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krampster2
Jun 26, 2014

Considering working as an Uber driver on the weekends when I'm not busy. Anyone ever done it? Just curious as to what the setup costs are like, what registration is like and how much money you can make.

Also any weird and terrifying stories would be cool.

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ShadowMoo
Mar 13, 2011

by Shine
https://www.reddit.com/r/uberdrivers

People treat your car like poo poo. Uber has cut the pay twice in the past 2 years. If someone makes a mess in your car you have to fight with Uber in order to get them to pay out a very small hassle fee (like $50). You get very little if the fare does not show up. Unless you live in a major city it will not make you much money. You risk getting your car impounded if you are not up-to-date on taxi/limo laws. http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/channel-2-investigates-uber-drivers-ticketed-impou/nk4TC/ Most states Uber operates in a legal grey area and drivers have a tendency to be blindsided by laws they did not know about. The money you make is taxable as a private contractor if you make over something like $600 a month.

ShadowMoo fucked around with this message at 17:25 on May 5, 2015

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender
Bear in mind that the additional deprecation & maintenence from driving your car more will cut into your income. And don't forget taxes, since Uber won't withhold them for you.

You may also want to check out the BFC thread on Uber/Lyft/etc. Especially the parts where ratings can make or break you, and how people will give out lovely ratings for things out of your control. Also the ongoing insurance clusterfuck where Uber may or may not cover you, and you may or may not get into deep trouble for not registering as a commercial vehicle.

Haifisch fucked around with this message at 01:25 on May 6, 2015

krampster2
Jun 26, 2014

Thanks for the link and tips, sorry but should have mentioned I'm in Australia. From what I know the worst punishment you can receive is a fine, which Uber supposedly pays for. Over here a taxi plate can cost up to half a million dollars, so drivers make very little. When your only overheads are fuel and repairs surely you could do pretty drat well?

Disgusting Coward
Feb 17, 2014
You'd think that, but you're going to be weaving through every speed-bump laden, potholed, winding residential shithole you can think of, which means the repairs on your car mount up. Exhaust pipes, suspension springs, wheel bearings and air filters seem to be the most common ones, plus your interior gets beaten the gently caress up in a surprisingly short space of time. Oh and the little hosed-up microclimate your car develops from people getting in and out non-stop plays merry hell with your electrics, so you're going to be bulk-buying vehicle bulbs, heating coils and fuses. Because you're perpetually driving in the busier urban areas your risk of an accident is fuckin' sky-high too, and because you're not a "proper" taxi driver the police won't really help you and your insurance company will invariably squirm out of paying, even if you're not at fault. I got t-boned in a totally not-my-loving-fault accident that I caught on camera with five witnesses AND a police report and their insurance company still took eighteen months to pay out because they were trying to hit some wonky rear end "oh but you're only registered for business and passenger transport not being a hire car" palaver.

People are more willing to gently caress you over if you're an Uber driver, too. Don't get me wrong, 95% of people are nice as pie, and most of the remainder aren't malicious - just ignorant. But dudes won't no-show too many taxis from Fred's Taxi Company for fear of getting banned, and the shady nature of the average taxi driver means people tend not to want to gently caress with "proper" taxi drivers too much - nobody wants to antagonise a company of 20-50 unemployable weirdos who are perpetually prowling round looking for you and have the backing of the local authority. As a single Uber hipster, you don't really have that mob/legal protection. Plus people will hold that Uber rating over you like they think it's the Sword of Damocles.

Biodome
Nov 21, 2006

Gerry
I've been doing it for a few weeks and haven't had any problems. I don't do it for a living though, just supplement. Couple hours here and there, if I work weekends I can clear $350 a week for a few hours of driving. It's fun. I like it.

Colin Mockery
Jun 24, 2007
Rawr



You should probably look up the laws about commercial car insurance where you live. At least in America, Uber tells drivers to lie to get personal car insurance instead of commercial, at which point you might as well be uninsured, for all the good it'll do you in an accident.

