Uber Over

I do believe my time driving for Uber is over, for the most part. First, they started charging me $10.00 a week for my phone, which they had already charged me $100 for, I believe was the figure, when I started some months ago. Keep in mind the software in this special iPhone was Uber dedicated, meaning it was no good for my personal use.

Everything was fine though, as it stood then. I was eking out a living with that setup. Then, for some reason, Uber saw fit to start charging the extra $40/month. That made it generally a non-profitable venture. So I sent the phone back, in the envelope they sent me, with the promise to get my own iPhone and resume employment.

Shopping for iPhones it soon became apparent that this is a whole other racket unto itself, the whole smartphone biz, with the two year contracts, fuzzy fine print on thick packets of forms requiring my signature, signing God-knows what, and early cancellation penalties approaching five to six hundred dollars in some cases.

With the iPhone, the only phone that works with the Uber driver app, you can either buy the phone, around $500, depending on the age of the model desired, or pay for it over a two year period, which is added to your monthly phone bill, at around an extra $22.00/month. So you have this two year financing deal and a two year contract, on a phone that will be obsolete in two years, where the whole cycle will then be repeated.

Dear Uber and iPhone providers, feel free to take a hike.

Uber Saturday

I changed my previous strategy from last Saturday - yes I'm down to driving for Uber one day per week because any day but a Saturday is pretty much a waste of my precious time - to that of starting in the wealthier suburbs and then staying put where that next ride took me, which in this case was from one spot in beautiful Franklin to another spot in Franklin, TN to start. Last Saturday I was dropping people in town and then driving back to the suburbs, which resulted in similar earnings, but put an ungodly amount of miles on the car.

Anyway, my time in Franklin didn't last long and the next ride was a long one into the heart of downtown Nashville, where I spent the next six hours in a constant state of ride-sharing. In fact, last night was one of my best blocks of drive-time ever driving for Uber, as far as mileage-to earnings ratio is concerned. I grossed about $160 for seven hours in the car, an average of $22.86/hour. After deducting Uber's 20% and some gas money, about 160 miles/25 mpg=6.4 gallons x $3.16 per gallon of premium gas equals approximately $20 in gas. So, subtract $52.00 for a net income of $108.00/$15.42/hour, and that's the best I have done with Uber.

I don't think I'm going to top that. Wait, I take that back. Earnings were somewhat dampened by a pro hockey game downtown, which tied up traffic before the start and after the end of the game. I did manage to take one hockey fan to the game, so it wasn't a total loss. Also, I tend to avoid answering most requests from the Vanderbilt college campus, as these kids tend to be snooty entitled brats, in my experience, that I tend to gladly avoid, at least lately. So, I'm avoiding one sixth or so of the city and still staying plenty busy, but earnings could be even higher.

For example, I was passing through the Vandy campus last night on the way to my favorite coffee shop and I did accept one ride request, figuring, what the hell, why not? So four seemingly drunk college guys pile in for a short trip and the one in the back seat says to the other, "my Suburban shit one of these the other day", cutting on my midsize car like it's small or something. That was my last ride out of that neighborhood, for sure.

Dear children of the rich pricks of America..........

I really hate you guys. 

Uber Blues

I did not make a profit in September in my Uber gig... 

Of course it was no help that I worked only half the month, due to another part-time job out-of-state involving farm work, from which driving for Uber is a major break. I just had very bad luck with my low profile Continental brand tires, which are not very tough, and I would highly not recommend for city driving. 

First, I dropped off a couple of gay guys, who flew in from the West Coast, in front of an apparently very popular gay bar here in Nashville, judging from the line to get in, composed of both boys and girls. So, in my attempt to drop them off as close as possible to the front door, I ran up on the curb a little bit and what happens? The frigging right front tire blows out through the sidewall and goes flat.

So I manage to drive the car to the empty lot across the street and ended up paying a homeless guy $25 to help me change it, providing entertainment for the night-clubbing crowd. This guy was actually a God-send, as he really knew cars and prevented me from jacking up the car in the wrong spot on the plastic trim. His name was "Terrel" if I recall correctly.

Luckily the tire was covered under warranty from Discount Tire, but of course I had to buy two tires to balance out the car, so that one new tire hit me for around $200 after sales tax.

Finally getting back to driving for Uber the next Thursday night and I run over something - I don't even know what - and the next morning I notice the right front tire has a deep slice in it.

