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As an Uber driver off and on since 2014, people who use Uber get charged a base rate (for getting into the car), time and mileage. Uber drivers and Lyft drivers do not get paid to come to a rider and wait until the rider feels like they are ready to leave. This past summer they implemented a few things, first they implemented the wait charge which equates to about 0.15 per minute. Yeah, exactly! Then they implemented where drivers could choose which levels and services they would take. Just because a driver has a BMW does not always mean they are going to get the luxury rates. They could get the lowest economic rates. This service was discontinued in Uber’s ever stick it to the driver. When I started with in 2014, I drove a Camry and Uber took about 10% off the top. By 2016, that had increased, in 5%, steps to 25%. The amount of time a person had to cancel a trip was also increased. Meaning if i am heading to you to pick you up and you cancel 3 minutes into my driving to you, then I get absolutely no money for that. I have sat in a rider’s driveway waited, the rider wait charge get activated, the do you want to cancel for a no show pop up after 3 minutes of waiting, and the rider cancel the trip with me in their driveway waiting for them to come get into the car. I have had people tell me I have been there before so I should know where I am going. No, not necessarily, Uber is large company and I do not make up Uber. The GPS is not always accurate. Case in point, a college student having fun decides to request Uber at the bar. They walk three blocks down the road to another bar. The app takes me to the pin where they requested the Uber. Its funny they track your location but cannot change the location by where you are at any given moment. The rider still has to update their app. The best rider I had was sticking it to her husband as they were getting a divorce. He was required to pay her Uber per the courts, she told me. So she went shopping for four hours on his dime. He finally called me and in not so many words said take her home now! While she was shopping I waited in the car, parked in a parking space and motor turned off, with the meter running.

I don’t do it for the money although it is a benefit. I have been able to network and get a few job interviews out of it. I would also bounce ideas off of the execs I took to the airport for my dissertation. It is a great way to network because you have a captive audience paying you to entertain/talk to them. Now if they were on their phone either texting or taking a call, I left them alone. If a couple/friends got into the car and were talking amongst themselves I left them alone. I have overheard some information that was proprietary information but never said a word to anyone about it. I have overheard some interesting conversations only women would have between themselves. They think if they whisper under the music I can’t hear them. What they never knew.

Yes Uber drivers lose money after all costs, expenses and taxes are paid. Most Uber drivers don’t last a year. If a driver tells you something that you are uncomfortable with don’t believe them. Thank them for a safe trip and leave. The initial advertising for Uber it was a cashless transactions and drivers were not supposed to take tips. i have heard riders tell them they had to pay a tip in cash. I have denied tips but people insist on giving me a tip to which I thank them and quickly put it out of sight. This past summer Uber started accepting tips on the app. Some people have it set up to automatically tip and don’t know. They then give a cash tip (usually because the driver says the tip mechanism on the app isn’t working) and find out after the driver is long gone that the app charged them for the tip. Beware!

Not all drivers are low on the totem pole of finances or society. I do it because even though I work, it allows me to get out of the house, network and I enjoy driving. I have done jobs like Uber since I was 18. I have worked off and on for 4 years and just made the official one year on the road badge. For example, I drove absolutely no miles for Uber from November to April. I get to make my own hours and with all the pros and cons I enjoy it rather than need it for the money. I started with Lyft and Sidecar before Uber and have run both, Uber and Lyft, at the same time but got three times the calls for Uber than Lyft.

Oops I broke the biased stereotype that all Uber drivers needed the money and were the dregs of society, damn!