Gridwise blog

Uber has not had the strongest PR year, especially when it comes to women’s rights. The company has been embroidered in controversy and legal suits that ultimately helped dethrone Travis Kalanick from the Uber throne.

So when I heard that the company had invested in a Stanford led study to analyze the gender pay gap in the rideshare market, I braced myself for the worst.

What Stanford found was actually, not as egregious as one would have thought. The study did find that women are on average paid 7% less than men, but that number is considerably less than the average of 12% across all jobs in America.

You can attribute these above average gender pay figures to a market that TNC’s like Uber, Lyft, Via, and Juno tightly control. Drivers are of course paid a fare according to a completely fixed and non-negotiable formula that is consistent across a particular city. In the rideshare market, there are also significantly fewer instances of discrimination than in the broader job ecosystem.

In the rideshare market, discrimination can only come in the form of rider cancellations, and only about 2.1% of the gender pay gap is a result of passenger cancellations.

So the question then turns from, what is the pay gap, to what is causing the pay gap?

What is causing the gender pay gap?

One of the biggest reasons for the gender pay gap can be summed up in the table below:

Women drive for far shorter amounts of time than men.

Driver attribution has been a problem for rideshare companies since their inception. Only about 68.5% of all drivers continue to drive for these rideshare companies for more than six months. However, as you can see in Table #1, 76.5% of women churn out in less than 6-months while 65% of men churn out in less than 6-months.

This disparity in driver attribution is a huge piece of the gender pay gap in the rideshare market.

Why?

Because the women drivers on the road today are on average less experienced than male drivers.

This is extremely important because as we know, when a driver becomes more seasoned, they become better drivers. It takes time to learn where the hotspots are in a city, when to drive those hotspots, and how to engage with passengers to maximize earnings. In fact, this Stanford study found that a driver with 2,500 hours of driving experience is likely to make $3 per hour more than a driver with no experience.

Figure 4:

Women also on average drive less hours per week and take less trips per week than male drivers. On the surface, this doesn’t appear to be something that would decrease hourly earnings, in fact, drivers that work fewer hours tend to have higher hourly incomes because they can cherry pick when they drive. However, when we analyze the gender pay gap we can see that this actually just further decreases the amount of experience a women can get behind the wheel. As we see in Figure #4 above, less hours behind the wheel results in a decrease in effectiveness and hourly pay.

Men were more likely to drive in areas and during times in which pay is higher

Another huge reason for the pay gap is when and where women choose to drive.

Understanding where and when to drive is a skill that comes with experience, however, if you are unable to work at certain times and in certain locations than no matter how experienced you become, you won’t reap those benefits.

We are most likely seeing this with women that avoid driving at lucrative times like late-nights when you’re almost guaranteed to find intoxicated passengers. While TNC’s are generally very safe for drivers, many women are not comfortable driving intoxicated strangers in their vehicles.

Another possible time some women may be missing out on is the morning and afternoon rush. Single mothers, or mothers that take on the responsibility of getting their kids to and from school, will be unable to work the early mornings or mid-afternoons that tend to see frequent surges and steady demand for rides.

It should be noted that we see a significant amount of men that also are unable to drive during these early mornings and late afternoons.

Men drive 2.2% faster than women working for Uber.

The final reason for the gender pay gap surprisingly is all about driving speed.

Men tend to be faster drivers on average than women. This is a well documented fact that you can see by comparing how women and men pay insurance. Not only will men drive faster, but men also tend to take greater risks when out on the road.

This more aggressive driving style can actually be an asset for men because as we know, drivers are paid more by the mile than the minute. So if you can complete trips faster and pack more trips into an hour, then you’ll likely see a greater amount of profits.

How can the pay gap be tightened?

The gender pay gap among rideshare drivers is not huge, but we would like there to be no gap at all. So it’s important to think about how the pay gap can be tightened. We see three main possibilities:

1. Shorten the skill ramp up time
2. Help women drivers move faster by avoiding traffic
3. Help women drivers find profitable routes whenever they drive

Shorten the ramp up time.

The study shows that the average rideshare driver, whether they are a man or a women, learns when and where to drive at the same pace. After about 1,500 rides, your wait times will decrease about 5% - 10% which means your income will start to increase. Drivers can decrease that ramp up time by knowing when and where to drive from the onset of their driving careers so they are getting more trips sooner.

Women can start to rapidly decrease their wait time by quickly understanding when to drive airports.

Many drivers, men and women alike, will spend a significant amount of time waiting in the queue at a airport. Instead of wasting time in a line that is too long, women can check and see how many drivers are in a airport queue before they set off.

This can quickly result in a decrease in overall wait time and increase in the number of trips given per hour.

Help drivers move faster by avoiding traffic

A surprising 48% of the gender pay gap was attributed to driving speed. However, the study did not find that drivers start to drive faster as they become more seasoned.

