Today, driving for Uber sucks. The pay is too low and the customers are not great. With the global pandemic, business is down a lot. This post highlights what it was like driving for Uber back in 2015-2016, when it was all the side-hustle range.
I never planned to drive for Uber. It just happened. When I pulled up to a gas station to fill up Rhino, my 2015 Honda Fit, there was a fella setting up a tent that promoted a free $50 gas card if I signed up to become a driver.
“No obligation to drive!” he tempted me, so I figured why not. With gas prices rebounding from their lows, what used to cost me only about $26 to fill up now cost $35. Moose, my old 2000 Land Rover Discover II sucked down $80 – $100 a tank, so in comparison $35 isn't so bad.
The Process Of Becoming An Uber Driver
After uploading my driver's license, registration, and inspection form, I waited to get a confirmation via text or e-mail. Twenty-four hours later and nothing. I went back to the nearby gas station the next day and asked what was up? He said he didn't know, and that I should e-mail support. So I did. He gave me another $50 gas card for my troubles. And then another $50 gas card for referring my friend in my passenger seat. YES! Who doesn't love free money baby?!
Several days later, I finally heard back from Uber via e-mail, and they said they had wrongly entered my information. But if I simply logged in and re-uploaded everything again, all would be fine. When I logged into my account via my laptop it said, “Get a $100 bonus if you go down to the driver center at 130 Vermont Street to get everything set up.” So instead of re-uploading everything myself with no guarantees, I just went down to the driving center given I planned to be close by anyway.
After about 10 minutes of paperwork, the inspector said I was good to go. “All you've got to do is download the Uber partner app, take a selfie, and Go Online! After your 10th ride, you'll get a $100 bonus for coming down to the driving center, and another $300 bonus after your 20th ride for signing up via our gas station promotion.“
Wow! $400 worth of bonuses plus another $150 in gas cards. So that's where Uber is spending all their billions raised. The offer was too tempting to not try things out. Now let me share with you my first Uber passenger experience, some earnings figures, and the emotions I experienced over the next couple of weeks driving.
MY FIRST UBER PASSENGER
In general, I'm relatively fearless when it comes to trying new things. But I felt more anxiety than I have in a really long time during the moments right before I pressed the “Go Online” button in the Uber Partner app. I likened the feeling to being the new kid on his first day of school. Exciting, but scary!
Within three minutes of going online, my phone starting beeping for a pickup. Of course, I was inconveniently on one side of Van Ness Avenue, a busy three lane road, and she was on the other side. After five minutes of wasteful navigation, I picked up a woman in her early 40s standing outside of Rhino's home, The Honda Dealer. It was 11:38 am.
I welcomed her into my car and re-confirmed her destination address she inputted into the app. It was important to be sure we were going where she wanted and buy myself as much time as possible to process everything as a newbie. The Uber driver's center mentioned that every passenger rates their driver from 1 – 5 stars, and that if I fell below a 4.6, I'd be put on probation or removed. With the first rider, everything was at stake!
After going through the formalities, we were off to some random warehouse south of San Francisco. Then she said something random. “Do you serve brunch as well?“
I chuckled and told her unfortunately I didn't.
She went on, “Oh my gosh, I had such an amaaaaaaazing night last night!“
“Oh, really?“
“Yes, I met a man outside of a bar moments after closing and I went back to his place!“
“Whoah! Sounds like an adventure,” I responded. Trying to be more professional, I tried to change the subject. “Are you visiting from out of town?“
“Yep, from Denver. But I just love San Francisco! It's so fun, and there are so many nice men here!” She answered. “I'm so bored with my family life back home. I asked my husband whether we could have an open marriage, and he was pissed I asked!”
“Hmmm. I see.” Now I was curious. “Did you guys actually hook up?“
“Well, no. Not all the way. He was on Molly and couldn't get it up! But I still got my rocks off!“
When we got to the warehouse, she wouldn't stop talking. Luckily, Uber pays 29 cents a minute while a passenger is in the car. It was almost as if she wanted me to give her my number the next time she was in town or something.
After sliding the “End Ride” function on the app, I was prompted to give her a rating. Of course I gave her 5-stars. She was entertaining! She gave me the same.
And that, my friends, was my first experience as an Uber driver.
DRIVING FOR UBER CAN HELP MAKE ENDS MEET
Some of you might be thinking I'm crazy to drive for Uber. Wouldn't my time be better spent working on my online business or consulting, especially given I've got my passive income optimized?
