Gridwise blog

Gas prices are always on the rise.

And transportation companies aren't exactly reimbursing rideshare drivers or increasing pay when filling up your gas tank costs $55 per tank rather than $45.

We want to help put money back in rideshare drivers pockets, so we're giving away a gas card every week to one rideshare driver in Gridwise's Gas Card Giveaway!

Wait... But what's the catch you ask?

All you need to do is sign up to receive a FREE Gridwise car sticker, place it in your car, and then take a picture with it and send it to us.

Check out the pictures of our winners in February:

All you need to do is fill out this form [contest ended] and we'll mail you a car sticker 100% free. It looks a bit like this:

You can also see the sticker in our winner's pictures above.

We'll have one winner per week, so hurry and enter while your odds are still HIGH! Sign up using the link below! [Contest has ended]

For many drivers, the absolute best part of the job is interacting with passengers.

Yes, we are in this to get paid. No, there is absolutely zero chance we would be doing this if we didn't see the direct deposit hitting our bank accounts. However, on a day to day basis, getting to know new people can be the most rewarding part of the job.

I recently got a chance to sit down and talk to a Philadelphia area driver named Valery who had just been driving for about two months but was already full of stories.

Valery drives on the south side of Philly and often finds herself with college-age passengers that are more than willing to open up, especially on a longer ride. One rider, in particular, was having a stressful day and Valery lent him her ear.

"We're kind of like bartenders." says Valery, "He was stressed about balancing classes and working and I just provided an ear."

After cathartic ride where Valery just listened and provided a few words of wisdom, she received her biggest tip to date, $20, and a hug. Valery says the tip was great, but the hug was what made her day. "I'm sure I'll get lots of tips, but it's not every day you can make a real impact on peoples lives."

Now, most drivers aren't measuring success by the number of hugs they give throughout the day, but we do appreciate meaningful interactions like these.

So in today's blog post, we're going to look at a few ways that drivers can have meaningful interactions with their customers that can lead to hugs, and maybe even a few tips!

 Check their body language

Right after you confirm the identity of your passenger, take a few seconds to read their body language.

Is your passenger on their phone? Do they have headphones in? Do they look frantic? Try your best to understand the state of the passenger so you know how to move the conversation forward.

If the passenger looks a bit frantic like they may be in a rush, go ahead and ask them if they are in a hurry and assure them that you'll do your best to safely get them to their destination as quickly as possible.

Gauge their willingness to chat with small talk

Regardless of the passenger's body language, everyone isn't up for a conversation and you don't need to try and force one.

We’ve all been in the situation where we’re forced into a conversation we do not want to have. Think about the last party you went to that had people you don’t know. Even if you were invited by your friends, there was a chance that you’d end up stuck in a conversation that you didn’t want to have. It sucked, didn’t it?

Now, imagine that you’re stuck in a mid-sized sedan with a well-intentioned stranger who is trying a little too hard to force chit-chat. On top of that, you’re stuck in this car for longer than you expected because of traffic.

Don’t put anyone in that situation who doesn’t want to be in that situation. You should never feel like you absolutely need to break the ice.

Along the same lines, be ready with basic small talk responses if the customer reacts positively to your comments. Knowing how to really engage in small talk is paramount if you’re pushing for that extra tip, but can also help to increase your positive reviews.

Here are a few topics that are always great:

• Talking about the weather is always a great way to break the ice
• What's going on with the local sports team? If your passenger looks like they are into sports (Have a sports shirt, jersey, or hat) then talking sports is a great way to connect
• Does your passenger look like a tourist? Give them some information about the city. Let them know of great places to eat, drink, or have a good time
• Speaking of places to have a good time, if you're a Gridwise user you can let your passengers know of any events that you think are cool around the city by checking the event feed

Is your passenger looking for fun? Use Gridwise to let them know what's going on around town!

Don’t be afraid to sit in silence

Silence is golden, or so they say. It may seem like a simple concept, but it can be stressful! Sitting in traffic with only horns and engines sounding in the background can be unnerving for sure. Don’t sweat it too much, though! Remember: they requested an Uber to get from point A to point B.

Tell us more about the rider interaction strategies you take when talking to customers in the comments section below!

During a recent trip to Chicago, I had the opportunity to chat with a few drivers about their experiences with Uber Pool, and they were interesting, to say the least.

You see, when Uber Pool and Lyft Line were first made available, many passengers choose to use these services without fully understanding exactly what they were.

So when they found out that they were not headed to their destination, but were actually going to pick up another passenger, riders reacted a bit like this:

One driver, we spoke with told a tale of a passenger that furiously yelled at the driver when they found out they were not getting dropped off first, and just became more infuriated with this driver after he explained that this was an Uber Pool ride and the order of dropoffs was out of his control.

