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Uber and Lyft Drivers to Strike Wednesday? (1 Viewer)

I love the service but don’t know how they make enough to make it worth driving their car in the ground. 

 
I will say the early Uber investor, Chris Sacca, that was on "Shark Tank" - seemed to be an awful human being.  He got his and left a couple of years ago.  

Seems like the management culture.  

ETA:  also, surge pricing is vile.  

 
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Binky The Doormat said:
I will say the early Uber investor, Chris Sacca, that was on "Shark Tank" - seemed to be an awful human being.  He got his and left a couple of years ago.  

Seems like the management culture.  

ETA:  also, surge pricing is vile.  
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Our new toll lanes will have surge pricing

 
Simple economics will flush this out.  

I assume costs and driver compensation will go up when/if driver shortages become an issue.

The nice thing for Uber/Lyft is that the drivers strike, who cares?  It’s not like this is a factory.  I don’t think Uber driver guy has a lot more options. 

 
$92 million is a lot of money for 2 execs.

But it's roughly $46 per driver, per year.

Anyway, I don't think that the current business model is sustainable. Hopefully the whole thing will fall apart and a more efficient system will rise from the ashes.

 
How could either company possibly justify paying their executives that much money?  Because other companies do?  Other companies who's board's are made up of current and past CEOs and other rich people?

But nah, the system isn't rigged against the little guy, it's all jealousy of rich people.   :mellow:

 
GoBirds said:
I love the service but don’t know how they make enough to make it worth driving their car in the ground. 
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That’s really much of the problem.  Most new drivers don’t take the expenses fully into account and think they are making more than they really are.

I have no idea if this strike will pay off for them but I understand why they’d try it.

 
Joe Bryant said:
https://www.gq.com/story/why-uber-and-lyft-drivers-are-going-on-strike

Interesting. "Uber disclosed that the company paid CEO Dara Khosrowshahi $45 million. COO Barney Harford made $47 million in 2018. That same year, half of the Uber drivers in the U.S. made under $10 an hour."

Your Take?
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I'm not sure how 80 or even 60 cents per mile is less than 10 an hour. That said, no matter which side you are on, I can easily see why drivers would be upset at getting wages cut with the 2 execs making a combined 90M.

Back in March, when Uber announced that it would be cutting driver pay from 80 cents per mile to 60, drivers in Los Angeles organized a day-long strike. The company promised to find new ways to improve worker wages but didn't reverse its pay cut. According to the American Automobile Association, the cut brought driver pay down to barely one cent over the average cost per mile to keep a car running.

 
Are Lyft drivers generally better than Uber drivers? The last few times we've used Uber-X was a nightmare. Coming back from the airport, I really thought we were going to get in an accident. The guy was incapable of changing lanes without causing major disruption to other drivers. My wife was terrified. Plus, the cars are a mess, getting worse and worse. Uber Black is always good but it's usually double the price.

 
They didn't change the pay structure after they took the jobs right?

I feel you took the darn job, it paid exactly as advertised.  So quit whining.

 
supermike80 said:
They didn't change the pay structure after they took the jobs right?

I feel you took the darn job, it paid exactly as advertised.  So quit whining.
Click to expand...
Only they were hired in the last 2 weeks

With an expected $100 billion valuation, Uber made a splash last week when the company filed to go public. But the company’s S-1 filing gave a glimpse into Uber’s operations, displaying how significant the company’s controversial approach to paying drivers is to its current business model.

Uber says it plans to cut back on driver incentives — bonuses to complete extra trips during a week or during peak hours — to save money. It will also continue to withhold employment protections like minimum wage, Social Security contributions, and other benefits from its hundreds of thousands of drivers worldwide. As a result, Uber acknowledges that drivers will grow less happy in their roles.

