It’s easy to find Lyft and Uber driver complaints in online news articles, driver’s forums, Facebook pages, and YouTube videos. The criticism comes from former and active drivers saying that they are not happy… primarily not happy with the amount of income they earn as Lyft and Uber drivers.
There are ways to gauge the quality of the reports… simple, logic-based mental filters.
I want to know if what I read is really news-worthy or just more “static” in the rideshare driving conversation… drivers and “news” articles presenting unsupported and illogical content as fact and/or “newsworthy.”
The article referenced for this blog includes some extremely negative stories from active and possibly former rideshare drivers… the headline makes it very clear what we’ll find:
“Uber and Lyft Drivers Talk About Getting Ripped Off.”
When I read this kind of content, I always wonder why these drivers are still on the road?
If being a rideshare driver was all bad… all wrong… then why would someone keep doing it?
And if they have quit driving… are we to believe these drivers care enough to spend their energy warning off potential rideshare drivers?
Does this sound logical to you? It certainly doesn’t to me.
The article kicks off saying something that is simply not true:
“After a monumental political battle, California passed AB5, a law that will make it much harder for gig economy companies to classify their workers as independent contractors.”
California’s Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) did nothing to force change in the way Uber, Lyft, and other gig economy companies do business… I wrote about this a few weeks back in my blog post titled: “California Governor Makes Uber News with AB5.”
If the author had read that blog post; or done any real research; or had any interest in reporting what’s true… they would not have suggested AB5 does something it does not.
Again from the article referenced for this blog post:
“The California law pursues the straightforward strategy of cutting off the ability of companies to classify workers as contractors, forcing them to take on the responsibilities of treating them as employees.”
Clearly the first part of the article was just a way to tee up publishing some Uber driver complaints… drivers sharing in their own words why they feel they are being ripped off.
Research on Self-Driving Vehicles
The first driver report is titled:
“Salt in our wounds.”
The “salt” is explained in this quote:
“Their [Uber] misspending of the fruits of DRIVER LABOR AND ASSETS on their dangerous and expensive ludicrously expensive to run self-driving car model, meant to put us out of business, is salt in our wounds.”
The driver thinks Uber’s investments in the future, self-driving vehicles, is insulting to drivers because these vehicles will without doubt someday replace human drivers.
Ok, fair enough, but it is Uber’s choice how they invest money loaned to them by venture capital companies… and venture capital wants to fund the promise of an enormously rich future.
This driver does propose an alternative to Uber’s current business model:
“This [Uber] business model has one and only one ethical means of working. Each community should own the app, and the drivers have to be expenses compensated, but volunteers, the money goes to Sr. Citizens, schools and public no entrance fee parks and recreation, roads, etc.”
Hmmm, not sure how that would work in the world of what’s really possible?
Would government entities seize Uber’s business, divide it up, and presumably facilitate local control of a ridesharing application in every U.S. city?
I believe this would be called socialism and has no place in a conversation about what really could happen in the future of the rideshare transportation industry.
I’m wondering why did the referenced article’s author lead with this driver’s story?
So, I mentally filtered out “Salt in our wounds” as containing nothing meaningful to increase our understanding of being a rideshare driver.
Before moving to the next driver report, “Salt in our wounds” did bring up a suggested change I agree with (at least partially), and I think passengers would easily accept:
“We are not being compensated fair market value for our services, not even slightly. When gas rates go up, our fees should be passed along to the consumer, because the consumer requires the service and therefore must pay the costs.”
Fair Market Value
I strongly agree the rising or falling price of a gallon of gas should be reflected in passenger’s fares… I think most passengers would accept this kind of trip pricing practice as “fair.”
I don’t agree with the assertion that drivers are not being paid “fair market value” for completing passenger trips.
In a market economy “fair market value” is determined by what people are willing to pay for a product or service and what business entities are willing to sell a product or service.
- Since drivers have no control over the price passengers pay driver’s only option is to drive only when it makes sense for them or quit.
- When transportation network companies (TNC) like Lyft and Uber need more drivers, they find ways to pay drivers more, and in some cases, like Surge Pricing, charge passengers more.
- Some drivers quit because the don’t feel they are fairly compensated… when the TNCs need to attract and retain drivers the TNCs again will find ways to pay drivers more…
- At some point there will be a tipping point in the years-long TNC price wars and passenger fares will increase slowly, to the point where statistical analysis shows passenger demand starts to decrease.
This is simply a market economy model in action.
