We get it. Driving can be a grind, and it’s not always going to be a good time. Sometimes you’ll get a grouchy passenger, or a nightmare pool, or a bad review. And while these days are always going to happen, there are some things you can do to make driving more enjoyable, despite the odds.
Just ask Paul.
Paul moonlights as a driver in the D.C. and Northern Virginia area in the evenings and on the weekends. He has a full-time job doing something that he loves, but decided to give rideshare driving a go after a friend suggested he make a little extra money on all the driving around he was already doing. And he thought, why not?
The prospect of a little extra vacation money was tempting, but really, Paul’s in it for the fun. That’s right – for fun.
“Uber’s marketing makes it sound like you can make a ton of money, but you aren’t exactly going to get rich here,” Paul says. “But overall, as long as I’m in the black, I’m a happy camper. Even if it’s only 10 bucks this week, 100 bucks next week, and it’s still fun, that’s all I care about.”
Sure, not everyone has the luxury of driving part-time for fun and a little extra cash. But there’s still something to be learned from Paul’s attitude. So why does he love driving so much?
“The people, hands down,” he says. “I love meeting all different kinds of people.”
If you get in Paul’s car, you can’t help but notice.
Paul is a self-described people-person and has got “the gift of gab,” so for him, the best part of the job is chatting with his passengers, and getting them to open up.
Of course, he recognizes that sometimes people don’t want to talk, or they’re in a bad mood. When he comes across that, he decides to try to make them feel better non-verbally.
“I turn the music down a little bit, change it to jazz, get them to relax without saying anything,” he says. “I try to get some positive vibes into that person.”
Because he likes talking to new people so much, that is what keeps him going, and makes what could be a long shift in the car fly by.
“You know how runners get a ‘runner’s high?’ Sometimes I’ll get a driver’s high,” he says. “Just, ‘What a great day to be driving!’ People are climbing in the car, I’m making money. And I’m just like, ‘This is great.’ And next thing I know it’s eight hours later. It feels good and you don’t want it to stop. And it’s not even based on the money. It’s just a feeling.”
Building a Youtube Channel
Paul also decided to make driving fun for himself by setting up a YouTube channel for drivers, Uber DC, which is full of tips, stories and even a game show.
The impulse to start filming came right when he started driving. As a golfer, Paul had gotten into GoPro cameras and filmed some of his rounds. He had a YouTube account but hadn’t done much with it. Then when he decided to start driving, he got a “wild hair” to film his first day.
The six-minute video chronicling his first fares is by far his most popular one with over 550,000 views. But in the two years since, he’s made countless others, and has even created regular segments: “Tip Jar Tuesday,” in which he counts his tips for the week and gives advice to other drivers for how to get more, and “PAX – A Rideshare Game Show.”
PAX is where Paul gets truly unique – and has the most fun. If he has a long drive with a passenger ahead – and the passenger is willing – he’ll play a live trivia game with them, MCed and filmed by him.
Paul gets the questions online and prints and laminates the cards himself. Then he puts them in a little black bag, which passengers can select from.
Paul also keeps a sign on the dashboard that says “Ask Me About PAX” – a natural conversation-starter even if the passenger doesn’t want to play.
Challenges
Of course, it hasn’t all been easy. When he first started, the biggest issue was learning the app.
“First of all, you want to make sure you’re hitting all the buttons right,” he laughs. “A couple times I forgot to start the trip. So, in the beginning, I took long breaks between the rides to reevaluate what I did and make sure I did it right.”
Next came the unfamiliar territories.
“It took a while to comfortable knowing the neighborhoods I was driving in.”
Even as a pro driver now, he has hit some obstacles. Recently, when trying to meet a Quest, he decided to take a pool ride. After waiting past the allocated two minutes for his passenger to arrive, the rider came out and said it would be another minute. Paul then started the trip, waited two more minutes, and then canceled the ride when the passenger didn’t reappear.
In the end, what should have been $4 for his wasted time ended being $0, and his complaint to Uber didn’t get him his money. But that doesn’t get him too down.
“It happens,” he says. “I just keep driving.”
Strategy
This “just-keep-driving” attitude is also at the center of his driving strategy.
“I just go from point to A to point B,” he says, admitting that he doesn’t have much of a master plan when he gets in his car beyond getting pings. “It blows me away that people turn down rides…. The whole idea is to make money, and the way to make money is to have a body in your car.”
Granted, that might not work for everyone. But for Paul’s goal of having fun – and maybe playing some trivia – he doesn’t care where he’s going as long as he’s going.
Paul’s driving tips:
- Know your market.
GPS is helpful, but Paul says it’s important to know where you’re going, have a plan and work it. - Be people-friendly.
If you’ve taken anything from Paul’s story, it should be this.“You’ve got to put that smile on and be people friendly,” he says. “Treat people the way you’d want to be treated.”While this means chatting with people and maybe playing a game or two, it also means going out of your way to be helpful. This means opening doors, helping with luggage and groceries, and waiting for passengers to get inside the house before driving off. - Don’t take it personally.
When you run into that inevitable unhappy passenger, don’t let it ruin it your day.“People have bad days, but it’s only one ride,” he says. “You’ve got to have thick skin. If you’re a real sensitive person, this isn’t the job for you.”
Check out Paul’s PAX Game Show Season 3 Episode #26 below:
