Taxi Driver Online

Are there any drivers who are or have worked for Uber in Manchester? I am trying to establish what fees and earnings potential their may be.

I've been a private hire driver for the past 10 years, an owner driver for some & more recently I've had a night track off a day driver on a private hire firm.

I'm probably going to end up getting my own vehicle again & I was thinking of giving Uber a chance. There is a distinct lack of info on their website, I've heard there is no radio rent - they just take 20% cut of the fair. Is this correct? Also they're quoting £1.30 as their standard fair on the customer website. This seems very low - especially if you're only seeing 80% of that - I'd need to extremely busy at them rates to earn a living.

Which is probably equal to half the Profit after costs...you burst a gut, drive twice as far and incur higher overheads due to the extra mileage costs for the likes of uber to take the lions share by offering you one of their clients at a knock down price..

Nahh..not for me, Id rather go find customers of my own and create my own customer parc..

With my current operator we're on £2.50/£2.00 per mile. 80% of £1.30 is just over £1 per mile. I was getting more than that 10 years ago!!

check the fares for brum, they are no cheaper than most firms, even have a luxury option..


heres manchesters, let us know


https://www.uber.com/cities/manchester

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

dont you pay any base rent then?

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

I track off a day driver £170 per week. He sorts out the base rent. Base rent is £100 per week. I'd rather pay that then get half as much per mile in fare cost.

well without accurate takings, costings and records how would you know if its better or worse?

did you compare fares?

we are £3.60 mile 1/T1 then £1.70 mile/T1, a pda is £150 a week full time, not sure what "tracking" means...

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

No "radio" rent. You'll need a compatible iPhone/Android device to download their driver app onto your phone otherwise you may be able to rent one for £3.50 a week (at least in London).

Yes, 20% of the fare is taken, so you just pay that for each job you do. No weekly rent to pay, regardless whether or not it's busy. Though having said that, you may only be able to work for that one firm, depending on your local authority (in London, a private hire driver can work for as many operators as they like).

There is also a "time" element in the rate - which £0.15 a minute (so you get £0.12 a minute). You need to add this to the mileage rate which as you correctly say is £1.30 a mile (so you get £1.04 a mile), plus the base fare (or flagfall), of £1.50 (or £1.20 you get), and the minimum fare is £3.00 (£2.40 in your pocket).

So, a 4 mile, 15 minute ride, you'll get: £1.20 + £1.04 x 4 + £0.12 x 15 = £7.16 (i.e. not £4 as it appears to make out to be at just £1 a mile).

You'll also benefit from the controversial "surge" pricing, where there is a low supply of drivers (happening now because of Ramadan, during the evening), and/or a high demand for rides.

Here a driver can work for as many operators as they like, I'm not in London, providing they inform the licensing department and follow their regulations. With regard to the 20% that is paid to Uber I find that a tad high IMO. If you complete £500 worth of work you'll be paying £100 which is compatible with the average settle costs here for a radio/datahead but if the fares are lower you will need to complete more jobs and possibly use more fuel, therefore having a lessor profit at the end of a shift. However working on a % rate at least if it's quiet you're not paying for something you haven't had. Being able to download Uber to your own phone makes it easy enough to trial it first perhaps on your day off with your regular supplier for work or on the quieter shifts.

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

I've compared fares, I took £170 last night, if I'd been charging Uber fare it would've been less than £100 so based on my current firm, I'd rather pay the £120 radio (it's £120 not £100 like I said, apparently it's gone up since I was last an owner driver ha). I was wanting some idea off an uber driver on how much they're doing - but at them rates I imagine having to drive a lot of miles to earn what i earned. My mileage last night in total was 130 miles, the Kia Cee'd only took £15 at the pump.

Tracking is basically renting off another owner driver, he works days pays the radio rent, insurance etc - i give him £170 per week to use it on nights. It is quite a good deal for me but he's retiring in October when his plate expires. I've got to get my own car, I'll probably stay where I am. I've pulled up along two Uber drivers in Manchester recently to ask them how it is, they both said they like it but they're new to the industry so don't know how it compared to regular firms.

Whats the Kia ceed like out of interest, any problems??

To be honest, he's had a few problems, the clutches don't seem to last (although i suspect he's put cheap ones on) it seems to have problems at plate time too. Apart from that it's great to drive & the best car I've worked in for fuel.

That is still half the £2.50 +£2.00 I currently get. As they get more drivers I'm presuming the surge charge will be less regular.

Our firm charge £160pw so in my situation it would probably be cheaper to give Uber 20%.

Where I would save though is if I take any time off work I still have to pay the office a full settle, so take a fortnights holiday and I don't earn anything but still pay £320 rent, don't feel like working tonight or end up in bed with the flu and it still costs me.

Quick calculation, if I want to earn £300 for the week ;

£300(earnings)+£160(rent)+£40(fuel)+£50(insurance) = I need to take £550.
With Uber I'd only have to take roughly £498 to go home with the same £300.

But I might only have to work 30 hours to make £550 with my current firm and 50 hours to take £498 with Uber so it might not be as good as it seems.

Omg for £160 I'd want my fuel thrown in cheeky runts, well I hope they give you the work to justify their greed. You did however point out the differences between the two systems quite as I see it too.

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!