Interesting the same driver story talks about market economy while also suggesting rideshare application control be taken away from the market economy companies and distributed to individual communities… sounds like socialism or communism to me?
Final quote from “Salt in our wounds”:
“We offer all the value, yet we have to accept whatever financial distribution of funds they present, in a take it or leave it manner.”
Yes!!! It seems obvious the “Salt in our wounds” driver story believes this point is a negative… but hits on a very important truth!!!
Unless someday government over-reach forces gig economy companies to operate in very different ways (outside of market economy forces) then being a rideshare driver is a “take it or leave” proposition.
And I see this fact as neutral, not negative or positive, simply the way it is.
Be a rideshare driver or don’t be a rideshare driver.
Further, if it makes you happy to spend energy complaining about how rideshare driving works then by all means complain and even offer suggestions how you think the rideshare driving industry companies could improve…
But thinking that Lyft or Uber driver complaints will result in forcing companies valued in multi-billions of dollars to make changes in the way they do business… changes that may not in their best interests… changes that are contrary to market economy forces… well, it simply not logical.
Let’s move on to the next driver. This one is titled:
“From a veteran.”
Most of us appreciate what military veterans have done for our country and are quick to thank them for their service.
Thank You For Your Service
In our “always have to be politically correct” world using a veteran’s story makes sense, vets are typically seen as sympathetic reporters.
Let’s see what this vet has to say about being a rideshare driver:
“I’m 71 retired US naval air veteran. I drive for both Uber and lyft for almost a year now, and find the average hourly earnings (no matter the hours I work) are less than the $13.00 per hour minimum wage in New York.”
$13 dollars an hour? For years driving in Denver, Colorado I consistently earn, on average, over $20 an hour.
Uber Driver Complaints About Earnings
When I read “New York” I immediately think of New York City.
But in this case, I’m reminding myself that for well over a year NYC has not added any new rideshare drivers (except vehicle equipped for wheelchairs and some all-electric vehicles) this driver (driving for “almost a year now”) is not talking about New York City, instead some other part of New York state.
When a driver complaining about earnings is not very specific where they are driving it makes it hard to determine the value of the driver’s reported earnings.
As example “Veteran” could be driving in Syracuse, NY with a metro area population of 662,577 or Ithaca, NY with population of only 101,564 people.
Both cities are relatively isolated (not close to larger cities) so wouldn’t be surprising a driver in either of these NY state cities earn average $13.00 an hour because smaller populations means less passenger trip requests, which means drivers spending more time waiting for the next passenger trip request… spending time waiting without earning income from active passenger trips naturally brings down average income per hour.
“From a veteran” also says:
“A side note. Uber and Lyft would send me to pick up a ride 20 minutes and 10 miles away, only to drive that ride 4 minutes 2 miles to earn net $3.64.”
Consistently longer drives to a passenger’s pickup location also suggests a less-populated area.
When I’m on the outskirts of Denver, Colorado (metro population 2.8 million) it’s more likely my next passenger’s pickup location will be farther away from my current location… again understandable because the population of Denver is less-dense on the outskirts compared to the city center.
Final point from “Veteran”:
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m truly thankful to Uber and Lyft for giving me at least this opportunity to somewhat subsidize my income. Just wish it would average at least the minimum wage per hour I work.”
Minimum Wage for Lyft and Uber Drivers
The idea of a minimum wage for every hour of a rideshare driver’s time is a multi-layer point for conversation.
Drivers should think about traditional jobs available to them and the hourly wage those jobs would pay… but in many cases rideshare drivers are choosing the work because of 100% flexibility over their work schedule.
“Veteran” says he is retired and 71 years old. He mentions his social security so I’m guessing he did not stay in the Navy long enough to have a military pension.
We all know social security checks are not huge.
So, using a mental filter I’m assuming “Veteran” drives when he wants to in order to supplement his fixed income from social security. He doesn’t have a work schedule forced on him. He can choose to work more hours or less hours without asking anyone permission. 100% work flexibility.
I agree it would be great if rideshare driving paid more… who wouldn’t want to earn more money for their time?
In this case my mental filter is the simple reality that rideshare driving does not come with a guaranteed hourly wage and I think this is fair because there is no guarantee how many passengers will request trips, so no guarantee how much revenue a rideshare company will generate from a given driver during a given time frame.
In a traditional job the employer guarantees workers an hourly wage and takes on all of the risk that business could be slow and the ratio of payroll expense to business income will not look good.
