First a few tips (not the tip as in the money) I learned since I drove Uber.
One is you can setup a secured code like 2 factor authentication: I have one passenger used this feature. This may be faster than looking at license plate/exchange names etc. The driver can only “start the trip” after type in the code from the passenger.
Another one is something I learned this morning: we can do multiple stops. Today two older brothers dropped off the little brother at early childhood place, before heading to their destination high school.
Last but not least, try to keep your car clean. By “clean” I meant the carpet is clean and the cupholders are clean. And if you have a minivan like me, try to keep trunk clean of junks. Guess when do we need the storage space in the trunk? When we have junks there. I am not kidding, it actually happened recently to me once, when I need to take 5 people with their bags 🙂 I learned this lesson the hard way actually, in the very beginning of my driving adventure, I didn’t pay attention to the carpet and the cup holders. And I quickly got a few low rating (2, 3, 4) and it pushed down my overall rating score quickly. And now I can say proudly I am coming back as my score is 4.78 (I think 4.9 is considered excellent on Uber).
How about real tips (tips in the money)
Never expected, always appreciated. In real life though, interacting with passengers, talking to them (probably listen to them 1st) may have something to do with the tips.
Why I drive for Uber – reasons other than money
I think driving these one or two trips helps waking me up. In the old days I commute 20 to 30 minutes to work. Nowadays this is my “commute” in a way. Driving my freshman girl to HS and back is a bit too short to wake me up. The earning per hour never exceeded $30 (before tips). I received $13 tips from below trips. Subtracting the tips, it would be $58.72 for 2-hour 17 m online time. Other side benefits: keep my car clean and watch out for my driving habits no road rage etc. Use the modern word, just “chill”.
Here is an article by Harvard – Taxi drivers are steering neuroscience toward better understanding Alzheimer’s. In Chinese BMJ：老司机狂喜！哈佛团队分析近900万死者数据发现，出租车和救护车司机因阿尔茨海默病死亡风险全职业最低，或与空间导航能力有关
How to improve the rating?
Keep the car clean, in addition to be friendly.
Last but not least, I have driven 65 trips since started this very much part time gig about 2 months ago. PS: this is my earlier post on driving for Uber.
Reference
YT video How Uber Robs Its Drivers by More Perfect Union: let me quote a comment – As an accountant, I did Uber and Lyft a few years ago on weekends to make a few extra bucks. After about 300 rides, I created my own report that detailed my revenue, expenses, hourly work pay rate, etc. And came to the conclusion that was only making about $9 maybe $10 per hour in profit while putting lots of wear and tear on my vehicle. I stopped all ride share driving after that.
I think I tend to agree with the comment above. My main motivation for driving is not to get the extra income (that didn’t hurt). But I think if I want to make more money or make a living, or bring bread home, driving for Uber is not the 1st thing I will attempt to do.