After finally dropping this passenger off, the driver was notified of not just a 1-star rating, but the passenger reported them for being unprofessional!

If you're a driver then you know this was a common occurrence when Uber Pool was first released. So many drivers are a bit apprehensive about Pool Express, how it will be received by passengers, and how it will affect their pay.

We took a deep dive into Uber Pool Express and in this blog post, we're going to take a look at what Pool Express is, who can use it, and how it's resonating with riders and drivers alike.

How does Pool Express Work?

Uber Pool Express works very much like Uber Pool. Instead of driving one party, you will be matched with multiple parties that are headed more or less toward the same area.

Uber's app will automatically match you with parties and decides who will be dropped off first, second, etc.

The difference between Pool and Express Pool is that Express isn't a door to door service. There is a set location that is likely a few blocks away from your passenger's original location. This means they will need to do a bit of walking to come to you, and you will just be dropping them off at a designated location.

Uber claims that "With Express POOL, you'll earn the new flat fare for every added pickup stop, in addition to your usual POOL rates."

Uber Pool isn't available everywhere yet. The service has been available in San Francisco and Boston since last year and has just been released to Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia, San Diego, and Denver, with many more cities on the way.

So if you're in a large city, you should plan on needing to deal with Pool Express eventually. Though, you can, of course, opt out of Pool Express.

What do Passengers and Drivers think about Pool Express?

For rideshare drivers, it's important to stay on top of consumer sentiment for the services we provide. When someone is getting in your car, you want to know what their likely attitude is going to be.

For Pool Express, that sentiment has been mixed with the majority of people asking, is this just a bus service?

Many wondered whether it made sense to take the time to walk to the stop:

While some were optimistic for the future:

Drivers, on the other hand, are more concerned:

Many drivers just want Uber to ensure passengers know what they're are getting into:

What are the pros and cons for drivers?

While the sentiment is mixed, there are a few clear pros and cons for drivers.

Pros:

More trips: Yes, Pool Express would offer shorter rides that would not pay as much as a normal UberX but drivers will almost certainly get more overall pings

Easier to hit incentives: If you're going for a bonus, hitting your ride quota will be easier if you are getting more pings with Pool Express

More overall demand: Many have speculated that Uber's entire Pool service is intended to attract passengers that would otherwise not use Uber at all and stick to other Transportation Network Company's (TNCs). If this is true, that means more overall demand for drivers. Learn about what top rideshare services drivers are using.

No door to door: It can be a pain to search for passengers and find their exact drop off location, so not having to do that will certainly save drivers time

Cons:

The cons around Pool Express revolve around a number of uncertainties and issues that drivers will likely face at one point or another.

Will passengers know what they are getting into?: The big problem with Uber Pool, in the beginning, was that passengers didn't know what they were getting into. Many drivers ended up with angry passengers that were in a hurry. Uber must properly educate passengers.

Will passengers be on time?: If Express Pool is intended to save drivers time, then passengers must be on time. Will, passengers, end up making drivers wait even longer because they need to walk to their destination?

How will this affect overall pay?: Pay is a huge uncertainty right now and Uber has given little guidance about how Express Pool's pay will actually be structured.

What does this mean for UberX or UberBlack even?: Does this mean drivers will see even fewer UberX rides? Will this mean UberBlack will almost completely be eliminated?

How should drivers approach pool?

There are quite a few uncertainties around Express Pool for drivers right now, so the best thing to do is to test the service for yourself and monitor your metrics carefully.

I would suggest taking a few days where you focus completely on Pool. Track your mileage, trips per hour, and overall profitability and compare it to when you are not driving pool.

Track your metrics with Gridwise!!!

After a few days, you'll be able to see exactly how profitable the new service can be for you.

Talk to passengers

When you get a Pool Express ride, make sure that your passenger knows that they are in a Pool Express and knows what it entails before you set off.

That means confirm their name as usual, ask them if they know if they are taking a Pool Express, and let them know that you'll be picking up other passengers and dropping them off a few blocks from their location.

Don't be swayed to go door-to-door

Inevitably you'll have passengers that call you and ask you to pick them up at a different location. Don't do it, stay stern and disciplined.

This goes for drop-offs as well. As long as the dropoff location is safe, ONLY drop passengers off at the drop-off point. If they complain, make sure they know that you are not allowed to drop Pool Express passengers off anywhere but at that exact location.

Use it to hit your weekly incentive

The very best use case for drivers with Pool and Pool Express will likely be for hitting your incentives. With more passengers using Pool, a smaller pool of drivers doing Pool Express, and shorter trips, you'll receive more pings more often which will help you hit your bonus.

Only Time Will Tell

Right now, Pool Express is an uncertainty for drivers. We'll be talking to drivers and analyzing how Pool Express is affecting demand over the coming months and will be reporting best practices back to you.

In the meantime, test the service and let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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!