12 Year Driving Taxi in the IE 1999 to 2011, car was $500 per week and can have own clients, i was networking with a few other drivers to keep personal business going.
My current car is a 2017 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid Reserve
As of 10.26.14 I am now a Uber/Lyft driver. This is My Advice for New Uber/Lyft Drivers (take it or leave it)
The following rules and advice are not written in stone, relax as needed...
For your safety.
Do not walk women to door, boyfriends and husbands may think you are the other guy, If you are looking for a quick beat down, Do this on the wrong night and you will find what you are looking for, You are not a taxi driver, you are just some unknown man/woman in a car.
if your passenger becomes hostile, angry, or threatening in any way, do not get out of your car, your car is your safety zone if you have to get out of your car remember to take your keys and cell phone with you but do not approach the passenger,
Only allow passenger to seat behind you if all other seats are taken, as far as i'm concerned this is total disrespect,
Don't give a drunk man's woman too much attention, This is not a joke - You have been warned..
Do not deliver sealed packages, this is bad news for a lot of reasons, unless you are doing it as part of a Uber/Lyft delivery program
For your health and well-being
Occasionally get out of car when it's appropriate, assist passengers when it's obviously needed, get out and open your own trunk, not saying you have to load the luggage but at least supervise the loading of the luggages and packages Do this for your heath not just to assistant clients,
if you work long hours and feeling fatigued, take naps and breaks when needed
For Your Ratings
Keep windows clean at all times and Always offer the front seat (i don't always offer but i do keep it clear of personal items),
Greet the client by name if possible, say "Hello john, thank you for using uber/lyft, good morning/afternoon/evening,
do not ask how is your morning evening or night, unless they ask you first, Some people take this type of comment personally remember not everyone's brain working in the same, your passenger may be having a bad day, for whatever reason, so why ask someone how is their day morning noon or night unless they ask you first,
ask your passengers to let you know if the car is too hot or too cold and if they prefer windows up or down, blah blah blah I know it's your car your way your rules, just remember they are paying for a ride and if you're using Uber or Lyft money to pay your bills your passengers is where that money came from,
Confirm address with passenger, Ask if they wish to point the way or use GPS, and try to restrain from using voice navigation you should have your phone mounted high enough so you can clearly see the navigation it is very annoying, I only turn on voice navigation if for example in LA during the very confusing freeway transitions,
ask what freeway speed they wish you to drive, the limit or 5, 10, 15 MPH over, my cruise control is set at a limit of 69 mph just an occasional burst of speed or slow down to keep cars from cruising next to me (may limit is 5 MPH over without asking)
Ask if they have favorite music station or offer direct audio imput, i don't do this everytime,
do not force conversations with passengers this is one of the biggest mistakes that drivers make, instead start off with a leading comment like wow really has been hot the last couple of days, wow really has been cold the last couple of days, and if the passenger responds with more than a yep well then you know they don't want to talk,
if your passenger is engaging in a conversation with you try to keep it to neutral subjects, do not ask your passengers opinion on things in the news, political thing, religion, opinions about dating and marriage, because they may have an extreme opposite opinion of yours and now you opened yourself up to a whole can of worms,
And also do not insert yourself into passengers conversation unless it is appropriate to do so, for example passengers in the back seat maybe having a discussion about what movies they want to see and don't want to see and there's obviously a slight dispute between them, don't open your mouth and suggest a movie, you may be for example pissing off the account holder, and then you may Wonder later why you got a one star,
Offer personal assistant, especially to the elderly or people with disabilities, My mom uses a walker I have one stared a lot of drivers for not helping my mother,
Do not call clients unless really needed, it's annoying to passangers,
If client does any of the following, most of the time cancel:
3 or more for Uber pool or lyft-line = Cancel, (dont't every relax this rule)
5 or more for UberX , 7 or more for UberXL = Cancel, (dont't every relax this rule)
Got to love the client phone calls and texts - Not
Call or text or gets in car complaining about anything = Cancel,
Call for any reason but sounds drank or stoned = Cancel, (dont't every relax this rule)
Call or text, to ask "Where are you?" = Cancel, (i usually relax this this rule, if they don't sound disrespectful)
Call or text, with something like "your ETA was 4 minutes, 5 minutes a go" = Cancel,
Call or text within a few seconds, to say you passed the location = Cancel,
Call or text about wrong pin location, but don't acknowledge their mistake = Cancel,
Call more than once to ask your ETA = Cancel,
Call to ask why your car stoped and it was only for a minute or less = Cancel,
Call to ask if you are coming = Cancel,
(i relax this rule, if more then a minute to get out of parking lot)
Call to ask if you know the area (yes, i've had this call a few times) = Cancel,
Call to ask if they can pay cash = Cancel,
Call to ask if you can pick-up someone under 18 yo (happen just last Friday) = Ride Cancel,
Call or text with address and/or directions to their location, that's clearly shown in app = Cancel,
All passenger(s) Coming look under 18 yo = Cancel (uber's tos, much be 18 yo or older to have uber account)
Asks you to delivery a sealed package = Cancel,
Asks you pick-up a sealed package from a 3rd party and deliver to a 4th party = Cancel,
Ask you to wait for friend(s) that's coming to car, a few minutes later they need to go look for friend(s) = Cancel,
Having to tell passenger, you can't do this or that = Cancel,
Passenger with rating (unless high surge) of 4.6 or under = Cancel
Not acknowledging any mistake(s) on their part = Cancel,
My fav,
Calling to Tell you, you could have been 1 or more minutes earlier if you had turned on that other street = Cancel,
Too many to list all, but you get the picture..
After all that, Just S.T.F.U. and Drive, unless passanger wishes to talk,
("s.t.f.u. and drive" is my transportation motto)
