My Best Uber Driver Advice
#16
Levi Spires, Uber Driver
I know, we’d love for there to be a secret. We all hear the stories of the guy that averages $100 an hour but he won’t share where he parks. Or maybe we see the screen shots of people with extreme payouts for a ride or weekly payout on social media. How did they do it? Have they found a way to make money that no one else has? Maybe, but I doubt it.
My advice: drive as often as you can.
That's it, my number one tip. The more you drive and have the Uber app on, you will make more money. And it is not just total money, but your average hourly wage will increase.
Let me explain.
First and foremost, Uber compensates drivers more the more trips you complete. For example, the weekly quests increase per ride the more trips you complete. Someone who signs up for only 20 trips will get significantly less per trip than someone who signs up for 80 trips. It's in Uber's best interest to have as many drivers online as possible, so they pay drivers for that time.
The more you're online, the more trips you'll take, which means more tip opportunities. Trips are like a roll of dice, and tips are like rolling a 1. The more you roll the dice, the more chances you'll get a 1. Sometimes tips can be significant, like $20 for one trip, but it's hard to get those tips if you only are briefly online.
Driving more often, you will learn about your market. You'll know where the surges happen when people want more rides, even when not to be online. There are so many variables to each market it's difficult for a driver from another market to tell you what to do to make the most money. The best way to know your market is to drive it.
The more you drive, you'll get more earning opportunities, more tips, and learn about your market. I imagine Lyft and other gig workers are the same. Gig apps need their available workers online as often as possible, and it makes sense to compensate the available workers.
If you want to make more per hour, you need to drive as often as possible.