3 ms·

edit Supporting comment apparently wasn't appreciated. No delete button.

by erikb 9y ago

aianus 9y ago
I drive part time and it definitely covers costs and then some. I gross something like $0.90/km and my costs including gas, maintenance, and depreciation are around $0.30/km. Net is something a little more than minimum wage ($11/h).
- rectang 9y ago
  Until you get in an accident. The rideshare companies have offloaded lots of aggregate risk onto individual drivers. What would be a line-item cost to the umbrella company is now often a life-wrenching crisis for a driver.
briandear 9y ago
It’s voluntary. If it becomes unprofitable, drivers leave. If they lose money, they won’t do it. They give a share to Uber because Uber is their lead generation. Many businesses give a share of their money to Google because Google brings them business. An Uber driver can market their own business and keep all the money if they want just like a business could go out and market without using AdWords. If you are unhappy with the pay Uber drivers make, you are welcome to pay whatever you want. It’s called a tip. Hand the driver cash for whatever amount you think compensates for the “exploitation” you imply (and are enabling by your own admission.) Otherwise, choose another transportation option and the market will respond. I rarely hear anti-Uber people demand that supermarkets charge more for tomatoes despite those that pick tomatoes working in extremely tough conditions for low pay. I used to drive a taxi for a summer and I know it’s a non-stop hustle and not the best job, but I was at least in an air conditioned car listening to the radio all day and not out in the fields picking fruits and vegetables. It ended up being a low profit pursuit, so I ended up moving on to something else. I have a hard time feeling sorry for people that do jobs like Uber because they, with some moderate ambition, could improve their lot – they already own a car, they could make deals with local companies that send lots of people to airports, for example. They could work on building an actual business while they pay the bills with their Uber income – just as an example. Still other drivers might start a mobile car wash service for other Uber drivers, etc. There are plenty of ways to evolve past depending on Uber as one’s sole income. But most people aren’t ambitious at all – they just want to just do what they’re told and collect a check no matter how meager. Other drivers use Uber for extra income or it’s a transitional job. Any driver thinking they will make a career out of Uber is a fool. If they don’t like the conditions, they should be working hard and to create something of their own. It doesn’t take much money, but it takes ambition.
- rectang 9y ago
  > But most people aren’t ambitious at all It also takes sufficient life-situation stability, good health, and so on. Shaming people for lacking "ambition" is neither universally appropriate nor universally effective. EDIT: I didn't originally upvote the parent comment, but I now have. I think there's a very interesting debate to be had when we consider individuals as economic actors. Disadvantaging individual participants in the "gig economy" too aggressively (e.g. by prosecuting Uber drivers for collusion) forces us towards solutions like unionization by dividing us into privileged capital and downtrodden labor. I'd like to talk more about we might empower individual actors (e.g. by improving the social "safety net" and making the job market more fluid).
- LordKano 9y ago
  I know someone who drives for Uber due to the lead generation but also does jitney service on her own for people that she already knows. That way, no one else gets a cut of the revenue for leads that she had produced herself. It's my understanding that a lot of people operate in a similar manner.

edit Supporting comment apparently wasn't appreciated. No delete button.

by erikb 9y ago

edit Supporting comment apparently wasn't appreciated. No delete button.

I drive part time and it definitely covers costs and then some. I gross something like $0.90/km and my costs including gas, maintenance, and depreciation are around $0.30/km. Net is something a little more than minimum wage ($11/h).

rectang 9y ago
Until you get in an accident. The rideshare companies have offloaded lots of aggregate risk onto individual drivers. What would be a line-item cost to the umbrella company is now often a life-wrenching crisis for a driver.

briandear 9y ago

It’s voluntary. If it becomes unprofitable, drivers leave. If they lose money, they won’t do it. They give a share to Uber because Uber is their lead generation. Many businesses give a share of their money to Google because Google brings them business. An Uber driver can market their own business and keep all the money if they want just like a business could go out and market without using AdWords. If you are unhappy with the pay Uber drivers make, you are welcome to pay whatever you want. It’s called a tip. Hand the driver cash for whatever amount you think compensates for the “exploitation” you imply (and are enabling by your own admission.) Otherwise, choose another transportation option and the market will respond. I rarely hear anti-Uber people demand that supermarkets charge more for tomatoes despite those that pick tomatoes working in extremely tough conditions for low pay. I used to drive a taxi for a summer and I know it’s a non-stop hustle and not the best job, but I was at least in an air conditioned car listening to the radio all day and not out in the fields picking fruits and vegetables. It ended up being a low profit pursuit, so I ended up moving on to something else. I have a hard time feeling sorry for people that do jobs like Uber because they, with some moderate ambition, could improve their lot – they already own a car, they could make deals with local companies that send lots of people to airports, for example. They could work on building an actual business while they pay the bills with their Uber income – just as an example. Still other drivers might start a mobile car wash service for other Uber drivers, etc. There are plenty of ways to evolve past depending on Uber as one’s sole income. But most people aren’t ambitious at all – they just want to just do what they’re told and collect a check no matter how meager. Other drivers use Uber for extra income or it’s a transitional job. Any driver thinking they will make a career out of Uber is a fool. If they don’t like the conditions, they should be working hard and to create something of their own. It doesn’t take much money, but it takes ambition.

rectang 9y ago
> But most people aren’t ambitious at all It also takes sufficient life-situation stability, good health, and so on. Shaming people for lacking "ambition" is neither universally appropriate nor universally effective. EDIT: I didn't originally upvote the parent comment, but I now have. I think there's a very interesting debate to be had when we consider individuals as economic actors. Disadvantaging individual participants in the "gig economy" too aggressively (e.g. by prosecuting Uber drivers for collusion) forces us towards solutions like unionization by dividing us into privileged capital and downtrodden labor. I'd like to talk more about we might empower individual actors (e.g. by improving the social "safety net" and making the job market more fluid).
LordKano 9y ago
I know someone who drives for Uber due to the lead generation but also does jitney service on her own for people that she already knows. That way, no one else gets a cut of the revenue for leads that she had produced herself. It's my understanding that a lot of people operate in a similar manner.