Lyft/Uber: Things I Wish I'd Known Before I Started Driving - YouTube

This video is gonna be pretty long, but hopefully a lot of valuable information in a short amount

of time so buckle up.

Things that I wish that I'd known before I started driving. The first one is

Use Someone's Referral Code.

When you sign up there some unknown number of money waiting for you.

In some places it's as low as $10 but in other places it's more like $100-$1500.

Anyone's code will work because it's based on your city, not the city of the person who referred you.

My code for both Uber and Lyft can be found in the description.

If you've already signed up, contact support and if it hasn't been too long, they will give you the code retroactively.

This leads me to my next point which is do both.

But to start out, just sign up for one.

Depending on your city's bonus, you'll probably have a quota to meet when you first start out.

Sign up for just one, hit your bonus, and then sign up for the other one.

Once you've gotten the bonus for both, then you should start using both apps.

When you're driving for both, the way to do it is to put both apps running at the same time.

If you have an android phone, you can use Maxymo or Mystro in order to switch between the apps more easily.

If you have an iPhone, unfortunately there's nothing yet.

When you get a ping for one app, accept it and then go offline and go to the other app as soon as you can. and get a request for one when you're already

If you get a ping in that time, try to force-close the app.

Sometimes this will save your acceptance rate from being hit.

Sometimes when you're doing both, you'll end up get stuck in one app doing a lot of trips at one time

Because it'll automatically put new rides into your queue.

So if you get a request while you're still dropping off a passenger, don't panic.

Accept the request, drop off the passenger, finish that ride as normal and keep going.

It'll automatically tell you where the next pick up is and it'll alert the passenger that you're dropping someone else off.

This is especially valuable when you are in a surge area because you can get multiple surge rides

even though the surge is ending soon.

But this leads me to my next point. Don't chase the surge.

Surge and prime time are interchangable because one of them is for Lyft, the other is for Uber.

The darker the area, the higher the pricing.

The reason an area is surging is because there aren't a lot of drivers but there are a lot of riders looking at the

passenger app. Although this means that people may be looking for rides, it doesn't mean that more people will

necessarily be requesting rides.

Most riders are too smart or cheap to take a surge ride.

A lot of people will open up one app, see that it's surging, then go to the other app to see if they can get

a cheaper ride. Or they'll wait until the surge is over before they request.

Additionally, when you drive into an area, you are now impacting the number of drivers in that area

which means the surge is likely to go away.

If you drive a really long way to get to a surge, you've now wasted a bunch of gas

and probably made the surge go away.

When you can get surges, great, but don't worry about them too much.

Keep your trunk clear and keep your car clean cause

If someone orders a ride cause they're going to the airport and there's no room in the trunk for what they

need, they're gonna have to cancel and get a new ride and they will not be happy about it.

Additionally, don't carry a lot of personal items to protect yourself from theft.

All you really need is your phone and your drivers license

If you have a tip box, empty it regularly into an area that can't be seen.

When you're picking up a passenger, especially in a busy area, make sure ask the passenger's name

This is extremely important that you ask their name not "are you [passenger's name]?"

If you say "are you x" or they're able to see your screen, a lot of dishonest people will pretend to be your passenger

in order to get a free ride. Especially drunk people.

In my first video I mentioned that I had someone pretend to be my passenger and then puke in my car

which meant I couldn't even charge them a cleaning fee.

In both Uber and Lyft when a passenger takes more than 5 minutes to arrive to their destination,

you can cancel the ride and receive a cancelation fee.

Depending on your market, it may be more or less. In my city on Lyft it is a flat fee of $5

and on Uber it's around $3.75.

Once the app tells you to cancel if you've waited too long, cancel the ride.

Only Lyft it does require that you contact the passenger before you cancel.

Make sure you leave the area after you cancel so you don't get called back to them.

If you pick them up after you canceled, they might not be very happy with you and they could ding your ratings.

Along the same line, don't wait for the passenger to make many stops.

You will be paid for your wait time in these instances, but it is literal pennies and it's not worth it.

Politely tell the passenger that if their stop is going to be more than 3 minutes, then it's

better for you to end the ride here and for them to call a new ride when they're ready.

I usually tell them that I'll sit right there in case I get another ping. If I don't, then I'm the driver

that picks them up.

This leaves you free to accept other rides without wasting your time and you are less likely to get dinged in the ratings.

If a passenger asks for another drop off than what's in the app, first of all, confirm that you have the right passenger.

Then you should ask them to change the location within the app.

It's not too difficult, they should be able to figure it out pretty quickly.

This is important because it protects you from riders who pretend they didn't get dropped off where

they intended in order to get a free ride. It also prevents you from being picked up for a new ride automatically

in the queuing system I mentioned earlier.

A lot of people have dash cams for this exact reason so they can prove to Uber or Lyft that this is where the

passenger said to go.

If you get a call for a ride that's very far away, most drivers won't accept it.

People generally live close to where they shop, drink, and work so the long rides,

or unicorns as we call them, are very uncommon.

If you get a ping for a very far away distance,

I recommend calling them first to confirm that they actually wants to wait that amount of time

Usually they don't and this will help prevent them from canceling on you when you're already partway there.

You don't get paid for any of the time when you're driving to the pickup.

Be smart about your driving and learn your area.

Passengers and drivers cluster in specific locations.

I like to look at the passenger app to see where other drivers are and avoid them.

They are there because lots of passengers need rides from there, but if you go just

outside of their cluster, then you're more likely to get rides from the outskirts.

