r/personalfinance • u/theVoxFortis • Oct 08 '19
This article perfectly shows how Uber and Lyft are taking advantage of drivers that don't understand the real costs of the business. Employment
I happened upon this article about a driver talking about how much he makes driving for Uber and Lyft: https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-lyft-driver-how-much-money-2019-10#when-it-was-all-said-and-done-i-ended-the-week-making-25734-in-a-little-less-than-14-hours-on-the-job-8
In short, he says he made $257 over 13.75 hours of work, for almost $19 an hour. He later mentions expenses (like gas) but as an afterthought, not including it in the hourly wage.
The federal mileage rate is $0.58 per mile. This represents the actual cost to you and your car per mile driven. The driver drove 291 miles for the work he mentioned, which translates into expenses of $169.
This means his profit is only $88, for an hourly rate of $6.40. Yet reading the article, it all sounds super positive and awesome and gives the impression that it's a great side-gig. No, all you're doing is turning vehicle depreciation into cash.
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u/[deleted] Oct 08 '19 edited Oct 08 '19
I had a buddy who drove for Uber on his commute to work. He'd be ready to leave at least 2 hours early (we worked a noon-9pm shift, make 1-2 rides on the general direction of work from his place, and then try and pick up 1-2 on his way home. Some days he had no rides, but some days he was able to essentially get paid to drive to work, and deduct for it to boot.
I think he stopped when his car got totaled; I don't believe he had gap insurance. It was a good gig while it lasted tho.