I don't see how this is worth your time for such little pay. You could do better at a pizza place somewhere.

 

Quit now and you have about $800. No additional expenses.

Walk out of the casino or play again.

 

Blackdog is in a market with a halfway decent rate and regular surges. Imagine how bad his numbers would look if he were in Atlanta.

 

Your depreciation seems high, but your maintenance seems low for the car you seem to have. My overall op cost, including depreciation, is about $0.30/mi and I have worse gas mileage. You need to include final sale price for when you get rid of your car.

Your fares per hr after cut are on the low end of mine, but I only drive weekend nights.

I forget the City tax, but it is minuscule.

 

I based my per mile calculation on an average of 200,000 miles driven. I also used helpful breakdown cost from other post on this forum and AAA car cost.

Here is a double check with the tool on this forum:

Uber Earnings Calculator
Beta Version of calculator for determining hourly wages after costs.

Vehicle Cost $285.90
Gas Cost $123.89
Safety Fees $0.00
Total After Costs $532.01
Earnings $12.26/hour

 

Seattle Uber X driver here. You are doing it wrong.

This is from that same week:

My fares per hours are about 200% higher than yours for the same week. I am making the same amount of money in half the time and about only about 250 miles.

When (days/times) and where are you driving?

 

According to Uber I made about $ 35 per hour. How are you able to get $ 53 an hour when top drivers are only making $ 30 per hour. Are you just getting really lucky and hitting surge pricing only and long mileage trips?

Please share your secret !

Thanks !

 

Wow , you found the Uber earnings calculator and used it...

 

According to Uber I made about $ 35 per hour. How are you able to get $ 53 an hour when top drivers are only making $ 30 per hour. Are you just getting really lucky and hitting surge pricing only and long mileage trips?

Please share your secret !

Thanks !

Look at my first reply again, and answer the question.

 

Okay... I work Monday Mornings starting at 4:00 till around 3:00. Then Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 2:00 until midnight with breaks. Not a big fan of closing time at bars. Then Sunday from 10:00 until 4:00 or so... Obviously my schedule does vary some since this is the perk of the job. I am still really curious how you are making $53 per hour vs. the other top drivers around $ 30 an hour. You must have a good method. Thanks !

 

Also, is Uber you sole source of income?

 

what general area do you start from in the morning?
(I am leading you down a path...)

 

North of the UW

 

Where do you start driving from in the morning? Or, where, in general terms, do you live?

 

Great, I live in North Seattle too.

Now, when you drive, do you have a plan/goal? Are you trying to make a certain amount of money, or drive a certain number of hours? Are you driving a "shift" on a regular schedule?

 

No exact set schedule. See previous reply with rough hours and days. I drive between 30 - 40 hours per week. I try to hit hot spots in the city depending on Seattle activities, sporting events, nightlife, cruise ships, ferry passengers, capitol hill, freemont, ballard, belltown, queen anne, space needle... I relate it a lot like fishing. You have some active fishing holes that produce and dead water zones. Sometimes I catch a really big fish. Sometimes you catch a tiny minnow and just want it off your hook. Sometimes i try to be patient and what for a bing in a typically busy neighborhood other times I troll thru a busy section of town hoping to be the closest driver. It seems like much of it has to do with some hustle... but a lot of lot of it seems to be luck. My goal is about $ 100 dollars per day. Some days I can hit that in a few hours. Others it takes 8 hours. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks !

 

So if asked a you to give me a time and location combination for each of those days, given the times that you are already working, that would probably net you the most profitable fare, what would you answer be? And please provide a short explanation for each as to why you would choose that combination.

i.e. Monday 1PM Space Needle to get Tourists to Airport, Tuesday 10Pm Safeco for End of Mariners game for possible surge run. (these are not all good answers by the way).

(This is an exercise to see how you are approaching the system, don't worry about giving away any secret locations... you'll see why when I explain later).

 

........so what's your approach here?

 

By the way, if you thought $53/hour is fares was impressive.... this is from my summary for last week:

That is well over 2x the top drivers in the Seattle market. And we don't even know what qualifies for Top Drivers (top 1, 5, 10%?), so I know I am doing exponentially better than the average driver.

I will state emphatically that this is not luck. Note that I am trending up (from $53 to $58), while the average top driver trended down (from $30 to $27) for the same time period.

