24 Hours as an UberX Driver

This is classic content – one of the most popular posts from the Jetsetter’s Homestead. It was written shortly after UberX first came to Dallas/Fort Worth.

I have been known to do some crazy things to satisfy my curiosity.  I also like to try new things. As a result, it has brought me some interesting adventures along the way.  The latest of those ideas has been signing up to be an UberX driver!

Let me explain

I’ve always been the entrepreneurial type.  If there is a way to monetize something, I’m going to at least look into it.

As a teenager, I figured out how to control the babysitting cartel in my neighborhood.  When I was away at college, I *may* have engaged in a little bit of almost-legal bootlegging using my military dependent ID to purchase alcohol in bulk and resell it at inflated town prices.  Then in my 20s, I took advantage of any side sales or marketing jobs offered to me to make a bit of quick cash.  In my 30s, I turned to the corporate side of things but always kept my fingers in a few separate ventures along the way.  And now, I’m back to the lure of extra cash.

Blogging has been my new hobby.  To keep up that volume over the last couple of months, I’ve been spending some of my leisure time writing. This has taken the place of hitting the wine bar with my girlfriends or watching television. I also got to thinking about monetization.  I don’t want to fully go the traditional route and blog full-time. With mobile technology, I could be making something out of the time I spend sitting on my iPad jotting notes.

And thus I signed up to be an UberX driver

The appeal is high – I can work when I want, where I want.  I can sit on the patio at Starbucks. Or read on my own front porch until a call comes in.  In between, I can edit blog posts, look for new content ideas, and answer emails.  And it has an immediate payoff – important to me, as my 1924 Craftsman bungalow is in dire need of some foundation repairs, and I really don’t want to dig into my savings or my travel funds to pay for them!

So it began 

I completed the short online application, agreed to a background check, and submitted copies of my license, registration, and personal insurance.  Within a couple of days, I was approved, and Uber had a phone call scheduled for me so I could start driving.  (side note – they also had a local office where I could pick up a phone, but the one they sent via FedEx arrived sooner than I had the opportunity to get one)

Fort Worth is a vibrant and rapidly growing city (one of the fastest growing in the US, in fact).  Our universities are adding students, and our population grows every month.  Many of those coming here come from cities with a walking culture or readily accessible public transportation.  The relative lack of both has made Uber an instant hit.

Drivers complete a short (less than 20-minute) online video training that covers how to use the app, service expectations, and what to do in certain situations (a no-show passenger, someone who wants to smoke in your vehicle, an incident involving damage or other irregularities, etc.).  The website also includes a long FAQ that addresses many of my questions, including liability.  It turns out the background check was for good cause – Uber covers both me AND my vehicle, as well as the passengers I pick up, should something happen.  It applies any time I’m signed into the app and accepting fares, a nice reassurance!

So yesterday evening, I started my blogging/driving adventure.

Here’s how it went down

Around 5:00, I head to get my car washed… I’ve got to look good for the fares, and my 2012 Volvo needed a bath and some vacuuming.  At 5:15, I got the first ping on my Uber-issued iPhone.  The ping goes out to the closest driver based on what service the passenger selects – UberX, Uber Black, and Uber SUV are available in our market – and the corresponding driver has 15 seconds to accept the fare.

Fare 1 was right around the corner from the car wash, so it was a no-brainer to say yes.  Of course, the second I did, I immediately had a moment of panic as I realized that when accepting a fare, you have NO idea where that passenger may be going.  I committed at 6:30 p.m., and if he were headed to the airport, I definitely wouldn’t make it back in time.  Fortunately for me, he just needed to get to dinner downtown.  We had a nice chat about it. I dropped him at a private club and switched my availability back to “on” – I was feeling the high as I completed my first fare!  Lesson one – only drive when you have a time cushion in your schedule, just in case!

Luckily, Fare 2 was right around the corner at a downtown hotel, a few minutes later.  This family of three just needed to go four blocks to a dinner reservation.  Dad said he was ready to walk, but mom and daughter didn’t want to do it in heels with 100-degree heat!  Easy peasy.  Uber’s fare structure guarantees I make a minimum amount no matter how short the drive is. Thus, it was totally worth my time.  I realized I needed to make my event, so I switched off my phone and stopped driving.  But easy money for 30 minutes of work.

I take my first break.

I switched my phone back on around 8:30 p.m. after attending my event and grabbing a bite to eat.  Fare 3 was three minutes from where I grabbed dinner. I swung by their house in a neighborhood adjacent to my own. Then I drove them down to a popular nightlife area.  No fares popped up in the vicinity, so I drove to a place to wait.

As it was, I was near a local organic ice cream joint I love, so I switched off my phone. I grabbed a cup and caught up on some blogging in their parking lot.  As I finished my last bite, I switched it back on. Fare 4 was right around the corner and ready to go.  They’d had a date night and left the car at home since UberX is so inexpensive.

I headed back to my own porch to work for a bit. Fare 5 in my neighborhood was ready for a ride about 20 minutes later, so I closed my iPad, jumped in the car, and went.  They needed to get to a popular nightlife area, and it was a quick ride.  Lesson two – be ready to drop everything when the fare comes!

