How long have you been with Uber? Four years.
Are you full time? Yeah. Do you like
it? It's cool, yeah.
This is Al. He's been driving for Uber left in
Juneau for the past four years. He's been driving
professionally for much longer. So what's it
really like to drive full time in one of the most
crowded cities in the United States. I spent the
day with Al to find out
I'll pick you up around 10 a.m. on a Wednesday.
But it's day started hours before. All right
let's get started. He definitely worked six days
a week Monday through Saturday. He has the
flexibility to set his own hours and that's one
of the best parts of the job you know was and I
got time for my kids.
I start work like 6:00 in the morning I'll pick
them up by 5:00 in the afternoon from school. I
got time to be home.
I hope the ones at home with Al upgraded his car a
couple months ago and bought a 2017 Honda Pilot
which can go for about forty thousand dollars. It
was a worthwhile investment because it can fit
more passengers which means more money.
Got to be a hundred percent gas insurance and oil
change has cost him around twelve hundred dollars
a month. Other costs add up. There are regular
inspections vehicle registration and he needs a
special license to drive in the city.
Albert told about two hundred fifty dollars a day
on average. That means he's making roughly six
thousand dollars a month and seventy two thousand
dollars a year. He gets paid to ride and can make
more when their surge pricing which happens
during rush hour over the holidays or in bad
weather.
So most are made in one day and then like 540 on
that I had a few first prize at least five or
six.
The more he drives the more he earns. So he tries
to stay busy all day. We check in on his earnings
throughout the day. A 22 minute trip earns him
nine dollars and thirty two cents. The app
doesn't show how much the customer paid and just
how much outtakes Al also earns tips through the
apps. He estimates that just 20 percent of
passengers leave tips still and some tips are
more generous than others.
Three years ago a guy his right was like 20
dollars. He gave me a hundred. It Christmas.
Al's car is the equivalent of his office. He keeps
it clean comfortable and fun.
He thought of the Super Nintendo. This is a true
throwback and makes an extra pewter bucks from
having trivia at play octopus trying to win money
in the back seat and cargo which allows him to
sell things like snacks and headphones to
passengers.
We've got over 15000 drivers per day earning are
substantial drivers really look at that one to
three dollars per month as a way to pay down
their 16 variable costs.
We didn't take a break until 2 p.m..
We went through all my money and no house to live
around here. I go to the bathroom there. We've
been driving for about four hours and we're just
taking our first
Bathroom break. We're going to hit the road again.
We didn't eat either out typically eats on the
road.
I bring my food from the house all year long.
Anyway in the car
We drive for seven hours straight and hit nearly
every borough in New York City Manhattan Brooklyn
Queens and the Bronx. We complete 15 rides and
pick up people from all walks of life. A mother
and daughter visiting from North Carolina a
caterer delivering lunch in midtown Manhattan and
co-workers from Brooklyn based startup that makes
dog food and Althaus to all of them.
The passengers can also be the toughest part of
his job that is dealing with the ones with
attitude and you'll get people who rule like like
you're only going to be with them for 20 minutes
and then when you leave in Bahrain you will see
no one else says you need three things to be a
great writer driver number one always have a
phone charger in your car number two you have to
be patient and number three create a good vibe.
It's great.