# I don't know how any X driver can make a profit without doing SELECT



## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

If it weren't for even just a small percentage of my rides being UberSELECT, I wouldn't bother driving.
At these rates, it just wouldn't be profitable at all.
The ability to pick-up SELECT rides is what brings my average earnings to something above 'losing money'.

Today's _'EARNINGS_'









Bless those SELECT riders.
For these riders, I'll drive further for a pick-up, open doors - and I always ask if they need to stop anywhere along the way
(at $15/hr wait time with no additional expense).

Two of those SELECT rides above came from 'questionable' areas, too...
I even sent those two a txt msg asking if they actually meant to order SELECT at twice the cost of X, and they confirmed, 'yes'.

(for those who will inevitably ask: no, I wasn't on-app' for 6 hours...
it was a Saturday in fall - there's football to watch!
So that time includes 1.5 hours 'off-app' while I was at dinner - and about another 45 min to an hour 'off-app' to do some shopping.
So maybe 3.5 to 4 hours total "on-app".)


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## Skinny1 (Sep 24, 2015)

I feel the same way about my XL rides.


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## Bigman (Sep 22, 2015)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> If it weren't for even just a small percentage of my rides being UberSELECT, I wouldn't bother driving.
> At these rates, it just wouldn't be profitable at all.
> The ability to pick-up SELECT rides is what brings my average earnings to something above 'losing money'.
> 
> ...


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## Bigman (Sep 22, 2015)

What is select uber, i've never heard of that?


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

Bigman said:


> What is select uber, i've never heard of that?


SELECT is a 4 passenger 'luxury' vehicle: leather seats... Lexus, Mercedes, BMW, Lincoln, Cadillac, Infiniti, etc.


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## Bigman (Sep 22, 2015)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> SELECT is a 4 passenger 'luxury' vehicle: leather seats... Lexus, Mercedes, BMW, etc.


Would a lincoln towncar qualify for select?


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## Another Uber Driver (May 27, 2015)

It *ain't* easy, but those of us who actually do know what we are doing can manage to make a few bucks here and there. The taxi pays much better, as a rule.


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

Bigman said:


> Would a lincoln towncar qualify for select?


Lincoln Towncars have, in the past, been the defacto choice for 'black car' service - so I imagine it would depend on the model year.
Every region has an Operations Manager who can determine what does and doesn't qualify. It can depend on the model year, the make, the features and the condition. Write to [email protected] and ask. Or, if you can, go to your local Uber 'office hours'.


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## Casuale Haberdasher (Dec 7, 2014)

Bigman said:


> Would a lincoln towncar qualify for select?


POST # 6/Bigman: Use the UPNF Search
Function to find out!
Oretty sure that Towncars are X only now.


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## Thinjim (May 25, 2015)

Wondering if delivery is more profitable??? Should I drive to Evanston and wait for a surge. But I'd probably get deactivated for a low acceptance rating, no?


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

well, if you're going to attempt to play the 'surge game'
(which doesn't work for me in my areas, so I don't bother)
you wouldn't 'wait' while being logged online... you'd watch for the surge
using another app or just the pax app... THEN go online with the 
partner app. So, no - you wouldn't have an acceptance rate problem.


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## Thinjim (May 25, 2015)

Then how do u make money if u don't wait for surges???? Or do u wait to log in when u see a surge in your area????


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

Thinjim said:


> Then how do u make money if u don't wait for surges???? Or do u wait to log in when u see a surge in your area????


see the part in RED.

I don't chase surges here because they are short lived, low in value - and rarely available. 
I make $ because I can drive uberSELECT
(which accounts for 5% of my rides - and 20% of my earnings)
and I follow the guidelines in my signature tag.