Find the GPS that works for you. Uber's GPS kinda sucks.

I actually prefer to use it because I like having the app there, but Lyft actually doesn't have their own

GPSing system. They show you a map with a pink line, but if you want turn by turn directions

you've got to do an external app. Most people in big cities prefer Waze or Google Maps.

But, don't turn off your brain.

Go the best way, but listen to the passenger if they want you to go a different direction.

They'll probably be wrong, but they'll rate you better for listening to them.

Don't break the laws for anyone and do the research about the laws for your city and state.

Many places require you have clear signage in a specific location showing the Lyft and Uber logo.

All require you to pick up somewhere that doesn't block traffic. you cannot take more people than you have

seats available and all require children under a certain age or weight to be in a car seat, which must be provided

by the passenger unless you wanna be super nice and provide it. Some people warn against that, though

because you could be held liable.

A lot of these are not just legal issues, they're also policies within Uber and Lyft so allowing people to go

against them could get you canceled.

If someone tries to make you break the law, tell them you will not and if they refuse to comply, cancel the ride.

I recommend waiting until the wait time is up so that you still get that cancelation bonus unless they

cancel it themselves. If you end up breaking the law and have issues, you could be held liable and your insurance

will likely not cover you. Speaking of, get rideshare insurance.

Many policies now are starting to catch on and will allow you to add it for a small fee per month.

Uber and Lyft do have their own insurance policies, but they are not all inclusive and they have high deductibles.

If you get in an accident while driving and you do not have rideshare insurance, your insurance will not

cover you. If they find out you're doing rideshare without getting the proper coverage, they will also cancel you

and often blacklist you. If you've already started driving, contact them as if you're just starting out

and tell them that you would like to add rideshare insurance.

My insurance in Idaho is State Farm and I added it for only $16 extra per month.

It's absolutely worth it and the additional fee can be written off in your taxes.

Speaking of, prepare for your taxes!

Every little thing that you buy for your car can be written off as a deduction because you are considered

a small business owner. Car washes, air fresheners, candy, even food that you eat while on the job can

be written off. Get an app that tracks your mileage. I use Zus, a really popular one is MileIQ

There are a bunch that you can try.

Save around 10% of your income made through rideshare for tax season.

Keep receipts and be smart!

Take care of your car.

Rideshare puts a lot of mileage, wear and tear on your car. But also, don't overpay.

A lot of car maintenance and repairs you can do yourself.

Scratches and dents can sometimes come out with toothpaste and hot water.

Oil changes and a lot of maintenance can be done yourself. Look up tutorials online.

Get to know your car, do your research, and don't let the car maintenance industry take advantage of your ignorance.

If someone makes a mess in your car that's going to take more than a few seconds to pick up

especially if it requires a professional cleaning, take extensive photos before you clean it.

If it's hard to see the damage, dab a paper towel and take photos, videos, everything that you can to

document exactly what was done. People don't want to pay the cleaning fees and sometimes Uber and Lyft

don't want to give them out so fight for it. Cleaning fees are not a flat rate, it will be based on the amount of

damage so show as much damage as you can.

After every ride, check that all passengers have taken all of their items.

If you provide chargers, make sure to check your charges. This is the number one place people leave

their phones. Always take a photo and report it to Uber and Lyft so that you are in the clear.

Uber will charge $15 for returning the item.

Lyft currently doesn't have this, but hopefully they'll catch on soon. Try to return it to the person as soon as you

can as there have been some weird cases of people getting arrested. If your city has an Uber or Lyft hub

where you can go into a physical location, bring it there and let them take care of it if you want.

Let's face it, the perks are fun, but they are not required.

It's your choice if you want to. I find that they increase my tips, but they may actually lower my ratings.

It's honestly hard to tell. The chapstick and the water are absolutely the most popular.

But it's all about what you want to do. This is your business and you are a small business owner

so run it however you like.

When it comes down to it, it's your car. You can make the rules whatever you want them to be.

You can cancel rides or not accept rides at any time for any reason as long as it's not discriminatory for

race, gender, disability, ect. You are required to take service dogs as that is considered a form of

discrimination if you won't. Both apps have strict non-discrimination policies so you can be canceled

Be sure to balance your acceptance and cancelation rates. Your acceptance rate should be around 90%

or higher. Your cancelation rate should be 10% or lower.

Safety should always be our number 1 priority. Things that can help with this are

getting a phone mount (a link to my favorite is in the description), and not making dangerous moves because

we're trying to get somewhere faster. If you're driving in a place with a severe winter, make sure you have winter

or all weather tires. I also recommend keeping an emergency shovel and some kitty litter in the trunk

in case you or anyone else gets stuck.

As far as your personal safety,

both Uber and Lyft disallow firearms, but for Uber you can carry non-lethal weapons.

Tasers and mace are especially popular. There was an instance where a Lyft driver, however, was canceled

for threatening someone with a taser when they wouldn't exit her vehicle.

If you do carry non-lethal weapons while driving for Lyft, don't tell any passengers anyone on social media

or you could risk being canceled.

Finally, don't quit your day job.

This may not be profitable for everyone and it's also not a great fit for everyone.

You could have a lot of downtime and you really need to learn your market in order for it to be valuable.

A lot of people are able to do this full time, but it is is a huge drain on you emotionally, physically,

and on your car. When you take out the taxes, fees, car maintenance, for a lot of people it's not profitable.

I recommend it as supplementary income, but if you are able to hold another job, hold another job.

Well, that's all I've got! Check out my channel for more tips, tricks, and other things in the future! Bye!