Apart from the abysmally low rates of payment to Uber drivers, there are a couple of fare issues which come to mind and require consideration. GST Uber drivers pay 10% of the fare charged to riders, BEFORE Uber's cut of 25%. So the drivers pay GST for Uber, AND for the rider. The GST is a tax that is supposed to be paid by the CONSUMER of goods and services. Hence, the GST should be charged to the rider, who is the consumer, not to the driver. Driver shafted again. Or am I missing something ? Empty Kilometres I have coined this phrase to describe the kilometres that a driver has to drive to pick up a rider, and eventually return to base after a ride/rides. The "empty kilometres" of course depend on the area the driver is operating in, and perhaps in central Melbourne, may not be much of an issue. But in outlying areas these can be significant. It is not uncommon to have to drive 15 kms to pick up a rider, and just hope like hell that the rider's destination is towards the driver's home base. Granted though that the driver can choose not to accept such rides, but might there be consequences for the driver rejecting such ride requests ? In this real life example over a couple of weeks of driving, the kilometres logged are as follows: Total kilometres driven = 1930 Paid kilometres = 1075 Hence, empty kilometres = 1930 - 1075 = 855 Or 44% of the total kilometres driven is unpaid. An even more alarming statistic is that the empty kilometres is roughly 80% of paid kilometres (855/1075*100 = 79.5%) in this case. However, as noted before, this number is dependent on the location of the driver. Possibly in central Melbourne this figure might be much lower. If drivers have kept track of them, it would be interesting to know what these empty kilometres are for different parts of Melbourne. Could this scenario be covered by a nominal surge rate ? Or perhaps a pickup fee when the rider is more than a given distance away, say more than 4 or 5 km ? Something else ? Or is it something that we must just accept ? Just a thought.
The points you raised are well known, basicly highlighting how much disconnected Uber are and how little they really care for their driver partners. Unfortuantly Uber will continue to push the limits of contempt for us drivers as much as they can possibly get away with. Hence, the importance of us drivers sticking togther and sending them our message. They are a bunch of exploitive kids with no regard to the law OR to being fair. In fact what they deliver is everything we DONT want to see in a healthy ride share industry in this country. Check out this thread for some good tips on how to maximize your earnings in Melbourne as it covers some of the points you raised: http://ridesharedriversunited.com/forum/threads/maximizing-uber-earnings-in-melbourne-australia.21/
Thank you, Uberx zoom, for those tips. Much appreciated. You say in the link that the minimum fare is $4.80, which would make the gross minimum fare $6.40. I got a minimum fare of $4.50, as recently as yesterday. And a cancellation charge of 0f $8 vs $7.50. Is there an increase in the offing ?
You are probably on the 25% commision tier. Long time drivers pay only 20% which explains the difference in the minimum fare figures quoted.
Yes all fair points you made. However if you are 855kms of unpaid driving in a couple weeks you need to have a better look at what your doing and reassess.
True. A fair observation. I guess being in an outlying area has something to do with it also, and the hours I choose to drive. Thanks for that.
Stumbled across this interesting article: https://www.broadsheet.com.au/national/city-file/article/hi-oscar-australian-uber-competitor
I like how the price is slighty above poobears which hopefully doesn't encourage a race to the bottom but not gonna really be noticed by any apart from the true cheapos who should be waiting at the bus stop I wonder if that favourite driver option can be set up as a default so the punx don't have to think about it every time?
Driver Earnings. Assuming that: Average driving speed = 60 km/hr Cost of car (all inclusive of fuel, depreciation, etc etc ) = $0.66 per kilometre (ATO allowance for upto 5,000 km per year) Average ride is 10km (to estimate contribution of base fare to earnings) Base fare per km =$ 0.20 ( for longer rides, this number decreases) Then, Per kilometre earnings(Melbourne drivers) Earning by distance = $1.00 Earning by time = $0.32 Earning from base fare = $0.20 Total Earning = $1.52 Deduct Uber commission 25% + 10% GST = 35% of gross fare So Net Earning to driver = $1.52 *0.65 = $ 0.988 Less fuel, depreciation, etc etc at ATO rates = $0.66 Allow a conservative 20% for empty kilometers. Then, car cost per km = 0.66*1.2 = $0.792 Actual earning to driver = 0.988 -0.792 = $0.196 If there is a calculation or logical error, please advise. So, a driver with 1000 km of paid driven kilometers would make $196. Probably a week of driving to make about $200. This scenario is probably as good as it gets. In reality, probably a lot less, possibly even a loss.
And another thing. It is recommended that riders be provided water and mints. Really ?! Does Uber pay for that ? Fly the budget airlines and you can't even get a glass of water for free !
You are spot on Eddie and thats the sad reality of it all, its a scam. An elaborated scam pushed by an international multi-billion corporation taking thousands of Aussies and thier cars for a ride. Uber simply cuts a commission on everyone's losses. Insisting on keeping the base rates at dirt cheap levels while taking on many more new drivers using false advertising and psychological games. Thats how you kill your competition, grow your market share exponentially and keep your commission cut growing strong.