Harry Campbell

by Harry Campbell on September 13, 2017 52 Comments

5 Things I Have Learned After 12,500 Trips

Driving full-time for Uber and Lyft can be both challenging and tiring. If you’re not prepared mentally and physically to be a full-time rideshare driver, it can overwhelm even the most enthusiastic drivers. Today, we have a guest post from Jay Cradeur, a full-time driver from San Francisco who’s completed over 12,500 trips. Here are tips for new and current drivers based on what he’s learned over the last 12,500 trips.

I began driving for Uber and Lyft in January 2016 and since then, I’ve completed over 12,500 trips. I have driven in both the Sacramento market (one month) and San Francisco markets exclusively.

I moved to San Francisco early in my career in order to capitalize on this market’s unique qualities. San Francisco has both high rates and high demand. During this time, I have learned quite a bit about how to not only maximize my earnings, but also make this job enjoyable and repeatable. By repeatable, I mean you don’t need to overexert yourself or stress yourself so that you don’t want to drive anymore and quit. The turnover rate among drivers is ridiculously high.

Let me share five tips and techniques that will keep you making good money while also keeping you joyfully on the road regardless of where you live.

Make Every Mile Count

Did you know that every 1,000 business miles can generate $535 in tax deductions? Never miss another mile with the new QuickBooks Self-Employed automatic mileage tracker.

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by Harry Campbell on September 12, 2017 3 Comments

RSG061: How is the IDG Helping Rideshare Drivers

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Do you ever wonder how Uber decided to add in-app tipping? Hint: it wasn’t out of the goodness of their hearts. It took driver action to get in-app tipping added to the Uber app, and some help from a Guild out of New York City known as the Independent Drivers Guild. Today, I speak with Ryan Price, Executive Director of IDG about what IDG does, how it helps drivers, and how drivers can get involved on the local level.

If you’d like to read a transcript of this podcast, please click here.
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by Harry Campbell on September 11, 2017 72 Comments

How Much Should Uber Pay Its Drivers?

Uber has been making significant upgrades to the driver experience over the past few months, but one thing missing from all of these announcements is a rate increase. Tipping and additional destination filters will have a positive effect on a driver’s bottom line, but they don’t address the core issue for many people: drivers just aren’t paid enough.

Uber and Lyft cut rates 3 years in a row from 2014-2016, so drivers are making less today than they ever have. While Uber has always claimed lower rates mean higher utilization and thus higher earnings for drivers, I have never bought that argument. Lowering rates helps Uber grow its market share, but it also means more dissatisfied drivers and higher churn rates since drivers care most about pay and flexibility.

Uber has been able to make it work with lower rates because there is a learning curve for drivers and the company is able to spend heavily on recruiting new drivers to replace those that are quitting. But with losses in the billions of dollars a year, that model isn’t sustainable forever.

And while a lot of the positive changes Uber is making as part of the 180 Days of Change campaign are a good thing, the real question is are they enough? If Uber is going to tout driving as a revolutionary new employment opportunity and wants more satisfied drivers, shouldn’t they be paying the average driver more than minimum wage?

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by Harry Campbell on August 30, 2017 455 Comments

Rideshare Insurance Options For Uber and Lyft Drivers

We’ve made a bunch of updates to our rideshare insurance page over the past few months, so today I wanted to re-poflst it so that if you’re looking for rideshare insurance, you can easily learn about the options in your state. There are still a few states that don’t have rideshare-friendly options, but there are new options being added every week so be sure to check back frequently.

If you’ve never seen this page before, having adequate auto insurance coverage is very important. As rideshare drivers though, you need to be especially mindful that you understand the risks and insurance limits in your state. There are many states where there isn’t an officially recognized rideshare insurance policy and, although you may still be covered by Uber/Lyft, your personal insurer may drop you for being a rideshare driver.

Why Do I Need Rideshare Insurance?

Uber and Lyft only cover rideshare drivers during Periods 2 and 3. Period 2 starts once you accept a ride request and are en route to your passenger, and Period 3 starts once your passenger gets into your car. BUT when you’re online and waiting for a request during Period 1, you have no collision coverage from Uber or Lyft and much lower liability limits. So as a rideshare driver, you’re most at risk during Period 1 since you won’t get any collision coverage from rideshare companies and your personal insurer likely won’t cover you during this time either.

Rideshare insurance solves this gap by covering drivers during Period 1, and additionally they won’t drop you for being a rideshare driver. Some policies will even cover you during Periods 2 and 3 so you won’t be subject to Uber’s $1,000 collision deductible and Lyft’s $2,500 collision deductible.

I’ve covered this issue extensively, so if you want to brush up on the current state of rideshare insurance, here are some resources for you to review:

Why Do I Need A Rideshare Insurance Policy?
How To Handle Insurance After An Accident
Rideshare’s Little White Lie
Podcast: Everything You Need to Know About Rideshare Insurance
Youtube Video: What Do Drivers Need to Know About Rideshare Insurance?
All of our insurance articles

Over the past year, almost all of the major carriers have begun offering rideshare insurance policies for drivers. This is great news since we no longer need to worry about being dropped by our insurance company, if we insure with a rideshare-friendly insurance company.

But changing insurance is obviously not a simple matter since many of us have policies across our homes, other cars, etc. My hope is that one day all major carriers will offer rideshare-friendly policies but, until then, drivers will have to either switch insurers or assume the risk of going without a rideshare friendly policy.

I’d like to know what your current insurance situation looks like so please fill out this anonymous poll.

This post will continue to be updated with insurance information for each of the markets, but if you have conflicting info or would like to add to this page, please leave a comment below. Additionally, if you have an agent that you’d like to personally recommend, don’t hesitate to reach out to me with their contact info.

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by Harry Campbell on August 25, 2017 64 Comments

Mystery Organizers Protest Uber and Lyft at LAX

Today, we have a guest post from Ron Robinson. If there’s a topic you’d like to cover, please don’t hesitate to reach out. As a small thanks, we’ll be sending Ron a $50 Amazon Gift card for his story.

On Tuesday, a group of protesters met at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to protest Uber and Lyft. The event was mainly spread by word of mouth and some Facebook groups and lasted about 2-3 hours. The first-person account below is from RSG reader Ron Robinson.

This past Tuesday, a group of anonymous organizations staged an Uber/Lyft protest at LAX around 10 a.m. The event lasted 2-3 hours. The protest started in the LAX TNC parking lot for Uber/Lyft drivers and continued from there, eventually ending between Terminals 1 and 2.

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