What you need to know, to become a successful rideshare driver?
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In this series of articles, I am going to share the basic concepts that new rideshare drivers need to know, in order to be successful. These are things that I wish I had known, before I started driving. This is a general article, since each city is different and each driver has different life goals and challenges.
Qualities of a Good Rideshare Driver
Before you start even thinking about driving, you should know that there are a few intangible qualities that every rideshare driver needs.
You need to enjoy driving. This seems obvious, but you will be driving for many hours each day. You will have to deal with traffic, construction, and bad drivers. You need to be able to stay hyper-aware of your surroundings and other drivers at all times. Granted, we all get upset at times with bad drivers, but if you are an aggressive driver and prone to road rage, then this is not the job for you.
You need patience, not only when driving, but with passengers. Passengers will not always be where you expect them to be. They will not always be polite. They will ask you to take a different route. The good news is that the vast majority of passengers are super nice and friendly, but you need to have patience to deal with problem passengers.
If you generally do not like people and have a short temper, then this job is simply not for you. If you are the type that would pull up to a grocery store, see that your passenger is an older person that can barely walk, and you would not be happy to get out and help them load their groceries into the car. Well, this is not the job for you. You should be glad to do that. That is a great part of this job, you are able to help ordinary people on an almost daily basis.
You need to be a problem solver. We have to figure out how to find our way around traffic, find passengers, etc. For example: the rideshare app might take you to the resident only gate of an apartment complex and you will need to be abel to quickly find the guest gate.
Getting Started
Requirements
Click the following links to make sure that you meet Uber and Lyft’s basic requirements. Basically, you will need to have a valid driver’s license, a fairly clean driving record, and be able to pass a basic background check.
Your Car
Again, check the vehicle requirements for Uber and Lyft at the addresses above, because they do change and may be different for different cities.
If you are going to do this professionally, make no mistake, you will be putting a lot of hard miles on your car. So, you can’t have a car that is near the end of its life, expensive to maintain, or gets bad gas mileage.
I drive a Toyota Corolla. I bought it used with about 10,000 miles on it. It was in excellent condition, but had already taken that new car hit in price. It also gets good gas mileage, so I am not spending a fortune at the pump.
Plan to pay your car off before it starts to have issues. Your car is how you make your living. So, when your car has to be worked on, you are not only having to pay for those repairs, but also losing income at the same time. So, my advice is to pay off your car and trade it in BEFORE the car starts needing regular repairs, and while it still has trade-in value.
Your Are A Business
When you work with a Rideshare company, you are an independent contractor. This means that you are not an employee of the Rideshare company. In fact, the rideshare companies see you as their customer, and the passengers as your customers. This means that you, yourself, are a business entity.
As a business entity, you need to figure out what your business expenses are. Most businesses have expenses, such as: rent, employees, insurance, inventory, office supplies, etc.
Your business expenses are:
- Car payment
- Car insurance
- Gas
- Car cleaning expenses
- Car maintenance (Oil, Tires, repairs)
- Health insurance
- Misc. supplies
This is not as bad as most businesses, but they need to be planned for and money set aside to cover them.
Here is something that I really wish I had done at the beginning of my rideshare days. I wish I had figured out what my “Cost Per Mile” was. Setting a financial goal and figuring out your cost per mile, will help you determine if you are driving for the benefit of yourself or the benefit of the rideshare company. Hint, you want to be driving for your benefit.
This is a huge topic and will be covered in my next article: Business Expenses and Figuring out Your Cost Per Mile.
Decide on a Driving Strategy
To begin with, you will want to experiment with different strategies for your area. Different drivers use different strategies, and no strategy is necessarily right or wrong. Your city might also dictate to some degree what your strategy is.
And this is what makes rideshare driving great. You can create a strategy that supports how you like to live and work. Here are some ideas that might affect your strategy:
- Do you like working early mornings, days, evenings, and/or late at night?
- Do you want to avoid the late night party crowd?
- Do you like nice relaxed trips taking people to and from work?
- Do you want to avoid traffic at all costs?
- Do I want to take advantage of bonuses, surges, etc?
