RideShare – Be a Lyft or Uber Driver!
Okay, I won’t lie. Becoming a driver for Uber and Lyft saved my life. No kidding. First I’ll tell you how I got into it – and then I’l break down the gig for you. This is something you may seriously want to consider…
A Solution For Income and Transportation – a Win Win Situation
I was heading to my CDS job at Costco one beautiful Sunday morning when out of the blue, my 16-year-old 2001 Ford Focus wagon downshifted by itself and stopped responding altogether to the accelerator pedal, or the pleading sound of my voice. It just plain died. So I let it coast and come to a stop on the right side of the road, just before the next stoplight.
I had it towed to my mechanic who informed me the problem was electrical and “… we don’t do electrical”. He explained that this could be a simple fix, or it might take an expert hours to find it and may not be worth the Kelly Blue Book price to repair it. So I had it towed back to my house while I decided what to do… What to do? What to do?
A friend, who had been chauffeuring me around during this vehicle less period was driving me home from work the following Sunday when she suggested Uber. I think her exact words were, “Why don’t you drive for Uber? They’ll give you a car.”
To which I replied, “NO THEY DON’T! The whole point of Uber is to give people an opportunity to earn money using their own car! If I had my own car, you wouldn’t be giving me a ride home from work right now!”
She swore up and down that you can get a car from Uber: I knew she was wrong, but I also knew she must be on to something that I should look into, so when I got home, I did look into it.
Turns out, she was partially right. Although Uber does NOT give you a car to drive, they can help you acquire a vehicle through one of a few different programs (see below – What If You Don’t Have a Car?), all of which were costly, but it got me thinking. Without going into into details, I will tell you that, although I didn’t get a new car thought Uber’s program, I did end up getting a new car using my own resources, and I began driving for Uber almost immediately after I had the keys my new Nissan Sentra in my hand (well, it took a few days, actually, but once I got started, there was no looking back.
After driving a few days with Uber, I applied to be a Lyft driver, too. Some will tell you to just pick one or the other. I currently switch between both companies, and I’ll let you know which I prefer another time. Others will tell you they enjoy driving for both, for different reason, and i may very well continue do that, too. Personally, I simply enjoy driving and meeting new people
How Does It Work?
The beauty of being a driver for Uber or Lyft is that everything is done through an app. The rider downloads an Uber or Lyft App to their phone, the driver downloads the Uber or Lyft driver app and that’s it. No one flags you down like a taxi on the street, jumps in your back seat and yells, Follow that car!” – like in the movies.
What DOES happen is when someone books a ride when you’re app is open and you’re online, a picture of your passenger appears on your smartphone screen pops up. It tells you how many minutes away they are, and how far they’re going. The ride is already paid for. So all you have to do is decide whether or not to pick them up and take them to their dstination. After you drop them off, they can even tip you – through the app or in cash. It’s a beautiful thing.
How Much Can You Make as a Lyft or Uber Driver?
You can make as much or as little as you want. If you learn the system, you can make a very nice living working full or a good supplement income working part time. There are a few good teachers and mentors that have Youtube channels, and I will share the links to my favorites at the end of this article.
Requirements to be a Lyft or Uber Driver
The first ting I would do is get a referral from someone who is already driving, because you can earn extra income or a sign-on bonus just by having a referral code. There are two kinds of referrals – one for drivers and one for riders. If you wish to sign up as a driver, feel free to use my passenger codes to get a discount on your first ride.
Suggestion: If you are considering becoming a driver – be passenger first just to get a feel for how it works. Take a Lyft or Uber sometime when you want to go out to eat or a movie and take a ride as a passenger. You might even pick your driver’s brain a little to get their opinion about the job, or answer any other questions that you have. If you wish to check out the passenger side of things, you can use my codes for that, as well.
PLEASE USE THESE CODES FOR FREE RIDES AS A PASSENGER
OR – TO EARN A GENEROUS SIGN-UP BONUS AS A DRIVERLYFT
Driver Referral: HAL45973
Passenger Referral: HALDRIVEPASSUBER
Driver Invite: HALI2UE
Passenger Invite: HALI2UE
What If You Don’t Have a Car?
Back to the discussion that started this whole adventure… Uber offers [Vehicle Solutions – link] which lists a few ways you can get a vehicle which include renting one through Hertz or Enterprise, Leasing through their Xchange program, and there’s also a program called HyreCar, which allows you to rent a car from another car owner. This is perfect for a short term solution allowing you to try out life as a driver to see if you like it.
Insurance
Insurance is a MUST when driving for rideshare. For a breakdown on this, I will defer to The Rideshare Guy. This video is about 6 minutes long and well worth watching….
The Rideshare Guy on InsuranceIf you found this informative, check out The Rideshare Guy’s Youtube Channel and subscribe.
More Information
We’ll be adding some videos to the SfBB Youtube Channel with more thoughts, reviews and information about Rideshare, Uber and Lyft, etc. Sign up for the mailing list at the top right of this page to get updates. In the meantime, check out these established rideshare “gurus” currently rocking Youtube:
Kevin is probably the most well informed Youtuber out there about all things rideshare. Though he tends to come off a little negative at times,his gloomy outlook on Uber actually has a kind of dour charm to it. Besides – someone has to hold these companies accountable and keep them on their toes.
This is Cecily Jamelia. Though her channel is aimed primarily at women – you guys could learn a thing or two from this knowledgeable and informative young woman.
THE SIMPLE DRIVER
Calvin has Rideshare down to a science. I highly recommend subscribing to his channel.
NOTE: These YouTubers display their own unique sigh-up codes on their channels. If you’d be so kind, please use mine instead… Thanks!
LYFT
Driver Referral: HAL45973
Passenger Referral: HALDRIVEPASS
UBER
Driver Invite: HALI2UE
Passenger Invite: HALI2UE
THE RIDESHARE AMBASSADOR
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