Yes, from a financial standpoint, I could make more elsewhere, but from a journalism perspective, it's important to experience driving first hand before writing about the ins and outs of the ridesharing business. Driving for Uber is like research!
I want to do things that are new and fun to keep things interesting. But I'm also not too proud to do what's necessary to take care of my family. Neither should you.
Driving for Uber allows me to answer the following questions:
1) How much can you actually make after paying commission, gas, and maintenance costs?
2) How does the whole thing work exactly? From signing up, to getting paid, and not wanting to drive to Timbuktu if you have somewhere to go.
3) What are the stories behind the people taking Uber?
4) Is Uber really a good investment at $50 billion?
5) Will the sharing economy allow more people flexibility to work and live the way they want?
After giving over 100 rides, I've come to the conclusion that Uber is a good way to make money for those of you who are in between jobs, underemployed, or would like to spend time with family during the day. You can drive whenever you want and start making money usually within 10 minutes of turning on the Uber partner app.
Check out the times I drove after completing my first full week. With 100% accuracy, I avoided all 16 of the busy hours where I could make more money due to their famous surge pricing.
I really dislike traffic and really enjoy my freedom, which are the main reasons why I didn't drive during the busy hours. I've also discovered a driving hack where if I'm planning on playing tennis or going downtown (east), I'll turn on my Uber partner app and with an 80% probability, I'll pick up someone close by my house heading the same direction. It's an easy way to make $11-$29 dollars.
How Much Did I Make Driving For Uber?
So how much did I actually make this first full week driving for ~17 hours? Have a look at my chart.
$528.47 ain't bad for driving at most 3.5 hours a day. I was basically averaging about 2.7 trips an hour. If you're getting excited about my earnings, study the chart carefully. First, you'll notice that Uber takes a 25% commission for drivers in San Francisco, which is a lot, especially since the commission is 20% in every other city. Then, you see I got a $100 “Other” income, which was my promised $100 bonus for going down to the Uber driving center at 130 Vermont Street to get checked out.
In other words, my normalized earnings for doing 46 trips was really only $428.47 ($528.47 – $100 bonus). If I do 2.7 trips an hour on average, that's around 17.3 hours of work, or $25 an hour after paying 25% commission, but before gas and other expenses.
What Does It Cost To Drive For Uber?
So what about gas? Well, that was easy to track because I used up the $50 gas card Uber gave me that one week. Hence, take $50 / $428 = 11.7% in gas cost. Let's just round it to 10%, because I still had gas in the tank when I got to the next week. I'm now paying 25% commission + 10% gas + ?% eventual maintenance to drive. That's right. Before you pay taxes, you've got to give up roughly 35% of your gross earnings!
Notice how my acceptance rate went down from 96% the first week to only 81% the second week. This is because after gaining some experience, I realized how inefficient some pickups are.
I'm not willing to drive more than six minutes to pick up a passenger to send them on an average 10-minute ride. Sometimes the app says I've got to drive 10 minutes to pick someone up since I was already out in the boonies. I did once, and they decided to cancel! At least they gave me $5 cash and they were charged a $5 cancelation charge.
The other important data is my overall rating of 4.97 for the week with a rating system between 1-5. For some reason, I really cared about my rating even though I wasn't even close to getting put on probation.
FEELINGS OF SADNESS Driving For Uber
Instead of experiencing continued excitement, like a kid who just got a new toy, I started feeling tremendous sadness shuttling people around for money. I felt like I was rewinding my life back 24 years to the days when I got yelled at for not making the perfect Egg McMuffin while making only $3.65 an hour. I felt trapped, with the lure of the next fare pushing me to keep on going.
I've got a 2015 leased econocar for $235/month that's covered under warranty, so my maintenance expenses should be minimal for the next three years. But let's realistically say after Uber commission (25%), gas (10%), and maintenance (5%), I'm only pulling down 60% of my gross earnings of $35/hour. That's $21/hour before taxes, which gets cut down by another 25% or so for a net after tax earnings of $15.75. One accident or maintenance mishap could easily blow a week or two weeks of earnings out the window!
$15.75 in net earnings is barely enough to survive in an expensive city like San Francisco. Even if I worked 40 hours a week, I'd only bring in $2,520 a month. I guess I could share a crummy 2/1 apartment in a bad area with another person for $1,200 a month. But with only $1,320 left to spend, I'll be stuck spinning my wheels forever. Such a far cry from the $500,000 a year couple I profiled, who are also stuck in neutral!
