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Uber Taxi Driving

ExelethrilExelethril
in The Universal Membrane
I've been trying to think of new ways to earn extra money on weekends or at nights, after work. Presently, I earn a decent salary in a professional job but would like to earn more money to risk on investments.

Has anyone tried being an Uber taxi driver? If so, what's your earning power like and what are the upsides/downsides/peak hours? Any chance of getting off'd by an angry taxi driver pretending to be a passenger?

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Comments

  • ElipiseElipise
    There are a severe lack of taxi's in my area, so I've been trying to get signed up. Unfortunately the amount of records that one needs to prove that one has been driving for longer than a year is insane, and the communication system for onboarding is virtually non existent.
    Torinn Chiragh, Herald of Fire says, "Good, darn it."
    Talamond Averial says, "You are the least charming siren ever."
  • MelodieMelodie Port Saint Lucie, Florida
    @Saeva was for a little while.
    And I love too                                                                          Be still, my indelible friend
    That love soon might end                                                         You are unbreaking
    And be known in its aching                                                      Though quaking
    Shown in this shaking                                                             Though crazy
    Lately of my wasteland, baby                                                 That's just wasteland, baby
  • AtalkezAtalkez
    I've heard good  and bad.

    Sold a car to a guy that did it for 80 hrs/week. He was making great money but he was destroying his car too. Guy put 30k miles before the first maintenance check was due, which is about 2 months after purchase.




    Penwize has cowardly forfeited the challenge to mortal combat issued by Atalkez.
  • SaevaSaeva
    It's super easy, really good money and so long as you have a clean record and driving now record, you're pretty golden. I say why not!

    you don't even have to work x amount of hours to maintain partner status. You drive literally whenever you can or want.


  • SzanthaxSzanthax San Diego
    I see a lot of students and teachers and people that do it in the part time.. Why not???



  • AhmetAhmet Wherever I wanna be
    A friend referred me a few weeks back. Signed up a few days ago and I'm waiting on approval myself. I've heard nothing but good things.
    Huh. Neat.
  • KhelKhel
    Skye said:
    Make sure you install dash cams first for your safety. 
    *AND* check your laws regarding recording - if you don't live in a single party consent state your recording can apparently be thrown out of evidence if you don't inform them. Or at least so I hear?
  • ExelethrilExelethril
    Dashcams are a good idea, gotta channel my inner-Russian and look for falling meteors too.

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  • KyrraKyrra Australia
    Reminds me of that story I heard recently about the Uber taxi driver that went on a murder spree while taking passengers all day.

    No thx.
    (D.M.A.): Cooper says, "Kyrra is either the most innocent person in the world, or the girl who uses the most innuendo seemingly unintentionally but really on purpose."

  • MelodieMelodie Port Saint Lucie, Florida
    To be fair, any unstable individual can get a lot of jobs that involve people - Uber is just one of them. Relatively speaking, you'll see far fewer people working as an Uber driver in a day than you would serving in a fast food register for the same amount of time.

    Crazy people are everywhere, but people gotta work.

    I would totally try for this job actually, because it seems like it'd be low-key and easy to do, but unfortunately I'm really uncomfortable with the idea of driving people around. My anxiety for driving is still just too high (for now - something I want to work on). Shame, too, this looks like great temp work.
    And I love too                                                                          Be still, my indelible friend
    That love soon might end                                                         You are unbreaking
    And be known in its aching                                                      Though quaking
    Shown in this shaking                                                             Though crazy
    Lately of my wasteland, baby                                                 That's just wasteland, baby
  • AntoniusAntonius
    All of the Uber drivers I spoke to when I was in the US last year seemed to really enjoy it, though none of them had been doing it for longer than a couple of months. Only complaint I heard was about the app for drivers being pretty buggy, though maybe that's been fixed. I got a free ride in Seattle when the app showed the driver the route to a previous destination rather than the bus station I actually wanted to go to; luckily I had left well before I actually needed to so the detour wasn't a major issue.