My Strategy
This is just my strategy and it may or may not work for you or the city you live in.
I happen to live in Atlanta, GA, which is a large, busy city. I can pretty much get into my car and turn on the app and start getting rides, most times of the day. Not all cities are like that. So, I have a lot of flexibility over how and when I work.
I love my downtime and multiple days off in a row to pursue other interests. So, if I am going to go out and work, I would rather work longer hours and fewer days. I also want to make between $25 and $30 per hour.
I also like free money, which is what I consider any money above what I make as the base rate for giving rides. Uber has 3 ways to make what I consider free money:
- Quests
- Boosts
- Surges
Quests
There are 2 Quests each week. The weekday Quest starts Monday morning at 4am and runs to Friday morning at 4am. The weekend Quest runs from 4am Friday morning to 4am Monday morning. The weekend Quest is usually significantly more than the weekday Quest. There are different Quest levels and the amounts per level change each week.
I usually work towards the 60 rides Quest. This means that I have to give 60 rides between Friday morning and Monday morning. This bonus is usually between $120 and $240. I know, this is a big difference, and sometimes there are even no Quests, but that is rare. But even at $120, that means that I am getting an extra $2 per ride and it bumps up my hourly rate by about $4.00.
To get my 60 rides, I usually work Friday and Saturday from about noon to 1am, and about 4 hours or so on Sunday. This means that I work around 30 hours a week and have Monday thru Thursday off.
Boosts
Boosts are bonuses paid for working particular hours within a particular area. Boosts are usually per ride bonuses and generally range from $1 to $7, in the metro-Atlanta area. Of course, they are more frequent and higher in areas where more drivers are needed.
Surges
Surges can happen anywhere at anytime. They are increases in fair rates when there is a high demand in a particular area and few drivers to cover that demand. The best times for surges are usually around rush hour, events, and later at night on the weekends. Surges can range anywhere from $1 to $15+ per ride.
Tips
And the last example of free money is Tips. Most passengers do not tip, but some do and it can add up. Most tips are going to come from rides to and from airports and people on dates. But, they can come from anyone at anytime, so it is important to always keep your car clean and provide good and friendly service.
Compounding Free Money
By working the hours that I do, I get to take advantage of ALL of these free money sources. Usually, this makes up about 1/3 of my weekly income. I could and sometimes do, work other hours, but without any of these free money sources, I am dependent on just Uber’s base rate, which will result in a significantly lower hour rate.
This is my least favorite thing about Uber and other rideshare companies. I would rather have a higher base rate and depend on bonuses less. I would work more than I do and accept more rides than I do.
Note: In order to do 60 rides in 3 days, you can’t take super long rides. I try to just take rides that are no longer than 30 minutes. I will take a few longer rides, if some come through that are really high paying. More on figuring out which rides to take, in a future article.
Other Strategies
But there are many other strategies. In fact, I could do much better with my strategy, if I were willing to start later and work later on Friday and Saturdays. I work from about noon to midnight or 1am. But the best surges will happen between 1am and 3am. BUT the odds of you getting drunk, rowdy, and vomiting passengers goes way up after 1am. So, I lose some money in order not to deal with that.
And for a contrasting strategy, I have a friend that likes to get up very early. They work Monday thru Friday from around 3am to 10am. They say that they get lots of people going home from late night jobs and going to work. These are relatively easy passengers and traffic is easy until rush hour starts.
One Great Thing about Rideshare Driving
No matter what your strategy is, you can always change it, and work more. If you have an unexpected expense one week, you can work more the next week to pay for it.
But you should always be making more than you need to survive. You should make enough to pay your bills and put some money in the bank at the end of the month. This is why knowing what your hourly costs are and what your financial goals are is so important. And that is the subject of the next article.
If you decide to sign up to drive for Uber or Lyft, please use my referral links, or codes if you sign-up directly in the apps:
Uber Referral Link / code: h1u313krg1pw
Lyft Referral Link / code: ARTHUR28323
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Part 2: Rideshare Driver: What are your Expenses and Cost Per Mile?