FreudianSlippers
Apr 12, 2010

Shooting and Fucking
are the same thing!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLPZmPaHme0

tsa
Feb 3, 2014

krampster2 posted:

Thanks for the link and tips, sorry but should have mentioned I'm in Australia. From what I know the worst punishment you can receive is a fine, which Uber supposedly pays for. Over here a taxi plate can cost up to half a million dollars, so drivers make very little. When your only overheads are fuel and repairs surely you could do pretty drat well?

Uber and the like are terrible for drivers, people who think they are making money doing it have not heard of things like risk, taxes, opportunity cost, insurance, and depreciation. Or daddy is paying for their expenses and fuel. The sort of driving you do is murder on a car, and since most of the time they require people to have (or the city requires) newish cars, you are beating the poo poo out of an expensive car and massively depreciating it's value vs. normal driving. And in many areas the cities are really starting to crack down on what amounts to a company blatantly flaunting the law by pretending their taxi company isn't a taxi company because a silicon valley geek came up with a new word for it. If a taxi plate costs that much why should you be able to behave like a taxi, even part-time, without paying it?

Uber makes a bunch of money by passing on all the risks and costs of a taxi company to gullible young kids, is basically the short of it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uber_%28company%29#Australia

Seems like most aussie states are going to make the company actually follow the laws, so it's probably not going to last much longer in its current form anyway.

Rent-A-Cop
Oct 15, 2004

I posted my food for USPOL Thanksgiving!

krampster2 posted:

When your only overheads are fuel and repairs surely you could do pretty drat well?
Which would explain the legions of filthy rich gypsy cab drivers you see everywhere.

Why even bother paying Uber for the right to be an illegal taxi? Just hang out at popular bars, offer drunk people rides, and keep all the money for yourself.

Rent-A-Cop fucked around with this message at 20:52 on May 6, 2015

krampster2
Jun 26, 2014

Rent-A-Cop posted:

Which would explain the legions of filthy rich gypsy cab drivers you see everywhere.

Licensed drivers have to pay a ridiculous amount of their take to the cab's owner. As I mentioned earlier a cab plate in Aus costs half a million...
So you can imagine the kind of cut cab owners need to take from their drivers to make a profit from a $500,000 investment.

Original_Z
Jun 14, 2005
Z so good
It seems like Uber has a bad habit of staying in a city even when the government tries to shut it down. Looks like they've found a more effective way to block them!

http://consumerist.com/2015/05/06/uber-halts-operations-in-kansas-after-legislature-votes-to-mandate-background-checks-insurance-coverage/

As soon as they require any kind of responsibility, they get the hell out of there! What a scummy company.

Rent-A-Cop
Oct 15, 2004

I posted my food for USPOL Thanksgiving!

krampster2 posted:

Licensed drivers have to pay a ridiculous amount of their take to the cab's owner. As I mentioned earlier a cab plate in Aus costs half a million...
So you can imagine the kind of cut cab owners need to take from their drivers to make a profit from a $500,000 investment.
My point is that illegal cabbies do not "do pretty drat well" and in fact their overhead is significant. Cabs need a lot of continuous maintenance both inside and out.

Basically, any time you spend being an illegal cabbie is better spent getting a minimum wage part time job.

Rent-A-Cop fucked around with this message at 15:49 on May 7, 2015

Rent-A-Cop
Oct 15, 2004

I posted my food for USPOL Thanksgiving!

Original_Z posted:

As soon as they require any kind of responsibility, they get the hell out of there! What a scummy company.
Wait until some Silicon Valley nerd manages to disrupt another illegal market with a new app that crowdsources marijuana exchange with only a small 50% surcharge to entrepreneurs who want to become a certified independent Weedr Local Retailer.

Edit: Quote is not Edit.

NihilismNow
Aug 31, 2003
If you're going to do blatantly illegal things there are more profitable options.

The_Franz
Aug 8, 2003

Weren't a bunch of Uber drivers on strike because Uber was slashing fares to undercut the competition and passing the ramifications onto their drivers in the form of cut pay?

FilthyImp
Sep 30, 2002

Anime Deviant

The_Franz posted:

Weren't a bunch of Uber drivers on strike because Uber was slashing fares to undercut the competition and passing the ramifications onto their drivers in the form of cut pay?

