Uber (becoming a driver)

[KevinTH]

Has anyone every been, or is currently, an Uber driver? My wife is in school and my job is pretty demanding, but I want to make a little extra cash. We're trying to save to go out west and end our trip at The Gorge this year. I'm just wondering if anyone has done it and what their thoughts are on it. Do you make much money? Is it worth it? Or is it sketchy?

[WidespreadMule3]

Of all the drivers I've talked to they all have very positive things to say. I've met several that say they either a.) started doing uber for side cash and ended up quitting their job because they were making so much or b.) keep their day job as their "side job" after start doing uber.

It's not like you have to commit anything to it. You can sign up, do it for a while and if it doesn't prove profitable then you can stop doing it. There's no real obligations from my understanding.

[M. Steng]

Kev, not a bad idea at all, but to make any sort of significant money you're going to have to work many hours. Sort of a lengthy connection here, but my brother's best friend does Uber on the side on nights and weekends after his full-time job, and for a 23 year old kid, it's nice to have the beer/gas money. I don't know exactly how much he makes, but I would be shocked if nights and weekends are getting him much of anything to write home about. But, hey, $250 a week (or whatever it may be) is still $250, you add that up over 10 weeks and you've got your Gorge money.

As far as safety, everyone involved in the transaction (the requesting passenger and the driver) are tracked via an account linked to their identity, so even if something shitty happened (like getting robbed), it wouldn't take much for police to find them. My brother's friend has been doing it for a few months and has never had any issue; for the most part, his passengers are drunk college-aged kids who just need a ride home from the bar. I think he had to make one trip to the airport once, which kind of sucks because you're only allowed to refuse 10% of your requested trips so he got stuck doing that for 3+ hours. Overall, though, it's not a bad way to pick up side cash. I've considered doing it myself as I'm currently saving up for my wedding this October.

[KevinTH]

Nice to hear. It's something I've been thinking about for a while, but now I really want to make it happen. I need to look into more of the details. We only have one car and it does meet the requirements of being an 05 or later. I really want the extra money, but I'm afraid I won't be able to sign up because the car is in my wife's name and not mine. She bought it in 08 before we got married.

[M. Steng]

Actually just texted my brother about his buddy. His response:

"He doesn't ever do it anymore and he only did it during the weekdays so he made no money. But, drivers I've talked to said on busy weekends they'll make like $200 a night."

[KevinTH]

Thanks Mike! I would think about doing a day or two during the week, but weekends definitely seem to be where the money is. I don't live too far from the airport, so that could be beneficial and I also live very close to Downtown Cleveland where the Indians, Cavs and Browns play. I would think game days would be some decent money. Thanks for all the feedback. Even just a couple hundred bucks a week or every other week would be great.

[DIDriveOut2SPAC]

I think AlpineValley, the movie buff guy, does it. I would PM him.

[zajDmB1]

My gf's cousin does it down in FL to save up for his trip to Germany in a few months. Says it's not bad since you work whenever you want. Definitely some slow days but what he does is keeps an eye out for events and then just kinda times it so he's by the venue when it lets out. Guaranteed at least one customer that way.

I think a lot of it depends where you are. Some cities have caught on, others haven't.

Also, you can be a driver for all of them at the same time, so Uber, Lyft, etc.

[Cscottrun]

There are a bunch of reddit ask me anything threads done by Uber drivers. I bet there is a lot of useful information in them. I will see if I can find them.

Edit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/commen...hen_i_reached/
https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/commen...washington_dc/
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/c...best_story_as/

[ExistenceNow]

I do it as a second job; I'll try to answer any questions.

How much money you make will depend on what hours you're willing to work. Weekday afternoons... you won't make anything. Weekend late nights, you'll make bank if you work in a major city.

Is it worth it? As a second job, it's absolutely worth it for me. I'm not willing to work the after-bar crowd to make the REAL money, so I'm not going to quit my main job to do it.


Is it sketchy? Not really. Don't go trolling the shitty parts of town (wouldn't make sense to even if you wanted to though, because there's no traffic there). If you end up dropping someone off in a bad part of town (like from downtown) turn off your app till you get back to a part of town you feel comfortable working in. Personally, I've never had someone get dropped off in the bad parts of Austin but I do turn the app off after I drop someone off on UT campus, because I don't want to get stuck working that crowd.


