[New2This]

Article is BS. Regardless I like to think in my own way I'm helping contribute to Uber's losses...

 

[New2This]

Nice! I have had limited success with longhauling. What's the secret?

I've posted a lot of tips. Come to a Meetup

 

[New2This]

New2This is the resident expert on longhauling, so he can correct any errors he finds in my observations

Use the search engine to find advice he's given previously on this topic

All of my comments concern longhauling with fuber. I've never longhauled with gryft.

Here's my observations and opinions about longhauling. Use at your own risk....

1) Get a dashcam BEFORE you start doing serious longhauling, to protect yourself from false accusations by angry pax

2) Take highways whenever possible

3) Late arrival times NOT excess mileage is what gets drivers in hot water with fuber when longhauling

4) Fuber uses percentage of lateness, not raw minutes to determine whether a trip went overtime. In other words, being 3 minutes over ETA on a 40 minute trip is no problem, but being 3 minutes over ETA on a 6 minute trip could cause issues with fuber

5) Google Maps is KING for longhauling, and usually beats Waze for getting maximum mileage out of rides.

6) Google Maps is excellent at offering at least one very long mileage, but close ETA route option for most trips.

7) Google's "longest distance" option is usually longer than Waze's

8) Waze is more user friendly and reliable

9) My pax clearly perfer Waze over Google, so they'd be less likely to gives drivers who use Waze a hard time over their route choices

10) While Google beats Waze for offering the longest distance option, on occasion, Google's route option feature vanishes. I don't recall that ever happening with Waze.

11) Google struggles with multilevel roads and tunnels, such as Whitehurst/K st and highway cloverleafs

12) Google doesn't always know about time-restrictions on roads such as Rock Creek Pkwy and K st.

13) If you fail to longhaul, you're handing your money to fuber on a silver platter

1. Tell riders "I'm going ___ way because of construction/accident/dead horse in the road" and 99% of the time they say OK. Have them say it loud

2. 495/395/295/66 can all be moneymakers. However knowing the area helps too.

3/4/5/6/7. I only use Google Maps; I can't stand Waze. It generally gives you several options, one in blue with several other options in grey. The other options usuall say "Similar ETA" or '3 minutes slower'. I then look at the total mileage and longest one wins.

8/9. I hate Waze except for the speed traps etc. notifications (the Morgan Freeman voice of God giving directions was pretty cool too). I have never had a rider insist I use Waze. Maybe 3 times in 5000 rides have I heard Waze chime in on their phones.

10/11/12. Never had route options vanish but generally I know where I'm going so I don't look at yhe GPS every 4 seconds. The tunnels/underpasses thing is probably on Waze too. Connectivity issues. Rosk Creek Park is a shitshow for GPS.

13. HALLELUJAH!!!! THIS is why I love Longhauling. I get giddy seeing negative payouts to Uber/Lyft.

I have done a few Longhauls on Lyft. It works just as well.

 

[New2This]

Let me also put in my standard disclaimer regarding Longhauling: I joke about but in reality never do, nor do I advocate, going out of your way just to run up the fare. Example- ride from Ballston to Georgetown by way of Woodbridge.

For me Longhauling is just going the longest route in the accepted timeframe. Say Ballston to College Park. You can go in a straight line through downtown D.C. and up Rhode Island Avenue to Route 1, hitting every goddamn mistimed light in the city getting there. You could also go 66 to 495 to Route 1 and get there in the same time, with MUCH less wear and tear on your car. I chose the latter here:

If you do go WAAAAAY out of the way trying to Longhaul you will get nailed. Keep it within acceptable timeframes and you should be fine.

One thing that helps is, while I am an asshole on here, I can be quite charming and engaging in the real world. I keep the riders talking (at least the ones not burying their noses in their phones) and they don't notice the time going by.