Uber cheerleader "Uberman" quits(?) over fare reductions, including Detroit's 30 cents per mile

[FrodosPet]

[Human101948]

1. The numbers don't make any sense as a business except for the guys who own Uber...

... research examines the cost of fuel, maintenance, tires, insurance, license and registration fees, taxes, depreciation and finance charges associated with driving a typical sedan 15,000 miles annually. In the United States, a driver can expect to spend 58 cents for each mile driven, nearly $725 per month, to cover the fixed and variable costs associated with owning and operating a car in 2015.

http://newsroom.aaa.com/2015/04/annual-cost-operate-vehicle-falls-8698-finds-aaa/

[FrodosPet]

2. From a selfish perspective, this is good news

The service quality in Detroit has been dropping. I've been getting former Uber customers who have been complaining about lower quality cars and drivers. They've lowered their car requirements from 2007 and later to 2000 and later. Surges have been getting more frequent, and they've been non-existent in some prosperous, but more distant and sparse areas. This will end up cutting their service quality even more.

From a less selfish perspective, I am seeing people getting burned badly. They are taking massive financial risks from gasoline and wear and tear to tickets and possibly being uncovered by insurance in case of an accident. The service they provide - transporting human beings safely from point to point - is necessary to a kind and civilized society.

But Uber keeps lowering their earnings potential to the point that the drivers are now paying Uber for the privilege of driving their passengers. This is wrong.

[Delver Rootnose]

7. This is why cab companies became regulated.

Face it uber is an unregulated, illegal in many places, cab company. There are cab regulations for a reason relating to safety for passengers and for drivers.

Uber should be regulated.

[SheilaT]

3. The only person I know who is a Uber driver

happens to be a rather right-wing asshole. Of course, it's highly possible that every single other Uber driver out there is a flaming liberal, but for reasons I can't articulate, I doubt it.

I think being an Uber driver appeals to people who think they're too good for a lot of "regular" jobs (a description that fits my acquaintance) and who probably think that all the money they make is off the books and doesn't have to be declared.

But does Uber keep records and issue whatever that form is you get when you're a contract worker?

[FrodosPet]

4. Yes, Uber issues 1099s to independent contractors!

And they promote non-tipping, so 90+% is on the books.

[SheilaT]

5. Good to know. Thanks.

[AZ Progressive]

8. I know a left winger in the SF Bay Area that drives for Uber

And another liberal in the San Gabriel Valley of the Los Angeles area that drives for Lyft.

[SheilaT]

9. Even better to know they attract all kinds.

[FrodosPet]

6. In Reversal, Some Drivers Ditching Uber and Lyft for Cabs

http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2016/01/07/in-reversal-some-drivers-ditching-uber-and-lyft-for-cabs

By Jon Brooks
JANUARY 7, 2016

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Still, over the past few years, San Francisco taxi companies have had trouble filling their shifts. That’s because drivers have jumped ship to work for the upstarts, and new drivers entering the profession have opted for the ride services as well.

~ snip ~

Yet, there are other drivers who have taken the opposite route, going from Uber and Lyft to driving a cab.

Mickey Kelley operates the San Francisco Taxi School, which offers prospective cab drivers the courses they must take to get licensed. Classes range from five to 15 students each week. He estimates that from one-third to one-half of his students over the last six months have been former Uber and Lyft drivers.

~ snip ~

Flywheel referred me to Abdallah Hammad, 49, who has been driving for the company for about three years. To supplement his income, he drove on the side for both Uber and Lyft for about a year, but stopped around seven or eight months ago. The main reason: the extra cost and “wear and tear” of using his own car to do business.

~ snip ~