5 ms·

No money in Uber driving but millions of Uber cars on the road?

2 points by mcenedella 11y ago

mcenedella 11y ago
I liked being able to see what people in Uber driver forums have to say about the service. This guy's comment was pretty enlightening: "I was losing money in Detroit. It took me six weeks to learn why. For starters there aren't surges in my area like some other markets. So watch your market for surges as that seems to be THE game changer. Also just because there's a surge on your app doesn't mean you will get a surge fare. Surges can be fleeting and no one here seems to recommend chasing a surge. And pax learn to wait them out or drop location pins outside the surge map. Then the gravy 'airport' runs carry risk if your market's airport requires chauffeur license, commercial plate, & commercial insurance. In Detroit you risk tickets and your car impound. Uber supposedly pays the tickets & impound but my time is valuable too. So I can't risk having a bad day at the airport. Then there's your rate per mile. Here UBERX is .75cents a mile when you have a pax on a trip. No .75cents for dead miles to and from a trip. After you wash your car and increased maintenance and figure depreciation on your car with the new added mileage it was a losing proposition for me. I got lucky and found UPFN early. Many do this much much longer before understanding all financial consequences. I still am not sure about tax consequences. It appears Uber drivers 1099 will also include the SRF which is money that drivers never touch. You can write it off your income tax but does it affect a driver's social security tax? I don't have that answer but drivers should really know tax strategies in advance also. This isn't even all the answers. This is just a brief snapshot of why I lost money driving for Uber. Some UberPeople seem to be profitable in the right markets with the right vehicle/platform & with surges. You really just need to have a crystal clear picture of your costs, time invested and potential income. Good Luck. :)"
tomasien 11y ago
I know a lot of Uber drivers who make money, they're just not the ones being noisy on forums. I do think it's all about driving in the high volume / surge times like weekends, I think those that want to make it a full time job aren't doing as well as they'd like.

2 points by mcenedella 11y ago

I liked being able to see what people in Uber driver forums have to say about the service. This guy's comment was pretty enlightening: "I was losing money in Detroit. It took me six weeks to learn why. For starters there aren't surges in my area like some other markets. So watch your market for surges as that seems to be THE game changer. Also just because there's a surge on your app doesn't mean you will get a surge fare. Surges can be fleeting and no one here seems to recommend chasing a surge. And pax learn to wait them out or drop location pins outside the surge map. Then the gravy 'airport' runs carry risk if your market's airport requires chauffeur license, commercial plate, & commercial insurance. In Detroit you risk tickets and your car impound. Uber supposedly pays the tickets & impound but my time is valuable too. So I can't risk having a bad day at the airport. Then there's your rate per mile. Here UBERX is .75cents a mile when you have a pax on a trip. No .75cents for dead miles to and from a trip. After you wash your car and increased maintenance and figure depreciation on your car with the new added mileage it was a losing proposition for me. I got lucky and found UPFN early. Many do this much much longer before understanding all financial consequences. I still am not sure about tax consequences. It appears Uber drivers 1099 will also include the SRF which is money that drivers never touch. You can write it off your income tax but does it affect a driver's social security tax? I don't have that answer but drivers should really know tax strategies in advance also. This isn't even all the answers. This is just a brief snapshot of why I lost money driving for Uber. Some UberPeople seem to be profitable in the right markets with the right vehicle/platform & with surges. You really just need to have a crystal clear picture of your costs, time invested and potential income. Good Luck. :)"

tomasien 11y ago

I know a lot of Uber drivers who make money, they're just not the ones being noisy on forums. I do think it's all about driving in the high volume / surge times like weekends, I think those that want to make it a full time job aren't doing as well as they'd like.