Quote:
Originally Posted by fatkid
$200 for a 40 hr week? lIs he driving in Lost Springs, Wyoming?
Many Uber drivers drive with no plan and as such make little to no money. Many drivers are, on average, much more desperate than your average Joe. They tend to have less education, meaningful work experience, etc. Many have average to low credit scores, and would not be approved for a car loan through 'traditional' lenders. As such, they sign on for horrible lease programs through Santander and other shady lenders (being pursued in court btw). These lease programs typically charge people 3-4x the going rate for a sedan. Drivers will pay $800 a month for a Toyota sedan.
They do this because they fail at math. As a result, they chase every ping/request at any base rate (.90 cents/mile...72c/mile after Uber's cut in L.A.). With cars that cost these people roughly 65 cents a mile (because of the lease). I have been driving for 3 years. I have been a "surge only" driver ever since they reduced prices below $1.25/mile in Los Angeles. You can make $35/hour before expenses, at the right times (read:surge 2x+only).
At the moment, Uber subsidizes rides nationally for the passengers. Prices are set artificially low, below market value. There's a source out there (too lazy to google) that recently came out stating Uber subsidizes, on average, 40% of the of a ride/fare's total cost. they do this by incentivizing drivers to drive "boost" zones at certain places/times. these are zones where any fare will be paid at X times the base fare (say 1.5x or 2.1x). Also, Uber has "quests", such as driver 20 trips, make $40 extra. the latter incentives are an unprofitable trap that many idiot drivers fall for.
Uber funds this in two ways: through their booking fee, which is the same price for every ride, regardless of distance (because of this Uber's cut on short Minimum fares is 52% in L.A.). They take the money from these booking fees to redistribute to other rides.
The other, more disastrous way they fund the passenger subsidies is through Venture Capital, which will run out soon. Investors are getting antsy, and the last loan Uber got was a 1 billion dollar line of credit through more traditional lenders that usually only lend to profitable, established companies. Regulators are looking into that last loan.
Finally, Uber is just a middle man; an app.some would argue it's a brnd-name, but so are its other future competitors. No car company wants to make a deal with them, and essentially give Uber the car/transportation market. They don't NEED Uber. Uber asked Tesla for "100,000 electric/semi-autonomous vehicles by 2020", to which Musk did not respond. Why would he give Uber the market?
The dominant ride share company of the future will not be Uber. It will be whoever has manufactured a CHEAP, semi autonomous vehicle fleet. This will be google, tesla, apple, ford, etc. One or two of these. NOT Uber. Uber's screwed.
Finally, Uber's prices should naturally (read:market forces, priced in wear/tear) be 2-3x the current prices. When the dominant ride-share company of the future will have semi-autonomous or autonomous vehicle fleets running around, you can bet your bottom dollar prices will be 2-3x current rates. For now, wear and tear is not priced in, because lol who cares about the drivers.
I do not need this gig. My wife's bonus last year was more than my annual take home. Uber is evil, but that is not why I say this. My conclusions are just on point.
That is all.
Edit: And Uber's losses are growing. they told their investors in 2015 they would be profitabe by Q2 2016. This has yet to happen! /rant
Last edited by Derp!; 03-03-2017 at 10:59 PM.