7 Things Uber and Lyft Won’t Tell You About Rideshare Driving!

Today’s video is called “What They Don’t Tell You In The Uber And Lyft Commercials.” In this video, I’m going to share with you seven facts, details, things you really need to know if Rideshare driving is going to be your chosen profession.

And stick around because at the end of the video I’ll share with you the number one thing I think every driver needs to know.

Over the last three years, I’ve been a driver for Uber and for Lyft, I’ve done 22,000 rides, actually a little over that and I feel qualified to share with you some things that I think you really ought to know.

1. You’re not going to make as much money as you think.

If you’re like me, you probably got on YouTube, and you found some people just spouting kind of BS saying they’re making thousands and thousands of dollars, and it kind of fills your head up with these unrealistic expectations. I recommend you ratchet down your expectations.

The only way you’re going to know for sure how much money you’re going to make is to go out and drive in your city with your bonuses during the days, and the time that you want to drive. And only then will you have an idea of what you can make. And from there then everything can get better because over time you can try different things. You can ask questions, you can watch videos and learn more and more about driving so that you can improve.

2. Your car will cost more than you think

I recommend if you’re a full-time driver that you lease or rent a car through Uber because you get unlimited mileage and that way you don’t have to worry about depreciation. But in addition to your car payment, you’re also going to have your Rideshare insurance payment. You’re going to need to get a dash cam, you’re going to need to get all kinds of little things for your car, something to hold your phone, supplies, things like that.

Expect that your car is going to cost more than you initially think and then do your homework, put it on a spreadsheet, put out all the expenses, and then you can know for sure what your car is going to cost you.

3. Being your own boss is a blessing and a curse

If you’re highly disciplined, being your own boss is fantastic because you can work really hard, and you’ve got this freedom and flexibility to take off when you want. And that’s something that I really love with this business, that I can work really hard for a few months. And then for example, in two weeks I’m heading off to Paris for one week. That’s something I can do whenever I want to.

But this month I’m really working hard and making lots of videos, and I’m writing articles. I’m driving a lot doing some other things. If you don’t have that discipline, that’s the other side. If you don’t have that discipline you may find these large swaths of time where you’re not working because you don’t have the discipline. It’s a blessing and a curse.

4. You’ll save big on taxes with the mileage deduction

Being an independent contractor will definitely save you money in taxes as a percentage of your revenue. As a Rideshare driver, we get this immense deduction for the miles that we drive, and we drive a lot as Rideshare drivers. So for every mile that you drive, you’re going to get to write off 58 cents.

Let’s say you drove a hundred thousand miles. That would be about 2000 miles a week. That means at the end of the year, you could write off $54,000 right off of your revenue, just only in that kind of deduction with the mileage deduction. We’ve got some huge tax benefits.

5. You will get tired, and you will get bored.

It’s not all peaches and cream. There’re going to be a lot of time where you’re tired because driving six, seven, eight, nine, 10 hours, man, you get a little sore on the body, you got to really work exercise into your schedule, and you will get bored. You’re driving a lot. You’re doing the same thing over and over again.

There’ll be times where you’re going to get this beautiful sunset and there’ll be times every day we’re going to have some amazing passengers, and you get to hear some great stories, or you’re going to laugh really hard. But expect to be bored, expect to be tired just like any other job.

6. There is no future in Rideshare driving

It is a temporary gig. Autonomous vehicles are the future. They’re called AVs. And I recently listened to a really wonderful podcast on Fresh Air, by Terry Gross and she interviewed a guy who’s been in transportation for 50 years, and he shared a lot of information about autonomous vehicles and how they’re coming, truck drivers, drivers, and Rideshare driving, we’re going to be replaced by these cars. So don’t plan on this as a long, long-term career. It’s a short-term career. It’s great while it’s here but don’t set your future around Rideshare driving.

7. Uber and Lyft don’t care about you

Uber and Lyft really don’t care about you and me as drivers. We’re an expense one that they can’t wait to get rid of, and they’re going to do everything that they can to reduce the amount of money that they pay to us. Just recently, I got this little message from Lyft telling me that they changed how they’re paying us per mile and per minute. And they’re making it sound like they’re doing us all a big favor.

But I’ve worked the numbers and on my 45-minute drives on the weekend I’m making now $10 less. On my trips to the airport, I’m now making $3 less. The only place I’m making extra money is if I’m driving all the way across town in heavy traffic. And then I make an extra dollar.

If you go in clear-headed and realize that they’re going to keep changing the game, moving the goalposts in their favor and not our favor, if you know that’s the way it’s going to be, then you’re okay. If you were like me, and you think, “Wow, this is great, they really got my back, “You’re going to be disappointed and disappointed and disappointed again.

Be adaptive!

In summary, the key quality you want to have as a driver is to be adaptive because everything’s changing all the time and as long as your adaptive, and you can always look and see what’s the current situation and what’s the best direction to go, you’re going to be okay.

This is Jay Craduer with the Rideshare Guy. I’m inviting you right now to subscribe to this YouTube channel. It’s a great channel. We put out great content every single week. Be safe out there!