RIDEGURU
This article is crazy. They state that some Uber drivers near SF will driver 8 hours from their homes to the city to do shifts, then sleep in a parking lot and drive again the next day. How is that remotely profitable?
Some Uber drivers drive up to 8 hours away to pick up fares
Posted 5 years, 6 months ago
Posted In
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Posted By
jereysays
45
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Comments
I’d hate to say it but it’s a poor career choice.
I’m not trying to be an ass. I don’t think people should do this job because they’re treated unfairly and put into these awful circumstances. Pure and simple.
I get it that some people don’t have the choice...but I don’t think I buy that for most people who make that excuse.
You're not being an ass, but I disagree it's a poor career choice. Name a job that has even remotely the same level of freedom and flexibility it gives. I would also say you're slightly misinformed as it's easy to accept the general narrative piling on Uber and Lyft. How are drivers treated unfairly? What awful circumstances have they put drivers into?
The only thing I will heavily criticize Uber (more so than Lyft) is how they recruit new drivers; too often with unrealistic expectations, which then leads to slanted and incomplete articles such as this one.
I read the article, very interesting but the article did tell us drivers were coming from Modesto and even Sacramento, both cities less than two hours away. I would have liked to read what person would drive eight hours to get to San Francisco and from where. I don’t believe that - there has to be a large city a lot closer to them than that. Guess we’ll never know! Anybody have any guesses?
CA is very huge.
Then again San Francisco and Los Angeles are six hours away, so I also call BS on this claim.
I think they have the words twisted. Maybe they’re saying they drive four hours each way for a total of four?
Now that I recall, with California traffic, maybe they’re just coming up the Camino Real from San Mateo?😊
Very true. It may be Oakland.
When they say 8 hours, I’m sure they’re picking up passenger during those 8 hours. So they just keep picking up rides and at some point they could be eight hours away. It probably happened once.
And no, I didn’t read the whole article
Hi Joseph, you may be right! Thanks for the insightful thoughts! It has been my experience that trying to get my rides to match up with where I want to go has been very hit-or-miss, usually miss - so eight hours to get half an hour as the crow flies by your calculations may be about right !👍
The Guardian's headline was definitely misleading. I believe they were alluding to a San Jose Mercury News article that mentions some guy from LA who drives in SF instead - he claims the money up north is so up to 3x better (which makes no sense to me and frankly sounds suspicious - obviously I have no idea). https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/05/10/as-uber-lyft-ipos-prepare-to-mint-millionaires-drivers-say-their-pay-is-going-down/?preview_id=6038426
I am not posting to defend Uber (or Lyft) because I understand it can hurt when the compensation structure changes. But such blatantly one-sided articles such as this annoy me because they act as if Uber is standing over these drivers on horse with a whip, beating them into submission. The beauty of Uber is that as a driver, you choose when AND where you want to work. Not many jobs of any kind give you that level of flexibility. As far as I am concerned, many are not being realistic. While Uber has cut…
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The Guardian's headline was definitely misleading. I believe they were alluding to a San Jose Mercury News article that mentions some guy from LA who drives in SF instead - he claims the money up north is so up to 3x better (which makes no sense to me and frankly sounds suspicious - obviously I have no idea). https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/05/10/as-uber-lyft-ipos-prepare-to-mint-millionaires-drivers-say-their-pay-is-going-down/?preview_id=6038426
I am not posting to defend Uber (or Lyft) because I understand it can hurt when the compensation structure changes. But such blatantly one-sided articles such as this annoy me because they act as if Uber is standing over these drivers on horse with a whip, beating them into submission. The beauty of Uber is that as a driver, you choose when AND where you want to work. Not many jobs of any kind give you that level of flexibility. As far as I am concerned, many are not being realistic. While Uber has cut back on fare pricing, the area where they've really cut back in recent weeks is on bonuses; and that's where many drivers have been making their biggest mistake in terms of living off the bonus gravy. It's similar to living off overtime. It's great money when it is flowing, but at some point that OT money will dry up and you'll be back to your base hourly wages. (Once again, the SJMN article points this out). Without proper planning, you will get burned.
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That seems so counter intuitive. I mean how much do you have to drive to make up those 16 hours of deadweight?
So driving 16 hours just to work a shift? Your earnings must be so minimal. Plus your way of life must be miserable. If I was in this boat I would definitely be searching for a new job.
Mobile workers, baby.
In San Francisco, this has been happening all the time. Not just drivers either. The workers of the city can not afford the living costs and rent, so they trek in and often sleep in parking lots.
Reminiscent of Dubai and the people who were shipped in to build it