Uber is an increasingly popular ride referral service that enables smartphone users to request a ride from a fleet of dedicated drivers. With over 40 million active monthly riders, Uber has become a genuine alternative to traditional taxi services (leading thousands of taxi drivers around the world to engage in a great deal of activism to try to stop it). Show
Uber’s riders request over five million rides per day worldwide. Their needs are being met by over 160,000 Uber drivers in over 300 cities in the United States plus over a million more Uber drivers in 75 other countries. Fifty thousand new drivers sign up with Uber every month to meet the increasing demand for rides. If you’ve ever thought that you might like to drive for a living, here is everything that you need to know about how you can become an Uber driver. The reasons that millions of riders have switched from taxis to Uber include the following. Hail a Ride with an AppFor smartphone users who are already accustomed to ordering products and services through their smartphones, the Uber experience should be familiar. You install the Uber app on your Android, iOS, or Windows phone. You create an account on Uber, including a credit card to which all your rides will be charged. When you need a ride, request it through the Uber app. GPS lets Uber know your location, of course. The following video guide will help you install the app and create an account: You Know Your Ride in AdvanceIf there is an Uber driver somewhere nearby, the app will inform you about the cost of the ride, who the driver is, the type of car, and how long you’ll have to wait for the car to arrive. When the car arrives, Uber will send you a text message. User (and Driver!) FeedbackUnlike traditional taxi services, Uber’s rating system provides a significant incentive for their drivers to do their best to satisfy their customers. Uber users get to rate their drivers on politeness, safety, and car cleanliness on a scale from 1 to 5, and they can check the current rating of a particular driver. When rating a trip, a user also has the option of tipping his or her driver via the Uber app. Lower-rated drivers will get fewer tips and probably fewer customers. Interestingly, drivers can also rate users on politeness. Rude or hostile users will probably get poorer service from drivers. Really low-rated drivers or users may even be banned from Uber altogether. Thus, there are incentives for both drivers and riders to make the Uber experience pleasant and satisfying. As long as you can pass Uber’s background check, you shouldn’t find it difficult to become an Uber driver (unless your city imposes some difficult requirements of its own). Install the Uber app on your smartphone and create an account on Uber, including the bank account into which your earnings will be paid. When you’re ready to start picking up passengers, tell the Uber app that you’re going online. Then wait. Before long, the app will notify you about a passenger requesting a ride and show you a map with the passenger’s GPS coordinates. You pick up the passenger and take the person to his or her destination. Aware that the passenger can rate you afterward, you do your best to make the passenger feel welcome, comfortable, and satisfied. You just keep repeating this process, being notified about passengers and taking them to their destinations, until you’re done for the day. Then you tell the Uber app that you’re going offline. You can rate your passengers on their behavior. Uber will deposit the money that you’ve earned into your bank account. To become a successful Uber driver, there are several issues you need to deal with. Let’s look at each of these issues in turn.
So far, we’ve looked at how to become an Uber driver and how to get your first riders. But how can you become truly successful at this job? Let’s see. Manage Your BusinessAs an independent contractor, you effectively have a business that you must manage. You must track your own working hours, earnings, and expenses – Uber doesn’t do any of that for you. As explained earlier, you are responsible for paying your own income taxes and self-employment tax, so you must track all your earnings and expenses and compute your tax deductions from your expenses. (This includes keeping track of every Uber-related mile that you drive.) Fortunately, there are useful smartphone apps and PC applications for such purposes. Or you can just create some spreadsheets. There are spreadsheet templates available to track hours worked, earnings, etc. If you’ve never been an independent contractor before, you may be surprised at how long and complicated your tax return can get. You can’t be earning money as an Uber driver while you’re trying to fill out your tax returns by hand. Instead, consider using good tax-preparation software (such as TurboTax) to speed up the process of filing your tax returns. You can get a tax-preparation software at any Walmart or online (Mike Mozart)Stand Out from the CrowdYou’re competing with your fellow Uber drivers for passengers, tips, and high ratings. You want to show prospective passengers that you’re the best. How highly you’ll be rated by your passengers will partly depend on what they’ll think of you personally. Certainly, you’ll need to be friendly, courteous, helpful, and outgoing, someone who can make a stranger feel comfortable in your vehicle. Also, do something that helps you stand out positively from other Uber drivers. Provide your passengers some extra simple amenities (such as smartphone or tablet chargers, facial tissues, or breath mints) to make them feel more comfortable. Such little touches can mean the difference between receiving a four- or a five- star rating or the difference between a generous tip or no tip. Of course, the purchase of such simple amenities for your customers is tax-deductible too. Impeccably clean interior, nice odor and your smile will usually help you get better ratingsKeep Up with the TimesUber has made a name for itself as a company that tries to stay at the forefront of technology. To fend off restrictive regulations, legislation, or judicial rulings, Uber also tries to respond to various concerns of the communities in which it operates. As a result, there will often be changes to Uber’s operations that you’ll need to be aware of, especially those that may affect your pay. For instance, in some cases, you may be eligible for Uber’s hourly guarantee. Uber may guarantee to pay you a particular hourly rate as long as you meet certain qualifications such as how many trips you accept and how many trips you perform per hour. To decide whether guaranteed pay is worth it, you need to do a good job of tracking your earnings without it. For the longer term, you should familiarize yourself with advances in autonomous (self-driving) vehicles and the extent to which Uber will take advantage of this technology. Uber management has stated their intention to move away from human drivers toward autonomous vehicles, dramatically reducing the cost of a ride. Uber has already performed some preliminary experiments with autonomous vehicles. Here you can see their experiments in Pittsburg: Should that technology prove highly successful for Uber, the employment prospects for Uber driving (and indeed for all ridesharing companies) will be diminished. What are the requirements to drive Lyft in New Jersey?Driver requirements. Valid driver's license — Temporary or out-of-state licenses are also acceptable*. You must be 25 years or older to drive.. Pass a driver screening, which reviews your driving history and criminal background check. ... . Any smartphone that can download and run the Lyft Driver app.. How quickly does Lyft pay?Every Tuesday, earnings are transferred from your Lyft account to your bank account. Most drivers see the deposit in their bank account between Wednesday and Friday of the same week.
How much do most Lyft drivers make?LYFT Driver Salary. Do Lyft drivers get the full amount?Uber & Lyft Commission
Uber and Lyft take 20% of each fare. So a driver is paid 80% of that final fare is $15. Assuming you are able to get another similar ride in the same hour, you have the potential of making up to $30 in an hour, which is certainly a decent hourly rate.
|