 

By the way, if you thought $53/hour is fares was impressive.... this is from my summary for last week:

That is well over 2x the top drivers in the Seattle market. And we don't even know what qualifies for Top Drivers (top 1, 5, 10%?), so I know I am doing exponentially better than the average driver.

I will state emphatically that this is not luck. Note that I am trending up while the average top driver trended down for the same time period.

I know you probably want to milk this a while longer, but could you just tell the guy what he wants to know instead of telling him how great you are at Ubering?

 

... this is better than a penny dreadful ...

 

lol. good reference.

I could just write a long post with all my methods, but it wouldn't have the same effect. I am trying to get an understanding about how he approaches Uber, so I can relate to his situation.

 

Uber's business model preys upon drivers "not knowing the math". The ones that actually break in down finally realize it's a pitfall job and makes zero sense to continue. Especially when you factor in liability and depressciation. I wish you all the luck in finding a prosperous one.

 

Don't Take It Offline...or include me in the conversation please.

Put a sock in it elelegido. I need to learn how to think about my rides - and DexNex is entertaining.

 

Don't fret/panic; no way is he going to take this offline - you'll still get to read a bit more showboating yet

 

Please ignore the troll and continue to do what you do best ... help the Grasshopper to come to his own realizations...

 

wow, uh, okay then.

There is no one secret, there is just perception and approach. I was trying to show you another way of looking at the ecosystem so you could make more money with less work. I couldn't do that unless I could get some insight into how you approach it so I could tie your situation to my approach. Best of luck. If you ever change your mind and want to talk offline just reach out.

 

How? Drive around for 12 hours a day to every part of town while getting beached following the 5min rule. For four months.

1* for you.

You can't rate me; I already cancelled you. Fork over $4 and we'll call it even.

 

POST # 1/BlackDog: "Ahoy!" & Welcome
to the UP.Net Forums
from Sunny, 90's, Blue-skied Marco Island
on Florida's Wild SSW Coast.

As #4 Notable, and at the Behest of #1
chi1cabby , I am compelled to Alert
You to Preserve Your Legal Rights:

Read Your Partnership Agreement!
"NEW DRIVERS have only 30 Days to
Opt-out of BINDING ARBITRATION"

https://uberpeople.net/posts/402925

Bostonian Bison
Assisting NUberers since 2014.

 

I've never worked more than 35 hours a week with uber and always net $900-$1200 a week. I have to agree if your putting in that many hours with that low of pay something isn't right in your approach. I know you said you didn't like the bar close runs but guess what... That's when I clean up usually. This is my full time gig and I do pizza on the side. I tackle this like a business and head out he door with a set quota in mind and hours to do it in. I target specific areas that net the most money and do my best o be in predictable surge zones. Last week I worked 16 hours and netted almost $600... And I was sicker than a dog and not at my A game. Uber is not going to make you miney unless you think of it as a business and make a plan and set goals. It's really that simple. I have yet to do the $53 an hour but I'm always above top drivers so I must be doing something right.

 

So, here are my average profits/hr (after everything) for each night I worked since I started. I don't do this often, as you can see. But thought it might be interesting. These earnings come from approaching driving Uber in Seattle like a neanderthal (I'm not very savvy yet - can't tell you how many times I've fallen for fake pings when I end up---accidentally---on top of another uber driver).

Note that driving bar hours includes deadheading about 15 minutes to Bellevue and 20-40 minutes at the end of the night, depending where I end up.

$6.62 (sitting at home)
$12.76 (sitting at home)
$15.44 (bars)
$21.10 (bars)
$14.50 (sitting at home)
$4.02 (sitting at home)
$15.85 (bars)
$16.73 (bars)
$17.03 (bars)
$10.24 (sitting at home)
$12.62 (sitting at home)
$3.75 (sitting at home)
$12.79 (bars - got pulled away to Lynnwood)
$17.55 (bars)
$19.74 (bars)
$19.74 (bars)
$20.32 (bars)
$17.32 (bars)
$16.97 (bars)
$10.58 (bars - got pulled away to Bothell)
$16.95 (bars)

Obviously, sitting at home does not work well for me. I only do that now if I need that one ride every 30 days to stay active. Bars, I generally drive 9pm - 2 or 3 am.