This is likely because drivers find that more lucrative areas tend to be more congested. While this can be true, it isn’t always.

By using Gridwise traffic alerts in conjunction with the events feed, drivers can better understand where they could be driving that will help them avoid traffic instead of run right into it.

By avoiding heavy traffic while still driving high demand areas, women drivers can chip away at the speed advantage men appear to have.

Help drivers find profitable routes to drive no matter what time they are driving

Being able to find profitable rides whenever you drive is key for any rideshare driver. While there are certainly times and places that are undoubtedly more lucrative, a savvy driver can find great routes whenever he or she drivers.

Drivers can of course use Gridwise’s event feed to pick and choose when they want to drive and where they want to drive. For instance, if we can see that a college basketball game is starting at 5:00 pm and ending at 8:00 pm on a Tuesday, we can reasonably position ourselves in a residential area where college students tend to live in order to be in position for rides to the event venue.

We can then check out Gridwise’s airport graph to see if there is a surge at the airport. If there is a surge of departures airport, we can set a geo-filter to a hotel, and find a ride that takes us near hotels where business people or tourist will be leaving to catch their flights.

From there, we can get a passenger from a hotel that is heading to an airport, and then decide if there is enough airport demand to justify waiting for a ride at the airport by checking the airport graphs.

Otherwise, we can just head back toward where the original game was being played and pick up passengers headed home.

This is possible even on a slow Tuesday if you know what’s going on around you in your city.

Is it a big deal?

Uber’s gender pay gap is not huge, and it is not discriminatory in nature according to Stanford’s research, however, we can always do better. At Gridwise, we hope to help alleviate this gap by giving all drivers the tools they need to be successful.

Any drivers out there remember driving circa 2012? Also known as the glory days of rideshare?

I, unfortunately, wasn't driving back then, but I routinely hear veteran drivers talk fondly about how they could turn their app on from their kitchen and get ride requests in seconds.

Not just regular requests. We're talking surges.

Well, for better or worse, the rideshare game has gotten a lot more difficult than that. Today drivers know that you can't just turn your app on and expect to get flooded with ride requests.

Drivers for Uber, Lyft, Via and other TNC's need to find the most profitable areas to drive and the most profitable times to drive. The question then becomes: how do you learn what spots in the city to spend your downtime that are likely to increase your chances of getting a ride request? Also, how do you know whether or not the spot you’re perched at is a “sweet spot”?

How do I find rideshare hot spots?

Figuring out where to drive isn't rocket science, but you do have to understand a few things like your city, your driving style, and your city's event schedule.

Know your city

When thinking about where to drive in your city, ask yourself this: What is the soul of your city? It can pay to know the events calendar in your area.

If you're in Chicago you might say it's the 2017 World Champion Cubs (Go Cubs!) and the nightlife in River North, Boys Town, and Wicker Park that comes alive in the summertime.

If you're in D.C. you may consider the tourist-laden monuments, the always busy Museum circuit, or young and lively Dupont Circle.

Whether it’s local culture, college areas, or even just a bunch of hip bars, your city is known for something. These assumptions could be monumental in increasing the number of profitable drives that you make in a given amount of time.

If you've been living in a city for awhile, you should draw upon your own knowledge to find hot spots. What do you like to do? Where do you like to go out? Chances are that a lot of other people like to do pretty much the same things as you, so start off there.

You can also check Google and Yelp if you're new to a city. For example, if your city is best known for its food, you can use Yelp to easily identify what’s getting the best reviews. This information can be used to direct your focus on the restaurants that draw the largest volume of clients. Similarly, you could use a Google Maps search to learn where the highest density of bars and restaurants are. That way, you know (for that moment and for the future) the area where a whole lot of people in your city are going to eat.

This train of thought is not only limited to restaurants, of course. Location scouting is an essential part of efficient time management as an Uber or Lyft driver. Know the most popular attractions for tourists and locals alike.

Learn about the city neighborhoods as well – especially the ones with the largest populations and foot traffic. Perhaps go a step further and learn about regular local events. The more you understand about the city you drive in, the easier it will become to strategically place yourself for your ideal rides.

Know what is going on in your city

There’s always something going on if you live in or near a city. Having a working knowledge of where the events are and when they occur can be extremely beneficial to your wallet. Some of the larger events can provide you with ample opportunities to pick up riders. Smaller events, while not as lucrative, can also still be good to know about in the long run (especially if they’re recurring).

Luckily, you don't need to search the internet for a schedule of events around town. Gridwise will pull together a list of events going on around you along with their start times and projected ending times.

Predict surges

What's the first rule every rideshare driver learns?

Don't chase the surge. Predict them.

