspelled word?


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## Judge and Jury (Oct 19, 2019)

Heisenburger said:


> J&J be struggling today.


By the way;

Are you an advocate of a buck a mile?


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## Heisenburger (Sep 19, 2016)

Judge and Jury said:


> By the way;
> 
> Are you an advocate of a buck a mile?


Nope, but I did stay at a holiday inn express last night!



Judge and Jury said:


> Did you Google the misspelled word?


Nah, I have standards.


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## Seamus (Jun 21, 2018)

Shows you how little so many know about the History of Rideshare and the more long time drivers that leave, the less Tribal knowledge exists.

The short story is that in the early days of Rideshare there was an Uber driver named Luther that drove in a small rural town in The Smoky Mountains.

Luther was terrible at math and that was the subject that prevented him from graduating High School. Since almost any math confused him, the one bit of basic math he could understand was if an offer was $1 per mile he could kind of understand the Money he would make. 

Well Luther got on UP in the early days and spread the $1/mile calculation to a lot of other math challenged drivers. The rest is history and today is referred to as the great $1/mile standard!

You’re welcome!


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## Stevie The magic Unicorn (Apr 3, 2018)

ObeyTheNumbers said:


> The math is easy for drivers and pax.
> 
> Back in the day, before meters, taxi drivers had to do the fare calculations in their head. This is likely the main reason. Cheap taxis, no meters, they just used odometer miles and ran off that.
> 
> ...


What kind of cheapass company doesn't use meters?

They have been around for over _*130 YEARS!*_

Yes since the 1890s they have been around, longer than the car even. The guy who invented it died _95 years ago in 1927_




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Wilhelm_Gustav_Bruhn



*Friedrich Wilhelm Gustav Bruhn* (11 November 1853 – 1927) was a German inventor.
Bruhn invented modern taximeter in Berlin. He worked for German company Westendarp & Pieper Hamburg. In 1920 he became leader of this company. Bruhn was married and had three children. His daughter Adele married architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. His son Wolfgang Bruhn was an art historian.


Not sure who you are talking to that has never dealt with a taximeter... but they sure werent "reputable", Small town podunk for sure.


And the "quick" method for calculating fares in my town is Mileage X 3.00 for roads with stop lights and milege + 1 X 2.4 for highway miles.


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## ANThonyBoreDaneCook (Oct 7, 2019)

I mean if everything went wrong that could go wrong I would still pull a buck fiddy per mile.


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## Heisenburger (Sep 19, 2016)

Stevie The magic Unicorn said:


> And the "quick" method for calculating fares in my town is Mileage X 3.00 for roads with stop lights and milege + 1 X 2.4 for highway miles.


Pretty smart use of two different formulas here because it accounts for the huge difference between the two extremes. Not all miles are equal.

However, nowadays, the latter one seems to be on the high side.


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## Stevie The magic Unicorn (Apr 3, 2018)

customer cost? Not so much,
Driver pay? Yeah it's overshooting.



I'm hearing more and more that uber isn't available...


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## Disgusted Driver (Jan 9, 2015)

Ms. Mercenary said:


> Moses. Moses came up with it. In the desert.


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## Ms. Mercenary (Jul 24, 2020)

Stevie The magic Unicorn said:


> customer cost? Not so much,
> Driver pay? Yeah it's overshooting.
> 
> 
> ...


Check the higher-tier restaurants. In my area, they only use Uber and GrubHub. DD has a terrible rep with restaurants - frankly, their drivers suck.


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## Heisenburger (Sep 19, 2016)

Disgusted Driver said:


>


Mel Brooks!


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## Emptynesst (6 mo ago)

$20 for zero miles is better


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## Heisenburger (Sep 19, 2016)

Ms. Mercenary said:


> Check the higher-tier restaurants. In my area, they only use Uber and GrubHub. DD has a terrible rep with restaurants - frankly, their drivers suck.


Stevie is cabbie, so only pax.


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## Seamus (Jun 21, 2018)

Ms. Mercenary said:


> frankly, their drivers suck.


Oh no, the Janitor is making fun of the Custodian again! Or is the Chef making fun of the Cook?

Since many drivers drive for all 3, it’s hard to figure how you can differentiate drivers between the 3. Saying DD drivers suck seems to somehow imply GH or UE are in a higher category. Which has the “Gold Standard“ of drivers?


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## Ms. Mercenary (Jul 24, 2020)

Seamus said:


> Oh no, the Janitor is making fun of the Custodian again! Or is the Chef making fun of the Cook?
> 
> Since many drivers drive for all 3, it’s hard to figure how you can differentiate drivers between the 3. Saying DD drivers suck seems to somehow imply GH or UE are in a higher category. Which has the “Gold Standard“ of drivers?


DD will accept pretty much anybody. It’s the same people who accept lowball offers. Not much going on in the head. Both UE and GH a touch more selective. Not much. But a bit.

For illustration purposes only: DD are the ones who will put the bag right at an outward-opening door.

Those who drive for 2 or 3 don’t count, as they’ve obvi made the cut.


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## Stevie The magic Unicorn (Apr 3, 2018)

Heisenburger said:


> Stevie is cabbie, so only pax.


Close... I got cross trained for chaffeur vehicles at the same company.

So now depending on what's available i'll take either a POS over the hill taxi with 50 bajillion miles or a top of the line luxury SUV. (with 50 bajillion miles, but they keep them sparkly and shiny)


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## Heisenburger (Sep 19, 2016)

Stevie The magic Unicorn said:


> a POS over the hill taxi with 50 bajillion miles


My POS is at merely 255k and I'm tired of it because it's so rattly and just uncomfortable. But it starts every time I ask. But gives just 26 mpg in the city rush hours with the A/C pumping out the humidity and heat. 30 mpg on highways.

