Rideshare Guide

How can you diversify your rideshare income?

You’re a rideshare pro now. You’re a five-star driver, you’re maximizing your income, and you know how to handle any situation a ride throws at you. But driving for Uber and Lyft can provide even more business opportunities that you’ll want to take advantage of.

It only took about a week of rideshare driving for me to realize the need for content regarding what it was like to be a driver. At the time, a bunch of Facebook groups and a couple forums with drivers asking questions were available, but I noticed that everyone was asking the same thing. New drivers didn’t have any authoritative resources.

As I gained more experience, I started blogging on The Rideshare Guy about what it was like to be a driver and mentoring new drivers. This quickly developed into a thriving business and, in 2015, I eventually left my full-time job as an engineer to become a full-time rideshare blogger.

Being an Uber or Lyft driver is a great job for a lot of people, but there are also many ways to leverage your driving experience and diversify your income. I was able to build a business around helping drivers, but that’s not the only way to do it.

Taking your game to the next level

It doesn’t take long for the average driver to start peeking at the rate cards for the higher-level services like UberSELECT and UberXL and get just a little jealous. Here in Los Angeles for example, UberSELECT pays drivers about two to three times more than UberX.31

25% Commission	UberSELECT	UberX
Base Fare	$3.75	$0.00
Per Mile	$1.76	$0.68
Per Minute	$0.30	$0.11
Per-Minute Wait Time	$0.30	$0.11
Minimum Trip Earnings	$6.75	$2.63
Cancellation Fee	$7.50	$3.75

The big caveat with driving for UberSELECT is that in order to be eligible for these trips, you’ll need a premium vehicle like a Lexus or BMW sedan, and obviously these cars cost a lot more to purchase, and thus the higher rates.

A lot of drivers ask me if driving for UberSELECT is worth it. It mostly depends on your city and driving habits. The typical UberSELECT passenger is someone who values a nicer car and experience, so think business passengers, a couple on a nice date, or similar situations.

You probably won’t get many Select rides on a Friday night at 1 a.m., but if you like driving Friday and Saturday evenings from around 6 to 10 p.m., that could line up well with times of peak demand for UberSELECT. You won’t be nearly as busy with UberSELECT, but for a lot of drivers that might be a good thing. If you can find something productive to do in your downtime, not having as many rides isn’t a big deal.

What about UberXL?

I think UberXL presents the best opportunity for drivers looking to upgrade since there’s a lot of demand from the party hours crowd but also from families on vacation or groups with lots of luggage. XL vehicles are required to have six seat belts in addition to the driver, and while the rides pay drivers more than UberX rides, a minivan typically isn’t a whole lot more expensive than a regular car. For a lot of drivers with large families, this could be the impetus you need to upgrade your vehicle and serve your family’s needs at the same time.

As an XL driver, you have the option to accept UberXL and UberX rides or just UberXL rides. When it’s busy, you’ll be best suited sticking with XL only; but if UberX starts surging, it would make sense to be available for UberX rides too, since the surge could make up the difference.

Lyft has a similar service called Lyft Plus and the requirements and rates are nearly identical to Uber.

Driving for Uber’s commercial platforms

Uber started as a black car–only service in San Francisco but these days, most of the company’s business occurs on the UberX platform. UberBLACK and UberSUV rates are four to five times higher than UberX rates, but most commercial Uber drivers have a completely different setup from your typical UberX driver. Below is a list of all Uber’s commercial offerings:

• UberBLACK: UberBLACK is the original Uber service that caters to high-end clients. These drivers are required to carry commercial insurance and maintain taxi licensing.

• UberSUV: UberSUV has all the same requirements as UberBLACK but drivers need an SUV capable of handling groups of six passengers or more.

• UberLUX: UberLUX is Uber’s latest addition to the fleet. In addition to the extra insurance/licensing requirements, drivers also need a top-of-the-line luxury vehicle like a Tesla or BMW 7 series.

Torsten Kunert is a popular rideshare driver with his own YouTube channel called The Rideshare Professor. He initially started with UberX but has since moved into the UberBlack, Luxury, and SUV categories after quickly realizing that he could upgrade to owning a fleet of cars and focus on the luxury market.

Torsten drives in Los Angeles in an area with lots of celebrities (and wannabe celebrities), so he’s found that a lot of passengers are looking for high-quality rides in luxury vehicles. Torsten was able to leverage this demand by creating an Executive Limo Service and buying SUVs at auctions to lease out.

Torsten has moved from being a rideshare driver (although he still drives and answers questions on his YouTube channel) to being a fleet owner, and he says his secret to success was marketing and promoting his cars through social media.

UberBLACK and UberSUV require drivers to maintain commercial insurance and special licensing in order to operate. Additionally, UberBLACK is closed off to individual drivers in almost every market so the only way to currently get onto UberBLACK is through a fleet owner. A fleet owner is a private individual whose fleet is anywhere from one to dozens of vehicles that are rented to drivers looking to work for UberBLACK. As a driver and renter, you pay a weekly fee (usually in the neighborhood of $500) to rent the car. You’re responsible for all gas, while the fleet owner covers everything else: insurance, licensing, maintenance, and more.

