For today’s post, I interviewed a very interesting gentleman, who drives with Uber in
addition to his very important day job. This really got me thinking about Uber driver-
partners I’ve rode with before… What is their story? Even though I am not always the
chattiest when I am riding with Uber, this kind of got me thinking that maybe I should
be! Enjoy!
What is your day job?
I’m a soldier in the Army.
How did you start driving with Uber?
I started driving with Uber as means to break the boredom as I was at a new location
without any friends, family, or associates. It was either sit at home and stare at walls or
go out and do something. I could teach at local community college or university… but
that would require set hours and days. I travel randomly for work, and I desired
something that I could do when I wanted. i.e. as a driver you simply turn on the driver
App and you are on duty and available… and you turn off the App and you are no longer
on duty.
Do you have any fun stories from your driving experiences?
Some interesting stories include taking elderly ladies to emergency room at 11pm… as
they said it was too expensive to call for ambulance… Another was what I thought was
high school teen girls running away from home, but it turned out that they were college
students getting kicked out of their parents' home. And there are several times that a
bar or dance club pinged me to come pick up someone… and the customer was young
college age girls seeking safe ride home. I have had elderly retirees going to airports
and in no hurry… or business folks in a hurry to get to appointments. I had one call to
the airport where he missed all available flights and wanted me to drive him 400+ miles
to get him to appointment next morning. That was a lot of money, but he said his
company would reimburse him, so he did not care.
Would driving with Uber be safe for women?
Driving is safe, as the driver has all sorts of info on the customers; i.e. their Uber
profile, ratings from other drivers, and contact info from Uber if needed… such as if they
mistakenly leave phone or something in your vehicle; then you can contact them
through help function / customer service of Uber. The type of passenger(s) can be
selected somewhat by location and time of the day; i.e. when a customer pings on their
smart phone App for a ride… it pings the closest few drivers, who can accept or decline.
Because it is geographic / proximity based I tell other new drivers that if you don't want
the drunk rowdy bar crowd, then dont station yourself near the bar area of town or dont
work the late Fri or Sat nights. If you want the shopping mall customers then locate
near shopping mall… or if you want airport customers, then position near airport… or if you want business folks, then position near downtown district. You get the customers in
your proximity.
How does someone get started if they want to try driving with Uber?
To get started as a driver, you need to have 4 door vehicle that will fit four passengers
(plus the driver), that is less than 11 years old, and you download the driver App for
Uber and go through checklist such as take a photo of your drivers license, take a photo
of your vehicle registration, take a photo of your insurance, and a profile photo of
yourself, and enter various info like name, address, phone, and how you want to be paid
(direct deposit) or via other options. You also get your vehicle inspected to confirm it is
functional… by a local mechanic who signs, etc. You can view / study various YouTube
videos of how-to and guidance from other drivers. The companies run a background
check on you and you can follow the progress of your [signup process] to become a
driver. Usually within a day or few days; you are good to go and begin driving. Some
folks drive on their way to work or from work. Some only drive occasionally and others
[drive all the time]. I drive about 10 miles to work, so I turn on the driver App as I am about to leave for
work or when I am about to leave work to go back home. About 33% of the time I will
get pinged for a ride enroute… as there is a feature in which only customers
wanting to go in the same general direction/area become potential customers. Thus, I
get paid to go back and forth to work some days.
Drivers also love airport customers, as those are usually longer rides which pay more.
The shorter rides do not pay as well.
Also, payments are seamless and via credit card on customer Uber profile… thus, no
money exchanged…