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## Thinjim (May 25, 2015)

I can't do uber select. I'd have to drive I think 2.3 miles to get to a place that normally has surge, a parking place and a washroom nearby. Even then it sounds like uber may not be worth it for me. I'd probably only get 2 or 3 rides per night. There's nooooooo guarantee a rider that i picked up in surge will nessairly take me to an area that usually surges. I picked up my first rider yesterday in surge. He took me for a long 30+ minute drive. But it was to the airport. I had to drive out of there. That was a waste of gas. o'hare is a big airport.takes along time to get out!!!!


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## Thinjim (May 25, 2015)

Is post mates or door dash more profitable????? I heard from hug that they actually pay a little less than uber. Not sure how jag can make uber pay????


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

Another Uber Driver said:


> It *ain't* easy, but those of us who actually do know what we are doing can manage to make a few bucks here and there. The taxi pays much better, as a rule.


Rules were made to be broken, right?
Most taxi drivers lease their cab for a 'shift' - and have no choice but to drive that entire shift in order to be profitable. Uber drivers can go out - earn enough in tips to pay for dinner... then go out and drive a few more hours and call it a night - not drive the next day... work a long weekend, etc. If I were driving a cab (which you couldn't pay me enough to do - god bless you) I would still probably drive Uber/Lyft with my own car and try to balance out the hours. Leasing a cab ain't cheap.


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## Another Uber Driver (May 27, 2015)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> Most taxi drivers lease their cab for a 'shift' -


Perhaps they do in Cleveland, but in the District of Columbia, most drivers own. The regulators are trying to change that, but owners still outnumber renters. For some time, there had been a freeze on both hack licences and H-plates. Two, or so, years back, the Taxicab Commission lifted the freeze on hack licences, but told those guys that they would have to rent. There would be no new H-plates. The freeze on H-plates persists.

In the City and in the suburbs, most drivers are on twenty four hour rental. They pay for six days and get the seventh free. The two big suburban companies do have "shift" rentals. Most rental drivers in the suburbs prefer the twenty four hour rentals, as they lack private cars. Only one or two companies in the City do shift rentals, although I expect that will change.

It might be different in other cities. I do know that most drivers in New York City used to rent by the shift. At least they did when I lived there. I am not sure what they do now. Up until recently I was aware that most rented by the shift, but I do not know if there have been any changes.


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

Another Uber Driver said:


> ....It might be different in other cities. I do know that most drivers in New York City used to rent by the shift. At least they did when I lived there. I am not sure what they do now. Up until recently I was aware that most rented by the shift, but I do not know if there have been any changes.


I think it's pretty safe to say that with the cost of a medallion (in major metro areas that use the medallion system) still being more than the cost of a home, any medallion holder leases/rents that medallion vehicle out to keep in operation 24/7.


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## maui (Dec 22, 2015)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> If it weren't for even just a small percentage of my rides being UberSELECT, I wouldn't bother driving.


Select unfortunately not available in most areas. Until it is in Beantown, keeping my driving to a minimum


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## Another Uber Driver (May 27, 2015)

We do not have medallions, here. They have tried to put them in several times, but the bill always has been withdrawn before the City Council could vote on it. The problem was that every time a bill was put forth, the attempted corruption started and became such a big deal that the only way to put a stop to it was to withdraw the bill.

There was a previous Chair of the Taxicab Commission with whom I had many discussions on various subjects related to the cab business in fact, he had fingers pointed at him over some of the scandals. Rumour has it that he has returned to Curacao, which might explain why his name has not come up in some time. I stray. One of the things that he wanted to do was make the cost of a vehicle licence so prohibitive that the owner-operators would have to shift their cabs. I told him that this was a bad idea for several reasons.

Do keep in mind that the licencing authority receives only a small amount of the "cost" of the medallion. The majority of the funds paid over go to the owner of the medallion as the price to transfer it.

While I would not necessarily disagree with your reply, I would, at some point, check into it to see if it is the case. One thing, among several, that I have learned about this business is that what looks good on paper does not necessarily play out empirically. In other words, it might hold water, but it _*ain't necessarily gonna' make no steam*_. I would be interested to know if your "safe" statement actually holds.


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