But how do you predict a surge? In particular, how do you predict a REAL surge that you'll be able to actually get a few rides out of?

Think about when your city is most alive. For many, that is during the commuter hours of 5 am - 8 am and 4 pm - 7 pm. During those times you may see residential areas surging or business districts surging on a daily basis.

You can also talk with other drivers in the community to get a better sense of when they’re picking up rides. If you work in a college town, talk to the students you pick up. Do a bit of research into what the young folks are using Uber for. The information you gather will be useful for more than just college kids. Scenarios like coming back home from a night of drinking are extremely common not only in college areas but also throughout a city.

Know what type of driver you are

Another key to success is understanding what type of driver you are and when you can drive. If you are a part-time driver that works a late shift at your main gig, maybe those evening hours aren't going to work for you.

Have kids? Maybe you need to be home to take them to school in the morning. This may seem painfully obvious, but part of creating a rideshare driver strategy is knowing your own schedule. There’s a niche for everyone, so take some time to understand where you would fit in.

To capitalize on your time, drive over to your city’s hotspots before demand peaks. For the spot with the best bang for your buck, you’re going to want to stay as still as possible. That is to say, you need to be in the center of where the highest demand is occurring.

Know when not to drive

Uber and Lyft don’t penalize you for being picky about what rides you choose to accept, so be picky!

Avoid areas with high amounts of traffic as much as possible. Not only are you wasting time and gas, but you are not maximizing your profit as drivers paid more by the mile than by the minute.

For the most part, traffic in a city is unavoidable. What you can do, however, is understand the places and times that really back up. Large events like football games and stadium concerts tend to bring immense amounts of traffic if you don't get out early. To efficiently use your time as a rideshare driver, avoid heavy traffic and focus instead on the fares that best suit your schedule.

What are your preferred times/locations to drive? Let us know in the comments section!

One of my most memorable/unfortunate nights as a rideshare driver came last winter when I picked up a group of guys outside a bar.

I should have thought twice about taking the ride when one of them stumbled to my car, and I should have gone ahead and canceled the trip when one of them practically dragged another one into my backseat.

But hey, a ride's a ride right?

Well, as we were coming to a stop at a red light only 2 minutes after we set off I heard the unmistakable sound of a hurl followed by multiple heaves. And that day I found out that maybe you shouldn't just take ANY ride.

That's a lesson that I learned the hard way, but many of us have either been there or heard other horror stories of passengers making messes in a drivers car.

It doesn't always have to be a late night driver that couldn't hold their alcohol. Sometime's it's the kid that for some reason has been trusted with chocolate in someone else's car.

It could be the guy headed into the office that thought it would be a great idea to open their coffee to add cream and sugar right before the car stops.

Every so often, it's the guy that wants to breakout a pizza in the back seat and ends up spreading sauce all over the back of the drivers seats.

We all like to think this wouldn't happen to us, but in reality, it happens to the best of us all the time. So it's best that you know how you can ensure that you get properly compensated for your messy passenger.

What exactly are cleaning fees for

Before we talk about how to maximize your cleaning fee, let's discuss what a cleaning fee is and what it is not.

A cleaning fee is NOT intended to be punitive by any means. It is not intended to make up for the hours that you lost driving. The sole purpose of a cleaning fee is to pay for the cost of cleaning.

Because the cleaning fee is intended to pay for the cost of cleaning, the fee is awarded based on the severity of the mess. We've seen cleaning fees range from $40 for minor messes to $250 for major puke jobs.

For a baseline, see how uber awards cleaning fees below.

$0 - items that can be thrown away or wiped up quickly;
any mess caused by water $20 - small interior mess (ex. minor food/beverage spills, dirt, etc.)
$40 - moderate exterior mess (ex. food/beverage mess on vehicle exterior)
$80 - moderate interior mess (ex. larger food/beverage spill on fabric or other hard-to-clean surface)
$100 - major mess involving bodily fluids $150 - any incident that requires cleaning between the window/door or air vents]

Via, Lyft, and Juno also have cleaning fee policies as stated below.

Lyft

If a Driver reports that you have materially damaged the Driver's vehicle, you agree to pay a “Damage Fee” of up to $250 depending on the extent of the damage (as determined by Lyft in its sole discretion), towards vehicle repair or cleaning. Lyft reserves the right (but is not obligated) to verify or otherwise require documentation of damages prior to processing the Damage Fee. Collected Damage Fees will be passed in their entirety to the Driver whose car was damaged.

Note: Lyft determines the damage fee amount, which is meant to help drivers repair, remediate, or clean affected areas of their vehicle only. We handle damage reports on a case-by-case basis. Damage fees come entirely from passengers.

