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How Cancelling More Can Earn you More… Without Risking Deactivation

You may have read Jay Cradeur’s story and video about ride “screening,” the practice of rejecting trips that don’t make financial sense for drivers. You may also be worried that cancelling too much could lead to deactivation. RSG contributor Gabe Ets-Hokin went undercover to find out how Lyft decides which drivers to keep, and which to cancel.

Any Uber or Lyft driver worth his or her salt has felt the pang of anxiety that comes with a deactivation warning. Details vary, but there’s usually some pabulum about “poor passenger experience” and “violation of terms of service,” with a stern (yet chirpy) warning that continued behavior of this sort could lead to deactivation.

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Here’s What It Was Like to Rent an Electric Car From Maven Gig for Rideshare Driving

One barrier to entry into the gig economy is that you need a car if you want to drive for Uber, Lyft, Postmates, Grubhub or the other services. And not just any car: it must be economical, reliable and meet the platform requirements. If you’re considering renting a car for rideshare, RSG contributor Gabe Ets-Hokin shares his experience using GM’s Maven Gig.

Rideshare driving isn’t for everybody, so I don’t try to recruit every person I meet. But when I do (very occasionally) try to turn a passenger into a driver (with my referral code, of course), they frequently tell me they don’t have a car. I tell them they don’t need one; in fact, as Harry’s recent podcast guest points out, it’s a bad idea to buy a new car for gig work, as most new workers quit in the first six months.

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Is Your Car Too Small? Lyft Bans Subcompact Cars

For many drivers, subcompact vehicles are their vehicle of choice due to their usually reasonable gas consumption and maneuverability. However, drivers ability to choose some of the subcompacts may be changing when it comes to Lyft’s new policy. Why did Lyft alter its policy? What does it mean for current drivers of subcompacts? RSG contributor Gabe Ets-Hokin dives in.

Recently, Lyft drivers have started to notice an important change in policy at the newly public company. The company is banning subcompact cars but if you’re already driving with a subcompact car, you will be grandfathered in.

“To provide a comfortable rider experience, certain subcompact vehicles are not eligible on the Lyft platform as of February 25, 2019. Subcompact vehicles typically have an interior combined passenger and cargo volume index of less than 100 cubic feet, which makes for a tight space for passengers.”

Gobsmacked, readers reached out to RSG, having discovered a mishmash list of banned vehicles that seemingly made no sense.

So what was behind this change? And should you be worried?

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Swoop – Uber for Large Group Rides?

The new, tech-based, gig-worker economy presents all kinds of opportunities— opportunities that will inevitably be taken advantage of by smart entrepreneurs. One such opportunity is the demand for group transportation. We’re talking about the kind of groups too big for services like Uber XL or Lyft XL and factoring in the massive under-utilization of large-capacity for-hire vehicles like airport shuttles, party buses and 13-seat Sprinter vans. That’s what Los Angeles-based Amir Ghorbani, Ruben Schultz and Pete Evenson saw, anyway. What they created is Swoop.

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The Fake $100 Tip Rider Scam: How Not to Be a Victim

Ever have a passenger give you a bad vibe? Ever have a passenger who wasn’t the named person on the account who made you uncomfortable? Do you have to take them? RSG Contributor Gabe Ets-Hokin interviewed one Uber driver with a bad experience and shares some of his own, and tells you what you can do about it.

Maybe something like this has happened to you:

You pick up a passenger, but along the way, she wants to pick up a friend. Once you pick up the friend, you proceed to the original destination, but only she gets out and leaves the second passenger. Even though you’ve ended the ride, the second passenger asks, “do you do cash rides?”

It’s late, you’re tired, and don’t want to argue with the passenger, who says he doesn’t have the Uber app. You agree to take him on what would be a $15 ride, and he shows you a $100 bill.

“Do you have $60?” he asks. That’s a pretty good deal, so you peel three Jacksons from your wad. He hands you the $100, which you quickly make disappear, he gets out.

You get home, kick off your shoes and crawl into bed, exhausted from your 10-hour shift. In the morning, you remember your last ride, and pull the folded-up bill out of your jeans.
It’s fake.

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