Heck, to pay for my master bathroom construction would require me to drive 3,682 hours! That is depressing.
Some Passengers Had Tough Times
The other thing that gets me down are some of the people I meet. I picked up one early 20s Hispanic woman who was kissing her baby goodbye before handing her precious over to her mom when I arrived at 6:30am.
I was in a lower middle class area of Daly City, about 10 miles south of San Francisco. The woman got in Rhino, all sleepy eyed and confirmed Portrero Hill as the destination. Right before arrival, she told me she was going in early to do the 7 am – 11 am shift at Wholefoods so she could get some lunch before working another four-hour shift at a retail store in Fisherman's Wharf, three miles north of there.
Life can't be easy for this woman. I kept on thinking in my head: You go girl! You are so awesome for working hard. Don't give up! May you and your child have a great future! I felt proud of her work ethic and I felt proud to be an American.
APPRECIATE WHAT YOU HAVE
For the longest time, I've felt that life should be pretty easy if you work hard, be a nice person, and take some calculated risks. But after speaking to over 100 passengers, I'm reminded that life is not so straight forward. There's so much luck involved with getting ahead. It's hard to get a true idea of how lucky we are without hearing other people's stories.
I wonder how on Earth the two kids I dropped off in the Projects can successfully compete against private school children with all the tutoring money can buy. Is the mother who works a minimum wage job at Wholefoods destined to forever stay stuck in similar occupations? It's a shame public transportation is so bad or housing is so expensive that she has to take a $14 Uber ride. How will she ever get ahead?
I question the sustainability of Uber's business model, which keeps cutting fares to the point where all they'll have are drivers who simply sign up for the free $50 gas card or the up to $300 driver bonus after giving their 20th ride.
Uber should make every single Uber employee sign up to be a driver and give at least 20 rides themselves. This way, they'll gain first hand experience on how to improve their product and empathize with the growing chorus of ridesharing drivers who are just trying to make ends meet, but can't. They say there is a legal reason why they can't, or else they'd be all over it.
My Uber experience has been extremely humbling, and I'm thankful for it. I appreciate my good fortune more as a result. In addition, I don't have any entitlement mentality given I'm thankful for my ability to earn money online.
But driving for Uber today is not worth it. Save your time and money!
Leverage The Internet And Start Your Own Website
Driving for Uber is trading time for money. There is no leverage. Instead, leverage the internet and start your own website. Build your brand online and earn extra income on the side. Why should LinkedIn, FB, and Twitter pop up when someone Google's your name?
With your own website you can connect with potentially millions of people online, sell a product, sell some else's product, make passive Uber driving referral income and find a lot of new consulting and FT work opportunities.
Follow my step-by-step guide on how to build your own website today. You never know where the journey will take you!
See: Why Blogging Is The Best Business In The World
Break Free From Your Job By Negotiating A Severance
There are more ways than ever to make side hustle money thanks to technology and the internet. If you dislike your job and are looking for more flexibility, try to negotiate a severance. Engineering my layoff in 2012 was my #1 catalyst for leaving my day job in finance behind.
I put together my knowledge and strategies in my bestseller, How To Engineer Your Layoff. The ebook has since been updating six times with new strategies to help you get a severance package today. Use the code “saveten” at checkout to save $10.
I know this is old, but as a person who is doing Uber strarting from the end of 2017, honestly if you’re struggling your doing it wrong. I live in NY and make $7K, monthly and have no problem living. Sure I am not driving a mercedes (I bought a lexus for personal use, fully paid), but I still can eat, drink, run, jump and put money aside for other investments. I don’t spend mone on going out for money unless I’m with people and that’s not often. I don’t spend money on TV or housephone, subscription services (just internet and on the cheap for that). Because I do uber, I spend $50/mo on prepaid. So if I can’t pay it (never happens, I just forget) on time. Only penalty is a shut off. NOthing financial. If you can’t budget, had children before you were ready or keep yourself in poor health, and/or remain ignorant on how to make passive income, then you will kill yourself before Uber does.
Budgeting and living below your means is your friend. LEarn and grow.
You stated “Check out the times I drove after completing my first full week. With 100% accuracy, I avoided all 16 of the busy hours where I could make more money due to their famous surge pricing.” because “I really dislike traffic and really enjoy my freedom, which are the main reasons why I didn’t drive during the busy hours.” doesn’t make sense.