Having enough employees, but not too many, is an ongoing challenge for every business.
In the rideshare transportation industry rideshare drivers share this risk.
When there are lots of passenger trips drivers earn more, when there are less passenger trip requests drivers earn less.
Expecting rideshare companies to accept the risk of having too many drivers on the road without expecting them to limit the number of drivers at times and in places when there will likely be less passenger trips requests… sorry it’s just not logical and definitely would not be sound business practice and again contrary to a market economy business model.
Let’s move on to the next driver report titled:
“A lot of power for a platform.”
This Uber driver’s complaint is related to the idea that driver’s are controlled by the driver application.
I’ve written on this idea in my blog titled: “Uber’s Matching Algorithm Optimizes Corporate Profits, Not Driver Satisfaction?”
Driver Deactivated Over High Cancel Rate?
“A lot of power…” driver’s story says they were:
“…deactivated by uber for having a high cancellation rate”
and gives five examples of the type of passenger trips he cancels.
Again, seeking to filter out “static” from reality let’s look at the listed reasons:
“A. No shows”
If a passenger does not show up in the allotted driver wait time, 5 minutes for private trips and 2 minutes for shared/pool trips, then a “no show” is not really a cancellation.
The driver does gets paid a “no show cancellation fee” but there are no negative consequences for the driver.
“B. Unaccompanied minors”
At least one passenger in every rideshare trip must be at least 18 years old.
When a driver cancels a trip because of this rideshare company rule it makes sense to report that is why the driver canceled through a choice in the Uber driver application or by opening a ticket to Uber support.
Drivers are following company rules and again there would be no negative consequence for cancelling these trips.
In my experience underage passenger trip requests are rare so even if a driver did not take the time to report why they canceled the trip… it’s hard to believe we are talking about a lot of cancelled trips…. and not logical Uber support would deactivate a driver for following company rules.
“C. Too many passengers or luggage”
Again rare, but sometimes passengers want to squeeze an extra rider or two into my 4-passenger Prius.
I always say no to these requests because I cannot legally transport more passengers than my vehicle has available seatbelts… if I completed these trips, I would be breaking the law.
My concern is not risking a traffic ticket, if I’m breaking the law an insurance company will reject a claim…
I’m not going to risk my financial future because passengers don’t want to pay more for an appropriate vehicle or split their group up into multiple rideshare vehicles.
Rideshare companies are not going to dole out a negative consequence to a driver who is unwilling to break the law which would also be violating Uber’s policies.
Too much luggage is also an understandable reason for a driver to cancel a passenger trip.
My Prius is a hatchback and I’ve accommodated ridiculous amounts of passenger luggage.
Also true, at least once I’ve had to cancel a trip because there was simply too much luggage combined with too many passengers for my Prius.
If I drove a sedan with a trunk or a small vehicle like the popular Honda Fit I would have canceled more trip requests over the years.
In this third example it is still not logical that this driver would have been “…deactivated by Uber…” for “high cancellation rate” for this type of trip cancellation.
“D. no car seats for toddlers.”
Canceled trips example #4 is once again about a driver cancelling so they don’t break the law.
And again, in my experience simply does not happen very often… a statistically small number of passengers behave as if car seat laws do not apply to rideshare transportation… it is very unlikely “A lot of power” driver story had a statistically significant number of cancellations for this reason.
“E. Belligerent/unsafe riders (the kind who curse and threaten drivers or refuse to wear a seat belt”
A rideshare driver has the right to refuse or end early any passenger trip except for reasons protected by discrimination law.
This type of passenger definitely exists and are more likely to get driving after midnight when the pickup is from a “party” part of town.
As a driver I always open a support ticket if I refuse a ride for the reasons in the driver’s example #5.
I believe this type of passenger is more likely to “massage” the truth if they choose to report my actions… I want my professionally-written, sober description of what happened to be available to the rideshare company support resources.
Then the “A lot of power for a platform” driver’s story says:
“That is it.”
The driver says they are listing the only reasons they cancel trips but in each case it’s not logical to believe Uber support would have deactivated the driver if these were the only reasons?
So, I’m wondering what are other reasons this driver might be cancelling enough trips to be deactivated by Uber?
Can Driver Cancel “Too Short” Trips?
My passengers have told me their past drivers have canceled their trip because the driver said it was: “Too short.”
I’ve also had passengers tell me they had drivers cancel because their trip was: “Too long” or the driver did not want to complete their trip “and end up stuck on the other side of town.”
