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Uber Drivers: How Far Will You Drive To Pick-Up A Fare Without Knowing Their Destination? Okay, here’s what happened today to me - I signed on to my Driver Uber App and a Premium Destination popped up. I accepted the pick-up and app informed me that the customer was 27 minutes and 13 miles away. I drove there , it took about 22 minutes. I picked up client at her house , pressed my App for the drop-off Destination , and saw that drop-off was 1 mile away. I chatted with the lady, dropped her off and headed back to my hometown of Plattsburgh, NY. Total time of trip, back and forth, 45 to 50 minutes and 29 miles , and I earned $8 dollars. So, after thinking about it, I have decided to ‘decline’ all trips that are more than 10 miles away from me and do not say that it is gonna be a ‘long trip’ ( one of those trips that say it’s a long way, I forget the exact wording). So, my question is, to you experienced drivers - what is your threshold for accepting trips and how far will you drive w/o knowing their destinations? Thank You in advance, Goodideasll - Lou !😊
Uber Drivers: How Far Will You Drive To Pick-Up A Fare Not Knowing Their Destination?
Posted 5 years, 6 months ago
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Posted By
Louis Lingebach (Goodideasll)
221
Driver
Ride Apprentice from Plattsburgh NY
Plattsburgh NY Uber Driver
I Love Meeting People!
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Comments
Every driver should charge the customer a gas fee of let say 5 because uber is a scam. They were great in the beginning when all drivers made money including local cab companies then things started going south.The prices started dropping, they got rid of the multiplayer they started taking more then 25 % of the fare and tips where does it end? We are all getting screwed while they are getting richer. This Gig economy uber lyft should never fucked the drivers because they are the ones going out everyday using their own cars and paying for the gas, wear an tear, insurance, car detailing, and the negative equity plus THE IRS is auditing all if the drivers and we pay taxes on what we make. So the next call u get, charge the customer for the use of your vehicle, if uber can have a booking fee, service fee, Tnc fee and a black car fee and still swear up and down drivers are independent contractors then every driver should charge customers off the app through cash or venmo for the use of you…
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Every driver should charge the customer a gas fee of let say 5 because uber is a scam. They were great in the beginning when all drivers made money including local cab companies then things started going south.The prices started dropping, they got rid of the multiplayer they started taking more then 25 % of the fare and tips where does it end? We are all getting screwed while they are getting richer. This Gig economy uber lyft should never fucked the drivers because they are the ones going out everyday using their own cars and paying for the gas, wear an tear, insurance, car detailing, and the negative equity plus THE IRS is auditing all if the drivers and we pay taxes on what we make. So the next call u get, charge the customer for the use of your vehicle, if uber can have a booking fee, service fee, Tnc fee and a black car fee and still swear up and down drivers are independent contractors then every driver should charge customers off the app through cash or venmo for the use of your vehicle like gas. Uber lies they dont follow laws its your car and u should be paid for it. I charge $5 off the app and when people complain i cancel them and they get charged. I just drove 10 minutes or 15 munutes i am not eating that gas im here to make money not loose money
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Putting the price aside for a minute, the reality is that riders won’t be happy that you are going against the expectation set by the app. There will be many unhappy passengers. That’s reality.
I see your point though. If you keep doing this, the word will eventually get back to Uber and if they lose ridership as a result, it’s in them and their pricing.
How has the response been?
Prices started dropping because this was never a viable business mode. The economics never worked.
This is what happens when you pretend to reinvent an existing and mature business. What a wreck Uber left behind at the cost of the drivers, investors and consumers. Few got richer while many suffer.
I'm in the Cleveland and Akron, OH market. (two different systems on Uber but still considered the same work area). If the long trip pick up is in Cleveland, no, i don't accept them if they're more than 10 mintues away. If however they're in the Akron market, particularly in the suburbs, I do accept them as i've found that market area generally produces longer rides. Unfortunately the long pick up fee is 15 minutes in that area which seriously sucks whereas it's 10 minutes in Cleveland.
Thanks for the local product knowledge Wes - I am studying to take on James on Jeopardy($1.4 Million Won after 19 straight wins!) 🙂PS Which city, Loves Lebron more? Okay, I’m guessing this is a no-brainer!
Last time I check phase 5 of covid 19 isn't here yet ..So long rides with passengers is a no no.
