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Is driving from 9-5 a pipedream for an Uber driver?

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EllaOfCinder
206 Rider
 Posted 6 years, 5 months ago
Posted In
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Do you have questions for your Uber anad Lyft drivers? What about tips and suggestions? Whether you are a driver or a rider, share your comments here and get responses from real rideshare drivers.


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EllaOfCinder
206 Rider
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I was thinking about driving for an Uber so I asked a driver of my intentions.  I told him I'd like to do 9-5, and he laughed, laughed, and laughed, and finished his laugh torrent saying, "That'd never work. Stupid idea."

I laughed along, but didn't really know what was so funny.  I assume he was referring to how I may be missing the crazy busy times like Saturday nights, but I feel like 8-hour days for 5 days a week will be adequate in making decent money.

Am I wrong?  Is there something I don't know?  Do drivers not make much money between 9 and 5?

Featured Answers

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BGraft89
622 Rider Driver

Remember this mantra of being an Uber driver:

You make money by driving the rush or driving the drunks.

See this comment in context

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AsStibelDude
668 Driver

Here's an advice.  To be a good rideshare driver, you have to be mindful of the demand of people's travel. At first, you have to do this consciously.  Check your local Amtrak schedules, look up local events, when and which restaurants are busy.  You have to do this while also gauging the *supply*, ie other drivers.  

The good news is that you will quickly learn and go into a routine.  You will just naturally know, and it becomes a part of your shift.  

Further advice: here are the hot times, at least wher eI am, and usually in urban areas:

  • 6:00AM to 10:00 - People going to airports or for work.
  • 12:00PM to 1:30PM - People going to lunch
  • 4:00PM to 7:00PM - People going home and to dinnesr, etc.
  • 10:00PM to 2:30PM - People going home from bars (especially weekends - infinite demand)
  • Plus any other times when there are local events

Keep track of your hot and popular times!

Good luck!

See this comment in context


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    peter.ashlock
    185
     6 years ago

    I first drove a taxi in 1973. It was unionized and you had a seniority number, based on when you were hired. The longer you remained, the easier it was to request a different shift, if you wanted it. Many drivers wanted to drive Monday through Friday, 9-5.

    You could probably make an adequate income doing that, but I was a student at the time and didn't really care about it. I remained driving Thursday through Monday, from four in the afternoon until three in the morning, that was how I learned the job.

    Years passed, I quit, I took other jobs, I finished school, I drove for another cab company but I tended to drive the same schedule most of the years I drove a cab. After ten years over a fourteen year period, I quit and didn't return to the job for over twenty five years until I answered an ad on CraigsList which led to my driving a black car with Uber. I quickly realized I was back in the same business but was now expected to wear a suit and drive a town car.

    I did that for two yea…

    Read more...

    I first drove a taxi in 1973. It was unionized and you had a seniority number, based on when you were hired. The longer you remained, the easier it was to request a different shift, if you wanted it. Many drivers wanted to drive Monday through Friday, 9-5.

    You could probably make an adequate income doing that, but I was a student at the time and didn't really care about it. I remained driving Thursday through Monday, from four in the afternoon until three in the morning, that was how I learned the job.

    Years passed, I quit, I took other jobs, I finished school, I drove for another cab company but I tended to drive the same schedule most of the years I drove a cab. After ten years over a fourteen year period, I quit and didn't return to the job for over twenty five years until I answered an ad on CraigsList which led to my driving a black car with Uber. I quickly realized I was back in the same business but was now expected to wear a suit and drive a town car.

    I did that for two years before switching to UberX and Lyft and have noticed how little has changed for one simple reason. People don't change.

    People still go to work, sullenly, reluctantly and then go home, sometimes with a stop at a bar or a grovery store or to pick up kids, but they go home. Then they go out again. They do these things increasingly as the week progresses until on Thursday evening you have folks who are eager to rehearse their weekend drinking, and on Friday all the people that think that because it's Friday and everyone else is going out they are suppossed to go too. On Saturday, they are nursing a hangover, doing their laundry, buying groceries and trying to line up a date for the evening. Then they go out and go to a restaurant, and or a bar, and or a movie, etc. On Sunday, there is a contingent of mostly younger folks who refuse to let the weekend die easily and contiue to party, but they quit earlier and the city begins to die by nine or so in the evening. On Monday few people go out, on Tuesday, much the same, on Wednesday it's slightly better and on Thursday it all starts again. They do these activities until the bars close and they are forced to go home.

    People have been performing this pattern for a very long time. It is exactly the way it was when I was first driving a taxi in the mid seventies and today nothing is different except for the illusion that because of the wonders of the digital age, somehow Uber and Lyft make it all different. People in groups in cities change slowly or not at all.

    That is why driving Monday to Friday from nine to five doesn't work all that well. Thinking you want to do that is assuming that business wants to be there when you want it to be there and that is a fundamental error. You must adapt to be available for business for when you are needed.

    Read less...
    link  | reply
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    AsStibelDude
    668 Driver
     6 years ago

    Here's an advice.  To be a good rideshare driver, you have to be mindful of the demand of people's travel. At first, you have to do this consciously.  Check your local Amtrak schedules, look up local events, when and which restaurants are busy.  You have to do this while also gauging the *supply*, ie other drivers.  

    The good news is that you will quickly learn and go into a routine.  You will just naturally know, and it becomes a part of your shift.  

    Further advice: here are the hot times, at least wher eI am, and usually in urban areas:

    • 6:00AM to 10:00 - People going to airports or for work.
    • 12:00PM to 1:30PM - People going to lunch
    • 4:00PM to 7:00PM - People going home and to dinnesr, etc.
    • 10:00PM to 2:30PM - People going home from bars (especially weekends - infinite demand)
    • Plus any other times when there are local events

    Keep track of your hot and popular times!

