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Advice for a novice trying to supplement retirement
I write from a novice’s point of view. I have completed less than a 100 fares to date. When I look at my numbers so far, I wonder how anyone could make a living doing this. I know there are plenty of people who do, so I must be missing something! Please, I would like some advice on how to make driving an Uber more profitable.
My goal is to supplement my retirement income. I want to make this work as the flexible hours fit my personal situation.
I have not participated in anything but basic ride sharing. No deliveries, no food service. Also, I live in a rural area, so I have to drive about 20 miles if I want to avoid long waits between fares.
Looking at the numbers;
I calculate the time and miles from the time I leave the house to when I get home, whether I have a fare or not. I include the few tips I get in my Fare Income.
My Fare Income minus Fuel Cost I average about $13 an hour.Or, I can calculate it more realistically;
My Fare Income minus the government’s standard deduction for miles (67 cents a mile) and I make less than $1 an hour.
I happen to think the standard deduction is a bit high for my vehicle, but it is not too far off. Oil changes and tires can add up quickly!
So how does this make sense? What am I missing? I have tried to make use of the bonus areas, but that rarely works in my favor. I seem to do best when I just take whatever fare pops up, though I do try to avoid anything that takes me more than 5 miles to the pickup. Inevitable I end up an hour from home by the end of my day, and so far the directional feature thing (can’t remember the terminology) just doesn’t work.
My biggest concern is getting in an accident. I added a rideshare supplement to my personal insurance policy for only $1 a month, but even with the best insurance an accident is going to be costly. Since I am only doing this part time, I could see how an accident might wipe out a year’s worth of earnings.
I am a safe driver, but this has distracted driving built into the job description. I have found that a solid dash mount for the phone helps me keep my eyes on the road, but in my area I get about two seconds to decide if I want to accept the fare. It is hard not to shift my focus to the phone when a ride opportunity pops up. In my opinion, Uber could do a much better job at giving me more concise information about the fare, and a bit more time to review it.
Any advice is appreciated.
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