RIDEGURU
There are so many factors it is hard to quantify. First you have to be in a market where Uber is well established. Then you have to not have too much competition in other carriers like Lyft or too many Uber drivers. Then your vehicle and the costs associated with it will determine really how much you make. Having an older, nice car, like a Nissan Maxima or Toyota that you have no payments on and are real road warriors is your best bet. Then you have to watch your market for a couple of months to see where the surge patterns are (every market has cycles and “hotspots”). Learning to work surges is your best money. Buy AAA or any roadside assistance insurance (sometimes available with purchase of new tires). It will help in a pinch, when there is no one else to help.
Then you have to be willing to commit 8–10 hours a day until you fine tune the demand. Deciding time of day you will work is next (for me 7–11am and 3-darkpm). Not driving around aimlessly while you wait for rides will save fuel. I work out of the half dozen Starbucks in my city. Good wifi, coffee, people to talk to, good place to read a book. Hanging out at airports or trying to make airport runs your core business is NOT good. Just because someone is getting off of a plane doesn’t mean they are going somewhere that is good for you. Developing a rolodex of regulars will make for steady income. My best advice is to get the proper insurance (get a ride share rider from your insurance company). You can work a whole year and it will be wiped out with one accident that you are not properly insured. Thank you for your upvote.
Comments
Try catering your rides towards those that tend to tip. For instance I avoid the college bar scene, you will never get tips out of those rides. Business district/airport/transportation hubs during business hours are usually pretty good and filled with company paid riders in other words businessmen who will tip because it is on the companies dollar.
I have never gotten the regulars thing. How do you get regulars on the Uber app? Do you arrange rides with them outside of the app and if so does your insurance cover that?
WHAT! OMG!! The Holy Grail of ride share!!! To have a stable of 100 regulars that went from the same place and at the same time daily to their destinations. All mapped out and neatly done. You are missing out on the best part of it all. Neither Uber or Lyft or any other ride share can tell you what to do with your vehicle. You can ride for Lyft this moment Uber the next and your own interest the next. If you can develop a rolodex of people, who go to work or somewhere on a routine day in day out basis, and service them well, you can make it. You are not sharing any of this revenue with any company because it is your own private courier service. In other words you are not relying on the Uber/Lyft apps to generate or handle the ride. You've used your own resources.
After the initial introduction to this passenger, through the Uber app, we developed a personal relationship. When I am not on an app clock, my personal vehicle coverage then becomes effective for coverage (as though any fri…
Read more...
WHAT! OMG!! The Holy Grail of ride share!!! To have a stable of 100 regulars that went from the same place and at the same time daily to their destinations. All mapped out and neatly done. You are missing out on the best part of it all. Neither Uber or Lyft or any other ride share can tell you what to do with your vehicle. You can ride for Lyft this moment Uber the next and your own interest the next. If you can develop a rolodex of people, who go to work or somewhere on a routine day in day out basis, and service them well, you can make it. You are not sharing any of this revenue with any company because it is your own private courier service. In other words you are not relying on the Uber/Lyft apps to generate or handle the ride. You've used your own resources.
After the initial introduction to this passenger, through the Uber app, we developed a personal relationship. When I am not on an app clock, my personal vehicle coverage then becomes effective for coverage (as though any friend were accompanying me). The Uber/Lyft insurance/liability policies kick in when you are on their clock. But I recommend getting the rider or whatever is necessary (even commercial insurance if that is what is required in your area of service) to make your coverage legit. One accident, not properly covered, can wipe you out.
Yes, to be free from the platform and have an ongoing cast of regulars is hitting the lottery from a ride share perspective.
Read less...