Is driving for Uber and Lyft really as flexible as it seems? What happens when you’re in a high surge area and dozens of drivers around you are getting ride requests but for some reason, you’re not getting any pings?! Today, senior RSG contributor Sergio Avedian investigates what happens when you get skunked by the Uber algorithm!

Interested in improving your driving strategies? Check out these quick links below:

• Sign up for driver coaching with our experts here
• Tips for making more money with Uber
• Best ways to increase your tips as a driver

I’ve been driving for Uber for just about four years, and in that time I’ve seen the good, bad and ugly of driving for Uber. When I first started, you could turn on your app, drive and make money. In Los Angeles, you could expect to earn over $35-40 an hour! However, things have changed over the last four years.

During that time, I have tweaked my driving strategies to keep my hourly earnings up. Uber has recently released some new features and made some big announcements that will make me tweak my driving strategies again but the principles discussed below will remain the same. Uber might be getting rid of flat rate surge but things will always be changing and it’s important for drivers to adapt or suffer the consequences.

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Have you ever read an article online about rideshare driving and thought, ‘what?? That’s not true!’ It happens to senior RSG contributor Jay Cradeur pretty regularly, and in today’s article, Jay outlines some of the biggest myths he’s read about rideshare driving.

As a senior contributor for RSG and the YouTube channel, I research all new and developing stories in the rideshare driving arena.  Many times, I read a story and I say to myself: “That’s B.S.!”  Anybody who has done just a few months of driving would say the same thing.

Here are a few recurring stories that drew my ire.  I don’t believe them to be true.  Let’s see what you think.

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You may have heard (or read) that Uber is now allowing some drivers in California the ability to see passengers’ destinations before accepting trips. Overall, the response has been positive and today RSG contributor-at-large Ezra Dubroff shares his firsthand experience using Uber’s new features.

It’s true! ALL Uber drivers in California will soon be able to see the passenger’s destination before accepting a trip. And they’ll also be able to see other information, including the estimated earnings for the trip. This is all part of a suite of updates to the Uber driver app for California drivers, undertaken to further Uber’s claim that drivers are contractors and not employees.

For now though, about 30% of California drivers have access to some or all these features. I drive in Los Angeles and I can now see my passenger’s destinations in the app before I accept a trip. The remaining drivers in California should get access to these features within the next 30 days according to Uber. And these features might expand to other states as well. So even if you’re not a California driver, it would probably benefit you to pay attention to what’s going on here because you might be seeing these updates in your market pretty soon.

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