“In particular, as we aim to reduce driver incentives to improve our financial performance, we expect driver dissatisfaction will generally increase,” the company said in its filing last week. Uber did not respond to multiple requests for comment from MONEY.
Click to expand...
http://money.com/money/5641753/uber-pay-policy-drivers-unhappy-riders/

 
jamny said:
Are Lyft drivers generally better than Uber drivers? The last few times we've used Uber-X was a nightmare. Coming back from the airport, I really thought we were going to get in an accident. The guy was incapable of changing lanes without causing major disruption to other drivers. My wife was terrified. Plus, the cars are a mess, getting worse and worse. Uber Black is always good but it's usually double the price.
Click to expand...
I've had better experience with Lyft drivers. Although to be fair. I only use Uber if I can't get a Lyft. I switched to Lyft back when Uber had all their harassment stuff.

 
James Daulton said:
How could either company possibly justify paying their executives that much money?  Because other companies do?  Other companies who's board's are made up of current and past CEOs and other rich people?

But nah, the system isn't rigged against the little guy, it's all jealousy of rich people.   :mellow:
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CEO compensation is a joke. I'm not opposed to CEOs getting huge money if the company they are running I'd making huge money, but it makes little sense to pay huge money to a CEO when the company is constantly bleeding cash. 

 
GoBirds said:
I love the service but don’t know how they make enough to make it worth driving their car in the ground. 
Click to expand...
:goodposting:

seems like a genius business to have started and is an awesome service. might even be fun to do "on the side" in the right situation, but I can't believe it is really a viable way to make a living. seems they have duped people into doing the work in some manner. 

 
dgreen said:
I assume it’s because they spend a decent amount of their time not driving/earning. 
Click to expand...
Personally, I don't see how a job like that would consider downtime as hours working. Everyone knows you're not busy for 8 hours. Hell, even the commercials talks about your "side hustle". It just isnt a viable 9-5 job.  

 
And FWIW, whenever I have a driver that drives for both Lyft and Uber I ask how the clients differ.

They almost always say Lyft riders are a little older, less partying, and tip much better. :shrug:

 
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Eephus said:
There's no viable way to organize a labor force in the gig economy. 
Click to expand...
this right here

it feels like the inevitable end game of American capitalism. not to get too political but this is essentially the conservative economic Republican wet dream. every man for himself. let the people sort it out. no regulation. no organization. let the strong survive, everyone else can go to hell.

 
Binky The Doormat said:
I will say the early Uber investor, Chris Sacca, that was on "Shark Tank" - seemed to be an awful human being.  He got his and left a couple of years ago.  
Click to expand...
Wait... he was an early investor in Uber?  

I watch Shark Tank all the time and I never heard him mention it.

;)

 
Eephus said:
There's no viable way to organize a labor force in the gig economy. 
Click to expand...
Can you elaborate?

I'm not sure I agree as technology allows the employees to connect and band together. Just as they're doing in the article. 

As well as massively influence the customer base for free with articles like I linked to in the original post. And talk in places like this board. 

 
GroveDiesel said:
CEO compensation is a joke. I'm not opposed to CEOs getting huge money if the company they are running I'd making huge money, but it makes little sense to pay huge money to a CEO when the company is constantly bleeding cash. 
Click to expand...
When the company is bleeding cash and still around, that usually means somebody was really good at selling shares. 

 
Joe Bryant said:
Can you elaborate?

I'm not sure I agree as technology allows the employees to connect and band together. Just as they're doing in the article. 

As well as massively influence the customer base for free with articles like I linked to in the original post. And talk in places like this board. 
Click to expand...
it's one thing to have a couple articles and/or info out there. it's another to actually organize a group of people to act. kind of similar to when a bunch of mcdonald's/fast food people were all going to "walk out". a lot of talk but I don't recall there being any real action or impact from it. 

even in actually industries that are organized, it takes a pretty substantial effort to get it done. given the nature of the workforce powering uber/lyft, I find it hard to imagine anyone getting anything significant put together. 

