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There’s the common impression - misconception? - that driving for rideshare companies is a losing game, and that drivers end up making very little money after f

There’s the common impression - misconception? - that driving for rideshare companies is a losing game, and that drivers end up making very little money after fuel, repairs, and depreciation. For a while, it seemed like every day there was another article breaking this down and “exposing” Uber and Lyft. Having never driven for them, I can’t verify whether this is true, but just a quick back-of-the-envelope guess seems like drivers in the Bay Area could average $40 - $50 an hour. That doesn’t seem like minimum wage level to me.

dnautics 8y ago
40-50 an hour is a bit on the high side. If you're doing a back of the envelope guess based on what you're charged, keep in mind that there is a sampling bias; you're probably riding hours where other passengers are also making requests. Nonetheless, I would say 35-40 an hour is not unreasonable. There are of course probably lots of drivers who are exceptionally bad at finding rides (let's say 20-25 an hour) who are making less than that. Without tooting my own horn too much, let's just say that there are a lot of really stupid folkways that go around the driver community. There was literally one guy who once said (paraphrased), "I drive a circuit between these five points until I get a ride". Also, he drove a truck. I tried to point out to him why this was a bad idea, but he seemed resistant to the idea of changing his tactics.
Animats 8y ago
Bear in mind that the cost of operating a car is about $0.61/mile.[1] [1] https://newsroom.aaa.com/tag/cost-of-operating-a-vehicle/ https://newsroom.aaa.com/tag/cost-of-operating-a-vehicle/
- ac29 8y ago
  That's for all vehicles, including ones that are expensive to own and uncommonly used for rideshare. "Small sedans", which are pretty common for rideshare, cost 42c/mile. These costs also assume depreciation based on buying cars new. Costs would be quite a bit lower if they were based on buying 3-5 year old used cars, for example.
opportune 8y ago
The weird thing is I almost never get a driver with more than 1-2k trips. If the job actually paid well, you would think there would be a lot of people doing it full-time for more than one year. Maybe the skew is due to the rapid growth of rideshare in general but I suspect the main reason there don't seem to be seasoned super-drivers is that the job simply isn't as good as it seems
- i_am_nomad 8y ago
  It's been said is some of the articles I mentioned that Uber's business plan is to profit of drivers who are financially illiterate, until those people either wise up or break. That seems like hyperbole, but if there is a kernel of truth to it, that would explain your observation.
- cm2012 8y ago
  I live in the NYC suburb, I see 3+ year drivers more often than not.

dnautics 8y ago

40-50 an hour is a bit on the high side. If you're doing a back of the envelope guess based on what you're charged, keep in mind that there is a sampling bias; you're probably riding hours where other passengers are also making requests. Nonetheless, I would say 35-40 an hour is not unreasonable. There are of course probably lots of drivers who are exceptionally bad at finding rides (let's say 20-25 an hour) who are making less than that. Without tooting my own horn too much, let's just say that there are a lot of really stupid folkways that go around the driver community. There was literally one guy who once said (paraphrased), "I drive a circuit between these five points until I get a ride". Also, he drove a truck. I tried to point out to him why this was a bad idea, but he seemed resistant to the idea of changing his tactics.

Animats 8y ago

Bear in mind that the cost of operating a car is about $0.61/mile.[1] [1] https://newsroom.aaa.com/tag/cost-of-operating-a-vehicle/ https://newsroom.aaa.com/tag/cost-of-operating-a-vehicle/

ac29 8y ago
That's for all vehicles, including ones that are expensive to own and uncommonly used for rideshare. "Small sedans", which are pretty common for rideshare, cost 42c/mile. These costs also assume depreciation based on buying cars new. Costs would be quite a bit lower if they were based on buying 3-5 year old used cars, for example.

opportune 8y ago

The weird thing is I almost never get a driver with more than 1-2k trips. If the job actually paid well, you would think there would be a lot of people doing it full-time for more than one year. Maybe the skew is due to the rapid growth of rideshare in general but I suspect the main reason there don't seem to be seasoned super-drivers is that the job simply isn't as good as it seems

i_am_nomad 8y ago
It's been said is some of the articles I mentioned that Uber's business plan is to profit of drivers who are financially illiterate, until those people either wise up or break. That seems like hyperbole, but if there is a kernel of truth to it, that would explain your observation.
cm2012 8y ago
I live in the NYC suburb, I see 3+ year drivers more often than not.