Via

Our drivers work hard to maintain their vehicles and take pride in their cleanliness. A cleaning fee for damage to the interior or exterior of the vehicle incurred as a result of events such as vomiting or pet accidents may be assessed and charged when applicable. In most cases, this fee will be $100 – $200, but the exact amount will depend on the extent of the damage. Via will always notify members when such a charge is necessary.

How do I maximize my cleaning fee

Since we know that rideshare companies base the cleaning fee on the severity of the mess, we know we need to accurately document the severity of the mess.

Take a video

As soon as an incident occurs, you need to take out your camera and start recording. It would be ideal to catch the passenger in the act, but at the very least you should record the entire mess so that the rideshare company understands how large the mess is.

It's also a good idea to say the time and date in the video along with a picture of your clock. That way there is no potential for confusion about the time and date of the incident.

Take detailed pictures

In addition to video evidence, take pictures that clearly show how much of a mess was made. Make sure that all of your car lights are on and your flash. You want these pictures to clearly show the damage that was done.

Use your dashcam footage

We all know there are multiple benefits to keeping a dashcam, and catching a messy passenger is one of them. If you have a dashcam installed, you can use it to show the exact moment that a mess occurred. This will further bulster your case and ensure that there is no confusion about who made the mess.

How to report a mess on Uber

Once you’ve gathered all of your evidence, find the appropriate trip in your history and click help on that trip.

Go to earnings, trip history, and select the appropriate trip.

Click on Help at the bottom of the trip summary. Then click on rider feedback, fare adjustment, and then request a cleaning fee.

Add ALL of the details that you can about the incident here and include as many photos as you can.

If you have more photos that will help, just to go to the help section and reply to the ticket to add other photos and videos.

How to report a mess on Lyft

For Lyft, you just select help and then change the subject to damage fee. Avoid the suggestions as that will just send you to the FAQs.

Select driver, then issue with a ride, then select the ride that caused the mess. Fill in all the possible details you can think of, upload all photos you may have, and submit.

Document, Document, Document

The name of the game here is documentation. Make sure that whatever rideshare company that you are driving with understands the extent of the mess that was made clearly, and you have a great shot at maximizing your cleaning fee.

It's about that time rideshare drivers. Uncle Sam has come to take his money.

Rideshare drivers can lessen the financial strain of taxes dramatically by tracking and reporting their mileage, however, what do you do if you forgot to log your miles for a day, a week, or even months?

First of all, don't panic.

Uber, Lyft, Via, Juno, or whatever TNC that you're driving with likely has kept detailed records of your driving miles and will send you that either monthly or every year. BUT if you are relying on these stats is then you don't get a full picture of how much you actually drove.

For example, Uber doesn't track the miles that you drive to go pick up a passenger, which could easily add up to 10+ miles in a given session. Lyft, on the other hand, does not track the miles that you drive when you are heading to your work area. So if you're driving from Baltimore to D.C. to work, you could be missing out on 40+ miles every time you drive.

So how do you track and deduct those miles?

The IRS will accept "supporting evidence that is sufficient to establish the element" as evidence that you drove the number of miles that you did, and there are few ways that you can create that supporting evidence.

First, let's be clear what pieces that you need to figure out.

As a rideshare driver, there are 5 points in which you can track and deduct miles as we stated in our article, "This is how much not tracking your miles is costing you".
.

1. When you are logged out and positioning yourself for a ride
2. When you are logged in and waiting for a ride request
3. When you are driving to pickup a passenger
4. When you are driving a passenger
5. After you drop off a passenger and logout again to position for a ride.

Every TNC will give you your mileage that you drive with a passenger, however, Uber will not give you your miles that you drive when positioning for a ride, waiting for a ride request, driving to pick up a passenger, or repositioning yourself after a ride.

Lyft will not give you your mileage for when you are logged out and positioning yourself or repositioning yourself for a ride like when you may move to an airport or a nearby city so you can have a better chance of finding a ride.

Estimate the number of miles you drive to get to your work area

Let's tackle point #1 first as this could be a huge chunk of miles if you are coming from a suburb or another city to drive in a big city. Luckily, this can be pretty straightforward.

We just need to create an average distance that we drive each day to get to the area that you work. If you still drive in that area, you can simply turn on your mileage tracker and track your miles while driving to your usual location where you start working.

From there, estimate how many times a week that you drive to that spot and simply multiply to estimate how many miles you drive to get to your work area a week, and then again by the number of weeks in the year you have been working that spot.

It's likely that you experimented with different work areas, so you'll have to think and estimate this for each work area.

Estimate miles between pickups

Next, let's look at how we can estimate how many miles you are driving with your app on between rides.

We're again going to create a baseline based on current performance. To do this, pay attention to your mileage tracker right after you drop off a passenger and right before you pick one up.

When you drop off a passenger immediately take a screenshot of your current tracked miles, then, when you pick up your next passenger, take another screenshot of your current tracked miles. Continue to do this for about three sessions so that you can establish an average.

