London Uber driver reveals secrets of the job from accidentally helping drug dealers to the unexpected part of town drivers won't pick up passengershttps://www.mylondon.news/news/zone-1-n ... s-22563665In the 10 years Uber has been in London it's gone from an unknown start-up to a household name, with the word even becoming a verb in itself.
But as much as people know how to use the app, what it's actually like behind the scenes is far more of a mystery.
Working as a driver can be a wild ride in itself from accidentally ferrying drug dealers as they make their rounds to be being hit on by passengers.
MyLondon spoke to a long-term driver who spilled all about what it's like working as an Uber driver on the streets of London.
She revealed the things passengers don't know including the somewhat surprising area most drivers won't pick up passengers.
Sue, 66, is based in Epsom but until recently drove across the capital.
She has now left Uber and instead drives a black cab around her home town.
She told MyLondon: "I couldn’t see a future [working] for Uber. I left two weeks ago. There was no money in it.
"The average is a pound a mile. But I was being offered jobs for 80p.
"One guy was offered a job to Birmingham., £114! But then you have to drive back.
"It just isn't worth it."
Sue continued: "The public don't realise the number of hours. If you tell them the full number of hours it shocks them.
"Eight hours will cover your expenses. Anything over that then you start earning.
"And to be honest you could earn the same amount being a grocery delivery driver."
Because of the mental maths drivers have to do before accepting a job there are areas many just won't go, and it isn't the supposedly dangerous council estates that they avoid.
Sue explained: "No one goes to central. There’s no advantage. Out in the suburbs there are empty roads [and] no charges.
"Most drivers won’t go into town. You get more money out in the sticks because the fares are based on distance. If the job takes longer because of traffic you still get paid the same.
"Also all the traffic rules are enforced [in Central London]. You end up with a £65 fine for stopping in a yellow box. In Epsom you can have a picnic in there and you’ll be fine."
Something drivers often have to deal with is when they find themselves driving drug dealers around.
Sue continued: "You get a lot of drug runs. You don’t know until they say wait here and disappear round the corner. Then they come back and want a lift back home.
"There’s not a lot you can do. There was one to an address in Kingston that I remembered from before. I just cancelled the job, didn’t go.
"I never felt unsafe. Like all these things it’s how you come across. Its how you deal with people. If you’re aggressive, then you get that back."
In another incident, Sue was recently hit on by one of her passengers.
She said: "He was in trackies, in his late 20s. Not the person I’d go for.
"He asked if I’d fancy some fun. Asked if I’d take him back home if the person he was visiting was out. I turned around [after he had got out the car] and drove off."
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