Why Driving for Uber and Lyft are no longer worth the effort

About four or five years ago, Uber was profitable for rideshare drivers. Today, drivers have experienced both companies taking an excess of up to 56% of the fare. Uber claims to take 25%, however ask any member of UberPeople.net and many will show you proof that number is a gross misrepresentation of what rideshare companies actually do take. Drivers are not “employees”, they are ICs or Independent Contractors, yet both Uber and Lyft set the rates drivers are paid. They use their discretion as to what sort of information a driver is “allowed” to see, prior to accepting a ride. If drivers are not employees, shouldn’t it be up to them to set the rate and to decide whether or not they are willing to accept a ride? I believe we should be allowed to do these very things because we are currently not being compensated nearly enough for the shit we have to put up with. See the picture below of a waybill from a ride I gave to a passenger. As you can see, Uber received only ten cents LESS than what I received. This is not 25% of the fare that Uber claims to only take.

This is an actual waybill showing the amount the rider pays ($6.62), the amount Uber received ($3.23) and the amount the driver received ($3.33)

Neither company pays for gas, maintenance, tires, vehicle registration renewal or any other costs required for operating a vehicle. If a driver isn’t making at least $1.00 per mile, one needs to ask, is driving for a rideshare company really worth it?

Consider rider behavior as well. Some riders do not understand that they are morally and ethically bound to be respectful while traveling in someone’s car. There is a TOS agreement that every rider and driver agrees to when they sign up and download the app on their phones. Sadly, many people feel that they do not have to abide by the TOS and it is for this reason, that many drivers have utilized dash cams as a record of all interactions with riders. Drivers do it for their own safety. They do it because there are riders who try to get out of paying a fare. They do it because there are parents willing to put their minor kids in a strangers car and let them be taken off to school, trusting that the rideshare driver will get them there and forcing the driver to become a babysitter – even though doing this is against the TOS for both Uber and Lyft. Drivers have dash cams because riders just simply cannot be trusted to abide by the TOS they agreed to and because drivers do not get paid enough to do this dangerous job without some sort of surveillance.