My expenses:
$0.08/mi depreciation (obviously, if you buy new your depreciation will probably be much higher)
$0.07/mi maintenance (60,000 mile maintenance recently done, then have some brakes and tire replacement due soon, estimated on the high end)
$0.12/mi to $0.15/mi gas (mileage is about 20 mpg, I reset the calculation each night)

 

Note: I have no idea the % the City of Seattle wants. Anyone know?

0.415%. That's on gross revenue, I believe.

 

By the way, if you thought $53/hour is fares was impressive.... this is from my summary for last week:

That is well over 2x the top drivers in the Seattle market. And we don't even know what qualifies for Top Drivers (top 1, 5, 10%?), so I know I am doing exponentially better than the average driver.

I will state emphatically that this is not luck. Note that I am trending up (from $53 to $58), while the average top driver trended down (from $30 to $27) for the same time period.

OK...I really want to hear the how to.

 

I have been asked by many members to revisit this thread. I was actually so put off that I asked for my account to be deleted. There are no secrets to consistently earning this type of money on the UberX platform. I will share some of my approach, but these may, or may not, apply to your specific situation. I drive in the Seattle market, so much of this will be very specific to that market. If it does not apply to your market, I don't care as I don't drive there. If it does not surge regularly in your market, I don't care as I am not talking to you. If you drive Select or XL some of this applies, most will not.

1. You need to get away from the idea of working for a set amount of money per hour, shift, day. You are a contractor. Your only goal should be to drive at times/places that allow you to maximize the amount of those contracts. You want the longest runs at the highest rates. You should not drive full-time.
2. You need to have a very good data set of when and where surge will happen in your market. The more you explore the data, the better prepared you will be. This research should be ongoing, even when you are not driving/offline.
3. You need to be as flexible as possible to drive when conditions (surge) meet your preset levels. You should be ready to go at all times.


Lets take Point #1 first. I come from a position where I only drive Uber part time. I have a full time job that allows me a base to work from. I don't have a need to ever take a run that I do not want to. I can effectively pick and chose where to be and when to be there and I can be very surgical about how I operate. The overwhelming majority of my runs are taken at a surge rate of 1.5x or higher. But its not just enough to take only surge runs. More on that in Point #2. If you are driving and the night goes dead, then stop driving... take a break or go home. It's that simple. Some weekends will be a complete bust. If you really think about why they were so slow, you will already know in advance for the next time that set of circumstance occur. A good example in Seattle would be when there was the Paradiso concert at the Gorge. It was a completely dead summer weekend in Seattle despite being high tourist season and beautiful weather. Why was it so dead? Because the target Uber demographic in Seattle (millennial) was out of town at the concert for the weekend. When that happens (if you aren't ready for it already) you need to pull back on your driving. Don't force it... it will never pay off for you. If you are driving non-surge runs in the morning to the airport, you are an idiot. Let me say that again...if you are driving to SeaTac, from Seattle or North, and it is not surging... you are not making money. Because you can't pick up at the airport...especially because there isn't enough incoming traffic at that time to drive demand... you will most likely drive back empty. It is a waste of time and miles at the base rate.... don't do it. It is a beginner's mistake.

Lets tie that into Point #2, know your surge. Seattle surges at the same times on the same days... pretty consistently. I use an offline surge tracker (Surge.org) that allows me to see surges even when I am not logged in (i.e. when I am at work during the day at my full-time job). I don't even drive the morning rush... but I can tell you exactly when it surges, where it surges, and to what level it surges for each day of the week for morning commute. You need to be at this level too. It's so important not to just turn on the app and drive. You should be able to know exactly where to be and when to catch these surge runs. Even if you are not driving for an event (i.e. a concert downtown) you need to watch what the effect is so you can use that information in the future. Hint: Downtown is not the best surge at the end of a Mariner's game... it is the Eastside. There are so many variables that go into creating surge and you need to understand how each one effects the market (i.e. time of day, day of week, weather, traffic conditions, events, etc). I don't leave the house for every 1.5x surge... I leave the house when I know there will be sustained surge. Do you even know how often surge factors are reset? Do you know how long a pax has a rate locked in? Do you know the zones? Do you know how to see when a surge is about to happen (not the yellow and orange crap)? Can you judge overall demand using the pax app to know where to be? Do you know when it surges in Tacoma or Olympia?

