More Than 60 Percent Of Uber Drivers Are Thinking About Quitting

[FrodosPet]

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2016/02/04/3746099/uber-price-cuts-gut-driver-wages/

BY LAUREN C. WILLIAMS FEB 4, 2016 11:00 AM

“My rent’s due and I’m struggling. I’m sweating bullets trying to make ends meet over here,” said Tanya Forister, a full-time Uber driver in Tampa, Florida. “I’ve had to work twice as hard to make half of what I used to make.”

Forister is one of hundreds of drivers nationwide protesting Uber’s fare cuts in January as a part of its “Beating the Winter Slump” campaign in more than 100 cities to increase ridership.

~ snip ~

“I’m sending resumes left and right, as soon as I can get em out,” Julie, a full-time driver in Columbus, South Carolina who used a pseudonym for fear of retaliation, told ThinkProgress. Because of the fare cuts, “people aren’t driving, but I can’t just not drive,” she said. “Until I get another job, this is all I have.”

The 35 percent cuts have taken a serious toll, Julie said. The 57 year-old made $36 over the past three days and has been averaging about $4 an hour — after Uber takes its cut — since the company’s “Winter Slump” program went into effect. At least half of Uber drivers say the price cuts are costing them $100 a week or more in income, said Coworker’s campaign director Tim Newman.

~ snip ~

[JanMichael]

1. i hate to say this but how do you quit a non job?

it is an unregulated hookup site application. a stupid one but it is what it is.

i guess they could say they would uninstall the application?

[Enrique]

2. that's kind of a technicality

in the sense of going out and working and getting paid, it's a job.

[FrodosPet]

4. It is a taxi dispatch service with a 21st Century name.

If they allowed the DRIVER to set the rate, then you may have a point about it being a hookup site application.

But they set the fares. You MUST take your payment through the system - no cash fares allowed. You cannot solicit non-Uber transportation with people you picked up through Uber. And they can deactivate you without warning.

Transportation IS their business.

[Renew Deal]

3. What happened to the 90k a year they advertised?

[FrodosPet]

5. They reduced the rate to where that is physically impossible.

MAYBE if you drive UberSUV or UberBlack.

AND work (excuse me rideshare) about 80 to 90 hours a week.

AND you are damn lucky - the market share for top end livery is not THAT big.

AND you recognize that is REVENUE, not EARNINGS. You gotta pay gas and maintenance and depreciation and insurance and permits.

UberX, at 30 cents to $1.10 a mile - you physically cannot drive that much, even if every pickup was right at the point of drop off and instantly ready to go.

Surprise: Travis K and Company (just like many taxi and trucking company owners) appear to be truth challenged.

[gyroscope]

6. Uber takes a 20% cut which is absurdly high.

compare to AirBNB which is like Uber for short-term stays in private homes, they take only 3%.
And I thought ebay fees were high at about 13% total (with Paypal charges).

You have to be desperate to work for Uber. The only people making money at Uber is the management.
The drivers are making less than minimum wage, but Uber can get away with it because they aren't employees.