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  • TaelTael
    edited April 2016
    Melodie said:
    To be fair, any unstable individual can get a lot of jobs that involve people - Uber is just one of them. Relatively speaking, you'll see far fewer people working as an Uber driver in a day than you would serving in a fast food register for the same amount of time.

    Crazy people are everywhere, but people gotta work.

    I would totally try for this job actually, because it seems like it'd be low-key and easy to do, but unfortunately I'm really uncomfortable with the idea of driving people around. My anxiety for driving is still just too high (for now - something I want to work on). Shame, too, this looks like great temp work.
    Uber probably has significantly fewer crazy people driving for them than are in most jobs too, if only because they're absurdly aggressive about firing drivers. Unless a particularly tyrannical boss is having a bad day, you have to be pretty seriously crazy to get fired from most fast food jobs, but Uber will drop you in a hot second.

    Uber fires people like it's nothing, which they can get away with thanks to the huge demand for the job in a lot of places. Last time I looked, they automatically deactivated your account if your average rating fell below 4.6 out of 5.
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  • KryptonKrypton shi-Khurena
    You have to be an employee to be fired. An Uber driver is an independent contractor.
  • SaevaSaeva
    Krypton said:
    You have to be an employee to be fired. An Uber driver is an independent contractor.
    Oh they can absolutely cancel your partner status in a heartbeat. They take reviews very seriously.


  • SzanthaxSzanthax San Diego
    Tael said:
    Melodie said:
    To be fair, any unstable individual can get a lot of jobs that involve people - Uber is just one of them. Relatively speaking, you'll see far fewer people working as an Uber driver in a day than you would serving in a fast food register for the same amount of time.

    Crazy people are everywhere, but people gotta work.

    I would totally try for this job actually, because it seems like it'd be low-key and easy to do, but unfortunately I'm really uncomfortable with the idea of driving people around. My anxiety for driving is still just too high (for now - something I want to work on). Shame, too, this looks like great temp work.
    Uber probably has significantly fewer crazy people driving for them than are in most jobs too, if only because they're absurdly aggressive about firing drivers. Unless a particularly tyrannical boss is having a bad day, you have to be pretty seriously crazy to get fired from most fast food jobs, but Uber will drop you in a hot second.

    Uber fires people like it's nothing, which they can get away with thanks to the huge demand for the job in a lot of places. Last time I looked, they automatically deactivated your account if your average rating fell below 4.6 out of 5.
    I'll have to review my history, but I think I had a 4.0 or less... He didn't speak English and drive crazy... Lemme go look



  • KryptonKrypton shi-Khurena
    Yes, of course Uber can drop you as a driver if they please. And they can do so very flexibly precisely because you are not an "employee," so it is not a true "firing" process.

    It's also possible to rectify losing working status with Uber, potentially. Massachusetts and California just got an appeals process for drivers instated through a class-action lawsuit.
  • LucianusLucianus
    I dunno if it's just the culture in SoCal... but don't ever talk to your customers. They kinda rate you bad as an uber driver for that. >_> New York is probably opposite.
    That is not an ordinary star, my son. That star is the tear of a warrior. A lost soul who has finished his battles somewhere on this planet. A pitiful soul who could not find his way to the lofty realm where the great spirit awaits us all.
  • SaevaSaeva
    In NorCal people talked my ear off. Especially pervy old guys out playing golf. I was always into the quiet ones!


  • SzanthaxSzanthax San Diego
    As a rider I prefer people who at least try conversation... Like if I have to ask about the weather I feel things are not going well. Normally I wanna talk. I sit in the front every time... 



