Uber, the Rideshare King

Uber has it’s fair share of bad press. Protests from Taxi Drivers and Uber Drivers alike. Charges of sexual harassment. It’s standard mode of operation is to beg forgiveness rather than ask permission. Then there is the slightly odd bit of business where the company that tells the average person they can make $25 an hour driving for Uber that they are working on putting then all out of work by perfecting the self driving car.   Of course, that’s not likely to happen for a little while, so hope springs eternal.

Signing Up for Uber is easy

Uber is still paying sign-up bonuses. If you’re a new driver in Dallas/Fort Worth who uses my code, last time I looked, you’d get a bonus was $220. I signed up and was accepted fairly quickly. After attending one of the Dallas area Uber 101 meetings, I would have to guess that just about anyone with a pulse is accepted. There was an air of desperation and resignation among the group of mostly older men and women who clearly wanted to believe they can make a thousand dollars a week doing Uber.

You Can Make Money, A Guy on YouTube told me so

But most of the people at the meeting seemed a bit skeptical about the whole thing, and I have to admit that I had a few doubts myself. The woman running the meeting made it clear that there was money to be made, but you weren’t going to make it by hopping into your car, flipping on the Uber app, and driving randomly around the city. You need to have a plan. One of her suggestions was to work on Friday night. Like all night. Like twelve hours. Another idea was to hit the road around three thirty in the morning to give rides to people heading for the Airport. Once you have your Permits. One person at the meeting told how he had gotten two tickets that were each around $230. Moral of the story, don’t pick up anyone from DFW or Love Field until you get permits from the City of Dallas. I watched a lot of YouTube videos and got my hopes up. That didn’t last long.

My First Uber Run

My first day of driving for Uber was just a few hours long. I made $24 for 3 hours of work. Two passengers and four food deliveries. I like the way Uber does food, just pick it up and deliver it. No ordering, no carrying around a separate credit card to pay for UberEats. I don’t like the pay so much, not exactly $25 an hour. Not anywhere close to $25 an hour. But I will give Uber credit where it is due. I was busy the whole time the App was On. That’s more than can be said for Instacart or Postmates, where sitting around and waiting has been the norm. The earning per order with Postmates was about three times as much as Ubereats, but the waiting for an order was much longer.

Side Gig or Real Gig?

I’m a professional portrait photographer in my real life. One of my YouTube heroes is The Simple Driver, a man from Atlanta who is also a photographer and picks up a few clients from the people he meets driving for Uber. I like the idea and I hope to pick up a few new clients myself. In the mean time, I’ll see if I can make more than $24 a day.