Any uber or lyft drivers in here?

I used to be a driver for Uber.

Unless the rates are still favorable for Lyft, I wouldn't drive for either. I know that Uber has been lowering its rates every year, and it's gotten to the point where it wouldn't be profitable to even do this as a part time job. And you still have to compete with a bunch of other drivers for ride requests. I hear that some people find a way to make it work, but these days, it would be more profitable to work at McDonalds that for Uber (as some would say).

I part time for Uber. The pros:

-You meet interesting people.
-You can make your own schedule
-After a certain number of trips you can get instant pay and can cash out up to 5 times a day.

The cons:

-Too many drivers. Uber or Lyft doesn't cap the number of drivers so the competition is heavy and fierce.
-The gas and wear and tear on your vehicle.
-Dealing with drunks. Especially the pukers.

I have talked pretty extensively to a number of uber drivers and after crunching the numbers in my head, it looks like they were bringing home about $10 per hour....I am sure that varies greatly depending on situation and location, though.

You can tip on the Lyft app so that may be a better draw for some people

I have been driving for Uber for the last month and a half and I love it. The freedom to work when you want. I'm not going to work full time and retire from it but it makes a great second job or temporary job.

The drunks suck but I keep 2.5 gallon zip lock bags in my car just in case.

Drive for both usually on Friday and Saturday nights. Uber has a ton more rides than Lyft in New Orleans. Usually drive after putting my kids to bed and drive about 6 or so hours. My car burns about $10-15 worth of gas in that time. I wait for someone heading from a bar to Metairie or Kenner since I live in Metairie and just turn off after that. After their cut, I usually am around $25/hour. Some nights I'll crack $30/hour and rarely I'll hit right above $20/hour. I like busy nights because it just stacks ride after ride, so no dead time. During Mardi Gras I took my family to the parades, then would start after getting home. I made around $1500 just that Th-T without having to skip parades. I've never had someone throw up in/out my car, but I hear it's about $250 fee that you collect if they do. I'm in school full-time, so it's nice to not work when school work is heavy and vice versa.

Just the other night, I had to cover an extra $40 on a bill, so I planned to just drive from 10-12. People often ask if it full or part-time for me, so I mentioned the $40 bill causing me to drive for an hour or two. My first ride was $5 and they tipped me $20, so I only had to catch another three or so rides.

I like it because I love meeting people. Plus, it pays decent for a part-time job that you can quit and start as often as you want.

Math:
$25/hour * 7 hours = $175 after Uber's cut
$175 - $10 gas = $165 ($23.57/hour)
$165 - wear and tear on NOLA streets = PRICELESS

Driving a cab is more profitable

quote:

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Just drive for jazzfest

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Last year for Jazz Fest I dropped my parents off and was a couple hours too early to go into work, so I made good use of that time. I drove down Canal and saw long lines of festival goers waiting for buses to get down there. I picked up many of them and brought them to Jazz Fest. Didn't charge anything, but made over 100 bucks in tips for an hour and a half worth of fun.

Had a friend do it for a while in DFW. He told me when it was all said and done that it amounted to like about $8 an hour profit.

Are Uber prices calculated based on time or distance? If it's distance then I can't imagine it being a good idea to do it in Baton Rouge with all the traffic.