Amazing it didn't go flat.......

Luckily this is part of the other two tires left, not the new pair on the rear of the car. Back to Discount Tire again and it's covered under warranty-awesome-and I have to buy another pair of tires, $200 for the one new one to make another pair, so I'm getting killed so far in the profits department.

The reality is, as appealing as it is to make my own schedule and get paid to drive around in the car, the income to expense ratio is just not going to allow me to continue working for Uber that much longer. Though my Uber career will probably be short-lived, I will definitely continue to use the service as a passenger. It's a great deal for riders. For the drivers, not so much.

Back out tonight to try again on the busiest and craziest night of the week.......

Update - Sunday, October 5....

Saturday was busy from my start at 2 p.m. through my quit time around 1 a.m., when an apparently very drunk teen girl barfed in my car, into a barf bag luckily. I managed a gross earnings of around $180, after slapping another 220 miles on my unfortunate vehicle, but I managed to earn almost one of my damaged tires back in one night, so a good night, for this business anyway. Met young people from all over the country, so the young-generation migration continues.....

Uber Damsels in Distress...

So I went to drive for Uber Saturday night, normally the best night of the week for earnings. I started around 6 p.m. and I got pinged right away by a couple of Welshmen who needed a ride from their Air Bnb rental house to the downtown area. It never ceases to amaze me, the people who visit here from all over the world.

Anyway, from the minute I went online, it was a fairly constant flow of rides, mostly medium and long rides, only because I made a point of staying at least 20 minutes from the center of town, where people were steadily grabbing rides back into town, until about 11:30 p.m. Then I changed my strategy, to lingering close to the downtown bar areas, where people were starting to head back to the outskirts.

I cruised by one popular and crowded spot, where I noticed a gorgeous young woman in white, attempting to hail a cab with her obviously drunk boyfriend, with no apparent luck. The problem with Uber is that I could not actually offer them a ride. I would have to wait for them to click on the app on their smartphone, if they had actually already signed up for Uber, and hope I was the closest driver.

So I made a right with the line of slow-moving traffic, to go around the block and maybe park close by, when my phone lit up with a ride request. Amazingly, it was right back in the same area where I had just seen the girl. I clicked to accept the request and proceeded to turn around.

When I finally got back there, I waited for "Stephanie" to find me parked in front of the Hard Rock Cafe, the only empty curb-space available, information which I had texted to her. After about a five minute wait, guess who opens the passenger door and hops in next to me, but this same girl in white!

She thanked me profusely and asked me to take her to a club on the other side of town. Remembering her partner, I asked if there was anyone else on the way and she said "no", she was the only one. During the trip, she called someone and seemed to be arguing with them about treating her badly and how she had no time for such treatment.

She hung up and informed me that I was a lifesaver for giving her a ride, because her boyfriend had got drunk and become quite abusive and she had been unable to find an available cab to get away from him and go hang with her friends instead. Then she had requested Uber and I had shown up in "under two minutes" and how great that was, to be able to just call a "personal driver" to escape the situation. This was actually the third time I can remember, that I picked up a woman that was in an abusive situation and whisked her away.

So, I may not be getting rich from Uber, but this part is pretty cool.

Uber Update Sept. 10, 2014

Was offline from Uber for about three weeks after picking up a farm labor job out of state. This job was so tough and it was so stinking hot (Central Florida) that I was glad to get back to Nashville and my air conditioned vehicle Wednesday evening from 5 to 9 p.m.

Uber had sent me an email threatening to deactivate my account if I didn't put some hours in, so I rushed right out and fired up the app. After about an hour or so, I picked up my first rider in Franklin, TN and took them all the way to the Ryman in Nashville, for a $28.00 fare. Then I hung out in Nashville for another hour before I picked up four young business hotshots from Los Angeles who needed a ride from the West End to a local hotel, for around $5.00 fare.

Then I hung around for another 45 minutes, but no more rides and I called it a night.

Mileage: Approx. 110 miles
Gross Earnings: $33.00
Gas: $11.00
Uber's take: 20%

So, let me see, .2 multiplied by 33 = Uber takes $6.60. So 33 - 11 - 6.60 = $15.40 net income

15.40/4 hours = $3.85/hour income.

I assume Uber will charge me $10.00 this week for the use of their software, so $15.40 - $10.00 = $5.40 net income/4 hours = net income $1.35/hour.

There are the numbers so far, day one.

Sincerely,

Me