T&C Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 Just now, Commonsense said: If they don't own their car they are doing even worse. 280 a week around here and then you lose out on the 53 cent per mile tax deductions. I think some people that use the service like to convince themselves that it's good for the drivers. Perhaps so they don't feel the need to tip. Like I said I drove for them and did plenty of research before, during and after. Less than a dollar a mile before operating expenses. That's all that really needs to be said. It's peanuts. I always tip and have given every driver 5 stars... if you got me from point A to point B with no problems, english speaking or not, you are getting that. A lot of these drivers around here are retired and are just racking up some golf money... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T&C Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 14 minutes ago, Commonsense said: If they don't own their car they are doing even worse. 280 a week around here and then you lose out on the 53 cent per mile tax deductions. I think some people that use the service like to convince themselves that it's good for the drivers. Perhaps so they don't feel the need to tip. Like I said I drove for them and did plenty of research before, during and after. Less than a dollar a mile before operating expenses. That's all that really needs to be said. It's peanuts. Wow. If you are talking about leasing a car that is majorly high. I live in Florida and it's pretty routine to lease a car for $250 a month, or less. The usual Kia, Honda, Toyota, Ford kind, not high end vehicles though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CommonCents Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 1 minute ago, T&C said: Wow. If you are talking about leasing a car that is majorly high. I live in Florida and it's pretty routine to lease a car for $250 a month, or less. The usual Kia, Honda, Toyota, Ford kind, not high end vehicles though. Unlimited miles for 250 a month? Hertz/Maven had a program for rideshare drivers and IIRC it was 280ish weekly with fees, that includes unlimited miles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T&C Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 Just now, Commonsense said: Unlimited miles for 250 a month? Hertz/Maven had a program for rideshare drivers and IIRC it was 280ish weekly with fees, that includes unlimited miles. These are through dealerships... their ads permeate the news and other tv shows. In fact, most of the car commercials here seem to be about leasing, not buying... maybe 60/40 or so. As far as unlimited miles I doubt it though... maybe 30k on a 4 year lease, I'm not exactly sure on that one. What part of the country do you live in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CommonCents Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 Just now, T&C said: These are through dealerships... their ads permeate the news and other tv shows. In fact, most of the car commercials here seem to be about leasing, not buying... maybe 60/40 or so. As far as unlimited miles I doubt it though... maybe 30k on a 4 year lease, I'm not exactly sure on that one. What part of the country do you live in? Boston. Last I heard Uber ended a lot of their leasing arraignments because they were getting killed on it. The popular thing up here with immigrants is renting and driving about 80 hours per week. I don't say that to insult anyone but with little to no English it probably is their best option. Currently there is no threshold for max hours per day or week. The state is working to change that. Boston is only behind SF as far as profitability for rideshare drivers, probably because the abundance of college students. Both cities are/were conducting studies to possibly limit the amount of drivers. Sounds like the cab industry all over again. The best way to use it would he for a commuter to set destination filters before and after work and try and catch a ride towards their job/home. Outside of that I feel for the people driving, it's a grind. Long hours for little profit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 On 3/3/2018 at 1:19 PM, Lurker said: The problem with the Uber/Lyft business model is that some people began to think it could be a job. It was always about '"what the hell, I'm going that way and could use some company." Bingo! And make some money. Do they figure that profit with your normal driving calculated in? Defraying against say one's commuting cost? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Augie Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 On 3/3/2018 at 10:00 AM, joesixpack said: Yep, it's why I quit doing it. It just doesn't pay. That and Uber's sketchy surge pricing. You pick up a ride in the surge zone and don't get credit. Extra dodgy. That shocks me! Drivers don’t get part of the surge premium? That blows! I always wondered how the bottom line works out. I mean, if you work for a bank or something, they pay you about 55 cents/mile (I think that’s close anyway, it’s been a while) for gas and wear and tear. I don’t seem to pay much more than that for a ride. You get some cash, but you’re using up your car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 3 minutes ago, Augie said: That shocks me! Drivers don’t get part of the surge premium? That blows! I always wondered how the bottom line works out. I mean, if you work for a bank or something, they pay you about 55 cents/mile (I think that’s close anyway, it’s been a while) for gas and wear and tear. I don’t seem to pay much more than that for a ride. You get some cash, but you’re using up your car. Almost 30 years ago when I was on TDY with hydrographic survey... POV was 45¢/mile... On top of per diem (35+ bucks a day and hotel paid in full). With gov't. Not sure what it is now, very seldom go on TDY and on top of it take personal vehicle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Augie Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 9 minutes ago, ExiledInIllinois said: Almost 30 years ago when I was on TDY with hydrographic survey... POV was 45¢/mile... On top of per diem (35+ bucks a day and hotel paid in full). With gov't. Not sure what it is now, very seldom go on TDY and on top of it take personal vehicle. I got the estimate from my wife, but she doesn’t do her own expense reports. No clue what’s accurate, butt he point remains... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted March 6, 2018 Share Posted March 6, 2018 16 hours ago, Commonsense said: You did the math and then said the report is not true. Sloppy jaloppy! A car depreciates at 53 cents a mile according to the federal tax code, add in gas. So she made 6.33 for a 7 mile ride meaning she is making less than a dollar a mile before she even considers her cost to operate the vehicle. Perhaps finish the math before you put you say something is false. Then consider how many miles she drove empty to come and pick you up and then again for her next rider. Uber/Lyft is basically taking out a cash advance on your car. I tried it for extra money and it doesn't take long to get enough of a samlle size to see the problem with it. Also the drivers see exactly what you paid so they are just wasting your time with that conversation. Actually, the IRS rate is intended to cover gas and maintenance, so $1 gross less .$53 for depreciation nets $.47/mile. So she roughly earned the $3.37 figure in 15 minutes. To only make $3.37/hour, you'd only be driving 7 miles in an hour, which doesn't sound likely even within city gridlock -- where I presume the rates are higher anyway. Most Ubers I've take are of the airport variety; guy spends 5 minutes jockeying for position in airport traffic than goes 70 the rest of the way to my house 30 miles away. Total charge is like $55 for 45 minutes. Aside from whatever other variables were used, I'm guessing the study assumed downtime as 'working time at zero dollars' which would be a bullsh-- assumption in a gig economy job, as there is no incremental dollar cost to that downtime. So yeah, while I agree people considering Uber as a full time job are probably not looking closely enough at the costs, I tend to believe the line of thinking that the real motivation behind these types of stories is the eyeballs generated by the tiny number. I guess no one is going to read it if you say Uber drivers make $11/hour. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ol Dirty B Posted March 6, 2018 Share Posted March 6, 2018 I know someone who drives. He said you've gotta try to get trips that are going to be high way trips, that cover a lot of distance. These little trips from one bar to another, or from the bar, to some college kids house downtown barely travelling kills what you make. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pine Barrens Mafia Posted March 6, 2018 Share Posted March 6, 2018 5 hours ago, Ol Dirty B said: I know someone who drives. He said you've gotta try to get trips that are going to be high way trips, that cover a lot of distance. These little trips from one bar to another, or from the bar, to some college kids house downtown barely travelling kills what you make. Yup. Unless you can do a TON of them in an hour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted March 6, 2018 Share Posted March 6, 2018 Don't fret. Gonna be all self-driving robots. No more labor to deal with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punching Bag Posted March 6, 2018 Share Posted March 6, 2018 Will you need to tip the robots? My daughter is going to a special "living skills school" (she is disabled adult) for which transportation is paid for by school. We were told that transportation would be arranged but may be a combination of van/taxi/uber/lyft but so far it has all been the same cab company. I guess her trips just post and pre rush hours is not worth private drives time (6.3 mi, 14 mins). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
/dev/null Posted March 6, 2018 Author Share Posted March 6, 2018 4 hours ago, ExiledInIllinois said: Don't fret. Gonna be all self-driving robots. No more labor to deal with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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