I think you misunderstood the “busy hours” concept–it’s not rush hour–when there is a lot of vehicle traffic–it’s when there are a lot of riders compared to available drivers. Just take a close look at the hours that are on the grid marked for busy hours. Only a couple are during rush hour. Most of them are around closing time for clubs and bars with some when people are headed out to their bar or club on weekend nights. Not really a lot of traffic out at closing time but sometimes curbsides and parking lots can be busy.
Maybe. Rush hour + 1-2am driving times is not that great. Neither is the busy time at 3am – 4am when US traders and sales people go to work before the stock market opens.
Just came across your articles while researching how Ubers Uberpool works on diverting your route, and the costs, as its just starting in London today. So started at your “How uberpool works” article, and now just read this article. I normally dont post on blogs etc, or even read them for that matter, but this was really interesting. I will try to remember to check back in future for other posts.
But well done, and very insightful, not just about uber, but appreciating what we have, from what you learned about meeting all your riders. Made my train journey much more interesting. Although im gonna take a break and watch some netflix now :)
Glad you enjoyed it Russell! You will like these Uber-related posts too:
Spoiled Or Clueless? Try Working A Minimum Wage Job As An Adult
How To Make Over $100/Hour With Uber
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[…] Uber can win because its billions in funding is used to subsidize its drivers, thereby undercutting the incumbent taxi industry, fight lawsuits, and lobby the government. […]
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Sam,
I am planning to join uber for fun. Can you send me a referral link so that you can get the referral credit?
Thank you for spending your valuable time doing the research for us.
David
Sam, great post. It’s interesting to see the process from the driver’s perspective. I use Uber all the time when traveling for business from SF down to LA. It’s usually a great experience, however I’m surprised the threshold for probation is 4.6, only the best of the best!
Do Uber drivers rate passengers?
Also, have you heard of Uber Eats? Uber delivers food down in the LA market, which may have been why the woman asked if you (i.e., Uber) serve brunch. Their current offering is a standard lunch/dinner option, it’s like one meal and apparently drivers have x number of servings in their car and deliver them (as ordered, if ordered) during the course of their regular driving. If a few hours go by and no one has ordered the food, it gets tossed.
Great post! Thanks!
Yep, Uber drivers rate all passengers after drop off.
The problem is, it doesn’t matter for riders as they are the clients and pay the money.
If a driver gets a 4 out of 5, they are essentially getting a vote to get kicked off since the probation level is 4.6. Crazy IMO.
That may be accurate for Uber “it doesn’t matter for riders as they are clients…”, but as Lyft driver I can tell you that the rating I give my passengers does matter on the Lyft platform. Lyft has the same 4.6 threshold as Uber seems to for probation of driver status when riders rate drivers. When drivers rate passengers it serves three purposes: 1) You and other Lyft drivers can more accurately assess whether to accept a ride from someone with a lower star rating; 2) Low ratings with detailed comments can cause passengers to lose ride privileges; and 3) If a Lyft driver rates any passenger 3 or below, the app will no longer pair that driver with that passenger, no matter the proximity.
Thanks for going into the trenches and getting a first-hand experience of driving. I think it’s a great idea to use it just for the hours that you want, and especially if you are wanting to head in a particular direction (ie for playing tennis…etc). Works even better if you are situated in a dense area.
I’ve wondered if it is prudent to drive as an “LLC” rather than as an individual for legal purposes. Obviously you would hope that the insurance coverage or umbrella coverage is adequate for the risk incurred.
[…] for the past six years now. Heck, I even spent 25 hours being an Uber driver in order to write a first-hand account of the ridesharing economy! That is some serious due diligence for an article that may never generate much income at […]
Great article and thank you for providing us with your experience. I guess I will sign up just to get the bonus.
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Nice article. We use Uber quite a bit when going from our house to the airport, but haven’t had the opportunity to use it outside of the Bay Area. This past trip we used it in London, Paris, and Boston. We were also in Naples, now if there’s a place that could really benefit from having Uber, Naples would be it. All-in-all good experiences, especially in Boston, it allowed us to stay at a cheaper hotel a little further out and we would just Uber everywhere we went, saved us a lot in terms of money and time by not having to rent a car, getting lost, paying for parking, etc. What was interesting was our experience internationally, in Paris they had a taxi strike protesting Uber when we were there, and it was almost impossible for us to get a taxi when we first got there. In addition, you hear about countries like India where they ambush Uber drivers and beat them up (or worse). I would like to get your insights on this or if you had any negative experiences with other traditional taxis while you were driving for Uber?
