As a driver, have you ever considered how you stack up against other drivers out there? Maybe one of you received a big tip, or another driver drove over 200 miles into another city for a passenger? Have you ever wondered if your trip or earnings were the most out of any other driver?
We wondered the same thing! How large was the largest fare ever earned by a driver, and how far have drivers gone for passengers? Wonder no longer: RSG has compiled an RSG US Book of Records (of sorts) for drivers and their greatest accomplishments. Today, RSG contributor Melissa Berry shows off some of the more extraordinary accomplishments of RSG drivers.
That said, we know some of you out there are record-breakers, and we want to know: how do you stack up against the drivers we highlight below? Show us your screenshots in the comments below and let us know if you can beat the largest fare or number of miles driven!
Remember: only screenshots count. If you received a cash tip of $1,000, we can’t count it, but we can count a tip on your screen if you remembered to get a shot of it! Also, we only have stats from US drivers so far. If you’re an international driver and have beaten some of these records, please let us know!
Related article: Essential gear for rideshare drivers
How Far Can You Drive with Uber and Lyft?
A few things to keep in mind: Uber does have a four hour policy on rides, where they say rides “may end” after four hours of driving, but it’s not always enforced. If this has happened to you during a long ride, please let us know in the comments!
Uber also doesn’t have a maximum ride cap either, so drivers could conceivably earn hundreds (unless you get kicked off after 4 hours). Whether or not you’d want to drive that far is up to you!
Check out the discussion on our Facebook page about whether drivers prefer long rides or short rides.
Lyft is a little different: Lyft definitely has a maximum amount you can earn. It depends on the city (click that link to see what the maximum cap is per city) but, for example, the maximum ride fare in Phoenix, AZ is $400.
Related: What is the Maximum Distance of a Trip on Uber or Lyft?
How We Calculated These Record-Breaking Facts
We asked our Facebook Page for their largest fares, farthest drives, and more. Not in our Facebook group? Click here to join!
You can also tweet us your record-breaking screenshots here, and email us at melissa[at]therideshareguy[dot]com. You can also leave a comment and screenshot in the comments section below to see how other drivers stack up right away!
Largest Fare
The largest fare goes to RSG reader Casey Simpson, who shared with us a fare of $1,381.56 – not counting a tip!
According to Casey, he was driving in Iowa during the last day of the state fair. Uber was surging at 11x at one point, and Lyft was as high as 800%. When this ride came in, Casey noted Lyft was at 250% Primetime (you can see on the image above).
As Casey tells it, “I sent my normal pre-pickup text letting him know what to look for, and another text letting him know I was already at the pickup staging area. His response was “how far do you want to drive?”. Casey’s joking response was, “you’re on surge rates, I’ll take you wherever you want to go!”
That’s when Casey hit the jackpot. The man replied, “Minnesota?” Apparently, the man had an emergency at home and had to get home quickly. He wasn’t able to catch a flight, so this was the next best option – even at 250% Primetime rates!
Best of all? Casey said he slept the entire way home.
Highest Primetime
Reader Omar Sandoval drove for a total of less than 50 miles, which already is a pretty far distance for most drivers. However, Omar hit the jackpot with a 650% Primetime rate!
Longest Drive One Way
Reader Chad Jensen drove 523 miles one way from San Diego to San Francisco.
Most Number of Rides Given in the Shortest Amount of Time
Reader James Earl has given a ton of rides so far – over 9,000! What makes him unique? When he posted the screenshot below, he’d only been driving for 1.5 years. James says he gives 120-130 drives a week, which explains how he’d already done over 9,000 rides in 1.5 years!
Longest Time Driving and Highest Rating
Normally we wouldn’t combine two categories into one, but when we found reader Keith Maddock on Facebook, we couldn’t help but say Keith won two categories! Keith has been driving for over 4 years and has a 4.95 star rating – an impressive rating given his years on the road. Can you imagine how many people he’s had to teach how to even use the Uber app? Congrats, Keith!
Also, we know “longest time driving” isn’t quite fair: some drivers didn’t have the opportunity to start 4 years ago because Uber or Lyft weren’t in their markets, so leave us a comment and let us know when Uber/Lyft came to your city and when you started driving with them!
What Does This Mean for Drivers?
We’re definitely not recommending everyone start driving for 80 hours a week just to try to get the longest fare or most number of rides in a certain time-period. Overall, it makes the most sense to drive smarter, not harder (or more often, or farther).
Driving isn’t “winner-take-all”, as there are usually plenty of passengers at all times of the day or night waiting to be shuttled around. You never know (yet!) how far you’ll have to drive with one passenger, or what surge/Primetime will be at that particular time.
You can take advantage of certain driving strategies to position yourself for high surge or most number of rides (particularly if you’re going after bonuses) but always keep in mind to take care of yourself first rather than trying to chase a goal (or break a record).
Do you have a record-breaking screenshot from driving for Uber or Lyft you’d like to share with us? Leave your screenshot in the comments below or feel free to share your screenshot with us on FacebookorTwitter.
-Melissa @ RSG