Of course, I have no way of knowing if “A lot of power…” driver cancelled a lot of trips (as example) because they were: “Too short.”
Some drivers call every passenger immediately after accepting a trip request and ask the passenger where they are going. This is a violation of the contract terms and conditions drivers have with Uber/Lyft/etc.
I get it… it would be nice if rideshare drivers could complete only the trips they wanted to complete… and since drivers can legally refuse any trip (except for legally-defined discrimination) then arguably drivers have this right.
On the other hand, it’s logical for the TNCs to think about the passenger’s experience and Uber/Lyft/etc. goal to capture as much passenger business as they can in the competitive rideshare transportation market.
Uber/Lyft/etc. have to balance two very different customers… passengers and drivers.
If a lot of passengers report they were turned down by the same driver because the trip was too short then Uber/Lyft/etc. may make the business decision that a given driver is giving too many passengers a bad experience and therefore hurting the company’s brand and bottom line.
My mental filter with “A lot of power…” is we can’t know precisely why Uber disconnected this driver… we only know that the listed reasons the driver gave for cancellations don’t add up.
Final filter for the “A lot of power…” story, the driver says:
“But this is the power a platform uses? Uber claims passengers are counting on me and I let them down. I should have turned off my app and not accepted the rides. But..I cannot know any of the above until I accept the ride and interact with the passenger.”
Part of this quote is telling…
“Uber claims passengers are counting on me and I let them down.”
“A lot of power…” lists 5 reasons for cancelling as the only reasons he cancels trips but in none of the examples is he letting down the passenger… all five are legitimate reasons to cancel a passenger trip request and are unlikely to result in any negative repercussions from Uber support.
My mental filter says there must be something else going on that “A lot of power…” is not telling us in his story, why else would Uber support tell him he was “letting passengers down?”
The next driver story in the “…getting ripped off” article is simply titled:
“Receipts.”
“Receipts” talks about a change in Lyft’s pay structure:
Change in Lyft Pay Structure
“Lyft dropped their per-mile rate by 33 (THIRTY-THREE!!!) percent. How do they justify it?”
In the market where I drive, Denver, Colorado, Lyft and Uber recently adjusted down the amount I’m paid per mile and adjusted up the amount I’m paid for every minute of each passenger trip.
When this happened I did some math and with the new pay structure I determined that I would earn about $3 less for an airport ride from where I live in a northern suburb… to Denver’s International Airport… and in truth the change in my driver pay structure felt like a pay cut.
In the months that followed the rate change I did not see my average earnings per hour change in a statistically significant way.
I’ve kept track of my earning since my very first passenger trip and over 3-and-one-half years later still keep track of my earnings in a spreadsheet.
I share over two years of my earnings tracking in my Rideshare Earnings Case Study.
One of the most common Lyft and Uber driver complaints I see online is related to earnings. These protests almost always involve a close-up zoom-in on a single aspect of how drivers are paid.
My filter in these cases are my earnings spreadsheets.
Since I started driving in April 2016 Uber/Lyft/etc. have changed the multiple ways I have to earn many times.
Keeping Track of the Changes
Changes have included more financial incentive programs or less financial incentive programs; changes in Surge Pricing; and changes in the amount I am paid for each trip’s mileage and minutes (time to complete.)
Frankly speaking, I don’t understand why every driver isn’t keeping track of their average earnings over time… even drivers who aren’t math geeks like me?!!!
Given the nature of how drivers are paid it only makes sense to keep track of all income and average hourly earnings over time rather than focus in on a single aspect of how drivers are paid?
As example on a night like New Year’s Eve or Saint Patrick’s Day there is likely to be more Surge Pricing Zones in Denver’s “hot spots.” It’s also more likely there will be other financial incentives to encourage more drivers to get out on the road.
At the end of those nights I could easy average over $30 an hour for my time.
Also, true I earn more average income per hour when I get more longer trips in the same day, compared to days where I get more shorter trips and I end up earning average less income for my time.
I know I’m not earning average $30 an hour every time I get out and drive.
I also know I’m not averaging anywhere close to $13 an hour or less when looking at my income over a larger block of time… a week or a month.
Sometimes, usually during a weekday, I’m not getting a lot of trip requests and the ones I get are relatively short.
Sometimes I might spend hours averaging only $13 an hour or less… but only for a small block of time.
What matters most to me (and I think should matter most for every driver) is how much average income per hour I earn over the course of a week/month/year.
