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8 Things Rideshare Drivers Need to Know About Health Insurance

I’ve always had health insurance through my day job but I know a lot of you out there might have questions about getting coverage on your own.  Today, I have a guest post from Tristan Zier, founder of Zen99, a company that specializes in providing health insurance and tax information for rideshare drivers.

Normally, I don’t accept guest posts from companies but since Tristan is a fellow UC San Diego alumnus 🙂 and this is a topic I don’t know much about, I figured we’d give it a shot.  Please let me know if you find articles like this valuable and I’ll see if I can get some more posts from industry experts.  FYI, I have no financial relationship with Zen99.

As an independent contractor, you are not eligible for benefits through the companies you work with – including health insurance.

But don’t worry; there are plenty of benefits to getting your own individual plan! We’ll go over the basics plus some of the ways it may actually benefit you. [Read more…]

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From Domino’s Delivery Driver To One of The Top Uber & Lyft Drivers

As you guys know, I’m a part-time driver based out of Los Angeles.  And although I have spent countless hours driving, taking rides as a passenger, reading, writing and podcasting all about rideshare there’s still a lot that I don’t know.  One of the biggest reasons why I like to bring on multiple contributors and have guest posts from time to time is to make sure that I cover all the bases.  There are a lot of people who are doing some pretty cool things when it comes to rideshare and a majority of them aren’t out there broadcasting it like I am.

If you’ve ever gone onto a rideshare forum or two, you know that there is a lot of negativity out there.  I get new drivers all the time that ask me about this and I always tell them that there are a ton of successful people out there in the rideshare industry that are really killing it but they’re just not talking about it.  Fortunately for you guys, I love helping other drivers out and I love finding drivers and contributors who feel the same way.

That’s why I’m always looking for new bloggers, new writers and basically anyone that can bring a different and fresh perspective.  By the way, feel free to e-mail me if you think you’re that person 🙂 [Read more…]

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RSG012: Leveraging Rideshare To Promote Your New Business

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A lot of people judge their rideshare driving success by how much money they make.  And while I agree that money is definitely an important part of rideshare, I think drivers also need to take advantage of the networking opportunities that are out there for the taking.  If you were to stop someone on the street and start talking to them, they’re probably not going to be very willing to help you out.  But as soon as that passenger gets into your car, there is an instant connection and sense of trust that is instilled between the two of you.

I have met some amazing people while driving and I’m always looking for ways that I can help my passengers and also for ways that they can help me.  Today on the podcast, I interview four drivers who are doing just that.  In addition to being drivers, today’s guests all have their own side businesses that they are able to promote while driving.

The goal of today’s podcast is to really get you guys thinking about ways to leverage your rideshare driving opportunities.  Sure it’s fun to drive people around and talk to them but what is your longer term goal for rideshare and life in general?  I’m a huge fan of starting your own business and working for yourself but it’s definitely a lot harder than working a regular job for someone else.

All of the things you guys love about rideshare: the flexibility, setting your own hours, working for yourself, etc can be had with your own business though.  And I think the combination of being a rideshare driver and having your own side business is something that sounds very appealing.  So I hope you enjoy this podcast and feel free to leave a note below if you have any questions, comments or concerns.

Related article: make money by promoting this app to your passengers

[Read more…]

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Are Uber Drivers Really Rated Lower During ‘The Party Hours’?

If you’ve been following this site for any reasonable amount of time, you’ve probably realized that I’m all about maximizing my opportunity as a rideshare driver.  You don’t make any money when your car is empty so it’s important to think about ways you can drive as efficiently as possible.  Don’t get me wrong, I love driving, but there are other things that I would rather be doing with my free time.  So with that in mind, I’m always looking for ways to work smarter, not harder.

And although there are lots of great times to drive in cities across the country, as a general rule of thumb, you can’t really go wrong working the party hours (around 10 pm – 3 am on Friday/Saturday nights).  Demand will almost always exceed supply (especially when the bars close) and you should spend less time waiting around for requests and more time driving around and making money. [Read more…]

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Is Lyft Doing More Than Uber To Help Out Its Drivers?

Even though Uber is the big brother in the rideshare game, competition is a good thing for passengers and drivers.  Today, RSG contributor, Scott Van Maldegiam takes a look at some of the recent changes Lyft has made to enhance the driver’s experience.  I think 2015 is going to bring a rash of positive changes as TNC’s duke it out for driver loyalty.  We’re already starting to see some of those and so far things are looking good!

I have been thinking about writing this article for some time now.  For those of you that drive for Uber and Lyft, you probably understand why.  Both offer very similar services yet there are some major differences between the two.

Passenger Wait Times

I have been noticing for some time that Lyft passengers are generally ready to go while UberX passengers always make you wait a bit longer.  I have a couple of theories why this might be the case.

–Theory #1: Since Lyft starts the ride 1 minute after you click that you have arrived, I figured riders might be motivated to get outside ASAP so they don’t have to pay for those extra minutes.  In talking with customers though, most customers had no idea that this was the case, but didn’t really care since they were on time anyway.  So, with that small sample of people, it didn’t seem that this was the root cause.  Which got me thinking about another possible reason… [Read more…]