There were recently a few videos that popped up on my facebook feed earlier where Uber drivers sat down and actually calculated their earnings and expenses over the last month. Ultimately when everything was done and calculated, their profit was far lower than what Uber likes to quote when they advertise. Many of the comments I saw on the video were calling Uber a scam and misleading. While in some ways I agree with them, I also believe people are using Uber the wrong way.
Uber is a company and like most companies will try to maximize its profit because of this, they try to take as much as they can from the drivers, which is currently around 25%. The real problem is Uber does not have many competitors other than lyft and the fee difference isn’t as great as it should be. If Lyft charged 5% from drivers, im sure Uber would lower their fees. In my opinion Uber has such a large user base because they can keep the rides cheap and inexpensive for the consumer, which no doubt affects the bottom line for the driver. Even if Uber didn’t take the 25% that they do, driver earnings wouldn’t be outrageous.
The benefit for Uber drivers is not a high rate of pay, but rather it is the flexibility to drive when you want and the ability to drive part time after your regular 9-5. Many people are driving Uber as a full time job, but in reality it should really be used only as a way to supplement your income. You aren’t limited by how many hours you can work so it really is a great way to get a flexible part time job. Unless your area is in desperate need of drivers and the prices paid are always boosted, most drivers earn at or a little bit more than minimum wage. When it comes down to it, you are probably better off only driving during peak times like during the weekends or around bars at night. Doing this will earn you much more money and you don’t have to spend 12 hours in a car.
If there are Uber drivers that are driving full time and making a ton of money, they usually have hybrid vehicles that massively cut down on fuel costs or they can make extra use of the tax write offs from the depreciation on their car. There are small ways to increase your profit margin slightly, that over a long period of time will help you earn more. Who knows how long this model will even work for drivers anyway, with autonomous vehicles on the way and plans for companies like Tesla to allow you to send your car out as a taxi service while you are at work.
If Uber wants to incentivize more full time drivers they need to either be forced to lower their fees, offer some sort of benefits to their drivers or find some other way to make the income more appealing. Really current Uber drivers should be using the service to help them achieve specific goals, like earning further education and an extra income that will help them in the future. Using it as a full time job and expecting it to exist long term is probably not the greatest idea. There is a possibility that Uber could change and make driving for them much more profitable, but most likely not by a super large amount. We need other car sharing apps like Lyft to pressure them to lower the fees for driving. They recently added tips, which will probably increase earnings, but it shouldn’t be on the consumer to subsidize the living of the driver. We will see what happens in the long term.
-Calaber24p