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Every time I see an article about Uber/Lyft, I fantasize about a world where they operated on a business-to-business model. Drivers could expense their cars, g

Every time I see an article about Uber/Lyft, I fantasize about a world where they operated on a business-to-business model. Drivers could expense their cars, gas, insurance, and maintenance. Uber/lyft could avoid a significant portion of the employment lawfare. Many traditional cabs are operated as small businesses/sole proprietorships working with dispatchers. Uber would probably have to build a streamlined tax filing system for drivers, but that really shouldn't be that hard for a business as simple as driving a car. My best guess is that a big part of the reason they don't is that they launched in small business hostile California, but that doesn't seem to be a sufficient explanation. If any insiders have thoughts or perspective, I would love to hear it.

xnx 2y ago
> Drivers could expense their cars, gas, insurance, and maintenance. If drivers were accurately tracking their car depreciation, gas, insurance, and maintenance, they would probably realize how lousy a deal driving for Uber/Lyft is. Uber does not want to encourage this type of critical cost/benefit analysis on the part of their drivers. Like bitcoin, they thrive on a regular stream of naive newbies.
- s1artibartfast 2y ago
  I think that is overly cynical. Drivers aren't subhuman idiots. Most that I have spoken with seem to be intelligent and thoughtful people. I tend to believe that most of them can do the simple arithmetic and know if they are losing money each month. I would be curious to see the numbers on driver retention, but a quick search didn't turn up anything.
  - AStonesThrow 2y ago
    Yeah, but there are a shocking number who are renting accounts. It is not uncommon for some dude with a clean record to get the account, and the car, and then rent out one or the other to someone with a not-so-clean record. And I have often seen legitimate drivers swapping in other cars unannounced. It's extremely annoying when the app sends me a bunch of info about the car, and the driver pulls up, and it's all wrong. I ask the driver why, and they're always like "oh, my regular car is in the shop." And the car they're driving has temporary or dealer tags. And I'm like, would you please update it in the app, because riders like me get paranoid when someone's shady about their car or license plate.
    - s1artibartfast 2y ago
      I have seen this as well, and where the driver doesnt match the account. However, doesn't that indicate that there is some money to be made on the driver side?
  - xnx 2y ago
    I don't think anyone is an idiot for driving for Uber/Lyft, but there are a lot of costs that are very difficult to calculate except on a fleet level. e.g. are drivers factoring in the increased risk of getting in an accident that might raise their insurance rates for five years, etc.

xnx 2y ago

> Drivers could expense their cars, gas, insurance, and maintenance. If drivers were accurately tracking their car depreciation, gas, insurance, and maintenance, they would probably realize how lousy a deal driving for Uber/Lyft is. Uber does not want to encourage this type of critical cost/benefit analysis on the part of their drivers. Like bitcoin, they thrive on a regular stream of naive newbies.

s1artibartfast 2y ago
I think that is overly cynical. Drivers aren't subhuman idiots. Most that I have spoken with seem to be intelligent and thoughtful people. I tend to believe that most of them can do the simple arithmetic and know if they are losing money each month. I would be curious to see the numbers on driver retention, but a quick search didn't turn up anything.
- AStonesThrow 2y ago
  Yeah, but there are a shocking number who are renting accounts. It is not uncommon for some dude with a clean record to get the account, and the car, and then rent out one or the other to someone with a not-so-clean record. And I have often seen legitimate drivers swapping in other cars unannounced. It's extremely annoying when the app sends me a bunch of info about the car, and the driver pulls up, and it's all wrong. I ask the driver why, and they're always like "oh, my regular car is in the shop." And the car they're driving has temporary or dealer tags. And I'm like, would you please update it in the app, because riders like me get paranoid when someone's shady about their car or license plate.
  - s1artibartfast 2y ago
    I have seen this as well, and where the driver doesnt match the account. However, doesn't that indicate that there is some money to be made on the driver side?
- xnx 2y ago
  I don't think anyone is an idiot for driving for Uber/Lyft, but there are a lot of costs that are very difficult to calculate except on a fleet level. e.g. are drivers factoring in the increased risk of getting in an accident that might raise their insurance rates for five years, etc.