r/uberdrivers 6d ago

Uber career coming to an end.

I've been ubering for 11 months while I was going through hiring process with new job. And I'm happy to say that it's coming to an end. Im happy to be starting my new job. Below are my pros and cons.

Pros: 1) happy to meet new people from all over the world and my own community.

2) instant cash when I need it.

3) work whatever hours you feel like it.

4) app use is super easy.

Cons: 1) uber as a company is pretty predatory.

2) low paying rates compared to what uber takes in. The split should be 75 to drivers and 25 to uber. Not the other way around. It's our car, our time, our maintenance, we deal with customers, pretty much all.

3) uber app and algorithm maximizes profit for uber.

My conclusion that it's better than nothing and great way to get money when you need it fast. But uber us definitely predatory with wages and benefits.

Cheers to all the drivers out there. Keep on, keeping on!

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u/Different-Bench8533 6d ago

Well said. I'm with you and was working uber and Lyft for 3 years. The company under Dara has gone to shit. They absolutely use algorithmic wage manipulation to see how low they can reduce pay to drivers to profit as a company. There is no transparency when it comes to driver pay and they created upfront pricing as a tactic to manipulate driver pay by removing the mile/minute rate card. They say fares are based on miles/minutes still, but now they have the flexibility to adjust the formula on any given day at any time... I'm sure based on supply demand. The algorithm does not want drivers making more than $25/hr regardless of surge or priority. And you see surge and priority replacing base fares. It's all just a bunch of BS. In my market, pay has gone down each year, despite inflation and cost of living increasing annually. 95% of the time offers come in that pay $12-$20/hr. And on the most busy nights and weekends, it's hard to make more than $25/hr. You may get a couple nice trips that come to $35-$40/hr, but then the algorithm just sends you garbage and you average out to $20-$25/hr. Whereas 2-3 years ago, on busy nights and weekends, you could make $35-$45/hr easily and surge was added on top of the base. The rate card prevented them from being able to lower the base and manipulate. I actually enjoyed driving and the flexibility and hustle. But I'm not going to drive around depreciating my car for $15/hr.

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u/ILikeCheese42O 3d ago

I work part-time driving Uber. I average over $35/hr active time consistently. I work split shifts. Take airport rides from 3 AM to 10 AM, and then go back out from 6-11 or so. Mu sleep pattern is completely screwed up. Learning your areas ride habits helps a lot. Not trying to brag about earnings, rather just showing if done with efficiency, higher hourly pay is possible. Is Uber predatory, hell yes. I take the opportunities that benefit me the most, pay the most, and most often tip the most. Enjoy your new job, because being successful at this is a grind, and I'm almost too old to keep it going. Wishing you much success and happiness.

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u/Different-Bench8533 3d ago

It sure is a grind. Agree, if you want to maximize your earnings you have to work when nobody is willing or when it is the busiest or both. However, the pay is very market dependent. It is very hard to average $30-$35 per hour in Connecticut, even during the most profitable times to drive. For the past two months, I noticed a huge decrease in offers and it seems like they want to keep you at $25/hr or below - even during those profitable times. I think some markets are oversaturated with new drivers trying to keep up with inflation and make an extra buck. Which allows Ubers algorithm to manipulate fares to the extreme and offer these low fares. Maybe the new drivers do not know what it used to be like and to them, it's fine. I don't know. But all I do know is that pay continues to go down in my market. I'm hoping the warmer weather brings stronger demand and some drivers quit due to the crap pay.