It doesn't matter if the car is registered in your wife's name, as long as you're an insured driver on it. For proof of registration, you just submit a picture of your sticker which, at least here, doesn't have any names on it.


Games are dicey to work. On one hand, there are lots of people going to and from the game, but on the bad side, traffic is bad. The pay for your TIME is dogshit. It's all about mileage. So if you spend an hour getting one guy six blocks to the game, that's a waste of your time. Same if you take someone home, then spend a bunch of time getting back into the thick of it trying to get another ride. The best way to work games is to work the periphery. Smart people walk away from the crowd to request a ride. Those are your bread a butter on game day.

[rconverse]

I've never been a driver but was pretty much going to add everything that Matthew posted. I think being in a large city would be key. I rarely ever take cabs anymore because Uber is so convenient.

[recentlyJTR41]

Seems like the only time you would make any money would be on the weekends, but be prepared to deal with 75% of your customers to be drunk. It would be fun at first but having the same conversation with wasted people over and over would get annoying and them being drunk in general wouldn't be fun. Depends on where you live it could be well worth the money. I say go for it.

[ExistenceNow]

Originally Posted by recentlyJTR41

Seems like the only time you would make any money would be on the weekends, but be prepared to deal with 75% of your customers to be drunk. It would be fun at first but having the same conversation with wasted people over and over would get annoying and them being drunk in general wouldn't be fun. Depends on where you live it could be well worth the money. I say go for it.

I make decent money working the happy hour crowd on weeknights downtown/near downtown. You can also make money during rush hour (morning and afternoon) just taking people to and from their jobs (but I don't like doing this because of traffic).

On weekends, I like working the day crowd taking tourists and day drinkers around. On weekend nights, I work like 7-11 so I'm mostly taking people who are on their way out to the bars, so they're not drunk, or at least not wasted, yet.


If you work the midnight to 4am shift, then yea, you will deal with nothing but shit hammered people.

[K270]

For some reason Uber sent me a letter trying to recruit me. It says you can make $419 dollars in a weekend. At the bottom of the page it says See how it adds up: $26.20 fares per hour x 16 hours driving = $419 average weekend fare.

[recentlyJTR41]

Originally Posted by ExistenceNow

I make decent money working the happy hour crowd on weeknights downtown/near downtown. You can also make money during rush hour (morning and afternoon) just taking people to and from their jobs (but I don't like doing this because of traffic).

On weekends, I like working the day crowd taking tourists and day drinkers around. On weekend nights, I work like 7-11 so I'm mostly taking people who are on their way out to the bars, so they're not drunk, or at least not wasted, yet.


If you work the midnight to 4am shift, then yea, you will deal with nothing but shit hammered people.

I didn't even think about tourists that's a good point. That does seem way more appealing than the hammered crowd.

You're a life saver (literally) with that 7-11 crowd when people probably shouldn't be driving to the bars after they've pregamed for an hour or two. Not wasted, but not sober either. Uber drivers definitely do some great deeds for people. Uber has been pretty damn awesome. I've never had a bad ride.

Should be post codes in here if we have them to help people out?

[KevinTH]

That's great information. Thanks Matt!

[ExistenceNow]

Originally Posted by recentlyJTR41

I didn't even think about tourists that's a good point. That does seem way more appealing than the hammered crowd.

You're a life saver (literally) with that 7-11 crowd when people probably shouldn't be driving to the bars after they've pregamed for an hour or two. Not wasted, but not sober either. Uber drivers definitely do some great deeds for people. Uber has been pretty damn awesome. I've never had a bad ride.

Speaking as a very frequent rider, it has been amazing having it here in Austin. I don't think twice anymore about going out, because I know, without the slightest bit of doubt, that I will be able to get a sober ride home with Uber or Lyft. Before they got here, I would often stay home because I didn't feel like getting stranded trying (and failing) to find a cab.

Unfortunately, the taxi cartel here has successfully lobbied our shitty city council to pass increasing restrictions for ride sharing, and Uber is threatening to leave next month. I expect DWI's to go up significantly if that happens.

