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Reasons I Don’t Drive for Uber In a Big City Anymore

After our last article on driving in bigger vs. smaller cities, we received several emails asking us to cover rideshare driving from a small town driver’s point of view. Today, we have that article for you! Reader Chris (he’s asked us to withhold where he lives, for reasons you’ll read below) shares his guest post with us today on what it’s like driving in a small town, why he does it, and the challenges small town drivers face.

We’re always looking for other drivers’ perspectives on driving! If you have driving tips or perspective you haven’t seen on RSG, contact us here and if picked, you’ll get a $100 Amazon Gift card!

New Lyft Driver - Earn 1500:week

I signed up with Uber in October of 2016 and Lyft shortly after in December of 2016. After I signed up, I drove in a city of 320,000 people (Lexington, KY) that had a major university, horse racing track, tons of bars, breweries, and distilleries. That city is approximately 25 miles and 35 minutes from my home.

Every night that I wanted to work, I had to deadhead to city center, then do the same on the way home. Using data I compiled in the first half of 2017, I averaged about 14 rides per day that I worked, at a net profit of $9/hour.

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Lyft Responds to Uber Pro With Their Own Driver Enhancements

With Uber’s recent announcement of Uber Pro (a driver loyalty rewards program), we expected to see Lyft announce new features designed to help drivers, too. We were not disappointed! Senior RSG contributor Jay Cradeur breaks down all the latest driver enhancements Lyft has rolled out (and continues to roll out) over the next few weeks.

Recently, Uber came out with a driver loyalty rewards program called Uber Pro.  It assigned drivers one of four classifications (Partner, Gold, Platinum and Diamond) and rewarded the drivers based on their earned classification.

But now its Lyft’s turn!  Lyft is launching several new features for drivers before the end of 2018 and below, I’m going to present the new features and give some feedback on their value and usability.

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What If Companies Like Uber Gave It’s Drivers Stocks?

As rideshare drivers, our job is pretty straightforward: drive, earn money, go home. But what if driving for Uber or Lyft also meant you were improving your own bottom line in the long term – via stocks? By turning drivers into (somewhat) owners of Uber/Lyft, would that incentivize drivers more? Senior RSG contributor Christian Perea explores the possibilities of Uber/Lyft offering drivers stock.

On October 11th, Uber sent a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission arguing that drivers should be allowed to receive Uber stock the same way its employees do under an exemption to SEC rule 701(e). This letter was obtained by Axios and sparked some intense interest among drivers eager to receive some compensation in the company they helped build to a speculated $120 billion valuation.

Before we get excited as drivers, we should consider how Uber could divvy up a meaningful amount of shares for its 7.5 million drivers without diluting the positions of existing shareholders, all of whom want to protect their gains.

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Is Lyft’s Weekly Ride Challenge Living Up to the Hype?

Several months ago, Lyft announced a pivot from bonuses to the Weekly Ride Challenge (WRC) in many markets. In our initial review of the WRC, the bonus amounts seemed achievable and promising. In this article, senior RSG contributor Jay Cradeur breaks down how the WRC has been going for him several months later and how the program has changed.

If you are a full time or part time driver, then achieving one of Uber’s (Quest) or Lyft’s (Weekly Ride Challenge) weekly bonuses may be a significant part of your revenue.  When I first started driving in early 2016, drivers in San Francisco could earn an easy $500 for completing just 120 rides at any time during the week.  Assuming a $2,000 week, that bonus accounted for 25% of my weekly revenue.

My oh my, how times have changed.  This article will focus on the developments of Lyft’s Weekly Ride Challenge bonus since inception in order to get us all up to date.

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What Do Rideshare Drivers Need to Know About Cargo?

Join us for our November YouTube live on Tuesday November 13 at 4pm 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.

Have your passengers ever gotten in your car expecting free water or snacks? While it’s always a nice thing to offer as a driver, buying water and snacks adds up! But what if there was a way to pay nothing, receive a bunch of goodies (including charging cords – no more handing yours over to passengers!), giving them away for free (and getting paid for it) and making a profit on whatever you sell to passengers? Today, senior RSG contributor Will Preston covers what every driver should know about Cargo.

Click here to sign up and get started with Cargo.

Have you ever watched the food trolley go down the aisle on a plane or train and wondered, “I wish my rideshare car was like that.” Well, a startup called Cargo wants to do just that, offering free and paid snacks to your passengers, while simultaneously making money for both you and Cargo.

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