RIDEGURU
Leonard Girsh (LG-PA)
Ride Apprentice from Southampton, PA
810 DriverActivity
Posts by LG-PA
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How low is too low (Passenger rating)
Had a Lyft request last night for a long ride. As I was pulling up to the train station in … -
Rideshare Insurance for Drivers
In time for the Thanksgiving I want to share with all of you my Rideshare Accident Checklist.I put this … -
Lyft’s scheduled ride passenger no show cancellation fee or lacke thereof
Second time in 2 weeks I scooped up a scheduled ride, was sent the ride. I arrived 5 minutes prior … -
Do lower ratings for drivers come predominantly from Pool/Shared rides vs. regular or spread is about the same
Any drivers able to pinpoint a trend of which type of rides hit drivers with lower ratings? i suspect pool/shared … -
Is anyone experiencing and issue wuth Uber not reimbursing drivers for all tolls?
Hi, Three times in the past three weeks I had to call Uber to complain that I was not reimbursed … -
Never ending Phone Mounts
Hi, Not sure if other drivers are blowing through phone mounts as frequently as I did, so I decided to … -
Driver survival Kit
What essential items do drivers have in the cars to help make rideshare driving easier?
Featured Answers by LG-PA
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On Uber platform Drivers have to rate passenger right away when ending the trip, so no way for the driver to know if passenger tipped or will tip, thus no ral way to penalize passneger for not tipping. On Lyft passenger can be rated up to 24 hours after the trip. If passnger did not tip on a long ride I usually go in and rate them 4 stars or less if they did something crazy like brough a child and did not bother buckling them in or bit their nails and left clippings on my floor
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Also, many students from Rider University go home on Fridays, so if you hang out by campus right off 295 you will most likley be shuttling them to Hamilton Train Station and that is not a bad ride on the highway,
even if you have to run right back to the university to grab more.
After Rider runs dry up, after your last drop off at Hamilton, head over to Love's Travel Stop in Bordentown, Friday is when long distance truck drivers go there (because of new regulations where they can only drive so many hours), park their rigs and often need rides home which could be miles away, and Bordentown in General has some riders. Hope this helps for Friday planning
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on Lyft there is a Scheduled Ride section (sort of like a job board) it displays avaialble scheduled rides probably with pickup somewhere within 10 mile radius of where you are at the moment of looking at that screen. On this screen you will see pickup and drop off locations and approximate fare, so that is an instance where drivers can see destination :) and of course in Destination filter mode, while you can't see destination exactly you do have an idea of general direction since ou are the one who entered the destination filter :)
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I decided to read up on this a bit.
So it looks like The FCC is aware of such problems and even set up a "Jammer Tip Line" for people to let the bureau know about people who may be selling or using a jammers.
Found here:
https://www.fcc.gov/general/jammer-enforcement
There is an app to help identify if a jammer is being used, here
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.microcadsystems.serge.jammerdetector&hl=en_US
It appears to only work on Android
A quick search on line also revealed that there are Jammer detectors out there, such as on this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmXsKCEeP4o
Nipping in the ass a few of the assholes using them and reporting to FCC will hopefully help.
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When requesting pool one has to specify number of riders, driver confirms that at pick up on the screen. This enables the system to plan as to whether driver can pick up another couple or only a single passenger.
I had the happen to me. Rider requested pool for 1, but there were two of them at pick up.
I tried changing to two (system told me to make the rider add the second passenger (their friend)
it is $0.11 more for their friend, so I see why rider stated 1 initially vs. 2. (a lot of money - understandable), eventually she changed to 2, and almost immediately got an add-on passenger for a couple, since system figured I should have 2 more seats available. But for example if the same cheap passenger #1 requested pool for 2 but showed up with 3, and I did not force her to change, my next stop for the couple would not enable me to pick them up. SO it is driver's responsibility to ensure number of riders getting in matches the number Uber was told will get in the car. the screen to change number of riders is right in front during pick up.
Occasionally I may have 2 separate passengers already in the car, pool up to my next pool pick up, to find party of 4 who requested a pool, I roll down window and tell them basically I can't fit 10 pounds of passengers into my 5 pound car. I also ask them if they selected pool? knowing already they did and tried to cheat system. I ask them how many passengers they put in during request? (knowing they put in for 2 as system wuld not even let you pool as an option if you have 4 passengers in the single party. (because it would no longe be a pool if you r party of 4 took up all seats) of course the passenger claims they put in 2. Anyway I ask them to cancel, they do not want to cancel because they do not want to get hit with $3.75.
The point for me talking to them is not only to educate them, but to also milk time, so if they do not want to cancel themselves, by time I am done talking to them 2 minutes are up and I just hit NO SHOW and cancell myself, so I can collect my fee. Last thing I need is to drive to them for 5-10 minutes and not even get the NO SHOW fee, because the cheap asses were to cheap to book regular pool.
