Why Are Some Uber and Lyft Drivers Sleeping in Their Cars?!

Why does one driver drive in San Francisco and make $30 an hour minimum and live in a nice place, another driver only makes $20 an hour and lives in his car? This video is a tale of two drivers.

And stick around, because at the end of the video, I’m going to share with you what I think is the biggest difference between these two drivers, and what’s the biggest determinant of your profitability as a driver.

A Tale of Two Drivers

Hey everybody, it is Jay Cradeur with the Rideshare Guy, and today we’re going to talk about two drivers. I’m one of the drivers. I’ve been driving in San Francisco for the better part of four years. And the other driver I learned about on an article that I saw on the internet about some guy who was driving in San Francisco, one of the best markets in America, only making $20 an hour and living in his Toyota Prius. And we got some feedback from our readers who said, well, what’s the truth?

Why do Some Drivers Sleep in Their Car?

Let’s break this down. Why do people sleep in their car? Well, in the case of the driver we’ve been talking about, it’s because he’s not making enough money. But for most people who sleep in their car in San Francisco, they do it to reduce their expenses. They come from Sacramento. They come from Fresno. They come from Bakersfield or Los Angeles. They come for three or four days and rather than spend the extra $50 a night to get an Airbnb, they’re just going to sleep in their car, focus on driving, putting in like 12 to 14 hours a day.

There are places in San Francisco where you can sleep in your car, no problem. And get up, usually they go to a health club to do a little workout, get a little shower in, and then hit the road again. But it’s by choice, it’s by choice.

What are the real earnings in San Francisco?

Back in my heyday, I could make $40 an hour. This is before expenses. We had some fat bonuses. It was before Uber and Lyft cut the per mile rate. But even now, even with those changes, I can still make $30 an hour easy. Here I’m showing you right here is a screenshot from last week where I did 20 hours in Sacramento and 20 hours in San Francisco. And even with Sacramento rates, I was still able to make $33 an hour.

But let’s look at the big difference that $20 an hour versus $30 an hour really makes. So what you’re seeing right here is $20 per hour for 60 hours. Because our driver sleeping in his car said he works 60 hours, makes $20 an hour, so he’s only making $5,000 per month.

Now look at the difference between $20 and $30. A driver who makes $30 an hour working those same amount of hours, right, is going to bring in $7,500. That’s a $2,500 difference. That’s a huge difference. That’s the difference between just sleeping in your car and paying $2,000 rent for a nice, you know, a one bedroom in San Francisco.

Rents are very expensive in San Francisco, but even $2,000 can get you a nice room to call your home, and then you could sleep really well at night. Which of course will help you to maintain your high earnings.

How to Bump Up Your Earnings

For anyone out there who’s in San Francisco and you’re only making $20 an hour, I made a list of some really important things that you can do to bump up your earnings. And this applies to anyone in any market.

Become a student of your city and drive accordingly

Drive heavy on the weekends, the morning rush, and the afternoon rush. That’s when you’re going to get the most business. As much as possible, drive long trips at 80 miles per hour to maximize your revenue. Even though the per mile rate has been reduced, that’s still the way you’re going to get the most money per hour. If you’re a full time driver, rent a car rather than driving your own. This will just reduce your expenses.

Avoid the staging lot

Now this doesn’t apply to all markets, but it certainly does apply to San Francisco where you can leave the airport within 10 minutes, be in a good area, and start getting rides again. Why sit in a staging lot for half an hour to 45 minutes to an hour for a ride that you don’t even know how long it’s going to be or in what direction it’s going to take you? And then the last tip is analyze your numbers. Know where your dollars are coming in and where they’re going. All right?

So there’s just some good, just simple basic rules to help you bump up your earnings.

What’s the single biggest determinant between a $20 per hour driver and a $30 per hour driver? Mindset. It’s how you attack the problem, right? Someone like me, if I were making $20 an hour and I knew other people were making 30 to 35 to 40 dollars an hour, exactly what I did is I learned everything I could so that I could get better so that I could start making that kind of money.

Or your mindset could be, I make $20 an hour, that’s the best I’m going to do, so I’m going to sleep in my car. It’s kind of like that’s all it takes is the difference in how you approach the problem and then taking action to resolve the issue.

It’s all about your mindset

If you want to make it better, set your goal for something higher, better, that you want in your life, and then go for it. Whether it’s going from $20 an hour to 30 to 35 dollars an hour. I don’t know what it is for you, but what is your plan B? I guess ultimately this video is about striving to do better.

This is Jay Cradeur with the Rideshare Guy. You all go out and have a great day.