9 ms·

Lyft is offering as much as $10,000 a month to commercial drivers in NYC

27 points by zabalmendi 12y ago

NDizzle 12y ago
$10k for 60 hours, $5k for 40 hours? Here are a few choice words for Lyft: Fuck you.
- _delirium 12y ago
  It looks like it's some kind of revenue guarantee, which might be attractive to some people if they worry about hitting those revenue targets, although it depends on expenses and other opportunities. They're guaranteeing effectively either $38/hr revenue if you commit to 60 hrs, or $28/hr revenue if you commit to 40 hrs, in both cases prior to expenses (gas, maintenance, etc.). Not sure how to estimate what that'd work out to as income post-expenses. Conditioning the payment on a 60-hour commit seems questionable, although I assume they had their lawyers vet it. Independent contractors are exempt from a lot of labor law, but things get dicier if you contract them in such a way that they become de-facto employees working full-time for you and unable to take other work.
- Tarang 12y ago
  Can someone put this into context. It sounds like a huge sum? What would someone with a taxi license & without Lyft typically earn?
  - AJ007 12y ago
    Attractive, but demanding, and who knows how long it could last, a month or two? Less the expenses it sounds like a number that could attract the providers what they need.
  - ceejayoz 12y ago
    As a contractor, you're responsible for gas, vehicle, maintenance, insurance, and a taxi license. I'd imagine that eats up a surprising amount of the total.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
joelcollinsdc 12y ago
The word "offer" is used misleadingly here. Its a guarantee that if you work for 60 hours a week you will earn at least $10,000 a month.
- dang 12y ago
  Thanks. We changed the title to the first sentence of the article.
- rhino369 12y ago
  You also need a taxi or limmo license. Not sure how much that costs but it must not be cheap.
  - potatolicious 12y ago
    Also insurance - I was chatting with a UberX driver in NYC a few weeks ago and apparently his insurance is $7K a year. Not chump change by any means.
    - sjf 12y ago
      On the otherhand, when I was shopping for auto insurance I asked my Lyft driver what he pays and he says he has the state minimum and pays ~100$ / month.
      - pistle 12y ago
        Lyft covers insurance for their drivers while the fare is on. The driver's personal insurance is normal for a personal vehicle doing personal work. Now, if someone tries to go after that private insurance from an accident during a fare, that private insurance company will deny the claim and they may drop the person from the policy/raise rates if the person lied about using the vehicle for business purposes. I'm not sure they'd get that rate if they answered "Yes" to business purposes for the vehicle.
eob 12y ago
So if drivers pooled together, using the same account from Lyft's perspective, they could pull off a $6,666 / month guaranteed salary for 40hr weeks. I.e., four accounts working 60 hour weeks are staffed by six people working 40 hour weeks. (I doubt the terms of service would smile upon this activity)
- _delirium 12y ago
  Sorta but lower than that if you want to compute a salary equivalent— this is guaranteeing pre-expense revenues, i.e. prior to gasoline, vehicle maintenance, commercial insurance, etc.
johnrob 12y ago
Is there a word to describe a professional amateur driver?
- jbigelow76 12y ago
  Not sure about driving but in college athletics they call the professional amateurs "student athletes", no (direct) promise of 10K a month though even if the schools get insanely rich off of it.
potatolicious 12y ago
Better late than never I suppose - IMO the NYC launch was not very well executed. I didn't end up taking any rides opening night, but watched on the app throughout the night. Supply basically vanished immediately - whether that's from extreme demand or insufficient drivers (or both) I'm not sure, but by about 8pm literally zero available drivers were in Lower Manhattan. You could not get a ride on Lyft on opening night - whatever the cause this is a pretty extraordinarily poor user experience. Surge fare also kicked in, which IMO should've been turned off during the launch period. It also wasn't clearly communicated - on the NYC subreddit numerous people complained about "mandatory tipping" without realizing this is analogous to Uber's surge fares (which are well-known locally). Overall the opening week was a poor showing for Lyft. Maybe this new program will turn it around, but at this point IMO they're playing PR catchup - anecdotally public interest in Lyft is pretty low around here.
skizm 12y ago
Why would people in NYC use Uber or Lyft? Are they really so much cheaper than taxis?
- jrlocke 12y ago
  Ever try to grab a taxi in NYC? It's not always easy.
  - gdilla 12y ago
    It's still pretty easy though - except when the bars let out in the bowery.
  - skizm 12y ago
    I take cabs around NYC a lot. Never had trouble except around closing time near some bars on weekends.
- billmalarky 12y ago
  Because the experience is 100x better for the same price.
  - JohnTHaller 12y ago
    It's the same experience, for the most part. The livery car services near me now also offer Uber. It's more expensive for the same trip, same driver, and same car with Uber, of course. They like it. For the rest of us with their number saved in our phone, we just keep using it for the same price as before.
    - billmalarky 12y ago
      Hailing a cab is not similar to using uber. Cabs you never know what to expect. The driver is rude, they tell you the credit card machine is broken, the car is in horrible condition. With uber you consistently get a pleasant experience.
filmgirlcw 12y ago
Lyft in NYC is such a shit show. First they refused to follow the rules that Uber was smart enough to follow (every driver has to be registered with the TLC, and Uber often pays for that registration for Uber-exclusive drivers, at least in the early days, mind you, Uber also maintains its own livery companies for its drivers to be under, Hinter, Weiter, Schlinkel, etc.), then they finally do a mea culpa, but realize very quickly that they didn't have enough licensed drivers (Uber smartly partnered with existing liveries for the black cars early on while it built out its Uber X line). THEN they launch, but have no cars, have insane surge pricing - you can't apply a free trip to a the tip pricing, the app doesn't make it clear how much extra you'll pay with the surge stuff. Oh, and the drivers from what I'm hearing (and my one experience) are seriously lackluster. Fail. Total fail. Uber FTW.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
  - chc 12y ago
    Is this anything but libel? You only showed that he eventually took a job at Uber, not that anybody was bribed.
- untog 12y ago
  Don't get me wrong, Lyft have been awful, but Uber have also shown huge disregard for rules and regulations, particularly in the rollout of UberT. Uber has been in New York for a long time now, so I'm not ready to dismiss Lyft by comparing a brand new service with a very established one.
- boredinballard 12y ago
  Very interesting. My experience with Lyft in Seattle has been far better than my experiences with Uber/UberX. I've yet to have an Uber driver be nearly as nice and friendly as a Lyft driver. I do think the price can be lower on Uber sometimes though. Also Uber cars seem to be available more often. I still try Lyft first though.
oneweirdtrick 12y ago
Lyft in NYC is virtually a different company from what I can tell. I guess the sharing economy model for vehicle ownership isn't scaleable in NYC since so few people own cars. It went from 'riding with your best friend' to riding in a black car with a pink mustache.

