Uber, Lyft Drivers Earning A Median Profit Of $3.37 Per Hour

Seems off, this must be taking into account wear and tear on the vehicle. Most drivers don't care about that bc these jobs are for side cash and temporary.
 
The one biggest factors in the high cost to drivers is the depreciation of value of their car, so if you have a shitty car you make more
 
Lead said:
Uh yea? My first post said I make 21/hr gross and 10/hr net (after taxes and expenses). Theirs said 3.37 net expenses but pretax.

You can easily do the math to see what the MIT think is gross since they provide a revenue/mile, expense/mile and net wage per hour.
Revenue/mile= .59
Expense/mile= .30
Profit/mile= .29
Net Wage(profit)/Hour= 3.37
Miles/Hour= 11.6
11.6 Miles/hr x .59 revenue/mile= 6.84/hr Gross

So the Standford study (who actually has the data) is saying 21/hr gross while the MIT "study" (asking people numbers they aren't tracking well) is saying 6.84/hr gross.

Also keep in mind, I disagree with MIT's expense per mile at .30. I assume the standard mileage rate of .545 which is .245 more than what they have.

So their revenue and expense numbers are pretty bad. Like I mentioned, the only statistic they have pretty accurate but they don't directly say is the miles/hour of 11.6. I just looked at mine and it's 11.68.
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I mentioned it because the gender gap study doesn't account for the Uber service fee while the wage study is speaking only to drivers after that service fee has been removed so that self-reported figures will naturally be 20-25% lower.

Also, the gender gap study is giving the average while the wage study is using a median value. Given that there is a floor on Uber compensation, $0, but no ceiling it's possible that the average number could be much higher than the median. Probably because a few markets could be highly profitable and skewing the averages since high earners will continue driving while the low earners will gradually drop out (which is what the 6 month attrition rate suggests is happening - 2/3 of drivers quit by 6 months).

So I can believe that both numbers are true. The average per hour compensation is $21/hr before all of the expenses, including Uber's cut. But half of the driver's are making less than $4.00 hr with some undetermined percentage (maybe following the 80/20 rule) doing very well, possibly exceeding $15/hr after Uber's cut.
 
PolishHeadlock said:
This.

If the market is oversaturated with drivers then the drivers will quit which will raise the wages
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Exactly. This is a problem that would work itself out if just left alone. Removing eligibility of government benefits would also work to this end as well because that's what allows so many people to work at artificially low rates. Instead of raising minimum wages remove the factors that lead to people working for artificially low rates.
 
Then they should quit.

Then again, this "study" is complete horseshit.
 
Dalarna3 said:
Hey, so I'm just curious -- in your shithole country do they actually check references or is a Juan on the spot enough?
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The government here issues background checks for felonies certificates, you need to bring that and a few other things.

Uber is still shady as fuck.
 
panamaican said:
I mentioned it because the gender gap study doesn't account for the Uber service fee while the wage study is speaking only to drivers after that service fee has been removed so that self-reported figures will naturally be 20-25% lower.

Also, the gender gap study is giving the average while the wage study is using a median value. Given that there is a floor on Uber compensation, $0, but no ceiling it's possible that the average number could be much higher than the median. Probably because a few markets could be highly profitable and skewing the averages since high earners will continue driving while the low earners will gradually drop out (which is what the 6 month attrition rate suggests is happening - 2/3 of drivers quit by 6 months).

So I can believe that both numbers are true. The average per hour compensation is $21/hr before all of the expenses, including Uber's cut. But half of the driver's are making less than $4.00 hr with some undetermined percentage (maybe following the 80/20 rule) doing very well, possibly exceeding $15/hr after Uber's cut.
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I assumed they were showing after service fee. Did they state anywhere if it was post or pre service fee? That's kinda surprising to me if it's pre.

The other thing I would be surprised at is if I'm making above average fares at this point. There is some strategy to doing it but not enough where I see people losing out of way more wages then myself. For example, the are boost rates at certain times of the day and week. I usually do two weekday evening shifts and a day shift during Saturday or Sunday. These aren't close to the most opportune times. I guess the best indicator would be showing us trips/hr because I've pretty much come to the point where it's just over 2/hr. If others are somehow not pulling that off, I could see a decrease. I'm only starting to find areas which there are shorter ride requests. I do rideshare and deliveries and you'd be surprised that some people order food from a place two blocks away to have it delivered.

15/hr seems low but I guess Pittsburgh could be a profitable area to do it in. I just always thought we were one of the smaller markets.
 