Also, start to track how many trips that you accept an hour, a day, and on a given shift. If you are a Gridwise user, you'll already see these numbers.

Ideally, you'll start to understand that you drive a certain number of miles on average to pick up a driver and that on an average day, you accept a certain number of trips. So if we drive 2 miles to pick up a rider and do 10 trips a session and 2 sessions a day, we just multiply to find that we drive about 40 miles per day to just pick up passengers.

We can then extrapolate this based on how many times a week/month/year we are doing full shifts or half shifts.

Compare average miles Uber tracks, vs average miles Gridwise tracks

Another great way to estimate your total miles is to build under stand the raito between the miles you drive while driving a passenger and the total miles you drive while on a shift.

You can do this by separately tracking how many miles that you drive with a passenger vs how many miles you drove in total across 10 or so sessions. The number of miles that you drive with a passenger is the number of miles that Uber would give you at year end.

Now I understand how Uber would track my mileage, and I understand my true mileage. So if I divide my true mileage by my Uber mileage or "on-trip" mileage, I will get a ratio that I can use to estimate how many more miles I should have tracked.

For example, if I track 120 on-trip miles and 150 total miles, then I can divide 150/120 and get 1.25 ratio. That means I should multiply the miles that Uber sends me in my year-end reports by 25% to get a a average.

I would suggest combining this method with the previous two methods discussed and using them all to corroborate each other.

Stay out of this sticky situation

When combined, the methods listed above will do a nice job of estimating your additional mileage, but the very best way to come up with a mileage number come tax season is to know for sure by tracking your miles.

Use Gridwise's 100% free performance tracking feature to track your miles per trip, per session, trips per hour, earnings per trip and much more.

Oh and for all of you Gridwisers that were tracking your miles in 2017, check your inbox for your mileage tracking report! The subject line will be "Your 2017 Mileage Tax Report"

It will look something like this...

*Deduction estimates are based on the 2017 standard mileage rate of 53.5 cents per mile. Gridwise does not provide tax, legal, or accounting advice. This report has been prepared for informational purposes only. Gridwise is not responsible for the accuracy of the mileage recorded by the user or the resulting deduction estimates. You should consult your own tax or accounting professional.

Chicago is a city full of rider demand. People are always out and about and heading somewhere, which is great for rideshare drivers.

Unfortunately for rideshare drivers though, Chicago also has an extremely high supply of drivers, which means even with so much rider demand, it can still be difficult at times to find passengers.

There are some neighborhoods, however, that if you go at the right time you're almost always going to be able to find a ride.

In today's blog post, we're going to discuss the 5 best Chicago area neighborhoods for rideshare drivers and when you should go to them.

Lakeview/Lincoln Park

Alright, we're cheating a little bit by lumping these two neighborhoods as one, but these adjacent neighborhoods are both great for rideshare drivers.

During the morning rush, Lakeview and Lincoln Park residents are frequently looking for rides down to the loop or to DePaul, so if you're driving between 5 am - 9 am, focus on these areas.

When you do get a ride down to the loop, start making your way back up towards Lakeview to see if you can catch another rider looking to go downtown. Continue to do this and you'll stay busy all morning, you might even find yourself in the middle of a real surge during these hours.

Lakeview and Lincoln Park are also known to have great nightlife, especially in Boys Town, so if you are a late night driver you can always find a ride around here.

If you'd rather drive during the day, Cubs games that take place in Wrigleyville also are incredibly popular. Just be careful not to get stuck in traffic by venturing too close to the stadium.

Wicker Park/Logan Square

We're cheating a bit again here, but these two areas again, are right on top of each other and very similar.

Much like Lakeview and Lincoln Park, you'll be able to find rides here during the morning rush, as many professionals living out here will be looking to avoid taking the Blue Line into the loop.

Wicker Park also has some of the best bars and restaurants in the city, which means there will be a ton of evening activity here.

Navy Pier

Chicago, in general, is an extremely popular tourist destination during the summer months, and Navy Pier is one of the main attractions.

On Saturday's and Sunday's June - August, you'll be able to find a nonstop stream of riders going to, and coming from Navy Pier almost all day.

There are also always events going on at Navy Pier throughout the year like shows, haunted houses, and ice skating. Check Gridwise to see what events are going on at the Pier and the nearby River North area.

The Loop

Driving in the loop is a great option during the week when professionals are looking for rides either to or from their jobs. Usually, during the morning rush you'll be taking people from residential areas like Wicker Park and Lincoln Park to the Loop, however, in the afternoon and evenings you'll be doing the opposite.

Around 5:00 pm you can start to position yourself near the loop and within a short amount of time, you're likely to get a passenger going out to a residential area.