Is Uber limiting the length of trips for Covid concerns? (or did they?) That's super interesting. I had no idea they were doing that.
Would you have one passenger for an hour drive or ten passengers for super short rides?
I prefer one long drive. That’s less exposure in my book.
I dont take requests more than 7 min. away. If it is a 45+ min long ride I will. I prefer the 20 min long pick up fee as I will get between $9/$10 just to get to pick up. That $10 usually pays for my gas for the trip. I was on DF to Philly Airport today. Got a long pick up with 45+ min knew it would be to AP at that time of morning. Had an appt down near there. Why not go on riders gas and make a few $. I usually get tipped on AP rides also.
I usually will take 15 to 20 min long pick up. $5 to $10. Anything under 15 min is .50 to 2.00. I dont take these long pick ups unless 45+ otherwise I could end up taking rider 2 min down the road. Not worth it. I can usually tell where my rider is headed depending on where I am. Took months of research, trial and error. Most of my rides are 45+ min. The only ones I hate is to NY unless its between 1130pm and 4am. Otherwise traffic is awful and I end up taking too much time going or headed back or both. I cant pick up until I hit NJ but…
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I dont take requests more than 7 min. away. If it is a 45+ min long ride I will. I prefer the 20 min long pick up fee as I will get between $9/$10 just to get to pick up. That $10 usually pays for my gas for the trip. I was on DF to Philly Airport today. Got a long pick up with 45+ min knew it would be to AP at that time of morning. Had an appt down near there. Why not go on riders gas and make a few $. I usually get tipped on AP rides also.
I usually will take 15 to 20 min long pick up. $5 to $10. Anything under 15 min is .50 to 2.00. I dont take these long pick ups unless 45+ otherwise I could end up taking rider 2 min down the road. Not worth it. I can usually tell where my rider is headed depending on where I am. Took months of research, trial and error. Most of my rides are 45+ min. The only ones I hate is to NY unless its between 1130pm and 4am. Otherwise traffic is awful and I end up taking too much time going or headed back or both. I cant pick up until I hit NJ but if theres traffic I want no parts of picking up just want to get the hell out of there:) Get back to where I want to be. Some trips to NY are good because certain business riders know we hate them and dont make mych money in traffic. They usually tip well but not always. Still lots of cheap asses with expense accounts. Never do I take lyft pick ups past 5 min because lyft ruders always go short distance. I only take long trips on Lyft.
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I guess driving up here in the boonies isn’t very rewarding - I made about $48 bucks in 5 hours today! About half that time I was reading my book (Karin Slaughter - she’s Amazing)!
Dont have much time to read now. When I was reading she was one of my favorite authors. Did you just stsrt driving or have you been driving?
I drove some limos and limo services in the 80’s and was a driving instructor the last 4 years. I like driving for Uber because of all of the same reasons everyone does, I guess. I enjoy meeting people but there’s so much downtime, I have finished all of Karin’s books(made me depressed to finish her last one), and now I am reading a lady named Lisa Jackson. PS Today I laid on my couch for two hours after I drove my wife to work, waiting for a ping to go to work. 5+ hours ‘ working’ /reading for $25 dollars! Barely covers lunch!😊
The days of driving around between runs are long gone for me. I wait at home until I get pinged, I do the run, then return home and do other things while I wait. I weed out most of the bad runs using destination filters, and it actually works pretty good.
Last week I was online for approx 30 hrs total. I did a total of 45 rides, and not counting Uber's "driver appreciation bonus" I grossed $803 on Uber and $170 on Lyft. $973 Gross over 30 hrs (much of it spent at home) isn't a bad weekly income.
Update : I am trying the RedANT philosophy at work today - I dropped my wife at work downtown and subsequently went on line Uber at 7:57AM. Sat on a downtown street about half an hour reading my book and decided to head home and heat up some pizza from last night. That’s what I did , enjoyed the pizza (Thanks RedANT!) and am now doing laundry. Still no pings to go to work and it is 9:21 AM. Doesn’t look like I am gonna make much money today but at least I can watch tv and do chores while waiting! Have A Nice Day!🙂
I didn’t ever think to do that - wait at home, that’s alright to do? Riders don’t mind if it takes you 10 or 12 minutes to get there to pick them up?