27 points by zabalmendi 12y ago

NDizzle 12y ago

$10k for 60 hours, $5k for 40 hours? Here are a few choice words for Lyft: Fuck you.

_delirium 12y ago
It looks like it's some kind of revenue guarantee, which might be attractive to some people if they worry about hitting those revenue targets, although it depends on expenses and other opportunities. They're guaranteeing effectively either $38/hr revenue if you commit to 60 hrs, or $28/hr revenue if you commit to 40 hrs, in both cases prior to expenses (gas, maintenance, etc.). Not sure how to estimate what that'd work out to as income post-expenses. Conditioning the payment on a 60-hour commit seems questionable, although I assume they had their lawyers vet it. Independent contractors are exempt from a lot of labor law, but things get dicier if you contract them in such a way that they become de-facto employees working full-time for you and unable to take other work.
Tarang 12y ago
Can someone put this into context. It sounds like a huge sum? What would someone with a taxi license & without Lyft typically earn?
- AJ007 12y ago
  Attractive, but demanding, and who knows how long it could last, a month or two? Less the expenses it sounds like a number that could attract the providers what they need.
- ceejayoz 12y ago
  As a contractor, you're responsible for gas, vehicle, maintenance, insurance, and a taxi license. I'd imagine that eats up a surprising amount of the total.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]

joelcollinsdc 12y ago

The word "offer" is used misleadingly here. Its a guarantee that if you work for 60 hours a week you will earn at least $10,000 a month.

dang 12y ago
Thanks. We changed the title to the first sentence of the article.
rhino369 12y ago
You also need a taxi or limmo license. Not sure how much that costs but it must not be cheap.
- potatolicious 12y ago
  Also insurance - I was chatting with a UberX driver in NYC a few weeks ago and apparently his insurance is $7K a year. Not chump change by any means.
  - sjf 12y ago
    On the otherhand, when I was shopping for auto insurance I asked my Lyft driver what he pays and he says he has the state minimum and pays ~100$ / month.
    - pistle 12y ago
      Lyft covers insurance for their drivers while the fare is on. The driver's personal insurance is normal for a personal vehicle doing personal work. Now, if someone tries to go after that private insurance from an accident during a fare, that private insurance company will deny the claim and they may drop the person from the policy/raise rates if the person lied about using the vehicle for business purposes. I'm not sure they'd get that rate if they answered "Yes" to business purposes for the vehicle.