I recommend taking them to their destination and then heading right back downtown to reposition yourself. Using this strategy you should have a steady stream of rides from 5:00 - 7:30 each weekday evening.

Be warned, The Loop is completely empty on the weekends. So stay away unless you just need a break.

O'Hare/Midway

Ok, so technically O'Hare and Midway aren't neighborhoods so we're cheating here, but these areas can be a huge source of revenue for rideshare drivers and should absolutely not be ignored.

A lot of drivers will complain that the airports are too crowded and waste time, which can be true if you don't know when to arrive.

The best times to be at the airports tend to be early mornings on weekdays, but you can use Gridwise to check and see when the most passengers are due to arrive at the airport.

Also, don't forget to use Gridwise to check and see how many fellow drivers are at these airports. This can often be a more important statistic than how many passengers are arriving.

Where do you drive

Now that you've heard from us, we want to know where you Chicago drivers are finding the most passengers.

Let us know in the comments below!

The IRS does not play games.

When you file your taxes the IRS expects you to include every penny of your TNC earnings, tips, your full-time job, and that $20 that you made from mowing your neighbor's lawn.

If you miss ANYTHING, expect them to show up with a calculator in tow asking for their money.

The thing is, you shouldn't play games either. As a rideshare driver, you have the opportunity to save $1,000's per year if you accurately record your business miles and report them on your tax returns.

And every single dollar counts.

Let's take a look at how much you should be deducting from your taxable income per mile.

For 2018 (filing your taxes in 2019) the rates are:

• 54.5 cents per mile for business reasons.
• 18 cents per mile for medical purposes.
• 14 cents per mile for charity reasons.

For 2017 (filing your taxes in 2018) the rates were:

• 53.5 cents per mile for business reasons.
• 17 cents per mile for medical purposes.
• 14 cents per mile for charity reasons.

*The standard mileage rates can change each tax year — be sure to verify that you're using the correct rate.

That first figure is what rideshare drivers should pay attention to. Sure, it may not seem like a lot but let's take a look at how much not tracking your miles could be costing you.

Cost of not tracking miles

To calculate the cost of not tracking your miles, we'll be using a modified version of this spreadsheet. Please note that Gridwise did not create this spreadsheet. All props go to the creator!

Now, let's start by looking at how much a part-time driver could be saving by tracking their miles in a given week. We'll assume the following:

Here, we're assuming that as a rideshare driver we make 13.91 per hour, which is on par with what Chicago area drivers make on average according to Glassdoor.

We're also assuming that over 25 hours, we are giving about two trips per hour and driving roughly 10 miles per trip. This is including miles we drive between passenger pickups and while driving to pick up a passenger.

Given these figures, we can calculate the following:

As you can see you have a total mileage deduction this week of $267.50 given a 53.5 cents per mile deduction.

We can also see that given these calculations, we will be paying roughly $45.64 in taxes.

Now let's see how much we would be paying if we had zero deduction.

Here we can see our tax liability increases to $210.73! Why? When you spread out that $267.50 deduction across all of your potential tax brackets, you will see that it has a $165.09 net effect on your taxes.

That means as a part-time driver if you're not tracking your miles you could be losing $165.09 per WEEK.

If you're a full-time driver, the effects are even more drastic. Let's say we bump up our driving numbers to the following:

We're again assuming that we make $13.91 and average just under two trips an hour. We have ticked down miles per trip to 9.

Now let's see how our tax liability changes:

Here you can see my total deduction bumps up to $481.50 and I'm paying $166.44 in total tax.

If I did not track and deduct my miles, however, I will be paying much more.

Without our deduction, we are up to $463.60 in total taxes paid! That means we'll be losing $297.16 by not tracking miles.

What about Uber's Year-End reports?

TNC's do give out year-end driving reports at the beginning of each year along with your 1099 which gives you the number of miles that you've driven with passengers, however, that does not include more than 25% of your miles.

As a rideshare driver, there are 5 points in which you can track and deduct miles according to The Rideshare Guy.

1. When you are logged out and positioning yourself for a ride
2. When you are logged in and waiting for a ride request
3. When you are driving to pickup a passenger
4. When you are driving a passenger
5. After you drop off a passenger and logout again to position for a ride.

Check out the image below for further details:

Most TNC's will only give you reports for when you are driving and paying a fare, so you could be missing out on a significant amount of mileage if you solely rely on the reports that Uber, Lyft, or another TNC gives you.

Rideshare drivers could be missing out on 25% of their potential mileage deduction or more by just relying on the reports that TNC's send out. That means of the $297.16 in potential tax savings rideshare drivers could be receiving, they could be missing out on $74.29 per week or more.

Ensure you track ALL of your miles

Make sure that you are tracking ALL of your miles with Gridwise's shift tracking feature. When you start driving, you'll automatically be alerted to start tracking your miles.