Onto Point #3, never have a set start/end time. You can have an idea of what you want to drive... but demand/surge should be what dictates your time on app. I always have my car clean (19.99 unlimited Brown Bear car washes) and the fuel tank is never less than half-empty. I already told you that I use an offline surge tracking app. That app sends notifications to my iPhone to tell me when surge is happening. I got an Apple Watch, so now those notifications go straight to my wrist...even when I am at home. If I see a massive surge going off downtown, I can take advantage. Several weeks ago there was a huge surge downtown (over 5x for two hours) on a Tuesday night. Most drivers would not even think to look during that time. I was alerted and able to drive for two hours and make several hundred dollars. Why the surge? T-Mobile went down in Seattle and any drivers on their system were forced offline due to no service. You can't foresee those events... but you can be ready to take advantage of them at a moment's notice.

So, knowing that I only drive surge, I don't force myself to drive shifts, and I only drive part time... lets take this to another level.

We all know that surge happens at 2AM on Friday and Saturdays in Seattle. If you don't want to drive at those times you simply will not make these types of returns. I don't care why you don't want to drive then... I am simply saying that these are the times to earn the maximum amount per contract on a consistent basis. But just being available to drive, and logged in during these surges is not enough. Let me state that again... just because you are near a random bar at 2am on a Friday or Saturday does not mean you are taking full advantage of the situation... you can actually do more. I am not going to give away my favorite spots... but I will tell you how I found them based on theory. The two runs that you pick up on Friday and Saturday last call should be your best contracts of the week consistently. You have everything in your favor if you do the proper research. You need to really watch that 2AM surge to see how it builds and declines. Just because you see a 1.5X surge at 1:30AM does not mean you should log in and take a run. You will most certainly be putting yourself out of position for maximizing that contract on your big run of the night. Watch enough of these 2AM surges develop and you will find the flow. I don't wait for the the top surge rate... I usually jump in one step below it... that way if I have a cancellation or issue, I can sill recover.

Ready for the next level? Where are you going to be to get that long run? Just being outside a random bar is not enough. In Seattle we have themed bars that attract people from far outside Seattle. You should focus in on those bars and be very picky about your pings to get a run from them. Some of these places are actually pretty far from the rest of the city... or not close to a highway. That is good for you... more distance to drive at a very high rate. I stage outside of my spots and log in when I am ready. Then I decline pings until I get one from that bar. Want a hint? There is only one gay bar in Seattle that is geared towards women. Find that bar and you should have some pretty good distance runs. I don't hang out there anymore because I found better spots... but you get the idea. You don't want Seattle bars that attract Seattle people (cough, Ballard and Fremont), you want the unique Seattle bars/clubs that attract people from Bellevue, Lynwood, Tacoma. And if you hit that long run.... this is the only time I drive non-surge.... to get a paid run back to Seattle. Remember I asked if you know when it surges in Tacoma? Have you ever gotten a 2AM run south? I have found several 5X surges in Tacoma and Olympia because I was already down there from a Seattle-based run. If you research your outer areas too, you will be more prepared.

I bring in anywhere from $200 to $1200 a weekend using this approach. I typically only drive Friday and Saturday nights. I do not drive Sundays... that's Seahawks day (I am a season-ticket holder). Even with that restriction, I still average about $500 a weekend for about 10-12 hours of driving.

If I only drove Uber, I would be staged to drive Mon-Fri for 8-9:30AM surge rush. Mon-Fri for 5-6pM rush. Fri night Surge. Sat night surge. And Sundays for special events only (i.e football games). These are not shifts... just suggestions.

 

I don't have a need to ever take a run that I do not want to. I can effectively pick and chose where to be and when to be there and I can be very surgical about how I operate.

I just got an email warning me that I've accrued an excessive number of cancellations in the two (2) weekends in which I've worked the Seattle area. How can it possible that you, as someone whose approach is so fine-tuned that they've made upwards of $55/hr in some weeks, have never gotten this message? Are they just now cracking down on this, have you slipped through the cracks, or do you have some other method that allows you to stay just above the magic number of acceptable cancellations per week? I'm not questioning the veracity of your earning claims, just genuinely curious here. (I assume here that you're acccepting and then cancelling, because if you were just flat-out declining your acceptance rate would have you deactivated in less than 3 days, no?)

Do you know when it surges in Tacoma or Olympia?

Isn't there like a 5 hour defensive driving course and 500-question city knowledge test you need to pass to be eligible to drive in those cities? Is it really worth it?