I have! One taxi driver in a traffic jam tried to forceful cut in front of me. When he realized he couldn’t (nothing was moving) he spit on Rhino!
I took a pic of him and the cab number, and called it in.
The driver definitely wasn’t American. Not sure why so much hate. He can switch if he wants to. Or maybe his background check wouldn’t pass.
We’ve been considering Uber as a good way to make extra income, but I’m not sure it’s worth it. I’m impressed that you actually got hands-on experience and appreciate that you share the personal side of your story and your passengers.
I think it’s worth it to drive until you get the sign up bonus. The range is $50 – $300 usually, depending on city, and requires you to drive 20 times. After that, I don’t think it’s really worth it unless you’re really hurting for cash.
Good luck!
I drove for Uber in the Providence, RI market and found it wasn’t worth it. I made between $10-12 an hour and that was with surge pricing!
That’s not worth it to me for the maintenance, etc. It might work in bigger cities but not smaller markets. Plus I had the joy of someone throwing up in my car! Good times!
I haven’t had the throw upper yet! Fingers crossed. I think you get $200 – $250 if you let Uber know, as they charge the driver and send you the money. Seems only fair.
I really appreciate your article! I want to do lyft and uber, and I am looking for a job as well. I’m an hour north of San Francisco. If you were starting on a shoestring budget, and didn’t have a smartphone what kind of smartphone and plan would you get if you were using it primarily for your rideshare business? You seem to be more sympathetic than most towards people that don’t have a lot of money. Thanks.
Hi Brian,
I think you can rent a phone for $10 a month, but I would probably just buy one for yourself, and expense a part of the cost of the phone and the monthly usage cost to your ridesharing income.
I have a 5GB a month data plan, and I’ve never run over. I don’t think you need a huge plan as the app doesn’t hog much data.
It’s important to be a very careful driver. One accident or speeding ticket can screw up a week’s worth of income, easy!
Best,
Sam
Very nice story. It is always interesting to read the thoughts of someone who drives for Uber or Lyft as a lark, in order to make a journalistic summary about it.
I have been driving for both Uber and Lyft for about 4 months now. I Drive approximately the hours that you did, sort of during daylight hours during the week. Avoiding nighttime drunks, and weekends idiots.
I have a weekly financial spreadsheet so that I know when I reach my goal or not. I have to make a certain amount of money to cover my bills. I can tell you that over time, my back is killing me and my car is about to fall apart.
On the bright side, I put on about 200 miles a day, so in these four months, I have no taxable income, in fact, just the opposite is true, if you figure the IRS mileage deduction.
Driving in New Jersey has its own special challenges. The area is vast, more than 5,000 square miles. I could wind up anywhere at the end of the day. And, unfortunately, New Jersey drivers can take passengers into New York City, or New York State, or one of the New York airports, but cannot pick up from there. So the ride back to our territory, New Jersey, is always an empty one. Lyft does not compensate you for that empty ride in anyway, at least Uber throws a few dollars at you.
I could write a book about this myself, but I have to get back to work!
Hi Matt, thanks for stopping by. Check out Healing Back Pain by Dr. Sarno.
Also, if you can write a book about this topic, you should! You might very well earn a lot more or at least supplement your Uber income and allow you to work less. You never know what may happen if you produce a product people like!
+1 for Dr. Sarno’s book.
Fixed my debilitating back pain in 2 months after a year of ineffective drugs, tests, and treatments.
+2
My issue was ‘eyes’. Interesting how stress/dissatisfaction can manifest itself with physical symptoms. Howard Stern dedicated his NYT #1 bestseller ‘Private Parts’ to Dr. John Sarno for changing his life.
Really interesting piece! Uber driving strikes me as a good gig for someone who is between jobs/ needs a fast way to increase cash flow or has figured out a way to only give “I was going there anyway” rides. I guess that’s the sharing economy–designed to piggy back on things people had already committed to pay for (car payment, insurance, even some routine maintenance and depreciation).
That’s exactly it Claire. Driving is good supplemental income. Given I’ve already committed to leasing my car for the next 3 years and paying for gas and all that stuff. Now that I’m working, I can write such expenses off. In my next post, I’ll share some very positive reasons why everyone should drive.