At the end of every shift, you'll be prompted to enter your earnings, and you'll be able to see how many total miles you drove (not just miles with a passenger).

You can then see a complete history of your driving miles and earnings. We'll also keep track of your current deduction.

So what are you waiting for? Start tracking your miles NOW so you can maximize your tax deduction and your earnings using the free Gridwise app!

Chicago rideshare drivers are crafty...

That's because they have to be.

On a recent trip to Chicago, we found out just how crafty Chicago Rideshare drivers NEED to be.

The Chicago rideshare market is booming but also saturated with drivers. So the most profitable drivers are acting strategically, planning their routes, and optimizing their driving performance.

We got a chance to catch up with numerous rideshare drivers over the last week to talk about their strategies, and we expected their tactics to be drivers in places like D.C. and Pittsburgh, but being a successful driver in Chicago requires different strategies than those other cities.

In today's blog post, we'll discuss the strategies that Chicago area rideshare drivers are using to earn more in the Chicago rideshare market.

Embrace the Suburbs

The Chicagoland area has just over 9.4 million residents, with the majority of those citizens living outside of Chicago's city limits. That means millions are living in cities like Aurora, Elgin, Joliet, and Waukegan.

Chicago's massive suburban population creates a unique scenario where rideshare drivers can make just as much driving in the suburbs as they could driving in the City. This is because there are significantly fewer drivers in the suburbs, but the large suburban population means that demand will still be strong. You'll also likely receive longer fares as riders will typically be looking for rides that last 20 minutes - 30 minutes instead of 10 minutes - 15 minutes like they would in the city.

They key to success is driving in the right suburbs at the right time.

Drivers that we spoke to that had success in the Chicago area focused on driving in or near DuPage county. These cities would include:

• Naperville
• Wheaton
• Elmhurst
• Glen Ellyn
• Aurora
• St. Charles
• Schaumburg

If you plan on tackling the suburbs, start by focusing on the early weekday mornings. Thousands of working professionals are commuting to work, or the airport during from 4:00 am - 7:00 am which means rideshare drivers have huge opportunities long trips to O'Hare, Midway, downtown Chicago, or other suburbs.

Late nights on weekends can also be just as profitable in the suburbs as they are in downtown Chicago if you focus on suburban downtown areas in affluent cities like Naperville and St. Charles.

Know the Underground

One of the biggest pieces of advice that I heard from veteran rideshare drivers in Chicago was to learn the underground roads in Chicago VERY well.

Throughout the city, there are underground streets such as Lower Wacker Michigan Ave, Kinzie, and Randolph that can be accessed from Lake Shore and Wacker.

Taking these roads can be a great time saver, and will give you a chance to impress your riders with your ability to find the fastest route. The problem with the lower streets is that your GPS won't work underground, so you'll need to learn the streets very well.

Familiarize yourself with the underground streets by taking an hour or two during the night to drive around. Learn where the entrances are, where the exits are, and how to best navigate the streets.

Taking a bit of time to learn these streets will pay off whenever you're driving in the city.

You can also check out the map below to get an idea of where the underground roads are and where they go.

Amazon Flex

No Amazon didn't get into the ridesharing business (yet), but they have started hiring independent drivers to deliver their packages from their distribution facilities to customers' homes.

Many Chicago area rideshare drivers are using Amazon Flex to supplement their income because the service pays at least $18 per hour and nearly $22 per hour on average.

The catch is that it is can be very difficult to become an independent contractor for Amazon, and when you do, it can be difficult to get more than one or two 4 hour shifts per month.

Luckily for Chicago area drivers, Chicago is one of Amazon's most popular hubs, so they are frequently hiring drivers opening up more and more shifts.

Chicago drivers should take advantage of Amazon Flex and boost their income.

Drive Via

Uber and Lyft aren't the only players in town. In Chicago, rideshare drivers can also drive for the up and coming service Via.

Via is a new rideshare company that focuses on allowing drivers to pick-up and drop-off passengers along a designated route. You will still be shuttling around multiple passengers, similar to Lyft Line or Uber Pool, however, when you get a "match" and add another passenger to your route, you will add a multiplier to the trip. It's not uncommon to see 1.5x - 2.5x multipliers for picking up multiple passengers.

Chicago area drivers are taking advantages of Via's match multiplier system, which they call Rocket Pay Multiplier, along with the lower commissions of Via. Unlike Uber and Lyft, Via only takes a 5% cut from your earnings.

What's even better is that Via currently offers a $300 signup bonus in Chicago, along with attractive referral bonus offers. Via is still a very new platform in Chicago, so getting your fellow rideshare drivers to switch over to Via can be very profitable.

How are you making more money?

We learned a ton about the Chicago rideshare game on our recent trip to the windy city, but we want to know how YOU are beating Uber and Lyft at their own game.

