But did they earn more than they did before doing gig work?
If you drive for a TNC, you may on paper earn more per hour but after gas, wear and tear on vehicle (changing out brakes, tires much faster), increased maintenance, steep depreciation of vehicle, higher insurance premiums for commercial auto.
Then you factor in having to buy your own health insurance on the market, dental insurance, and other expenses that a normal, salaried, full time job comes with. Don’t forget about the taxes you have to pay out at the end of the year that would normally be taken out with each paycheck.
I remember doing gig work when those companies were shelling out $1,000s for new drivers. But once those teasers expired and rates got cut, it didn’t make much sense from a financial aspect to continue doing so.
Great beer money for a college student but I don’t see how folks make a sustainable living on the slave wage.
To me Uber drivers are neither employees nor independent contractors. Working as much or as little as they want is not enough to be considered independent contractor.
Yes. Most tradespeople have limited control over the rates they can charge. To the extent they can set rates, an Uber driver and accept and decline fares.
> an Uber driver and accept and decline fares.
That just sucks. Bad system.
Sure it's more common that contractors offer pricing, but there are industries where the reverse. For instance, magazines typically have set offered rates they'll pay for articles by freelancers.
I think they made some adjustments.
I could either negotiate the rate and walk away if it isn’t high enough or accept the rate.
Dynamic pricing is suppose to do just that. Uber sets their own rates rate based on demand. Higher prices should encourage more drivers and the market works itself out.
Let's put an example with carpenters. Lets say I have contracted two different guys and I know how they work. One is cheap but unreliable and the other one is expensive but reliable. As the customer I can decide that the rate of the second one is acceptable and he is being fair with it because I have trust he will show up on time. If he were to charge me 1m per hour I'd no longer consider his rate as fair and no longer hore him for gigs. Also I can also search the unicorn carpenter who is cheap and reliable.
The market decides the rate. You can charge as little as you want but you might be missing money or even be in red numbers. Charge too much and you wont have contracts.
Setting your own rate is not the same as everybody accepting your rate.
> Dynamic pricing is suppose to do just that.
If an Uber driver has a nicer, cleaner car can he charge more? No. Then he cant set up his own rates. No matter how much better he is at the job he will charge the same as everybody else.
That's why Uber drivers are caught in the worst of two worlds. They are not employees but cant decide how much to earn per trip
There is also a rate that Uber charges for more reliable drivers.
Also, I’ve known many that make deals off platform especially for long drives. There was one older driver we got to know when we go back home to ATL that we call specifically.
This is just like developers use platforms at first that pay less and then move off platform.
Might have more to do with VC cash, margins and floatations than anything else.