Go ahead and ask me anything you like.
Go ahead and ask me anything you like.
Not Uber wrote:
Go ahead and ask me anything you like.
Do you try to force conversation with your rider?
What percentage of people tip you?
How much money do you make per hour on average?
What kind of car do you have?
I say hello and ask how their day/night is going when they first get into the vehicle. Beyond that, I can generally get a feel if they want to talk or be left alone. I am happy to converse with passengers about anything, but I don't force it.
Between 15-20% of passengers (maybe one out of every six or so) tip. It is quite a bit less than I originally expected. As a passenger in a taxi/uber/lyft I have never not tipped the driver unless they were outright rude or did something terribly wrong. It just unfortunately seems most passengers in my market (Albany, NY area) are very cheap.
Unless you're being paid less than minimum wage, tips are pointless.
I would estimate that after gas expenses I only make $10-15 an hour. It is really a pretty crap job, at least in my market (Albany, NY area). I have had certain shifts driving where I made over $200 while only driving 6-8 hours due to "prime time" pricing and getting better fares, but I have also had shifts where I stayed out for 5-6 hours and made $50 before gas expenses, so making well less than minimum wage after gas expense. Overall, I average somewhere in the $10-15 range after gas, but mind you that is before vehicle maintenance. With oil changes/tires/brakes/all other work that needs to be done to maintain a vehicle, I am certainly not even clearing $10 an hour. Clearly this is a dead-end job.
After 300 rides I have come to the determination that driving Lyft is only good as something to do for a period of time between jobs (that is my position currently) or part time for a couple hours here and there a few days a week. This gig is simply not feasible as a full time job. You would have to drive way to many hours most weeks to make decent money, and the wear and tear on your vehicle would be immense after just one year.
While driving for Lyft I drive a 2006 Chrysler Town & Country mini van. The gas mileage is mediocre but the plus is that I am also available to take Lyft XL rides, where I get paid more, and at certain times get good fares that otherwise I would not get with a regular four door car.
As I stated in my previous response, after gas and vehicle maintenance costs, I definitely am making less than minimum wage before tips.
On an average week, my tips are about 10-12% of what I did in total fares, so if my fares were $500 total I can expect $50-60 in tips and if my fares were $1000 total I can expect about $100-120 in tips.
My usual job is bartending, so the disparity in tips between this and what I am used to is quite alarming, although to be honest not totally unexpected.
whats your 5k time
My best 5k time back in 1999-2000 (high school) was 15:33 for a road race and 15:23 for cross (but that was 3.05 miles).
In college I honestly never really ran a 5k, (I was an 800-1500 guy) but I think I would have run at least 14:40-14:50 if I tried because there were a couple guys on my team running about 15:00-15:10 and I beat all of them easily in 8k cross. Maybe I would have been around 14:30 if I trained for the 5000.
Right now my 5k time would be utterly pathetic because I don't train at all. Last year I ran about 30 miles a week for a couple of months March-May and ran three podunk 5k road races, getting 2nd place in all three (yes 2nd overall, showing how poor the quality of the field was each time) with blistering times between 18:10-18:45 if I remember correctly.
I'm about 15 pounds heavier than my college racing weight, as well as 12 years older. I would need to actually train properly to get back to a somewhat respectable 5k time. I keep telling myself I will, but alas, it does not happen.
Has anyone hit on you while you are driving, and if so, what was the end result?
This sounds like a real s@*t job....why are you doing it?
-Why lyft specifically and not uber or via? Or multiple at the same time?
-What additional administrative stuff do you have to deal with for your car? Different insurance, inspections...?
I live in Albany and use uber/lyft maybe once a week. What are your most common destinations, and what areas do you least like driving to?
B*tch i've driven 2,000 rides for Uber as a part time driver. Made 30k over the last 3 years and paid off my student loans. Get back to me in 1700 more rides.
Are you making any money after paying gas, oil, insurance, maintenance and replacement costs for your car?
- What is a 'typical' passenger for you? is it a college student, a NEET, a middle aged person, a late 20s/early 30s young professional, etc?
- What do you think the income distribution of your passengers looks like?
- Any weird pickup/destination locations?
- Do you have any funny/interesting stories?
I'd like to hear your take on the difference in dynamic between rides that have a single passenger versus rides that have a full van load. How would you describe these different experiences?
That is how the the masters work the slaves. Their corporate workers will be rained on by millions when they go public. You're just making their lives better.
Bad Wigins wrote:
Unless you're being paid less than minimum wage, tips are pointless.
You realize this person is driving Lyft / Uber, right? Therefore, after vehicle expenses he is likely making less than minimum wage.
There is a cost to the "gig" economy and it is that people's job value is marginalized. If anyone can do it with no experience, the value goes down. With less job prospects due to automation, outsourcing and a false economy of borrowing (which overwhelmingly favors the rich), these are the jobs that are left for the people who were once blue collar workers. If we had an economy based on actual production of goods, Lyft, Uber, etc. would never have made it as companies.
OP, what is your average hourly after auto expenses. You may use 50c / mile if you don't have an actual expense numbers because that is a pretty reasonable number to include vehicle depreciation, insurance, maintenance.
Have you noticed a difference in tipping amount between races?