My retired dad drives an Uber. He built a spreadsheet and did the math on car deterioration and gas costs and is happy with the result. If Uber is exploiting anything, it’s idle labor.
I don’t own any Uber or Lyft stock. I think worker owned apps could potentially hurt Ubers market share if the drivers collectively push them and prices are at least 20% cheaper or faster.
Uber exploits the fact that people mistakenly believe cash flow is profit.
I also wonder if your father purchased commercial insurance. That stuff is expensive, and not having it is like buying an exploding lottery ticket. If he's ever in an accident (regardless of whether he was getting paid or not) and his insurance discovers that he drove for Uber without the appropriate coverage, the claim could be denied.
Uber also exploits the fact that their drivers can get away with not being adequately insured.
It’s not all hard to extrapolate mileage depreciation based on car prices.
I feel like these laws are coming from well meaning people who don’t actually represent anyone earning money driving for Uber.
Why are we not seeing driver strikes driving these changes?
If you're ever in an accident while not driving for Uber, the insurance company will ask you if you've ever used this car to drive for a ride-sharing service. This could be grounds to void your policy. And Uber will not cover you in this situation.
https://www.reddit.com/r/uberdrivers/comments/44vuoa/insuran...
The question is whether that is economically rational. Once you are stuck paying for a car, Uber looks a lot better going forward.
It's trivial for Uber to "do the math" based on some simple factors drivers could plug into the app, and then they could show what the driver is actually earning after gas, maintenance, and depreciation. Writing a spreadsheet and figuring out all that yourself is difficult to get right and requires a fair amount of mathematical and technical knowledge.
Mr. Money Mustache's argument is that it would be trivial for Uber and Lyft to "do the math" for them, but they won't because then drivers will realize just how little they're making.
I often explain to people who duck learning math, who don't think it is relevant, etc., that being inept at math is a strong predictor of being poor. None want to hear that, but what can I do?