Let’s face it: as much as you may be interested in working as a professional driver, you’re also doing it for the money. Whether you’re a casual rideshare driver or consider it your full-time career, you’re working for an income.
Not all driving hours are created equal. Whatever the actual number of hours you put into this work, there will no doubt be some wasted time (and wasted money). In order to become a more profitable rideshare driver, consider a few of these tips to get you started:
Use the Tools Available at Your Fingertips
There are plenty of tools and apps out in the ether that can be used to minimize wasted driving. Resources like rideshare video training courses are chock full of proven techniques that will maximize your rideshare profits and make every mile you drive count. Scour the internet and see what resources make sense for your driving experience.
The Gridwise mobile app can be used to gauge driver demand at airports and give you real-time updates on pertinent events. Using Gridwise, you not only have access to the right info, but you also have it all displayed in a convenient fashion. You can even manage multiple rideshare driver apps at once with the Gridwise driver taskbar. That sort of readily available information gives you the ability to map out your rides in a way that makes sense for your schedule and for your pocket.
It’s the Little Things
Higher driver ratings mean more potential passengers. Aside from the negative impact on your driver account from poor ratings, riders are more likely to pick the option with the higher star count when given a choice. It’s basic survival of the fittest; the best service providers thrive while the lower-tier drivers (ratings below 4.5/5.0 are potential red flags for Uber) can get kicked off the system.
It’s not enough to just get the passenger from point A to point B. Try having a case of small water bottles or a few individually packaged snacks available for your customers. Play some cool music that makes sense for your audience (unless the rider specifically requests silence or something different). Clean out your car and dust your dashboard frequently. Cosmetics really do help bring in the extra cash!
Have a Plan to Maximize Your Time
This may seem obvious, but don’t drive around aimlessly looking for passengers. It increases your costs because you’re wasting gas and adding wear and tear to your vehicle. Work at minimizing unnecessary costs in order to increase your overall profits.
Plan ahead for the week. Go as far as planning day-to-day if you can. Give yourself the chance to be as efficient a driver as humanly possible. The more awareness you have of what’s happening in your driving areas, the better prepared you are to go into the areas that your passengers may take you. Being well-informed is your key to success.
Know Where the Surges Will Occur and When
Surges occur when there is a high demand for drivers, but the supply of drivers in that area is low. The price of the trip is then multiplied according to the estimated waiting time for a car. The results: drivers are incentivized to hit the road during the times with the highest multipliers.
Driving during these peak times always means you get more money per trip than you would receive without the surges. The multipliers do vary, and they change frequently as driver supply and demand fluctuates. It may not always be worth it for you to go the extra mile (literally) just to pick up a few extra cents on a small drive. Be methodical about your driving schedule to have surge pricing work out in your wallet’s favor.
Open Yourself Up to Rideshare Variety
“Uber” and “Lyft” have essentially become verbs. Riders will often have arguments about whether they are “lyfting” or “ubering” to their destinations. As rideshare technologies from various TNCs penetrate the mainstream, multiple ride-hailing options are now common in metropolitan areas. Although Uber still controls the majority of the rideshare market in most cities, Lyft has slowly been creeping in on their territory. In certain cities, like San Francisco and L.A., Lyft rides make up more than 40% of the ride-sharing market by volume. Other TNCs, like Gett and Curb, have also been making a market impact.
Rideshare passengers can be biased toward one TNC rather than another one. Some have no preference on the actual service provider but are instead more concerned with pricing or how fast the vehicle will arrive for pickup. As a driver, you could potentially increase profitable ride opportunities if you drive with more than one service. It opens you up to getting more pings, and sometimes even rewards you with some referral incentives.
Were these tips helpful to you? Let us know in the comments section!