Eager for a hybrid soon. About 6 months away.


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## Volvonaut (May 1, 2016)

I miss Uber Select.


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## Heisenburger (Sep 19, 2016)

Heisenburger said:


> What are the *real* origins of the oft-repeated $1/mile minimum acceptance criteria?


It seems that we'll never really know beyond "the rideshare professor" said so. 🤣


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## ObeyTheNumbers (8 mo ago)

Heisenburger said:


> It seems that we'll never really know beyond "the rideshare professor" said so. 🤣


Yes it was me, here's the breakdown.

.60 cents a mile towards costs (IRS tax credit is .62 as if July 1 st). This should cover nearly everything else except vehicle replacement. (Individual results may differ)

.15 cents a mile towards vehicle replacement (.15 x 300,000 miles is $45,000)

.25 cents a mile towards drivers labor.

Grand total $1 per odometer mile or greater, minus any personal miles at the end of the year.

Stick to the formula, worked for me. 😁

When replacement vehicle money in the bank, you too can brag, as you have the swag! 😎


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## bobby747 (Dec 29, 2015)

Heisenburger said:


> What are the *real* origins of the oft-repeated $1/mile minimum acceptance criteria?
> 
> Like *who* started it (like an old timer taxi driver)?
> 
> ...


you make all these posts up.....$1 a mile is like 1977 cab rates..making guys think thats ok is horrible. i get like over $1.50 is some places xl - $1.26 x and thats not enough. you better work on your spread sheets
i avg alot more or i dont drive..avg= per mile and my hours all week with all pay.
now private. i charge most by the hour gas included.
most black cars do that to $90 hr+


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## bobby747 (Dec 29, 2015)

ObeyTheNumbers said:


> Yes it was me, here's the breakdown.
> 
> .60 cents a mile towards costs (IRS tax credit is .62 as if July 1 st). This should cover nearly everything else except vehicle replacement. (Individual results may differ)
> 
> ...


$100 a week net is a good source of a new car fund. 99% of the drivers can get 4 years out of a car...= $20,000 cash every 4 years for a car


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## ObeyTheNumbers (8 mo ago)

bobby747 said:


> you make all these posts up.....$1 a mile is like 1977 cab rates..making guys think thats ok is horrible. i get like over $1.50 is some places xl - $1.26 x and thats not enough. you better work on your spread sheets
> i avg alot more or i dont drive..avg= per mile and my hours all week with all pay.
> now private. i charge most by the hour gas included.
> most black cars do that to $90 hr+


Good, it's a $1 per odometer mile is the minimum.

Go forth and earn my child.,


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## ObeyTheNumbers (8 mo ago)

bobby747 said:


> $100 a week net is a good source of a new car fund. 99% of the drivers can get 4 years out of a car...= $20,000 cash every 4 years for a car


Well if they don't get into any accidents...


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## Heisenburger (Sep 19, 2016)

ObeyTheNumbers said:


> .60 cents a mile towards costs (IRS tax credit is .62 as if July 1 st). This should cover nearly everything else except vehicle replacement. (Individual results may differ)
> 
> .15 cents a mile towards vehicle replacement (.15 x 300,000 miles is $45,000)
> 
> .25 cents a mile towards drivers labor.


So you just made up those numbers out of thin air?






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## Heisenburger (Sep 19, 2016)

ObeyTheNumbers said:


> .15 cents a mile towards vehicle replacement (.15 x 300,000 miles is $45,000)


 Vehicle depreciation is already captured by the .625/mile tax deduction. Why are you counting this separately?



ObeyTheNumbers said:


> .25 cents a mile towards drivers labor.


Why not .40/mile like truckers?


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## W00dbutcher (Jan 14, 2019)

Heisenburger said:


> Vehicle depreciation is already captured by the .625/mile tax deduction.


Because variables like the current high gas prices, chip shortage, and inflation eats into the original 62 cents per mile allowance. So a smart business individual would put away an additional amount to cover the replacement or other regardless of the allotted tax break. Regardless if it's included in the $.62 allowance, if you can't replace your vehicle what the hell you going to drive!? 



Heisenburger said:


> Why not .40/mile like truckers?


 That what he has accepted as a Minimum pay.


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## W00dbutcher (Jan 14, 2019)

Johnny drove for Uber and Lyft for 4 years. Johnny has made his car his tool and instrument to make money so he cherishes his car very very much. He cherishes his car so much he wants to buy a new car of the same type. 

Johnny goes to the dealership and looks at all the new cars and decides he's going to stick with his original idea with the same make and model. Johnny found a car. A brilliant red with black interior. Johnny's favorite colors. Johnny's going to buy this car.

Johnny went to the salesman, and told him he wanted that car right there the red and black one. The salesman said okay let's draw up the paperwork and let's get you on the road. Johnny sat down waited patiently as the salesman came back with all the paperwork that Johnny needed to buy the new car. Including a shiny pen

Johnny was ecstatic happy and joyfully doing cartwheels inside. He's rightful through them papers and Johnny read everything carefully. And Johnny came to the financing part of it. Johnny's world just fell apart. Johnny have enough money to buy his car you wanted so much. Johnny's now upset. Johnny pulls out his 9 mm, clicks off the safety, and raises his guns slowly.

But wait! Johnny remembers he put away more money than he should have just in case! With the war going on and inflation and the cost of cars because there's no chips to make the cars go everything will cost more!

Johnny puts his safety back on his gun. Signs the papers and drives home his new car..


The moral of the story is simple. Save an extra $.15 just in case, cuz Johnny won't do good in prison. Johnny's got a cute mouth.


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## Heisenburger (Sep 19, 2016)

Jesus Christ what the hell is happening with the latest comments here?!


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## W00dbutcher (Jan 14, 2019)

No problem. Move along.


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