My point is it’s easy for a driver’s negative earnings story to focus on a single day of driving; or details of a single trip or handful of trips; or the amount they are paid for each passenger trip’s miles/minutes… but these hyper-focused reports are not a true accounting of what a driver earns over time.
Back to “Receipts” story:
“I don’t know how and why they’re allowed to lie to the government by telling them that they only take up to 26 percent of fares. That’s a blatant lie, one of many lies that I will disprove by attaching receipts.”
“Allowed to lie to the government…” sounds really serious! Except it’s not true.
Under current labor laws the U.S. government is not asking Uber/Lyft/etc. what percentage of a passenger’s fare is paid to drivers and Uber/Lyft/etc. are not required to report this metric.
I have seen news reports where Uber/Lyft/etc. dispute reports from drivers that they are taking on average 50% or more of passenger trip fares.
Only Uber has access to all Uber passenger trip data and only Uber can do the math and report a meaningful number representing the average percentage Uber earns from all passenger fares.
The “Receipts” driver includes examples when “Uber’s cut” is higher than 26% but again focusing in a few examples does not tell the whole story.
The next driver story is simply titled:
“Stay away”:
Sounds scary right? I think that is the referenced article author’s intent by including this Uber driver’s complaint and giving it a scary-sounding title.
“Stay away” sounds like it provides a different, and perhaps more professional story, because the driver states they have personal-transportation experience outside of the rideshare industry:
“I’ve been driving taxis, town cars and shuttle vans for private transportation companies on long Island for 30 years before leaving them and coming to Uber.”
I’m not going to try to dig deeply into “Stay away” driver’s seemingly detailed earnings reports because they simply aren’t professional, fact-based earnings reports… they sound anecdotal… meaning this Uber driver’s complaint is based on best guess at changes in his income.
Detailed Records vs Guesswork
“Last summer I was working 12 hours per night and it was very good actually. I could gross 350 to 400 dollars a night. After gas I could still bring home 300 dollars."
I’ll do the math… $300 divided by 12 hours = $25 per hour after paying for fuel.
“Stay away” driver’s story goes on to say:
“Fast forward to this summer.... I’ve tried working all day for 12 hours I’ve tried working nights for 12 hours I’ve even split up the days so I could do both morning and evening rush hours... I gross on a good day or night 185 to 220 dollars. After gas if I’m lucky 150 to 160 dollars a 12 hour period.”
$220 divided by 12 hours = $18.33 per hour… sounds significant but again this is not a professional, fact-based report… it sounds like one driver talking to another over a cup of coffee.
In this case my mental filter is dismissing my romantic idea there are a lot of drivers out there working 12 hour shifts 6 or even 7 days per week. No doubt these drivers exist but it’s far more likely human beings will exaggerate reality because they are really guessing and are pushing an agenda.
I keep careful track of my hours online ready to accept a passenger trip request… I don’t count food or other breaks… and I know I can be away from my home for 10+ hours but only have 8 hours of time where I was completing passenger trips or online waiting for my next passenger trip.
I’m not willing to fool myself into believing I am “working” more than I really am by estimating my time or counting all my time away from home as “work time.”
Interesting when “Stay away” is talking about what he used to earn… he says: “$350 to $400 per night.”
Then when talking about how his earnings have changed for the worse the numbers are more specific: “$185 to $220 dollars.”
Why not $200 to $250 or $175 to $225?
When anecdotal-sounding reports use numbers that sound very specific I am skeptical.
Again sounds like a conversation over a cup of coffee not a detailed, professional, fact-based report of changes in earnings… and in my opinion sounds like “Stay away” driver’s primary goal (hidden agenda?) is to paint a negative picture and is pulling numbers essentially out of the air in order to support what he is saying.
When I’m reading online reports about the rideshare driving industry one of my mental filters discounts reports that sound more like guesses or estimations.
Here’s what “Stay away” says as reason we should all avoid be rideshare drivers:
“They treat their drivers like shit. We are the backbone of the company. Without us there wouldn’t be an Uber... Long story short... Unless you really have no choice... Stay away from Uber... They’ll bankrupt you.... They’ll destroy your car and they’ll make your life so stressful and hard.”
My filter here is simple.
“Stay away” has made clear he believes the area where he drives is over-saturated with drivers.
Makes sense “Stay away’s” goal would be to discourage more people from signing up to drive?
As I said before most of “Stay away” driver’s story sound like he’s having coffee with a friend telling stories with the intent of discouraging the friend from being a driver.
