Review Request: Uber

Quote:

Clark County issued at least 87 misdemeanor citations to Uber and Lyft drivers last week for operating on airport property without permission, commissioners were informed in an email from the county manger.

The citations for unauthorized loading or unloading carry a fine of $100, which can be reduced to $50 percent if paid within 10 days, county officials said. Failure to pay would result in the Department of Motor Vehicles being notified, delaying registration until payment is made, officials said.

After a heated meeting last week, Clark County commissioners denied issuing Uber and Lyft temporary business licenses and are unlikely to reconsider the matter until a hearing on Oct. 20.

http://lasvegassun.com/news/2015/sep/21/uber-lyfy-drivers-cited-for-operating-at-las-vegas/

Better use they are cheaper :)

Quote: EvenBob

Uber is a great deal for passengers because
Uber is saturating the market with drivers.
This means the driver often arrives
in just minutes because he's been sitting
in his car waiting for a fare for 20min.

Soon there will be a Uber driver sitting on every
street waiting for his app to ping. He won't
even be making min wage, but the customer
will be happy.

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How well has this prognostication fared?

As a small sample, five years ago I knew several people who drove for uber. None of them still do. All of them left because their incomes dwindled.

Quote: billryan

As a small sample, five years ago I knew several people who drove for uber. None of them still do. All of them left because their incomes dwindled.

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That sounds accurate.

I drove for Uber for a couple years off and on (very off and on, like random weekends here and there every few months if I was bored and wanted some extra money). Not worth it. Last I drove was one weekend in early 2019, so it may have changed (in fact I know it has).

Very little money, even if its a day with non stop fares, most will be min fairs (2.35 at the time), and you would have to drive several miles just to get to them (so you are already operating at a loss). So even if you really hustle, you are maybe making 30+/hr, but the amount of gas you will spend (just getting to the pickup point in many cases is longer than the actual ride), miles you will put on your car, barely make it worth it. And, that is not even getting into the risk of obnoxious people that leave trash and such that you have to waste time cleaning up before the next fare. I have never done full time Uber so I can't speak to that experience (I would be full time Taxi or delivery driver even before doing Uber full time, though none of the above really appeals to me). Of course you occasionally get an awesome person who tips way too much which can skew a trip positive profit, but this is rare (actually tips in general are). I have heard that now they pay you for mileage going to a pickup because of this complaint (I am sure I was far from the only one to find it absurd), but I can't verify if this is true as I am long gone (also, rates and min fares vary widely state to state and even region to region, you can see charts to compare online, if you are in a state with a min fare below 4.00 its probably not even worth it, especially in a city where may rides will be short min fares).
(Also, you need to set aside enough to cover your tax obligation for this source of income, which is something else many drivers do not think of, making your profit even lower than it already seems).

Now I know there are tricks that can allow much more profit, that I am sure full time drivers use (probably have to), such as driving during boosted demand times (when fares are higher and sometimes bonuses are given every X number of rides), going to the airport and doing the airport que (which is almost a guaranteed long trip each time), but scheduling your time and location around all of these things defeats the allure of only being on when you feel like it.

The only good thing I can say about Uber is that it is totally your schedule, you turn on the app when you feel like driving, accept fares, and turn off when you are done, no set shifts or mandatory hours, you can drive for two hours tonight, and not again for 14 months without losing access (I have not driven since early 2019 and I can turn on the app right now if I want). So if you want something that is 100% your choice, and accept that your profits will actually be barely existent, it can be fun very occasionally (meet some interesting people that you never otherwise would). But, I'll probably never do it again. For a full time (non CDL) driving job, work for a taxi company or even pizza company, where even if you have to use your own vehicle (the case with many major pizza places) you are at least an employee so they pay for your vehicle expenses (on top of actually getting benefits and a guaranteed hourly wage, and you are not screwed if you get into an accident while at work).

In Denver 2 years ago an independent audit found many felons working for Uber. Mere coincidence the hiring manager had twice served time in prison for felonies.. He was my accidentally adopted son Louis Martinez,the white Mexican.

When uber first went to NYC, they didn't have their drivers submit to fingerprinting and having a criminal background check done- something every other commercial driver.
I don't know if it has changed but I hope it has.

Quote: billryan

When uber first went to NYC, they didn't have their drivers submit to fingerprinting and having a criminal background check done- something every other commercial driver.
I don't know if it has changed but I hope it has.

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Either way, here is some self reported data for 2017-2018 from Uber:

• Fatal physical assault was reported to occur in about 1 in every 122,000,000 US trips, or approximately 0.000001% of US trips.

• Among the 19 deceased parties in 2017 and 2018 included in this report, 8 were riders using the Uber platform, 7 were drivers using the Uber platform, and 4 were third parties.

• Non-Consensual Kissing of a Non-Sexual Body Part was reported to occur in about 1 in every 2,000,000 completed trips.

• Attempted Non-Consensual Sexual Penetration was reported to occur in about 1 in 4,000,000 completed trips. This category covers a wide range of reports and includes attempted clothing removal and incident reports that are fragmented or incomplete due to memory loss or lack of event recall.

• Instances of Non-Consensual Touching of a Sexual Body Part were reported to occur in about 1 in every 800,000 trips.

• Non-Consensual Kissing of a Sexual Body Part was reported to occur in 1 in every 3,000,000 completed US trips.

• Non-Consensual Sexual Penetration—the most serious sexual assault category—was reported to occur in about 1
in 5,000,000 US trips, or on approximately 0.00002% of US trips.

• Across these 5 categories of sexual assault, riders account for nearly half (45%) of accused parties.

Self Reported are the key words.

Quote: billryan

When uber first went to NYC, they didn't have their drivers submit to fingerprinting and having a criminal background check done- something every other commercial driver.
I don't know if it has changed but I hope it has.

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I don't know about NYC, but when I signed up it takes a couple of mins (not much harder than signing up for many online casinos). Standard personal info (background check through one of those generic online sites), a scan of your DL, a scan of your reg/insurance, and that is about it (I think now you also have to take a selfie in the app to verify that it is you, and I have heard that if a passenger complains about a driver not wearing a mask they have to send a selfie in the app of them wearing a mask before the next ride).

As long as nothing alerts in your background or DL record, its an almost instant process. I think if there are serious charges or a certain level of points (on DL record) it needs manual review. If you can buy a gun in your state instantly (with no flag in the instant system for some conviction), you can probably drive for Uber virtually instantly.

The only hold up may be some states require your car to be inspected at an approved mechanic shop (which may require an appointment through Uber) and the inspection report to be uploaded (I have never lived in a State where this is the case, but I have read about it).

But, if your State has no inspection requirements (probably many if not most States), and you have a clean record, its virtually instant. (I just looked at their site and it says 3-10 days for the full check, but that is probably assuming you have something in your background or driving record that requires an explanation letter or supporting documents to be manually reviewed, I recall it being virtually instant when I "applied").