Even though you may be able to earn higher rates as an UberBLACK or UberSUV driver, profits and flexibility will be limited due to the weekly rental fee.

One way to get around the UberBLACK requirement is to sign up for UberLUX. UberLUX requires drivers to have commercial insurance and special licensing, but they’ll also need an ultra-premium vehicle like a Tesla or Range Rover. Since most of us probably don’t have $100,000+ lying around, this isn’t a realistic option, but I do know of drivers who had a Tesla and wanted to give Uber driving a shot and this would be one way to do it. I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re trying to maximize your income and minimize your risk since the service is such a niche product.

Earning driver and passenger referral bonuses

I’ve worked all sorts of different jobs in my life, but it wasn’t until I started driving for Uber and Lyft that I got my first ever sign-up bonus. I always thought that sign-up bonuses were reserved for professional athletes, tech workers, and in-demand executives, but apparently rideshare drivers can get them too!

And once you become a driver, you’ll be able to refer other drivers to the platform and earn money once they hit a certain trip threshold (for example, $200 after they take fifty trips). Uber and Lyft both provide links and referral codes to existing drivers. If you have friends who you think would benefit from the gig, it can pay to refer them.

Referral bonuses have decreased over time, but since the market for new drivers is so competitive, it isn’t unheard of to see referral bonuses for as much as $500 in some of the top Uber and Lyft cities.

Some drivers complain that referring other drivers creates more competition, but I’ve never bought that argument. Uber and Lyft have certain targets for driver numbers in each city and if they can’t get them from referrals, they’ll just spend that money on other marketing efforts.

It’s important to note that I’m a little biased here since one of our main sources of revenue on the blog comes from driver referrals. But I’ve also never been the type to shy away from competition. In fact, the reason why I am so open with my readers and share many strategies in this book is because I believe that teaching others only reinforces those principles in yourself and makes you a better driver.

Although passenger referral bonuses aren’t as lucrative, if you do come across someone who’s interested in signing up as a passenger, it can’t hurt to share your code with them. Uber and Lyft both pay $5–10 to drivers who refer new passengers, and the passenger will typically get $10–$50 off their first ride depending on the city.

And if you’re real slick, you’ll keep a stack of Lyft passenger referral cards on hand while you’re driving for Uber and vice versa. Uber usually surges higher than Lyft (Prime Time equivalent), so if you ever get an Uber ride on surge, that’s a good time to tell passengers that they can get a free ride or two when they sign up for Lyft and then hand out your referral cards. Here is the link for the premium business cards that I personally use: therideshareguy.com/palm1.

Third-party companies that help drivers earn more

As the number of rideshare drivers in the United States has grown into the millions, we’ve started to see more and more companies offering products and services to drivers. At the start, there were a lot of services like Stride Drive and Quickbooks Self-Employed that helped drivers save money on taxes and with mileage tracking, but now we’re seeing apps like Mystro and Cargo that actually aim to help drivers earn more money.

What is Mystro?

One of my favorite new start-ups looking to help drivers is called Mystro. As we touched on earlier, they aim to automate the process of driving for both Uber and Lyft. Savvy drivers know that when demand is slow, it pays to go online with both Uber and Lyft in order to increase your chances of getting a request.

In the past, this process was burdensome and very unsafe since you had to physically go online with the first app, then go online with the second app, and once you got a request, you had to accept it and then log off the other app before you got a new trip. Sometimes you got another request before you could log off the second app. Huge pain in the butt! Luckily, Mystro does all of this automatically for you.

Mystro was founded by an Uber and Lyft driver named Herb Coakley who’s gotten over ten thousand rides under his belt. The app is available to drivers all over the world but it is not a rideshare company. The Mystro app interfaces with the Uber and Lyft driver apps in order to sign you on and off and accept or ignore trips on the driver’s behalf. The app is currently only available for Android users, but I’m told an iOS version is in the works.

Mystro helps drivers get more trips, which allows them to make more money during slow times and to be picky with the rides that they’ll accept during busy times. I like to filter for ETAs that are five minutes or less; if it’s really busy, I’ll drop the ETA down to three minutes. You’d be surprised by how easily you can get a seven- to eight-minute ETA request followed by a two-minute ETA request since so many riders are requesting rides during specific busy times and places. And since you’re not paid for the distance/time to a rider, you’ll always want to be conscious of those numbers and look to minimize them. In smaller cities where it’s not as busy, use the same strategy but at higher ETA levels (ignore the fifteen-minute ETA requests, but take the seven-to eight-minute requests).

Another area where Mystro excels is safety. If you’re driving around without Mystro and you get a trip request, you have to physically look at the screen on your phone and tap it to accept. Mystro automates the acceptance process and if you’re doing Uber and Lyft at the same time, it eliminates the need to stare at your screen.

