Uber?

Quote: AZDuffman

A huge savings is not having to buy or rent a medallion. That is often six figures.

Very few places have medallions. Companies own
most medallions and lease the cab to the driver
just like I did.

"Because of their high prices, medallions (and most cabs) are owned by investment companies and are leased to drivers (“hacks”).

Quote: Evenbob

Very few places have medallions. Companies own
most medallions and lease the cab to the driver
just like I did.

"Because of their high prices, medallions (and most cabs) are owned by investment companies and are leased to drivers (“hacks”).

Right, so a driver is pretty much better with Uber as there is one less expense.

Quote: AZDuffman

Right, so a driver is pretty much better with Uber as there is one less expense.

No, it costs the same to drive Uber as
it does a taxi, you pay Uber 25%
to 30% of what the passenger gives
you. It's cheaper to drive a taxi because
you drive a company owned car. With
Uber you pay for gas, oil changes, tires,
car washes, repairs, and you depreciate
the vehicle rapidly because of the high
mileage.

Uber advertises you can make $16 an hour.
That's being optimistic, you can make a lot less.
That's before car expenses. People who keep
perfect records say it work's out to about
$9.50 an hour before taxes. Many McD's
pay more then that.

Once in awhile we had a driver who owned his
own car and paid less in fee's to me. But they
never lasted, the gas and maintenance killed
them.

edited

Quote: Evenbob

Uber advertises you can make $16 an hour.
That's being optimistic, you can make a lot less.
That's before car expenses. People who keep
perfect records say it work's out to about
$9.50 an hour before taxes. Many McD's
pay more then that.

But the thing is, you cannot control your own hours with MCD or as an hourly hack. Uber lets you sign on and off at will, this is an important feature to many people. They want flexibility in their hustles.

The taxi industry seems to think they will win the battle against Uber in the courts. Fat chance, it is too many fronts to fight on. I know when I was in Phoenix I would have loved Uber for hitting the airport. My landlord roommate would have saved a fortune om cab rides, although he did stupid crap like having a cab stop at the Carl's, Jr drive-thru. There have been unofficial "Uber" cars running as jitneys in black neighborhoods for years. People don't care that it is not a cab, they just want to get from place to place.

The cab companies need to give a good reason to choose them. Currently they are not doing so.

Quote: AZDuffman

But the thing is, you cannot control your own hours with MCD or as an hourly hack. Uber lets you sign on and off at will, this is an important feature to many people. They want flexibility in their hustles.
.

It's totally unfair to taxi drivers who
have to get a taxi license and
a chauffeur license, and Uber has
to do none of it. Uber cannot pick
people up in the street, they have
to call with the app. It has to be a
person to person contract. In big
cities street pickups are 90% of
the business.

This won't last, states will pass laws
that ban it eventually. Some cities
in EU already have.

Quote: AZDuffman

But the thing is, you cannot control your own hours with MCD or as an hourly hack. Uber lets you sign on and off at will, this is an important feature to many people. They want flexibility in their hustles.

Bingo.

I was asking more out of curiosity than yet another derail about my own situation. Thinking of typical fares (not that I'm at all familiar) and then figuring in just gas alone, it made me think everyone is showing up in VW Lupos with maybe a Fusion being the largest. I wasn't asking about trucks to see if the customer cared (I wouldn't care if they cared) but just to get an idea about that stuff. I have a hard time believing anyone could make that hustle work in a 5,000lb V8.

Quote: Face

Bingo.
.

It's a part time job for the desperate. Sit
in your car and wait for an order. Cab
driving sucks, it's a bottom of the barrel
job, that's why so many foreigners do
it. Uber is no different, and you get to
destroy your car in the process.

"Business Insider wrote a piece called "Here's How Much Money You Can Really Earn As An Uber Driver". Uber claims $15/hour. The article states that after "tolls, Uber's 25% cut, gas, car insurance, vehicle financing, and self employment taxes, the driver really only made $54.50 for 12 hours of driving."

Quote: Face

What kind of vehicles do you find yourself mostly receiving?

Toyota Corolla and cars like that. Cheap and fuel efficient are the operative words.

Quote: Evenbob

It's totally unfair to taxi drivers who
have to get a taxi license and
a chauffeur license, and Uber has
to do none of it. Uber cannot pick
people up in the street, they have
to call with the app. It has to be a
person to person contract. In big
cities street pickups are 90% of
the business.

This won't last, states will pass laws
that ban it eventually. Some cities
in EU already have.

Nobody really cares that a cab driver has a special license. There is nothing special about operating a cab skill-wise, cabs are just cars. There are no street pickups in any city I have lived in, you have to call to have a cab come to you with the exception that a very few cabs wait near the popular bars and such. Easier and faster to use an app to call.

No way I want the service banned just so some entrenched interests can keep their protected franchise. Cab companies are thinking they are God because they have that medallion and other trappings the the rider sees no value in. We should not be banning freedom and free enterprise.