Waiting to chase a surge

I could see that surge pricing was kicking in (Uber’s way of compensating drivers by charging more for rides in areas with more riders than drivers at specific points in time), and I wanted to get to where the surge was starting.  But I also didn’t want to leave in an empty car.  So I sat for a bit and worked, but no one was leaving that area at the moment.  In retrospect, if I had gone to the local university, I could have probably made two trips during that time.  Lesson three – learn where surges are likely to occur and position accordingly!

No worries for me, though, as Fare 6 was finishing a late dinner nearby. That group of three gentlemen needed to go to a downtown hotel, and I got them there quickly.  Alas, there weren’t many folks leaving downtown at that point – it was slightly past the end of the dinner hour. It was not late enough for bar goers to be headed home yet.  Plus, with the surge that had just occurred, all the cars were now downtown cruising for a fare.  Lesson four – supply/demand can ebb and flow dramatically, especially after a surge!

Time to call it a night?

As I had been going since 7 a.m., I decided to call it quits even though the night was still young. It was 11 p.m., and the rides would no doubt be picking up as the night wore on.  Lesson five – the hours may not be the most desirable, but the most money can be made when most people are asleep!

I pulled into my driveway and was reaching for the app when Fare 7 popped up.  It was on my street, a mere two blocks away. I said, “Why not?!” and accepted it.  It was a great opportunity to meet a neighbor, and I figured I might get a return fare.

I did, a couple of minutes later, in the same location I had just left.  Turning around, I pulled up and parked. I waited for Fare 8 to arrive, as Uber recommends giving patrons 5 minutes before calling to find them.  After the recommended time had passed, I called the patron to find out where she was, and she hung up on me.  I then sent a text – no response.  After another five minutes, I canceled the ride. This is something Uber allows drivers to do for a list of specific reasons, a fare no-show being one,  UberX drivers are still compensated for the ride in the event of a no-show, so my time was not wasted.

At this point, it was 11:30 p.m., and I was sleepy, so I drove home, app still on – just in case.  I made it to the driveway, switched it off, and headed to bed.  If I’d felt like it, I could have headed back out as the bars stay open until 2 a.m. There were no doubt plenty of rides to be had later.  Lesson six – rest up! 

Back at it again

This morning, I was curious about what the traffic might be like. After I wrapped my 9 a.m. bikini wax and parked at my usual Starbucks, I switched on the app again.  It buzzed almost immediately – it turns out there was a mid-morning surge!  I picked up Fare 9 at the apartments directly across the street. This fare I took her to her job working on the gubernatorial campaign near downtown.  I logged right back in after that fare, just in case the surge came back.  Lesson seven – be in the right place at the right time, even if by accident.

It didn’t, but Fare 10 was a couple of blocks away at the same hotel where I dropped Fare 6 last night.  He had decided not to drive, spent the night at the hotel, and now needed a ride home.  As a result, I netted the largest fare of the 10.  He lived a bit further out than any of my previous 9. Luckily it right around the corner from somewhere I needed to run an errand anyway. I would have spent the gas and time driving there later in the day. Lesson eight – keep an errand list handy and use out-of-the-way drives as a chance to maximize that time.

At the end of the day

At the end of all of this, I put 25 miles on my car (some of it mileage I would have anyhow as I combined it with errands or places I needed to be) and netted $69.38.

The time was ultimately time I would have spent sitting around watching television, surfing the internet, or doing other light tasks. I was still able to do the latter in between fares, which meant that the net of about four hours of my leisure time was over $17 an hour.

I also met really interesting people. It might be because people here are just super friendly, but I ended up having conversations with everyone I drove, and half of them climbed into the front seat instead of the back (as I figured they all would). They were all people I’d be happy to see again – as a paid fare or even in a social situation. Heck, a couple of the solo guys I drove were really cute, too!

Will I do it again?

While I don’t see being an UberX driver as a major (full-time) activity, I do see it as something I do for 5 to 10 hours each week and could put more time into for a quick cash infusion.  It’s easy to tie in the time with my blogging and my web-based volunteer time.  Also, with a significant university and young professional population in my own neighborhood, it’s a value proposition to do this during times I’d be sitting on my front porch anyway (minus my usual adult beverage) and provides an interesting way to stay engaged in the larger community.  And the upside is always knowing where the latest hot spots for dining and nightlife are, thanks to firsthand reviews!

The prospect of being a safe ride to others also factors highly for me.  Over half the passengers I had were using Uber to avoid driving under the influence.  Most of these were very short rides too – two miles or less – and several said that before Uber, they would have been likely to still drive since it was a short distance.  Uber has made it more affordable to take a safe ride, something my friends and I also do when going out.

And, at the end of the day, a bit of extra money, which cashless Uber direct deposits each Thursday into my “house fund” bank account (which is also where any blogging income goes) will help me pay for my house repairs sooner without knocking a dent into my discretionary travel budget.