The article’s final driver story is called:
“One day’s pay.”
This story is hardly worth digging into because the driver presents some fuzzy math suggesting that in a 3-hour driving shift the driver believes they lost $1.85…
But to be fair let’s take a look… here’s part of what this driver says:
“I can either consider my operating costs at 10 cents per mile for just gas. However, my car payment, insurance and gas cost 40 cents per mile.”
Forty cents per mile could be a pretty good estimate… but the driver doesn’t say what kind of vehicle he drives; how much his car payment is; or if his driving background means he pays a lot for his insurance?
In other words, as readers there is no way for us to determine if 40 cents per mile is an accurate estimate; or a guess; or the result of his business decisions what kind of vehicle to use and for that matter if it makes sense for him to be a driver at all?
Using the step-by-step process to estimate full vehicle expenses for any vehicle as presented in my book: Driving for Uber and Lyft - How Much Can Drivers Earn?
I know that my 2006 Toyota Prius costs $0.20 per mile to own and operate.
I do not have a car payment or leased vehicle payment eating up a lot of my rideshare driving income.
“One day’s pay” driver’s 40 cents a mile could be some kind of educated guess but as readers we have no way of knowing.
The filter I apply to this story is the reality it’s not possible to give an accurate reflection of rideshare driving looking only at “one day” which was in reality in “One day’s pay” story was only 3 hours of driving.
During these 3 hours “One day’s pay” reports he averaged $8.05 per hour.
“One day’s pay” also doesn’t say if this is typical pay in his experience or a worst-case story.
I know if my average gross income per hour over any meaningful amount of time was anywhere near $8 an hour… I wouldn’t be a rideshare driver I’d be doing something else for income.
“One day’s pay” also doesn’t say where he lives… or what time of day he drove… or for that matter any meaningful detail about the 3 hours he was online available to accept and complete passenger trips.
Like the New York story (“From a veteran”) this driver could be located in an isolated community with a small population… this kind of detail matters when a reader filters through rideshare driving “news” stories.
I have no doubt I could come up with plenty of 3-hour time slot examples which would sound like I was grossly underpaid.
I could also find 3-hour time slots where my average gross income was well over $30 per hour.
Again, the only way to give accurate accountings of rideshare driving income is to keep careful track of time spent online available to accept and complete passenger trips and divide amount of income earned by the number of hours.
The results become more interesting with more data… a full 8-hour day’s income is more interesting compared to 3 hours… and with a week/month/year of data a single driver’s income experience becomes more meaningful…
Meaningful income information is helpful for people thinking about becoming a rideshare driver or doing something else to earn income.
The article’s author end’s the piece saying:
“Thanks to everyone who wrote in.”
Not the first time I’ve seen the results of a request from an online “news” source for rideshare drivers send in their “bad” stories and then the “news” source uses the driver’s stories to write a “news” article which makes being a rideshare driver sound like something no one should choose to do.
My final mental filter for this blog post…
I discount the entire article referenced for this blog because the author did not include a single positive story from a rideshare driver.
Hit Piece on Rideshare Driving
I believe this shows with action the author either requested only “bad” stories from drivers or had no intention of writing an article that even tried to give an unbiased reporting of driver’s experiences… it appears the reporter’s goal was to tell only one side… and a poorly-supported negative side.
In the U.S. hundreds of thousands of people choose to be rideshare drivers and complete millions of rideshare passenger trips every day.
If 100% of drivers or even more than 50% of those drivers were having only negative experiences, then it’s not logical to believe they would continue to be rideshare drivers?
Given Uber and Lyft launched their businesses over 10 years ago and have been available in most large U.S. cities for at least 5 years it simply not logical to believe most drivers are having bad experiences with the amount of income they are able to earn… if this were true there would not be sufficient drivers for the every-growing number of passenger trip requests.
What does all this negativity tell us about being a rideshare driver?
Certainly not much that would help us be more successful drivers as I have documented in my book How to Be a Lyft and Uber Driver – The Unofficial Driver’s Manual.
There have been many recent negative articles I could have used to write this blog… I chose this one because it was rich with stories in driver’s own words rather than cut-and-pasted excerpts from stories which always make me wonder if only the negative content was published.
If you made it to the end of this blog post I hope you are now better able to filter for yourself the negative rideshare driving “news” reports and Uber driver complaints in online driver forums you read… and that you will be better able to determine for yourselves if what you are reading is really “news” or something else?