5 Things That Uber & Lyft Won’t Tell Drivers Before They Sign Up

What do you think new drivers need to know before they sign up to drive, and how does that line up with what Uber and Lyft tells them?

It’s interesting to look at the gap between the realities of rideshare and the messaging we get from Uber & Lyft advertisements. Dustin over at Dustin is Driving on Youtube recorded a great video that covers the 5 things Uber and Lyft don’t tell new drivers, and it should help newer drivers discover the info Uber & Lyft left out of the TV commercials.

What’s going on all my new, current and future rideshare divers out there? Welcome back to the channel. Today’s video, I’m going to keep it 100 with you and tell you the five main things you need to know before you ever even consider becoming an Uber and Lyft driver. Because guess what? Let’s face, those commercials you’ve seen, are just BS and lies.

You will not get rich quick

I know you’ve seen the commercials that say, “Make 35, $45 an hour by just simply turning on the app and the trips and the money’s just going to rain down from up above like unicorns.” Guess what? That’s a negative Ghost Rider. It’s just not going to happen. The only way you’re going to figure out what works best for you, is to get off your butt, turn that app on and learn by trial and error. Okay, YouTube channels, they can be helpful information, like this one, to give you kind of hints on where to go and the best times to go. But the only way to know for sure, is to actually do it yourself.

Now also, if you’ve seen YouTube channels out there, people making these thousands of dollars, guess what? They actually put in the work and effort and hustle to make that money. Plus, they’re driving like 50 to 70 hours a week which, nothing wrong with that. You want to get your money? You got to put the work in. But please, don’t compare what you see somebody else making in a different market to yours. The rates are different, everything’s different, circumstances are different. So don’t do that, otherwise you’re just going to get upset, get a headache, get discouraged and want to quit.

You are not an employee – You are a contractor

As a driver, you an independent contractor. As such, you are responsible for rideshare insurance, because Uber and Lyft’s insurance just aren’t enough. So if you don’t have that, you’re rolling the dice on something bad happening. Please, check your state out and see what’s best for you. But this is always good to have. Your own taxes, they don’t file taxes for you, okay? There will be a 1099 and you’ll have to file your own taxes. So make sure you’re putting 20, 30% away each time you get paid every week so that way you’re not screwed come tax time.

Maintenance, everything you have to do to your vehicle is on you. Don’t be messaging Uber and Lyft and expecting them to send you a check for some new tires, some brakes, your car washes, new transmission, engine. That is all on you.

Related: Five Ways Drivers Can Minimize Expenses

And being an independent contractor, you also have to worry about being deactivated. They will deactivate you just like that. Because, guess what? Uber and Lyft care more about the customer than they do the drivers. It doesn’t matter if you’ve had 5,000 or 6,000 trips, you’re a five star driver. One false report, and you can be gone just like that. So please, don’t put all your eggs in one basket, have a backup plan. Never quit your day job to just to become and Uber and Lyft driver full-time and always have a backup plan, always.

There is no training for this!

There is no official training for any of this, and Uber and Lyft support suck. The only way you’re going to figure out things is by checking out other YouTube channels like this one so you can actually figure out what you should do if someone leaves something in your vehicle. Someone get sick and puke, you need to know how to go about these procedures to actually collect your cleaning fees.

You’re going to have people that want to shove more passengers in your vehicle than you have seatbelts, parents without booster seats and car seats for their children, unaccompanied minors. Unless you read the TOS, you don’t even know that you’re not supposed to pick up anybody under 18, okay. They don’t tell you these things, you actually have to do research yourself or figure it out by trial and error. Thankfully, you got me here. Hopefully you won’t have to worry about much of that, just check out the channel, I got all the tips you need.

Editor’s note: Maximum Ridesharing Profits is great training!

You need to provide your own supplies

Don’t just think you’re going to hold your phone while your driving because you’re going to get your rating drop, drop, drop pretty quick. You’re going to need a phone mount for your phone, which makes it nice and safe. Dash cams, always highly recommended so if any kind of incidents happen, at least you have proof to show the cops and Uber and Lyft if they decide to take the footage. Because, guess what? They don’t have to take the footage. You’re going to need a phone charger for yourself because running these app will drain your battery very quickly.

And you will need puke bags and buckets because you don’t know who your picking up, what they’ve been doing all day. They might get sick, medical issues, you don’t know any of that. So please have that stuff because guess what? You don’t want to deal with those cleaning feed to even begin with because wiping somebody else’s puke is not fun and that stench does not go out for quite a while.

And also have cleaning supplies just in case somebody does get sick. A lint roller if you have pick up some kind of service animal, that way you can get rid of the hair real quick. Some kind of spray, OSEM because you never know, people stink really bad a lot of time or they smell like marijuana or simple body odor.

Related: How Drivers Can Protect Themselves With The Cleaning Fee

These jobs aren’t for everybody

If you can’t handle anything that I’ve just said beforehand, or drunks getting into your vehicle, being asked the same questions every day, day in and day out. Questions such as: If you like this or that, what you do, what’s your favorite story, how long you’ve been a driver. If you can’t handle dealing with people and you’re not a people person, this isn’t for you.

And some people may ask, after all this, why would be an Uber and Lyft driver? Because it could be fun. You never who you’re going to meet. If you do other things like sell t-shirts or have other companies, you could advertise yourself, okay? It’s an easy way to meet extra clients. And let’s face it, bill still need to be paid no matter what. So this is great way to make some extra money.

Well if you’ve enjoyed this video, it’s been helpful to you, please make sure you give it a thumbs up. As always, check the description below for extra help, information and tips. You keep doing your thing. Likes or comment, subscribe. Don’t take crap from anybody. Remember, these are your vehicles, not Uber and Lyfts. Stay safe and, as always, Uber on.