Yes.

Keep in mind this is the company headed by a dude that said a variation on 'Driverless cars? gently caress yeah I want those. Why pay people when a computer can do it? Oh, our current drivers??? Well I'm sure they'll find other jobs. You know how it is when technology innovates and whatnot!"

Fuckyou.text

horribleslob
Nov 23, 2004
It's painfully easy to become a driver. Don't make a career out of it. I think it's not bad as a side gig. But uber won't help you with damage to your vehicle (only liability to others.) still you can make some stripper money on the side if you've got a decent car. I'd even go the whole nine and provide champagne/what-have in SF or somewhere like that, you would probably clear 1 or 2 grand in a night with the right atmosphere. Just drive like a fiend.

Metacognition
May 9, 2015

I don't do Uber but several friends have told me that you won't make much of a profit until you build up a reputation, which takes a few months.

tsa
Feb 3, 2014

Original_Z posted:

It seems like Uber has a bad habit of staying in a city even when the government tries to shut it down. Looks like they've found a more effective way to block them!

http://consumerist.com/2015/05/06/uber-halts-operations-in-kansas-after-legislature-votes-to-mandate-background-checks-insurance-coverage/

As soon as they require any kind of responsibility, they get the hell out of there! What a scummy company.

Hah, and 'can no longer operate' as if they are being banned instead of being treated like every other taxi company in the state. Why in the gently caress shouldn't someone driving in a commercial capacity with passengers not have to go through all the hoops simply because they are using an app?

Metacognition posted:

I don't do Uber but several friends have told me that you won't make much of a profit until you build up a reputation, which takes a few months.

Yea, "profit" until they realize that gas isn't the only expense, how much wear and tear on a taxi costs, and how much worse self-employment tax is than a w-2. Looking around you clear slightly higher than minimum wage if you just focus on the busiest times, but even that isn't accounting for things like how dangerous the job is or the possibility of getting the poo poo sued out of you since it's a huge legal grey area (where it isn't flat out illegal).

goodness
Jan 3, 2012

When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?
People itt seem really bitter about uber. My friend has been a driver for the last 8 months in a medium-small college town. He loves the job and makes s decent amount of money, especially on game days. Yeah it will wear your car down faster but you won't be doing maintenance every month like some people make it seem.

The thing to do is work until you have some regular clients, then ditch uber and do them privately.

Rent-A-Cop
Oct 15, 2004

I posted my food for USPOL Thanksgiving!

goodness posted:

People itt seem really bitter about uber. My friend has been a driver for the last 8 months in a medium-small college town. He loves the job and makes s decent amount of money, especially on game days. Yeah it will wear your car down faster but you won't be doing maintenance every month like some people make it seem.
Well if your friend says he is totally stacking bills then obviously everyone else is wrong and illegal cabbing is a boom business that nobody ever thought of until 2009.

goodness
Jan 3, 2012

When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?

Rent-A-Cop posted:

Well if your friend says he is totally stacking bills then obviously everyone else is wrong and illegal cabbing is a boom business that nobody ever thought of until 2009.

It's doing well in the towns I have used it so far. No reason to ever use a taxi over uber/lyft/others. He used uber to get to know enough clients to drive them privately now which is what every driver should try to do.

the worst thing is
Oct 3, 2013

by FactsAreUseless

Rent-A-Cop posted:

Well if your friend says he is totally stacking bills then obviously everyone else is wrong and illegal cabbing is a boom business that nobody ever thought of until 2009.

Goons..

The ubiquity of smartphones made it possible in 2009 HTH

the worst thing is
Oct 3, 2013

by FactsAreUseless
Seriously what a goony retard response

Baronash
Feb 29, 2012

So what do you want to be called?

Tautologicus posted:

Goons..

The ubiquity of smartphones made it possible in 2009 HTH

Are you under the impression gypsy cabs didn't exist until six years ago?

goodness posted:

It's doing well in the towns I have used it so far. No reason to ever use a taxi over uber/lyft/others. He used uber to get to know enough clients to drive them privately now which is what every driver should try to do.