Fascinating insights! In Philly, most of the drivers are white, middle class drivers with college education. You can step outside the door here and hail a cab within a minute as there are lots of big cab companies here. Uber and Lyft are doing well here still, even though they are a bit more expensive.
I think it’s because most people are white here, and they enjoy riding in cars driven by other people who look like themselves. Cab drivers are often not American.
A really interesting and thoughtful article Sam, the kind of thing I’d expect to read in a quality newspaper as a feature. Your thoughts on the reality of life for hard working people on low wages are refreshing to read versus some of the relentless positivity many financial blogs peddle.
Thanks Jim. Stay tuned for another post where I share even more stories. It’s been a pleasure to listen to how other people lead their lives.
Thanks for the fascinating look at the personal earnings side of Uber. The $50B valuation (is it really that much?) is outrageous though. I mean, it’s an app! Marriott and Hilton – combined – have a market cap less than that. By the way, as a driver, the economics are more compelling when you consider the operating expenses (gas, auto maintenance, etc.) are tax deductible, no?
Yes, I think they just finished raising at a $50B valuation from ~$42B in 2014.
GREAT point about the economics being more compelling once deductions are factored in! I’ll definitely have to write a follow up post with a chart.
It’s nice to be able to write off a good portion of my car lease payment, gas, maintenance, tickets (?) and other things that come up.
FS, one thought on any follow-up post regarding deductions. Most people, let alone Uber drivers, aren’t in your tax bracket. Standard deduction amounts for 2015 are $6,300 for single and $12,600 for married filers. So, as you look around at the Uber drivers, you may find that you and that NFL player are the only ones who itemize.:-)
Ah, good point on the standard deduction amount and the itemized deduction amount. The good thing though is that those who just do standard deduction are probably also in a lower tax bracket.
It’s amazing the things people will tell you. I was a bartender for a long time while in college, it’s not all glamorous, but it was fun. Lots of stories there too. And you watch the pickups as they happen, live.
Bartending… now that sounds like a stressful job. Always got to be on your feet and deliver a good drink!
Seems perfect if you want spending money. Not sure I would do it full time.
I just began driving for Uber on Thursday. I’ve detailed every fare I took on my own blog because, like you, I was confounded by how little I was making. Fortunately I have other income streams, because in my market (Tampa Bay) I earning less than minimum wage after taking out expenses. Example: In Tampa, drivers are paid $.95/mile and $.13/minute, but Uber takes 20% of that, so it’s actually 76 cents a mile and 10 cents a minute. That might work if I constantly had a passenger and never had to wait for my passenger.
One of my first passengers kept me waiting 15 minutes while he took a court-ordered drug test. During my wait, I made $1.50 ($6/hour) and had to sit in a sketchy parking lot in 93 degree weather. Because I wasn’t going to get another fare from the area where I ultimately dropped off my passenger, I had to re-position. My mileage driving to pick up the passenger, as well as to re-position, goes unpaid. My “paid miles” so far are under 50% of my total miles driven. Effectively, Uber isn’t paying me $.76/mile but closer to $.30/mile, which doesn’t even cover the cost of using my vehicle.
Hi Jon! I’m gonna check out your posts on your Uber experience as well!
I guess drivers in SF are relatively luckier in that we aren’t too focused on the $/mile and $/minute. We are in Uber demand central and it seems like everybody takes Uber so the app keeps buzzing so much so that I had to turn it off when doing other stuff for even just 1-5 minutes.
The question I have for you is: How do you decide when to stop driving? At what point is it no longer worth your time anymore?
Since I don’t rely on Uber to make ends meet, I have the luxury of experimenting with different strategies. I live on a dense peninsula full of tourists and service workers in the hospitality industry, many who don’t own cars. This population density means I can sit at home and wait for pings. This isn’t as productive as driving to Gulf Blvd. and waiting near the big hotels, but the quality of life is better when I’m at home and can do other things between passengers.
Another strategy I want to test is absolutely not driving between passengers. When I drop one off, can I drive to the nearest shaded area and just wait? Will the downtime kill my hourly earnings, even though I’m saving on gas and other vehicle expenses?
My best day was Saturday night. I basically remained in a two mile radius the entire night, shuttling tourists to dinner and back to their hotel. Later in the night it was to the bars and clubs or to a concert. It was my best day in total dollars but also in most productive miles.
I’m quickly finding that tracking my paid miles versus unpaid miles will be the most important measure of whether Uber is worthwhile.