I do not do many pool rides anymore because of this hassle and dealing too much with cheap asses who request pool, do not tip (for most part), drag my ratings down (I bet the other two passengers in my car already would leave a lower rating because it too longer) and then cheapskates try to beat the system even further by trying to save $0.11 by not declaring all people in their party, find another driver :)
Oh yes all that on top of Uber paying drivers less per mile and minute for doing a pool ride vs. regular. So more work (more hassle) = less pay - makes total sense :)
I sometimes ask passengers to direct me when I first start out after picking them up. Because GPS does not always know which way my car is facing when passengers climb in it occasionally tells me to go one way only to recalculate and have me turn around 200 feet after starting to drive ;) not to look like an idiot I always ask if we should go right or left from where we start (when it is not obvious) then once GPS figures out how to go usually 20 seconds later I politely tell passenger that we are good now. Some passengers though continue to direct me though I am following GPS, and I just let them go on so they feel like they are helping lol
You can be the nicest passenger in the world and your kids could be most behaved but if your kids need a car seat or booster seat and you do not bring the booster with you and kids are not buckled up this is a sure way to get a low mark.
when I drive people around and kids are booster seat age and are not in the parent provided booster seat I mark them 3 stars so I do not get matched up with careless parents again.
mot tipping on a 10 min plus ride is also a way to get 4 stars from me vs 5
if you preschedule your ride on Lyft - drivers will see pick up location and destination and payout, on a long ride like this I am certain it will be scooped up within seconds - this is easy $50.00 for a driver in under an hour.
so schedule one on lyft and one on uber, then when it is time - and driver is dispatched call the driver right away as uber rdivers do not know destination, if he bails you have your Lyft option
take your money elswhere - Lyft?
For example if we used a tipping guideline of: $1.00 for every 5 minutes or $0.20 per minute. A 10 mile ride which for instance takes 20 minutes to complete would require $4.00 tip
However if 20% is used as the basis for calculating tips then the same 10 miles - 20 minute ride that cost the passenger $15.00 would only produce a $3.00 tip, but what if that passenger had a promotion and this ride only cost him $10.00?
I rather it be a set amount per minute than a percentage;)
I think if a Lyft passenger that takes a ride that is at least 10 minutes long and not tip Should get a lower mark from driver, since Drivers can wait 24 hours before rating them to see if they tipped or not.
if besides not tipping passenger also did something unsavory they should get a 3 stars
I will actually pass up any request with passenger rating under 4.7. If enough drivers use this logic, passengers will experience longer wait times and start scratching their heads.
i think $1.00 tip for every five minute of a ride should be a good number, rounded up for long rides
uber does not give option to wait to rate passenr from what I know
passenegrs think it is almost mandatory to tip pizza delivery driver for the 2-3 mike ride he/she makes but optional for rideshare driver who is safely delivering them home.....
Hi,
Yes I too see requests are coming in slower, probably due to summer and like you I primarily come out some weekends. Durign the week I start out in Bensalem because that is where my primary job is then head west on Street Rd to get home. Around 8:00pm also hang out in Bensalem/Feasterville while my kid is at practice, do max 2 rides in an hour and half. Usually Lyft though, I am seeing a decline in Uber requests in general, as most passenegrs state Lyft is more economical. I do not do pools and SHared rides. Perhaps try Newtown area this will get you out of the areas you are trying to avoid.
Also hang out by hotels
If you do a good job you will get deserved credit. As a driver I never had to ask for 5 stars. If I was a pax I would give you 4 just for begging ;)
Lunch break at primary desk job
I wait 5 minutes to collect $5.00 no show fee.
On long rides I will call passenger to see how long and will typically accomodate them.
On short rides 5 is max (lyft will show where we are taing them while we wait), Uber does not show so I will use same logic, 5 min for Uber X to get $3.75 fee
On scheduled rides that I acccepted (Lyft) I wait 5 miunutes as cancellation fee is $10.00 vs. $5.00 for regular rides call passeneger to see what's up
Really there should be no reason for passenger not to be out in time, system notifies passengers that car is approaching way before car gets there.
Shared rides 2 minutes and I will not call passenegr, just wait out 2 min, no show and move on
Oh and a passenegr gets lower mark from me - my time is valuable too!
When driver arrives at your destiantion or clse to it and hits Start trip (on Uber), note drivery sometimes do that before getting exactly to your location so they can see where you are going and some will canclel if not happy with destination.
On lyft it is when driver hits arrived (so same as above may happen as far as cancelling goes) before a passenegr had a chance to get in the car
Lyft also has a scheduled rides feature, sort of like a job board that drivers can see I think within 10 miles of driver's location - there it will show pick up, destination, cost and time
This is how I see it in Philadelphia/NJ market
does not the passenger get a ping when driver ends (drops passeenger off)?
If passenegr is out of the car and sees the driver did not end the trip, could not the passenegeer at that time end / cancel the ride themselves?
Dead battery unlikely, drivers have chargers, forgetting possibly, but poor reception is a frequesnt one
PA is a big state, where about are you in PA.
as written your question is similar to “how much is a car?” Need more info lol
It will be tough. To make any money you will have to drive when everyone else is going out, if your ideal life style is not to be there for your family then maybe. But you are now self employed and will have to pay taxes on 1099, many expenses. When car breaks no money coming in, no benefits and it is exhausting work to put in 12 hours a day.
as a part time gig if you like driving and meeting people it is fun. In my market Philadelphia and NJ I typically average between 15$ - $22 per hour as a part time driver. This is before gas, expenses and taxes.
All depends what you are trading in as far as job to become a driver. If you Work in McDonald’s perhaps rideshare is better.
if the charger is plugged into the cigarett lighter, than I say No.
If the cable is plugged into some USB port in the car, I guess it is possible
you can use application Bellhop to compare prices of various vehicle types
I think 30% full and 70% part time
rideshareguy blog did a survey that may serve as good reference
Hi,
I get this asked by passengers very often "So, what is your other job; What else do you do besides this....) I always wander how do they konw or assume that Rideshare is my only job? :) Once a stoned lady stared at me for 5 minutes during the ride from the back seat and had the following to say "Ehhhh, uhhh, you look pretty smart for an Uber driver.... ????? lol
I had a pasenegr in my car taling how he could tont wait until driverless cars come around. I asked him if he ever had a dead pixel appear on his phone or TV out of nowhere, he said yes. I then asked him what if that happened in the driverless car at 70 mph? :)