Any one here drive for Uber in Chicago? (apartment, renting)

[Fighting Fungus]

How many hours did you work a week?

Did you like the job?

Hourly rate?

[SubconsciousMe]

Yes, I do. But not full-time as I have a great full-time job. I work, on average, 20 hrs a week.

I'm not keen on it. It's significant wear/tear on the car, you only get 80% of UberX fares and UberPool you can't opt out of and really, I've had some awful fares with UberPool. Rides get automatically added and a lot of passengers get really frustrated. I had 3 UberPools in my car at once (all single passengers).

I aim for $100/night I drive. Sometimes it's hard to reach unless I stay out past 1-2am, which I can't do as I have a day job and it'd throw my sleep cycle off too much. I notice that, as a passenger, I still see surge but as a driver I only see "fares guaranteed 1.9x" (often less) during certain hours.

A lot of streets are tricky to park on and wait.

Uber is not supportive of drivers and issues I've had with passengers.
It sounds great in theory, obviously, I signed up myself.
But the reality is that it is exhausting both personally and on my car.

I would not do it if I did not have a dedicated parking spot at my home/apartment
I would not do it if I did not drive a Prius already
I would not do it if my car insurance did not offer Uber coverages as Uber does not cover you during the time you accept a ride until a passenger is in your car and you're en route to their destination (and their deductible is $1,000+) and certain personal car insurance policies do not cover you at all if you're using your car for business (and you would be with Uber)

If you have more specific questions, I can try to answer them as well

[koctail]

I am always curious about what all these Uber drivers did before there was Uber? It seems you can't throw a stone without hitting an uber car in Chicago. To me , it hardly seems worth the money. After deducting for wear and tear, accidents, tickets etc, one would likely be losing money. Why not just get some minimum wage job instead?

[SubconsciousMe]

Originally Posted by koctail

Why not just get some minimum wage job instead?

I have 4 jobs, including Uber. Saving for a mortgage.

[NealIRC]

Originally Posted by SubconsciousMe

I have 4 jobs, including Uber. Saving for a mortgage.

Sounds like you sell a lot on eBay/Amazon, occasional handyman. Or maybe you're the type that only needs 3-4 hours of sleep a night. I wish I were like that...

[jwaiter]

F***ing uber pool, f*** that, i don't want some random a**hole in a car I'm renting.

[compactspace]

It's slightly off topic but Uber, as it stands, is unsustainable. Drivers are poorly compensated and Uber is running on VC. It's one serious damages disaster from oblivion.

Something will change in the medium term. In particular, rumors of CTA's demise are premature.

[Fighting Fungus]

Originally Posted by SubconsciousMe

Yes, I do. But not full-time as I have a great full-time job. I work, on average, 20 hrs a week.

I'm not keen on it. It's significant wear/tear on the car, you only get 80% of UberX fares and UberPool you can't opt out of and really, I've had some awful fares with UberPool. Rides get automatically added and a lot of passengers get really frustrated. I had 3 UberPools in my car at once (all single passengers).

I aim for $100/night I drive. Sometimes it's hard to reach unless I stay out past 1-2am, which I can't do as I have a day job and it'd throw my sleep cycle off too much. I notice that, as a passenger, I still see surge but as a driver I only see "fares guaranteed 1.9x" (often less) during certain hours.

A lot of streets are tricky to park on and wait.

Uber is not supportive of drivers and issues I've had with passengers.
It sounds great in theory, obviously, I signed up myself.
But the reality is that it is exhausting both personally and on my car.

I would not do it if I did not have a dedicated parking spot at my home/apartment
I would not do it if I did not drive a Prius already
I would not do it if my car insurance did not offer Uber coverages as Uber does not cover you during the time you accept a ride until a passenger is in your car and you're en route to their destination (and their deductible is $1,000+) and certain personal car insurance policies do not cover you at all if you're using your car for business (and you would be with Uber)

If you have more specific questions, I can try to answer them as well

What nights do you drive?

How long on average does it take to make 100 dollars?

How much extra is your insurance with the uber coverage?

[emathias]

Originally Posted by jwaiter

F***ing uber pool, f*** that, i don't want some random a**hole in a car I'm renting.

Then don't use it. As a passenger you can opt out of it, just not as a driver. And when it's $19 from the Loop to Hyde Park with regular UberX and $2.50 with UberPool, I'll pocket that $16.50 almost every time. It's not always that stark of a difference, but that's a real difference that I've taken advantage of multiple times.

And if you "accidentally" called a Pool one, that's on you. Just pay attention.

[jwaiter]

I don't use Uber much anymore, so maybe you can opt out of Uberpool, but the last few times I used it (summer) there was no choice, the app simply had uberpool or nothing.