Average is a misleading statistic. I take Uber a lot in the DC area and I have talked to a few drivers about how money they make. All three said they pulled around a grand a week. They also recommened trying it.

What I didnt ask them is if it was 1 grand gross or 1 grand net. That latter is not too shabby. Not 6 figures but certainly a livig wage.
 
alanb said:
I asked my Lyft driver last night how much he makes an hour. He told me he averages 15 dollars working for Lyft which is to be fair a different company.
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I'm highly skeptical of this survey's result.
 
1st that’s probably bs

Nobody gonna stay doing that job if they are actually losing money.

Most Uber drivers do it as side gig n work at peak hours when the price is doubled or tripled.

Also if some are truly not make money, they can just get out n market regulates itself that way .

N the taxi medallion thing is such a crap as well.

If I want to turn my car into a cab, I need to purchase existing medallion from someone else which is not affordable for most ppl

With those medallions you create artificially low supply, which increases the demand n the price rise.
 
sangreporsangre said:
Eh I'm a little skeptical of this. At least with Uber here in Toronto, not sure about other places. Maybe this is just for the US. But why the hell would people quit their jobs to drive for Uber full-time if they're making such a low wage? Because I've talked to quite a few drivers who have told me that's just what they've done. I mean how is Uber still around if 1/3 of the drivers are losing money doing it?? There's some Hollywood accounting going on here, or it's a case of "lies, damn lies, and statistics".
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Ditto. I work uber nights/weekends in a college town and I clear $12-16/hr after factoring out 20% for taxes plus fuel
 
luckyshot said:
Quick someone tell me about the wonders of the unregulated market and how competition works for everybody.

And while, you're at it, make sure to dump on the medallion system that allowed cabbies to make a living for generations.
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo...g-a-median-profit-of-3-37-per-hour-study-says
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Well see, how it works is, the prices are lower for consumers, and that is all that matters.

Wages don't count in the equation.

Source - modern economists
 
So This may all change soon the .ca supreme court just ruled in a way that will require uber to treat drivers like employees
 
A cousin of mine drove for Uber. He was making about $4/hr after I ran the numbers.

Of course he would never believe that.

Most über drivers think gas is their only expense.

What about depreciation on your vehicle?

Ummmm....duhh.........what's that?

They do not understand that money in hand does not always equal profit and that you can be accruing expenses that haven't been paid for yet.

Ask any uber driver how much they make and they will usually tell it to you like this..... I made $xxx yesterday and only had to pay $xx in gas.

I spent three years volunteering and doing taxes for low income earners. I did lots of taxes for people who where treated as contractors and performed jobs that included their own car.

My conclusion is in almost every single case they hardly made any money because the companies put all the expenses on them and do not compensate them for it. Most of these companies will even brag to the workers about how lucky they are that they now get to deduct their expenses. They tell them it is like getting this stuff for free!!!! Yes, most of these people actually believe that.

Then the worker is all happy when I tell them they don't have hardly any taxes to pay. They get all happy about this. Forget trying to explain to them they aren't paying any taxes because they didn't make any money. NO way they will understand this.

It is like one big scam. The workers aren't smart enough to figure it out before hand and the employers are very vague with it all and usually lie about how much money they will make. They advertise the job using Gross income as if that is going to be your profit.

Usually the worker doesn't get it until they have basically spent the equity in their car, accrued a bunch of expenses and it all catches up to them.

The whole thing is very shady.
 
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@panamaican did u read the .ca supreme court case that ruled on indecent contractors it seems to me uber needs to consider them employees soon
 
BEER said:
I don't do Uber or Lyft but the best way to make the gig economy work for you is to buy a car specifically for the gig.

I drive for Amazon Flex and I use a 2001 Jetta. The car is worth maybe 800 dollars, and at this point, it's paid for itself. But Uber and Lyft are a scam for people driving new cars.
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what are your thoughts on working amazon flex? Im trying to make some extra cash.
 
oldshadow said:
also depreciation happens anyway.
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LOL

If your car only lasts 180k miles and lets say 90k of those miles happens while you are driving for uber, isn't that 90k miles of use you won't be able to use the car for your own personal use, but you still had to pay for it?

That has a huge cost and is an expense you will eventually pay for.

Depreciation is the number one expense most uber drivers don't understand and it is also one of the largest.

The guys at uber corporate must just laugh their asses off about this stuff.
 
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Fuck Uber scooter and cyclist, they’re ruining the roads.
 
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