You're right. This way, when you crash, not only will your insurance company refuse to fix your car and drop you, but you won't even get the protection of Uber's lovely liability coverage.

the worst thing is
Oct 3, 2013

by FactsAreUseless

JohnSherman posted:

Are you under the impression gypsy cabs didn't exist until six years ago?

Listen...I was #1 Uber enemy in the GBS tech/uber thread and I would even partly take credit for the beginning of the uber backlash on these forums, since I wrote the first comprehensive anti-Uber posts on the forums to my knowledge, read that thread. I know full well what the difference between a gypsy cab and an Uber vehicle is. (Goons always assume the dumbest possible reading of any post they respond to, I've noticed)

Smartphones made Uber possible. That's what I said. Gypsy cabs have no centralized database or source for rides, they rely on word of mouth and poaching from taxi drivers in well trafficed areas. It is very dumb and stupid to conflate gypsy cabs and Uber. Gypsy cabs are not competing with taxis directly in major cities, they siphon off the excess demand where they can due to the limitations of city medallion systems. Uber directly competes with taxis, and with gypsy cabs, while claiming to be neither ("we're just a rideshare service, maaan")

Rent-A-Cop
Oct 15, 2004

I posted my food for USPOL Thanksgiving!

Well who am I to argue with noted Something Awful Anti-Uber Activist Movement founder Tautologicus.

the worst thing is
Oct 3, 2013

by FactsAreUseless

Rent-A-Cop posted:

Well who am I to argue with noted Something Awful Anti-Uber Activist Movement founder Tautologicus.

What do you mean argue, I agree that Uber is bad news and parasitic on everything it touches. I just think you made stupid bandwagon "*chortle* everyone knows that Uber is just an illegal gypsy cab service" remarks since it's fashionable now. Yes, I helped make your bandwagon fashionable, I would definitely go as far as to say that. Have fun

Edit - removed pettiness for readability, not because I am suddenly less petty and goonish

the worst thing is fucked around with this message at 23:23 on May 10, 2015

Trillian
Sep 14, 2003

Tautologicus posted:

Edit - removed pettiness for readability

I think you missed some.

OniKun
Jul 23, 2003

Cheap Mexican Labor since the late 80's
I guess this thread is pretty anti-uber/lyft/whatever, but for what it is worth, I know a few people who live in the SF Bay Area and pay rent+utilities+entertainment for a month on two weeks of driving for a few hours per day... these folks are on the rent control wagon, though, so the cost of living for them is skewed towards the "lucky motherfucker" side of things. If you live in a medium-large city that has a young population who will use their smartphones and has lovely public transit, you can definitely make money being a driver for one of the ridesharing companies.

If you're looking to do it as a side gig, it can be pretty lucrative if you manage your time well. It's a bit tough to break in and get enough ratings to where you'll get rides consistently, but if you go out driving on a busy holiday weekend and aren't a creep you can probably build up enough ratings to get continuous rides in a single weekend.

The hourly wage in the Bay Area on weekend for a well-rated rideshare driver oscillates between 15 to 25 an hour, depending on which city the person is driving in, what is happening during their shift, and how many lovely clients they have to deal with. The worst are the first-time callers who don't know how to drop their pin properly and call you across town to the wrong location, or the post-last-call people who expect you to be okay with them vomiting all over your car... send your respective service a picture of the damage and they'll cover the cost of cleanup usually, though. The worst kind of ride you can get are the very short hops that are a few blocks long, because the cost of gas and time for those short hops usually means you got screwed. It happens, but if you're in a crowded city that has lovely infrastructure you can probably still make money being caught in traffic on the way.

It is really hard to get rich off of these systems nowadays, the gold rush is finished. Keep in mind 15-25 an hour is between minimum wage and surviving-kinda in the Bay Area, without rent control. With rent control, it's heaven.