 
Cjw_55106 said:
Personally, I don't see how a job like that would consider downtime as hours working. Everyone knows you're not busy for 8 hours. Hell, even the commercials talks about your "side hustle". It just isnt a viable 9-5 job.  
Click to expand...
Agree. But, most of the articles that discuss how poorly these jobs pay do so on a per-hour basis.

 
From me talking to drivers most Uber and Lyft drives do it because they only work when they feel like it.  They could make more at a fast food joint with steady hours but then they would be tied into a fixed schedule.

I do agree I have had much better luck with Lyft than Uber. Was in Chicago 2 weeks ago and the Uber driver could not understand a word of English and the car had like 5 air fresheners in it..so bad my wife was choking.

 
The Iguana said:
:goodposting:

seems like a genius business to have started and is an awesome service. might even be fun to do "on the side" in the right situation, but I can't believe it is really a viable way to make a living. seems they have duped people into doing the work in some manner. 
Click to expand...
I think we are at the stage where drivers are realizing it isn't sustainable. Time to buy a new car comes way sooner and they aren't saving for it. 

 
Yeah their whole business model kinda feels like they tricked a bunch of not so smart people into working for too little money (since they don't accurately account for their expenses, including the wear and tear on their car)

Add in the fact that the company has constantly failed to turn a profit and the whole thing feels like a big silicon valley smoke screen designed to get a few people rich and screw over everyone else.

Great service though. An absolute godsend whenever I'm traveling.

 
TLEF316 said:
Yeah their whole business model kinda feels like they tricked a bunch of not so smart people into working for too little money (since they don't accurately account for their expenses, including the wear and tear on their car)

Add in the fact that the company has constantly failed to turn a profit and the whole thing feels like a big silicon valley smoke screen designed to get a few people rich and screw over everyone else.

Great service though. An absolute godsend whenever I'm traveling.
Click to expand...
:goodposting:

Yep, and by the time this is figured out and cost goes up are taxis extinct or come back in play?

 
Joe Bryant said:
And FWIW, whenever I have a driver that drives for both Lyft and Uber I ask how the clients differ.

They almost always say Lyft riders are a little older, less partying, and tip much better. :shrug:
Click to expand...
That's exactly what I would say to my little older customer as well.  Like how they worked in the "tip much better" angle as well. 

Of course my response to the 20 something YO partier would be the younger party crowd, who tip much better than those old, conservative customers.

 
Joe Bryant said:
Yup. That's where all this is going. Human drivers helped build the company and they'll be replaced by driverless cars. 

I'm sure Uber and Lyft execs are saying "good luck with that union". Sucks for the workers. 
Click to expand...
We are a very long way away from driverless vehicles. And even further from a scenario where the laws don't require a human behind the wheel even if the AI is doing the driving.

We haven't even started the debate over AI risk management decision matrices. How will an AI be programmed to respond to an emergency scenario? For example: If a collision is inevitable does the AI simply respond to protect it's passenger at all costs? What if the passenger is 90 year old Hitler and the other side of the accident is a bus full of toddlers, puppies and the cure for cancer? Obviously extreme but keep distilling it down and you get into some serious nightmare scenarios with no clear answer. What does the AI do then?

Hopefully we are a very long way away from driverless cars. Then again, knowing us we'll unleash them into the wild without thought and turn us into a huge beta test.

 
GoBirds said:
:goodposting:

Yep, and by the time this is figured out and cost goes up are taxis extinct or come back in play?
Click to expand...
good question. I'd imagine something in the taxi industry changes, just not sure what.

I don't use either often but something definitely isn't quite "right". taking an actual taxi/cab from the Indianapolis airport to dowtown is like $60. Taking an uber/lyft for the same trip is like $20. Always been a bit curious but never really investigated where the difference in money goes - i.e. the driver or the company. Seems a safe assumption most of it goes to the company for "vehicle expenses" and such. 

There has to be a "breaking point" eventually, IMO. Long term I can't see both co-existing. Either uber/lyft loses their workforce or taxis become obsolete. 

 
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