UPDATE September 11, 2017 – Uber settling massive class action lawsuits related to puffery and issues with background searches
Two months ago an old friend of mine started driving part-time for UberX with promises of big extra cash, he hasn’t been so lucky. “Money was OK” he said, “but business was getting slower and profits harder to come by.”
A week or so later, I noticed an odd trend developing (maybe because I was looking for it). UberX was hiring all over the United States! I began to see their advertisements for drivers plastered all over job boards and email alerts across the U.S from Spokane to Newark.
Why the hell would they be hiring if business was slowing for the drivers?
“Make $600 this weekend driving your own car,” proclaim the ads. “The average driver makes over $50,000 per year, but some are making $100k+!” i saw touted in several press releases from the San Francisco based company.
I remember thinking about the economy as a whole and if it could be possible for demand to be increasing enough where cabbies are making as much as second and third year attorneys.
But is UberX really that good for the drivers and the passengers? Are they really the latest and greatest game changer for the industry or dangerous way to save a buck?
Uber Upsetting Industry
Uber has been undercutting limos, cabs and even themselves to gain business. They launched their UberX service where anyone (literally) can become a driver.
At first it seemed like a great idea, but it seems like Uber could find themselves in a bit of a pickle if they haven’t already.
Recently, it seems the most pain is coming from their drivers. Aside from their new $10 per week “data charge” instituted in January, Uber recently raised the cut it takes from the UberX drivers’ fares back to 20%, after lowering it to 5% in January.
In response, hundreds of drivers gathered this week in San Francisco to protest their unfair business practices and I’ve noticed the media and local lawmakers scrutinizing their operations.
It seems Uber is pissing off just about everyone except their users. You have to give them some credit. It takes good marketing to get an entire country to ban your service.
To get the real skinny on Uber I had to know how they worked, instead of writing as an outsider. I really wanted to see what it was like to drive for Uber and get an idea of the experience, the people and of just how much you can make in a major metro area like Dallas, TX, where Uber is almost as popular as Texas BBQ.
No Experience Needed
In full disclosure, I have been driving for 22 years and flying planes since I was 17. I cut my teeth driving in Philadelphia and NYC where real cabbies and drivers take no prisoners. I am what you would call a hyper-aware driver with senses like a hawk and a cautious approach when it comes to any motorized vehicle. Drivers were probably safe in my car (unless of course i’m cut off by some 19 year old texting their BFF).
I am certainly NOT the norm, especially here in Dallas (no offense to my fellow Texas drivers, but man is it scary out here).
Uber didn’t know about my cautious nature because they didn’t ask about my experience, driving record (other than suspensions) or if I understood the rules of the road or knew Dallas city streets like the back of my hand (or at all).
In fact, all I had to do to drive for Uber was have a car with liability insurance, current registration and it had to be in “drivable condition,” whatever that meant.
Just to see if Uber was doing their homework, I selected my 2005 ML350 Mercedes truck with 133,000 miles as my Uber stead. The requirements said that the car had to be 2008 or newer, but they didn’t seem to mind and approved my vehicle for transport.
After taking a picture of an old insurance card, my license plate and my physical drivers license, they sent me a refurbished iPhone 4 and I was on the way to pick up waiting customers.
Uber did made me sit through an 8 minute presentation of how I should conduct business and treat customers before I could drive. The video also mentioned something about keeping my car and myself looking sharp.
Thank goodness for that…
The truth is that I took to the streets to transport other humans with little or no training, supervision or details from my “employer.” My car could have bald tires, missing brake pads and a fuel leak and no one would know unless something happened.
For all they knew, I could have been a stressed out, oxycodone popping 25 year-old manic depressant with a lead foot and little regard for the law! But as long as my car was about 10 years or newer and my license wasn’t suspended I could drive for Uber.
Scary.
Taxi Driver (Sort of)
So after my very short sign-up process, I hit the streets like Robert Dinero, sans Mohawk, trolling the avenues and alleyways of Dallas for fares.
My first fare was a bright young woman taking a trip to the airport (alone). Her and her husband were new to Dallas and she was looking to save a couple bucks and evade the smell of exotic taxi incense by taking UberX.
She started our trip by offering me the story of an Uber driver who strangled his passenger, to which my reply was “and you still use Uber?” She laughed.
The round trip to DFW airport paid me $34, minus the 20% cut to Uber, $2 in airport tolls and about $10 in fuel, I figured I netted about $15 for about an hour’s work, not counting the wear and tear on my car or added risk of a fine from the airport police.
Over the course of the next week or so, I really got to see just how glamorous this job really was.
Typically, I was burning gas and the ozone layer in my car for 30-50 minutes before grabbing a $6.00 fare. The highlight of my week was picking up a 23 year old kid who told me his mom drove my Mercedes but sold it because “it was a piece of shit.”
Good thing I wasn’t sensitive (maybe he just suffers from “affluenza,” apparently it’s a common ailment around my neighborhood).
A few other UberX drivers I befriended only drove at night when “surge pricing” was in effect. Surge pricing can double or triple fares, making their nights more valuable as they shuttle inebriated Dallasites from their favorite watering holes back to home or to the home of the person they met at the bar that night.
I suppose I was a little nervous about having a drunken, slurring, sometimes violent or vomiting indigent in my backseat, so I usually quit around 10pm. ☺
Better off at McDonald’s
As much as I was scared for the folks trusting random drivers with no CDL, passenger endorsements (which are required for livery drivers) or any experience or training, I felt most for the drivers.
While I am sure there are exceptions, many of the drivers are working long, hard hours and beating up their personal cars to barely earn minimum wage.
Uber is changing their model from high-end, reliable happy, stable drivers to a churn and burn system focused on output. The data fees, decreased compensation and lower fares are not only attracting a lower caliber of driver, but also those who can’t afford proper upkeep on their vehicles (or themselves). This puts everyone in danger.
If there’s an accident or someone falls ill in YOUR car, most drivers don’t have the insurance coverage to handle a major catastrophe. If disaster strikes, the impending lawsuit could bankrupt the driver and leave the injured with little or no compensation for care.
The good news is that Uber offers a $1 million insurance policy, but only from the time a driver taps the Uber app to accept a requested ride until the passenger exits the vehicle.
What if an Uber driver injures someone outside of those moments? There are several gray areas as the recent tragic accident and wrongful death suit in San Francisco against Uber are revealing.
I can tell you that I met some very interesting people during my short stint as a taxi driver. My hats’ off to those who drive for a living as it can be tedious work.
If taxi companies would unify, modernize and get their fragmented fare system in order they could easily overtake Uber.
But in Dallas, many taxi (not limo) drivers I have encountered (and I’ve taken many cabs in my day) still don’t know the city, charge outrageous and inconsistent rates (if they turn on the meter at all) and lack the cleanliness and professionalism that Uber is trying to portray.
It’s really a Sophie’s choice sort of situation in which Uber may be the less painful on both your wallet and your comfort.
I do hope that both the taxi industry and companies like Uber can learn from this disruption and better both their industries as well as our experience as riders and the hard working drivers that take us where we want to go.