To Uber or Not to Uber

By Tim Bennett

Over the course of a year, Tim Bennett made 1500 trips as an Uber driver. Here he compiles his experiences in hopes of providing others looking for a career in ridesharing with an honest and informative perspective. Driving for a ridesharing giant is not for everyone—and To Uber or Not To Uber will tell you all you need to know before you take the plunge!

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Dec 3, 2018
• ISBN: 9780578411026

Book preview

Company

Preface

This book is written for people thinking of working for Uber, or for Uber drivers who want to share notes. What it is not is a collection of wild rides featuring a long string of dramatic and hilarious stories. I do weave in my most memorable and entertaining rides, but they are not my primary focus. Quite simply, I am sharing my experiences over the last year and the things I’ve learned as an Uber driver. Driving for Uber is not for everyone. My hope for this modest book is that it will give the reader an honest look at the job and its challenges, along with my suggestions to make it a more enjoyable and profitable enterprise.

Ever since I heard about Uber I thought it might be a good match for me. I like driving. I enjoy meeting people one-on-one from all backgrounds, nationalities, races, and cultures. I like discovering new places. In fact, one of the greatest joys I had as a teenager was driving wherever I wanted—listening to the radio, exploring new roads, and relishing my newfound independence.

Over the last 12 years, however, as a more mature adult, I found myself bound to a cubicle in front of a computer doing market research and cold calling people who, for the most part, did not want to be bothered. I complained to my wife. I complained to my friends. I kept saying, I can’t take it anymore. My soul is dying. I am a creative person—a writer, for crying out loud. How can I do this to myself?

I remember when I first started the market research job seeing a gray-haired guy—a former hotel manager who had been with the company for many years—staring blankly into space at regular intervals. At the time I did not understand why this guy was so catatonic, but a decade later I knew why—a man can only take so much rejection and mentally depreciative work before he must eventually check out.

I stayed with the job year after year because of chronic passivity and for security purposes (my wife liked my regular pay check). Four years ago I cut down my work days to three days a week to make it more tolerable. But I knew my problems at work were getting serious. I frankly did not care anymore. I became passive-aggressive, sometimes slacking off and taking longer pauses than normal between dials, hoping to get fired. Instead, I was put on the more difficult projects because I apparently succeeded where others failed.

I kept hearing about this company called Uber that offered me my independence and freedom again. I had worked six years as a vinyl repair man in the past so I knew what self-employment looked like—you made the decisions and nobody was watching over your shoulder. The added bonus with Uber was I could turn on its app at any time and presto; I’m working, good to go, and ready to make money. A woman at work was already doing it and loving it. I told my wife about it and decided to take the plunge while, initially, continuing to work my three days at the market research company. After a year I decided to only work for Uber.

When I registered for the company, just three months after Uber officially came to my area, the process was relatively easy. All I had to do was take a photo of my car and the license plate; scan my driver’s license, registration, insurance cards; and give my social security number. In less than a week, Uber had also done their background checks on my driving and criminal histories and sent me the official decals for the windshield, so I could immediately start taking riders.

I recently celebrated my one-year anniversary with Uber and, as of today, I have completed over 1500 trips. I have an average rating of 4.89 out of 5. My biggest compliments fall into the categories of Great Conversation and Excellent Service. A recent accolade from one of my riders was Late Night Hero. I have also received more than 500 five-star ratings.

Before turning to the next page, however, I want to emphasize that this book is based only on my experience working mostly with Uber and little bit with Lyft. I understand that other drivers can have vastly different experiences depending on where they work geographically, what times they work, and, most notably, who gets into their vehicles. I live in a mid-size city in the northeast that has a population of roughly 146,000 inhabitants (the county has 466,000). I believe there are four factors that help Uber thrive in