Let us know what tricks you're using to maximize your earnings in the comments below!

Every rideshare driver wants to make more money, so we try to drive different routes, drive at different times, take advantage of events, and even chase the occasional surge.

Many of these tactics can be successful (except chasing the surge... never chase the surge), but how do we know?

The truth is that if you aren't tracking your performance metrics, you don't know if you are improving your performance and actually making more money.

But how do we actually track our performance as rideshare drivers? What metrics do we follow? These are important questions with that we hear rideshare drivers asking all the time, so we've put together a list of the 4 most important metrics that rideshare drivers should be tracking and give you insight into why they are so important and how you can improve them.

Let's take a look!

Earnings per hour

When people speak about their rideshare driving performance, they tend to speak in terms of earnings per hour, and for good reason. Your most important asset is your time, so you should always be aware of the value that you are receiving by giving your time to Uber/Lyft/Via or other TNC's.

How you can calculate earnings per hour

The calculation for earnings per hour is simple. You just need to know exactly how much you have made during a session, and how many hours you've been driving. From there, the calculation is simply:

$ made/hours spent driving

If you're tracking your performance with Gridwise, you will automatically see this figure calculated.

If you're a Gridwise user, these metrics will automatically be tracked.

How you can improve earnings per hour

If your earnings per hour isn't where you'd like it to be, you are likely not getting enough rides and spending a lot of time idle, or you are getting many rides that are not making you enough money.

If you're not getting many rides, you need to start thinking of where the highest passenger demand with the lowest driver supply is. Start looking into what events are going on around your city to understand where and when certain areas will be ripe with potential passengers. This is a great opportunity to use your Gridwise app to check out what events are going on.

If you're not making very much when you are getting rides, this is likely because you're getting stuck in traffic. You can use Gridwise to watch out for traffic and know what locations to avoid.

Remember that you get paid more by the mile than you do by the minute!

Trips/hr

Your number of Trips/hr is an important metric that gives you insight into how much time you are spending idle, but you want to be careful when you analyze this stat.

If you are a airport driver, you should be expecting a lower trip per hour number, however, if you are driving in a city or suburb where you will be spending less time waiting for rides, you'll hopefully have a higher trip/hr number.

How to calculate trips per hour

This is another easy calculation, you simply need to know how many trips you've completed during a session and then how many hours you drove. Then the calculation is simply:

Number of trips completed/Number of hours driven

Cake!

You can also easily track this metric using Gridwise if you're tracking your performance.

How can you increase your trips taken per hour?

If you're an airport driver, increasing your trips per hour is all about figuring out when you should be at the airport. Check your Gridwise app to understand how many drivers are in the queue before you arrive and compare that to how many passengers are expected to be coming in.

If you see that there are a significant amount of passengers and only a few drivers, you can expect a shorter wait time at the airport.

If you're driving in the city, you should be predicting surges by knowing what events are going on in your area. Be in areas where events are letting out by watching your Gridwise app for alerts.

Earnings per mile

The most important metric that most drivers forget to track or think about is earnings per mile. Why is this so important? Because every mile you put on your car has a REAL cost that includes gas, maintenance, and depreciation. Check out this article by The Rideshare Guy to see how you can calculate how much your car costs to run per mile.

It is crucial for you to be making a significant amount more per mile than it is costing you to drive your car per mile because of these costs. If you are not, you're actually losing money.

How to calculate earnings per mile

Calculating earnings per mile is simple. You will need to know how many miles you drove during a given session and your earnings in a given session.

$ made/miles driven

You can also easily track this metric with Gridwise if you're tracking your performance.

How to improve earnings per mile

One of the biggest causes of low earnings per mile is driving around too much when you don't have a passenger.

When you are looking for passengers, don't drive around from one end of the city to the other searching for demand. Instead, research where passenger demand will be highest and SIT in that area. Chasing passengers around the city or chasing surges is only going to use up gas and rack up miles on your car.

Find a good spot, and SIT.

To improve earnings per mile you can also leverage airports more. By design, you will have more idle time, however, when you get rides they tend to be longer and higher paying trips.

Earnings per TNC

Do you drive for multiple TNC's? Do you know which is more profitable for you?

This metric will tell you if you what TNC you are making the most money with.

How to calculate earnings per TNC

There isn't much of a calculation here. You will simply want to understand in a given session how much you made while driving for each TNC.

If you're tracking your performance with Gridwise, the app will automatically track this for you.

How should I use this metric?

Your earnings per TNC isn't a metric you should really focus on improving, but you should use it to tell you what companies you are having the most success with. You can then use this information to decide which TNC you will drive for and when.

Which metrics are you tracking?

Are you tracking your driving metrics? If so, how are you improving them? Let us know in the comments below!