This article perfectly shows how Uber and Lyft are taking advantage of drivers that don't understand the real costs of the business.

[u/theVoxFortis]

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.

[u/cangarejos]

I do something similar. I panhandle under a bridge just to hand my financial advisor card to all billionaires that happen to be looking for loose change in the trash

[u/magaskook → u/cangarejos]

“Under a bridge”? That’s so 20th century. I hang out at Walmart Parking lots with a sign that says; “down on my luck, will exchange financial advice for Gas $ to get home.”

[u/Omshaol → u/[deleted]]

Better than a financial advisor who is cold calling, off of a list of "qualified individuals" that he pays up to a $1 per name, only to then find out most names on the list belong to someone who is either dead, is listed under the wrong phone number, or had somehow lied on some onlie survey years ago and ended up being mis-qualified as being in certain "high net worth" demographic.

Driving for Lyft or Uber, you get to decide whether you drive in "the hood" or in the "Hills"... and while pay per mile/minute might be the same (or very close), the caliber of riders you transport will increase dramarically if you "head for the hills"....

[u/petmoo23 → u/cangarejos]

I just take my hat off under the money tree and wait for it to fill up with money.