    Good luck!

    link  | reply
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    LCarpenter
    221 Rider Driver
     6 years ago

    Like others have said, finding a lucrative time driving rideshares takes an art form. You have to continue tweaking the hours you work, look up local events, and look and plan for anything that may spike the demand in your favor.

    Most drivers do learn that you can make 2x 3x money during certain hours, so they focus on those. This is usually early morning (before traffic increases efficiency), Mondays/Fridays when transportation hubs are busy, and on weekends, when people are out.

    It really is difficult to do regular business hours.

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    joeyj
    422 Rider Driver
     6 years ago

    As an Uber driver you are kind of running your own little business. If you want to succeed in business, you gotta use your head. When are you going to get the most rides? It might vary in your area. But you gotta figure that out on your own. Go ahead and try the 9-5 thing for a little while. Then try working evenings and late night. See which earns you more money. Drive drunks around for a while, see how they tip.

    Do your own market research.

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    SteffGart24
    145 Driver
     6 years ago

    I found this post, and i am a new driver, and I've been trying the 8 to 4 thing.  I made literally $90 in four days of "working."  It's been demoralizing.   

    Uber is so misleading.  It's incredible.  I do understant that there are drivers out there making a lot of money, but they probably work crazy hours or work the odd hours.  Uber offers money AND flexibility, but it sounds like you can only have one.

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      WWBlueStuff
      269 Driver
       6 years ago

      Yes, Uber is a liar.

      but really 8 to 4 isn't efficient.  If you are going to drive 8 hours, can you divide it up.

      Try working for 4 hours - half what you do, but do it between 8 and 10.  then from 4 to 6. I bet you would make more money than you are now.  Heck, if you do 6 to 10, you may get the same result

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        EjiEzeEze
        324 Rider Driver
         6 years ago

        Or just work TWO days for 6 hours on Fridays and Saturdays.  Say 6:30 to 2AM.  I bet you will make more money in those 12 hours than you do in your 40.

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    B-girlAnderson11
    82
     6 years ago

    Don't chase surge but learn where they will appear.

    Don't focus on one specific mall.  Try those streets where there are a bunch of stores and stripmalls.  Evey city has one, small or big.  The mix of stores is diverse enough that they seem to provide different demand at different times = constant pings.  At lunch time, there are restaurants.  Late afternoon, there are car dealerships, etc.

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    BGraft89
    622 Rider Driver
     6 years ago  (edited 6 years ago)

    Remember this mantra of being an Uber driver:

    You make money by driving the rush or driving the drunks.

    link  | reply
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    SyedAli
    237 Driver
     6 years ago

    @Ella.  This depends on the market and where you work.  but in any market, there should be areas where you can benefit.  People do have to get around all hours of the day. 

    Try to find out where people need the ride the most.  If you work during the day (not hitting those rush hours or airport traffic, e.g. early mornings), you'd have to look out for shopping malls, 

    Talk to other drivers.  There are definitely drivers who only work 9-4 or 9-5.  It's all about the lifestyle.  If you don't mind making a bit less, but want to keep a regular "normal person" lifestyle, sure, by all means, you should do it.

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    brownbear
    599 Rider
     6 years ago

    You will make the most money when people need rides. People don't need rides as much during 9-5. Simple as that.

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    FuegoJuno
    128
     6 years ago

    When you drive 9 to 5, you miss the rush hours where you make good amount of money.  See, the busy times (when you make money) is when people are *aren't* working and are going somewhere.

    Your schedule should be the reverse of what everyone else is doing.

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    RedANT
    1072 Rider Driver
     6 years ago  (edited 6 years ago)

    Your questions are hard to answer because we have no idea what area you're driving in, the demand for rideshare there, the rates charged/earned, and city specific demographics. 

    9-5 could be difficult in that you miss the morning rush and only clip the evening rush, and because mid day is usually S-L-O-W.

    FWIW, I was told that driving during the day was a bad idea, but I do OK overall. (working early to mid mornings, M-F)  The question is:  How much is "making enough?"

    ********

    Edit to add: 

    As a very general comparison:

    Mon 4a-10a

    Tue 4a-9a

    Wed 4a-7a

    Thurs 4a-10a

    Fri 4a-10a

    Drove 26 hrs between Uber and Lyft during early morning and morning rush, with gross earnings of $1002. 

    Find your market niche and find a way to make it work with your schedule.  It's not great, but semi part time job paying ~$50k a year isn't too bad.

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    Bigfrank
    447 Rider Driver Driver
     4 years ago

    Your better off working for a company with your stated hours and days. Uber destroyed the taxi business but cov19 and cheap passengers are their downfall. 

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    CWalcutt75
    259 Driver
     5 years ago

    Sorta. Driving for Uber basically requires you to work more than the normal 40 hours a week. It isn't constantly a busy job during the day. We get downtime between the fares, and if you took any 8 hour period from 9 to 5, you would definitely have a few hours just waiting. 

    So, you are basically expected to work more than 8 hours just sitting around.

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    CWalcutt75
    259 Driver
     6 years ago

    Try signing up for Lyft as well. Opens up opportunities and cn hit different customer demographics, say like school kids and younger generations.

    At least there are no traffic mid -day. life style A+. i do suggest you try driving just a few early mornings and weekends. Just to compare.

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    CaptainOlimar
    186
     6 years ago

    He thought you were joking because 9 to 5 is possibly the worst times for drivers to drive. It's the times when the public is working, stuck in an office or job somewhere, and they aren't running around on Ubers.

    I have no idea if he was mocking you though.

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    SWesson1852
    27
     6 years ago

    Ah, so naive.  She thinks this is a normal job.

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