What is Cargo?

Cargo is a start-up based out of New York that provides drivers with a vending machine-box full of snacks and supplies for passengers (many of which are free). Drivers earn money from whatever is sold or given away through the Cargo box.

Cargo advertises that drivers can make an extra $150 per month with the Cargo box, which seems reasonable from my initial testing, but your results will vary. According to Cargo, earnings can vary between $120–305 per month for drivers, Cargo is only in limited markets right now.

Cargo probably won’t double your income, but it could give it a nice boost since a lot of times intoxicated passengers are more than happy to pay a couple dollars for a bag of Skittles!

Other money-making opportunities for drivers

There’s no shortage of companies looking to launch products and services for drivers, but I can tell you from working with many of them that it’s a long road. It’s easy to come up with a name and slap a landing page on a website, but developing, launching, and marketing a product to drivers across the country is a big challenge.

During your time as a rideshare driver, you’ll probably encounter lots of these companies and it’s important to evaluate each one on its cost, potential, and hassle factor. I’d be wary of any company that doesn’t have a solid track record and good refund and return policies if it costs money.

Below are some other unique ways drivers have made money:

• In-vehicle video ads: Companies like Go Vugo have been around for a couple years but haven’t quite gained a foothold with the driver community. I think there’s a lot of potential here so it’s an area to keep an eye on.

• Vehicle ads: Wrapify is a company that will pay rideshare drivers to wrap their vehicles in advertisements.

• Selling your own products: A lot of drivers have side hustles, so it’s no surprise that many of them push their own products or services to passengers. If you’re going to go this route, make sure that you’re not too pushy or over the top. Only sell to those who want to be sold to.

Networking is the name of the game

After a while, you may find that you’re meeting tons of interesting people and may even want to stay in contact with some of them. I like to keep things professional but there are countless opportunities for networking if that’s what you’re after.

Try to take advantage of the opportunities that come your way. Below are a few examples of how drivers have benefited from networking:

• Free law advice: A driver once told me a story about how he had a high-priced lawyer in the back of his car during a time when he was going through a legal issue. After a few minutes of friendly conversation, the lawyer was happy to provide legal advice for this driver for the rest of the ride!

• New employment opportunities: A San Francisco driver looking for a programming job told me that he would hang out around the top ten tech companies after working hours and try to give rides to people at the company. Eventually, he found one willing to make an introduction to a recruiter and he got the job!

• Love connections: I have a friend in Toronto that met his girlfriend while driving for Uber. While you have to remember that passengers are your customers, sometimes you can’t help feeling a strong connection.

Rideshare driving can also open up possibilities to funding a new start-up as Mystro founder Herb Coakley discovered. As a driver, Herb thought it was unsafe that drivers had to switch between Uber and Lyft to pick up passengers and knew there had to be a better way.

He moved to San Francisco to pursue his idea. One day while driving rideshare, he pitched one of his passengers on the idea. The passenger turned out to be an investor, loved the idea, and ended up funding part of Mystro’s seed round.

Listen to our interview with Herb at therideshareguy.com/episode57.

How to respectfully push your side hustle

One of the things that attracts a lot of drivers to this gig is its entrepreneurial nature. You get to be your own boss and see a correlation between how hard you work and how much money you make. So it isn’t surprising that many drivers have side hustles in addition to being a rideshare driver.

You are free to promote your side hustle, but it’s important that you do it respectfully so as not to hurt your rating and so that your passengers might actually listen to what you have to say. Below are a few examples of how some drivers have accomplished this:

Peter - Do Your Park

Peter Vandendriesse started driving part-time for Uber and Lyft all the way back in 2014 in addition to his full-time job as an art director. He’s also an entrepreneur, having founded a company called Do Your Park that aims to call out bad parking jobs by allowing customers to slap a small “you suck at parking” citation on the cars of bad parkers. Each magnet is reusable and displays a witty saying and illustration. Peter uses trivia with his rideshare passengers and passes out a single magnet if they’re able to answer his questions correctly. That way, instead of him pushing his products on passengers, it feels more like a reward!

Janet - A Licensed Massage Therapist from Portland

Janet is a full-time licensed massage therapist, but when business is slow, she drives for Uber. A lot of passengers end up asking her what else she does, and at that point, it’s pretty easy for her to talk about her other business. During Christmastime, she likes to offer gift certificates for her massage specials.

Speaking of side hustling, New York Times bestselling author Chris Guillebeau says that you should focus on what makes you special as a driver. He recommends drivers think like entrepreneurs if they want to break out beyond rideshare driving. Chris also says you should have a backup plan in case your first entrepreneurial endeavor fails—you don’t have to tell anyone about your backup plan, but make sure to have one.

Listen to our interview with Chris on the podcast at therideshareguy.com/episode42.

31 As of 9/7/2017.