Should be post codes in here if we have them to help people out?

Maybe if someone asks, whoever posts first with their code wins. Otherwise we might just get a ton of posts of people posting their codes trying to score free rides.

[ExistenceNow]

Originally Posted by KevinTH

That's great information. Thanks Matt!

No problem, man. Let me know if you think of anything else you want to know.

[recentlyJTR41]

Originally Posted by ExistenceNow

Speaking as a very frequent rider, it has been amazing having it here in Austin. I don't think twice anymore about going out, because I know, without the slightest bit of doubt, that I will be able to get a sober ride home with Uber or Lyft. Before they got here, I would often stay home because I didn't feel like getting stranded trying (and failing) to find a cab.

Unfortunately, the taxi cartel here has successfully lobbied our shitty city council to pass increasing restrictions for ride sharing, and Uber is threatening to leave next month. I expect DWI's to go up significantly if that happens.



Maybe if someone asks, whoever posts first with their code wins. Otherwise we might just get a ton of posts of people posting their codes trying to score free rides.

Yeah I can't stand when people try to side with cabs on this. It's capitalism in motion ya know? People are going to pick the cheapest option. Evolve or die. Uber and Lyft are great services for big cities. Get on board or pay more for some shitty cab company.

Good point about the bottom part didn't think about that

[ExistenceNow]

Price isn't even my issue. I want to be able to get a ride when I need one and that's a service cabs here just can't provide.

So instead of getting better, putting out a better product, they just try to stifle competition. Fuck them.

[mthawk07]

I have two brothers and a couple friends who drive for Uber, all have great things to say about it. Me personally, I work enough and like the off time with my wife.

[junior94]

Originally Posted by ExistenceNow

I do it as a second job; I'll try to answer any questions.

oh wow, I didn't know that. I don't know why, but that's so cool, hey I know an Uber driver!

just curious, what's been like the shortest amount of time so far for when you first get a hit on where they want you to be to pick someone up, and how quickly you're literally having them open your door?

[ExistenceNow]

Like less than a minute. Have dropped someone off at a bar downtown then got a ping literally at the bar next door. Didn't even have to move my car.

[ExistenceNow]

Originally Posted by mthawk07

I have two brothers and a couple friends who drive for Uber, all have great things to say about it. Me personally, I work enough and like the off time with my wife.

I assure you I don't drive for Uber because I don't enjoy time off with my wife.

[CrashDMB237]

Have been thinking about this for quite a bit. I don't live near a major city but I live in a city with a decent bar scene and 10 mins from an even better bar scene. I also know there are a lot of assholes in CT and a lot of bros that can't handle their liquor. Might give it a shot, but feedback has been a mixed bag from people I know in CT that have driven for Uber.

[ExistenceNow]

If you're going to work the 2am crowd, buy vomit bags.

Seriously.

[AlpineValley804]

I am no longer an Uber driver since moving to Tennessee, but I will add my two cents in much greater detail later this evening when I got some time freed up. In short, I really enjoyed it and would do it again, but it's not currently feasible with where I am currently located in relation to Nashville.

[M. Steng]

Originally Posted by CrashDMB237

Have been thinking about this for quite a bit. I don't live near a major city but I live in a city with a decent bar scene and 10 mins from an even better bar scene. I also know there are a lot of assholes in CT and a lot of bros that can't handle their liquor. Might give it a shot, but feedback has been a mixed bag from people I know in CT that have driven for Uber.

Huge potential in SoNo and Stamford. My 23 year old brother frequents both those spots very frequently and says there is still a shortage of Ubers when bars are approaching closing time.

[cry_minarets458]

when I was in San Francisco, we ubered once a night. I guess the trick is to be a driver on busy evenings when the rate goes up. the driver's we talked to on NYE said they had supportive wives and said go make other people's lives safer tonight....plus the rates were crazy after midnight. the one guy was only going for like 3 hours and he said he already made about $300 bucks that night. So, who knows, but good luck! try to be an uber on patty's day

[rconverse]

I am not a huge fan of surge pricing. That's definitely a drawback from using Uber on holidays. Some of the bills from NYE that were posted online were staggering.