OniKun fucked around with this message at 04:05 on May 12, 2015

the worst thing is
Oct 3, 2013

by FactsAreUseless
Ya^

My overall point was always that Uber is going to hurt transportation in major cities over the long term if they have their way and aren't reigned in and regulated (against their will), not that it isn't a decent opportunity for some people in the short term, as long as you do it smartly (commercial insurance, don't lease a car from them like an idiot, don't depend on one rideshare service exclusively). But I think people don't see the big picture and stereotype and say it's things it isn't just to poo-poo something that's popular.

On the other side there's people who love Uber no matter what and think it's the wave of the future. Those people might have a rude awakening 5 years from now, at least if they remember things the way they used to be, because the bar for transportation services will be set much lower if things go on their present course. Which they likely won't, as there's all kinds of pushback from city governments.

goodness
Jan 3, 2012

When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?
I'm curious if anyone has complaints as riders or just as drivers? Has anyone had a bad experience with uber as a passenger?

Old Man Pants
Nov 22, 2010

Strippers are people too!

goodness posted:

I'm curious if anyone has complaints as riders or just as drivers? Has anyone had a bad experience with uber as a passenger?

I had one dude who had absolutely no idea where he was going, ignored the gps and just started taking us on a random trip to nowhere. He took us about 6 blocks in the wrong direction before we just got out and told him to get hosed.

Jeza
Feb 13, 2011

The cries of the dead are terrible indeed; you should try not to hear them.
If this thread is anything to go by, people actually are losing money as Uber drivers. And apparently driving your car a few hours extra a week will DESTROY ALL YOU KNOW AND LOVE.

Maybe OP should have been even clearer that they want info from actual Uber drivers, rather than internet slacktivists who once got burned when an Uber driver told them they were too fat to get in.

krampster2
Jun 26, 2014

Jeza posted:

Maybe OP should have been even clearer that they want info from actual Uber drivers, rather than internet slacktivists who once got burned when an Uber driver told them they were too fat to get in.

yeah i kinda was looking for actual accounts of being an uber driver not armchair economist type opinions

blackguy32
Oct 1, 2005

Say, do you know how to do the walk?
I have never been a driver, but I used one as a passenger to get to and from the airport when I vacationed in Seattle.

One of the drivers seemed to be a really cool dude, but he was telling me all the work he put in and he only really got about 200-300 bucks out of it, which I guess isn't bad for a day. But being a Uber driver seems to be one of those things where it is a good idea while everything is running smoothly, and then something goes wrong and then in hindsight it was a colossally dumb idea.

Basically, if you really want to be a Uber driver, I would really stick to doing it short-term. As a passenger, I really do hope that someone makes an app for actual real taxis because that it was convenient as gently caress.

Colin Mockery
Jun 24, 2007
Rawr



Do you mean this?

http://www.seattleyellowcab.com/

Guy DeBorgore
Apr 6, 1994

Catnip is the opiate of the masses
Soiled Meat

blackguy32 posted:

One of the drivers seemed to be a really cool dude, but he was telling me all the work he put in and he only really got about 200-300 bucks out of it, which I guess isn't bad for a day. But being a Uber driver seems to be one of those things where it is a good idea while everything is running smoothly, and then something goes wrong and then in hindsight it was a colossally dumb idea.

This is exactly the problem with being an Uber driver, you're taking on a lot of risks and hidden costs that would usually be covered by the taxi company/insurance. Even if the company is feeling generous enough to pay for the damage to your backseat when someone vomits in it, or covers your missed rides, you're still running the chance of getting in an accident and being personally liable for a gigantic amount of money. And then there's the self-employment taxes, and the chance of getting a string of lovely customers who tank your rating below 4.7 and get you kicked off the service. But people suck at accounting for low-probability high-cost risks, so they just see their hourly earnings and think they're doing great. After you account for fuel, vehicle maintenance and those risks, you're not much better off than you would be working at Denny's.

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twodot
Aug 7, 2005

You are objectively correct that this person is dumb and has said dumb things

blackguy32 posted:

Basically, if you really want to be a Uber driver, I would really stick to doing it short-term. As a passenger, I really do hope that someone makes an app for actual real taxis because that it was convenient as gently caress.
Like this http://flywheel.com/ ?

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