Driver Resources

by Will Preston on June 18, 2018 Leave a Comment

Calculating How Much Uber Takes from Drivers

Have you ever wondered how much Uber makes from drivers? It’s difficult to know exactly how much Uber makes in profit vs. drivers’ profits, but senior RSG contributor Will Preston tackles this challenging question and shares his analysis below.

I made a little over $200 driving 400 miles last weekend in about 12 hours of driving. But the question I wanted to answer is how much did I actually make – and how much did Uber make – after we take all expenses into consideration.

How much Uber makes from you will depend on when and where you drive, and how much you make in tips will also factor in to your calculations. For the purposes of this article, I’ll break down some key concepts to understand before getting into the spreadsheet I created to determine how much money Uber makes off of my driving. I’ve included a copy of the spreadsheet for you to run your numbers as well – let us know what you come up with in the comments.

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 Christian Perea on May 30, 2018 Leave a Comment

Seam: A Safety App To Protect Drivers

Today we have a sponsored guest post from Seam Technic, which is a safety app that helps you stay safe by recording your vehicle interior and sharing your location with loved ones while you drive. Not everyone can afford a dash cam so this is a great alternative – it’s free to download and use, but you can upgrade to a premium version that allows you to store your recordings (30-days) and download copies for your records.

Ever have a passenger threaten to “get you fired” from Uber because you wouldn’t give them and their 8 drunk friends a ride in your 4-seat car?

How about a passenger who tells Uber or Lyft they didn’t throw up in your car?

More unsettling stories, such as an Australian Uber driver assaulted by a passenger for refusing to make a stop at McDonald’s or earlier this year in Texas where an Uber driver was robbed at gunpoint, have set drivers’ radar on high. And we’ve all seen the infamous dash cam footage of the Taco Bell employee assaulting an Uber driver unprovoked.

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by Will Preston on May 7, 2018 Leave a Comment

Battle of the Dash Cams: VanTrue N2 Pro vs Falcon Zero F360

Join us for our May YouTube live on Tuesday May 8 at 5pm PT! You can subscribe to our Youtube channel here and be sure to turn on notifications (instructions here) so you know when we go live.

If you’ve been driving for any period of time, you know how important it is to have a dash camera. But how do you know which one to choose without testing it out? Senior RSG contributor Will Preston tests out two of the heavyweights and shares his results below.

Can the VanTrue N2 Pro unseat the Falcon Zero F360 as the best dash camera (dash cam) for rideshare drivers? Like a lot of things, the answer is it depends on what you’re looking for. Here, I’ll explain the difference between the VanTrue N2 Pro and the Falcon Zero F360 and whether or not the VanTrue N2 Pro is really better than the Falcon Zero F360.

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by Melissa Berry on May 2, 2018 Leave a Comment

What Do You Think About Uber’s New Rewards Debit Card?

Have you heard about Uber’s new Rewards Debit Card? If not, we’ve got you covered. RSG contributor Melissa Berry will cover what the debit card is, what its benefits are, and if it’s good for drivers. Senior RSG contributor Christian Perea also contributed to this article.

Uber recently announced a new Visa Rewards Debit Card from GoBank. If you’re wondering what happened to the Uber Fuel Card, it turns out that Uber is ditching it for this new debit card.

Uber also has a Visa credit card that is targeted more towards riders but the new debit card will be exclusively for drivers. Debit cards traditionally don’t offer many benefits or rewards, so it’s cool to see a product like this.

Note: You’ll likely be able to get better rewards with a credit card but remember, this product is a debit card! For those who don’t have a high credit score, this debit card may be the only option.

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by Christian Perea on March 12, 2018 Leave a Comment

Is Renting A Car For $5 an Hour to Drive for Uber Worth It?

Don’t have a car, or temporarily without a car, but want to drive rideshare? How does $5 an hour to rent a car sound like to you? Senior RSG contributor Christian Perea tested Getaround, a rental car service for Uber drivers, and explains how it works, what you can expect when signing up to drive, and how you can maximize your earnings.

For only $5 an hour you can pay for the privilege to rent a car and pound the streets of San Francisco as a bonafide Uber driver seeking profits and adventure.

Is it even worth it? Seems a little strange paying Uber for the privilege of shuttling around a bunch of techies. I decided to try it to find out for myself to see how great (or terrible) it is.

UPDATE: Getaround no longer includes gas in the price of the rental. This is a deal breaker for me since a 10 hour rental is about $50 and the gas would be another $20 ($70 to drive for the day). That’s about half my earnings for any given day of Bay Area driving. So I recommend that you get around to renting a different way 😀

Getaround and Uber recently partnered up in San Francisco to offer cars that almost anyone can use to drive for Uber. They’re dispersed all throughout SF, Oakland, and Berkeley, and you can just go on ahead and walk up, unlock the car from your phone via the Getaround app, and proceed to drive them for Uber for as little or as long as you want.

As of now, this partnership between Getaround and Uber is only available in San Francisco, but you can find a list of rental and leasing options nationwide on our Vehicle Marketplace. And I suspect if this goes well, they will roll it out to other cities.

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