eob 12y ago

So if drivers pooled together, using the same account from Lyft's perspective, they could pull off a $6,666 / month guaranteed salary for 40hr weeks. I.e., four accounts working 60 hour weeks are staffed by six people working 40 hour weeks. (I doubt the terms of service would smile upon this activity)

_delirium 12y ago
Sorta but lower than that if you want to compute a salary equivalent— this is guaranteeing pre-expense revenues, i.e. prior to gasoline, vehicle maintenance, commercial insurance, etc.

johnrob 12y ago

Is there a word to describe a professional amateur driver?

jbigelow76 12y ago
Not sure about driving but in college athletics they call the professional amateurs "student athletes", no (direct) promise of 10K a month though even if the schools get insanely rich off of it.

potatolicious 12y ago

Better late than never I suppose - IMO the NYC launch was not very well executed. I didn't end up taking any rides opening night, but watched on the app throughout the night. Supply basically vanished immediately - whether that's from extreme demand or insufficient drivers (or both) I'm not sure, but by about 8pm literally zero available drivers were in Lower Manhattan. You could not get a ride on Lyft on opening night - whatever the cause this is a pretty extraordinarily poor user experience. Surge fare also kicked in, which IMO should've been turned off during the launch period. It also wasn't clearly communicated - on the NYC subreddit numerous people complained about "mandatory tipping" without realizing this is analogous to Uber's surge fares (which are well-known locally). Overall the opening week was a poor showing for Lyft. Maybe this new program will turn it around, but at this point IMO they're playing PR catchup - anecdotally public interest in Lyft is pretty low around here.

skizm 12y ago

Why would people in NYC use Uber or Lyft? Are they really so much cheaper than taxis?

jrlocke 12y ago
Ever try to grab a taxi in NYC? It's not always easy.
- gdilla 12y ago
  It's still pretty easy though - except when the bars let out in the bowery.
- skizm 12y ago
  I take cabs around NYC a lot. Never had trouble except around closing time near some bars on weekends.
billmalarky 12y ago
Because the experience is 100x better for the same price.
- JohnTHaller 12y ago
  It's the same experience, for the most part. The livery car services near me now also offer Uber. It's more expensive for the same trip, same driver, and same car with Uber, of course. They like it. For the rest of us with their number saved in our phone, we just keep using it for the same price as before.
  - billmalarky 12y ago
    Hailing a cab is not similar to using uber. Cabs you never know what to expect. The driver is rude, they tell you the credit card machine is broken, the car is in horrible condition. With uber you consistently get a pleasant experience.

filmgirlcw 12y ago

Lyft in NYC is such a shit show. First they refused to follow the rules that Uber was smart enough to follow (every driver has to be registered with the TLC, and Uber often pays for that registration for Uber-exclusive drivers, at least in the early days, mind you, Uber also maintains its own livery companies for its drivers to be under, Hinter, Weiter, Schlinkel, etc.), then they finally do a mea culpa, but realize very quickly that they didn't have enough licensed drivers (Uber smartly partnered with existing liveries for the black cars early on while it built out its Uber X line). THEN they launch, but have no cars, have insane surge pricing - you can't apply a free trip to a the tip pricing, the app doesn't make it clear how much extra you'll pay with the surge stuff. Oh, and the drivers from what I'm hearing (and my one experience) are seriously lackluster. Fail. Total fail. Uber FTW.

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
- chc 12y ago
  Is this anything but libel? You only showed that he eventually took a job at Uber, not that anybody was bribed.
untog 12y ago
Don't get me wrong, Lyft have been awful, but Uber have also shown huge disregard for rules and regulations, particularly in the rollout of UberT. Uber has been in New York for a long time now, so I'm not ready to dismiss Lyft by comparing a brand new service with a very established one.
boredinballard 12y ago
Very interesting. My experience with Lyft in Seattle has been far better than my experiences with Uber/UberX. I've yet to have an Uber driver be nearly as nice and friendly as a Lyft driver. I do think the price can be lower on Uber sometimes though. Also Uber cars seem to be available more often. I still try Lyft first though.

oneweirdtrick 12y ago

Lyft in NYC is virtually a different company from what I can tell. I guess the sharing economy model for vehicle ownership isn't scaleable in NYC since so few people own cars. It went from 'riding with your best friend' to riding in a black car with a pink mustache.