Riders in more rural areas are used to waiting 10/20 to pick up. Even if your home you are the closet one. On Saturdays when I work in Philly I always start at home. I just have everything ready so I just have to hop in car, put cellphone in mount, start car and iff I go (1/2 min). Rider can see where you are but have no clue you are in your house.
Wait wherever is most convenient for you, although that may impact the number of runs you get if you live outside of town.
I'm approx 13 miles north of downtown Seattle/Amazon land, 30 miles north of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, 15 miles south of Boeing/Paine Field Airport, and 20 miles west of Redmond/Microsoft, so this area is a good mix of runs to either airports or major regional employers.
I have everything ready to go before I start waiting, so when the ping comes in, I grab everything (all next to me in my office) and head out the door. I'm in the car in under 2 minutes, so it really has a negligible effect on travel/wait time. (no more than waiting at a long stoplight, etc)
Thanks for all of the mentorship RedANT - our little town of Plattsburgh is way too small with way too many of us Uber drivers and a big fleet of local cabbies. Thatbeingsaid, I will have to look for another line of work around here but Uber is(was) perfect since my relatively old age (58) and health issues preclude standing at work. Maybe it’ll be better when summer comes and it warms up - I don’t know. Thanks again!😊PS Now 9:59 AM and no pings yet - still 6 other Ubers in a 5-mile radius by me☹️
I usually don't think about it, but I usually try to not put myself in a situation where I can get long pickups, e.g. suburbs or sporadic areas. Stay in the populated areas and high turnovers. It's rare that we have a long pickup as long as you stay in the city.
With that said, I don't mind driving 10~15 minutes in the suburbs, but at least from my experience, those rides tend to be longer. I haven't had a scenario (like the ones drivers complain about) where I would drive 15 minutes to pick up someone and the ride is 1 mile. Nope. People who live in rural areas usually go far.
I know that isn't always true, but I am just saying I have'nt had too much trouble with it.
Yes, I usually accept all pings and then get upset later when I feel as if I was metaphorically screwed!🙂PS My Mom’s middle name is Mae and my Dad called her Maisie for 61 years! 🙂Thanks! You made me smile!🙂
"Premium" refers to what Uber charges the rider, and has little to do with any significant driver earnings increase.
As a general rule, anytime I see "premium" in the ping info, it's an automatic decline. 9/10 times the ride is far away, but with a short trip distance. The only exceptions for me are *maybe* if in addition to the the premium notification I also see a 60+ notification. (But I'll call to confirm their destination)
For normal requests, I cancel any pickup more than 9 minutes away.
A company I am working for is developing an alternative, but safer and more driver-oriented solution in ridesharing services.
Sharing your thoughts and opinions via our survey will greatly help with future development!
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Is this concern the reason I get so many cancellations or really long time waiting for a driver to accept?
I think you are going about this the correct way. If all drivers stop accepting rides that are too far, Uber will make adjustments.
That includes potentially giving you surges or hiring more drivers
I don't take a trip longer than 5 minutes. Especially now that I went back to be Uber gold, I used to know how far my trip was when I was platinum but, enough abuse is enough. I glady go pick up anybody with Lyft as they pay me for the time and distance to pick up the passenger, I live in Austin, TX
Remember the days when we had NO IDEA EVER when a trip would be long? Oh, those were the days.
Drive 20 minutes and you get a 2 mile ride. That stung worse than driving 18 minutes and getting your ride cancelled.
Thanks DDominico- I was gonna say, “Whatchu talking about Willis?” - that 20 min , 1 mile scenario just happened to me about 2 weeks ago AND Uber sent me down the wrong street for an extra 5 minutes. Drove the lady about 1.2 miles and headed back toward Plattsburgh - a 35 mile trip and about an hour for $8.00 ! Thanks Uber!😊How do you know to turn down these kind of pick-ups except for turning down ALL pick-ups more than ‘X’ amount of minutes away?
I drive in a town called Hudson Beach Florida. It's a small town. I drive every day between the hours of Midnight & 4am. Uber consistently sends me to pick up riders that are more than 40 miles from my location. The rider needs a short ride, usually only 2 or 3 miles and I will make less than $5. I end up losing money. Uber needs to change it's algorithm and pay me for the 40 miles I will need to travel to get to the pickup or it's not worth my while