Many people would be skeptical about a standard income because you are an independent contractor with Uber. And there is no fixed amount of working hours as well. Nevertheless, there are many ways to make the most of this part-time or full-time opportunity. We have seven tips to make bucks driving for Uber.
Be professional
UberX will send you a short training video as soon as you sign up. The basic idea is to offer good service and receive a five-star rating from passengers. Uber would also provide some instructions that might help you to get a five-star rating. It included opening the door, having water bottles, and a facility for charging phones.
Always have some snacks
Being on the road all day can exhaust you — and without frequent breaks and refreshments, you might call it a day very soon. Making sure to have some snacks and water would energize you instantly. You would also save time without the need to visit the restaurant often.
Know the local restroom facilities
Find out restrooms with free parking. That way, you don’t have to waste time driving around to find a restroom or spend money on parking.
Don’t follow app recommendations
The app would always suggest you visit areas and peak timings where more people would ve starting home and might request a ride. However, drivers make more money by deliberately avoiding these areas. How? Since Uber’s surge pricing decreases the fare if there are more drivers in an area, going to a place with no drivers would definitely increase the original fare by 3 to 4 times. Thus, choose an area where there are no drivers.
Making most of the surge fares
You can follow a trick during other peak hours at a stadium or a business park. During the nighttime, in most places, bars close by 2 am to 2.30 am, and it’s the time prices surge. Here’s the trick: you can log out of the driver app at least 10 minutes before the anticipated closing time and log in back right after closing time.
By doing this, the number of drivers in the area is reduced, and the fares are increased. Moreover, you can also avoid a fare that might be less at 1:55 a.m., and miss out on surge pricing.
Don’t keep driving until you get a passenger
It isn’t advisable to drive around to get to an area where you feel there might be some passengers. It’s recommended to stay within the city and avoiding suburbs, if possible. If you keep driving until you get a request, it’s highly likely that you’ll have to drive more to the pickup location as well.
Since you can’t find the rider’s destination, you would end up losing money if the drop-off spot is nearby. Also, don’t accept a request that is too far away, as some riders might cancel the trip before you reach the pickup spot.
Use the booking app
The passenger app has features that wouldn’t be found on the driver app you use to find riders. Using the passenger booking app, you would be able to know where most of the drivers are, and you can move to areas without many other drivers.
This could be as simple as moving to a different gate at the stadium. Moreover, the passenger app shows the price first and then gets updated on the driver app with a few minutes delay.