  • ElipiseElipise
    I'd just like to pass the screening process, and for once be in a taxi/uber where people don't automatically roll their eyes and assume I don't know where I'm going because of my accent, while I'm trapped in the back of a moving vehicle.

    this time I'll be in front. :#
    Torinn Chiragh, Herald of Fire says, "Good, darn it."
    Talamond Averial says, "You are the least charming siren ever."
  • TaelTael
    edited April 2016
    Lucianus said:
    I dunno if it's just the culture in SoCal... but don't ever talk to your customers. They kinda rate you bad as an uber driver for that. >_> New York is probably opposite.
    It's definitely the same in NY.

    Having taken a lot of taxis and ubers, I would definitely say that the uber drivers are way more likely to be silent. That's been true everywhere I've lived since uber became a thing - norcal, western NY, NYC, and when I've visited Seattle a few times. They generally don't ever talk to you unless you initiate the conversation and I've heard a lot of people say that it's one of the main reasons they prefer uber over taxis even in NYC, where you can get a taxi pretty quickly in a lot of places. It's probably also at least in part because there's no "so where are you headed?" to break the ice.
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  • LucianusLucianus
    edited April 2016
    Tael said:
    Lucianus said:
    I dunno if it's just the culture in SoCal... but don't ever talk to your customers. They kinda rate you bad as an uber driver for that. >_> New York is probably opposite.
    It's definitely the same in NY.

    Having taken a lot of taxis and ubers, I would definitely say that the uber drivers are way more likely to be silent. That's been true everywhere I've lived since uber became a thing - norcal, western NY, NYC, and when I've visited Seattle a few times. They generally don't ever talk to you unless you initiate the conversation and I've heard a lot of people say that it's one of the main reasons they prefer uber over taxis even in NYC, where you can get a taxi pretty quickly in a lot of places. It's probably also at least in part because there's no "so where are you headed?" to break the ice.
    I think customers are more likely to initiate conversation with an Uber Driver depending on how nice their vehicles are... or the type of vehicle (hybrd vs electric vs standard). I'd love to see some kind of data on that in the future (good random side-project for any analyst who is craving for karma points on a DataIsBeautiful sub-reddit >_>).

    example: Would you be more likely to be more receptive to having a conversation with an Uber driver if he/she was driving you in a Lamborghini vs a Toyota Prius?

    That is not an ordinary star, my son. That star is the tear of a warrior. A lost soul who has finished his battles somewhere on this planet. A pitiful soul who could not find his way to the lofty realm where the great spirit awaits us all.
  • DochithaDochitha
    In my country you could earn ~$2K/m ubering around Universities.
  • ExelethrilExelethril
    @Lucianus : the rate of depreciation of a bought car is correlated with its mileage. Someone with an overly expensivr car wI'll be making less of a profit after you factor in the depreciation comparatively to someone who doesn't. Car leases always come with a limit on allowed mileage too.


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  • QwynQwyn
    Consider working for Lyft as well. Many of the drivers I've spoken with work for both companies, and decide jobs based on which pays more per ride.
  • AhmetAhmet Wherever I wanna be
    Uber owns a company that does leases without mileage caps. I think the low end is like $98/week.
    Huh. Neat.
  • LucianusLucianus
    I'd also plan an alternative career strategy within 4-5 years. Since we'll probably have autonomous driving by 2020 with Google and Apple entering the market to promote it.

    Even Uber is researching into the technology since they know it is going to be disruptive to the whole transportation industry.
    That is not an ordinary star, my son. That star is the tear of a warrior. A lost soul who has finished his battles somewhere on this planet. A pitiful soul who could not find his way to the lofty realm where the great spirit awaits us all.
  • HyperlithHyperlith San Fierro area, San Andreas
    Saeva said:
    In NorCal people talked my ear off. Especially pervy old guys out playing golf. I was always into the quiet ones!
    Hey baby, you know what a hole-in-one is?  :trollface:

  • TarausTaraus The Gypsy Wind
    Saeva said:
    In NorCal people talked my ear off. Especially pervy old guys out playing golf. I was always into the quiet ones!
    Pervy old golfers comprise 98% of NorCal.

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