Fiddling with my phone or reading while in transit has always given me carsickness so I have to resort to some other way to distract myself. So I’ve been chatty with my Uber drivers if they’re willing. Many of them are also hankering for some human interaction while sitting in traffic anyway.
Now a curious question for anyone who’s experiencing some existential crisis is to probe why other people do what they do. So far I’ve encountered these types of Uber drivers – 1) full-time employed drivers working for transport operators, 2) full-time drivers employed as personal drivers, 3) driver/owner doing it part-time, and 4) driver/owner doing it full-time.
According to their stories, the first months of Uber was when it was really too good to be true. Some Uber drivers were supposed to be raking in six figures a month just by driving. Uber was supposedly giving some really fantastic driver incentives like signing bonuses and cash backs once they exceed a quota of number of rides a month.
Then the LTFRB had to step in and had to “legitimize” all Uber operations prompting Uber operators to register as a business, pay Uber for the registration fee (which is deducted in installments from their rides), and pay the LTFRB, all of which require a substantial amount and paperwork to process. In addition, Uber eventually modified the incentives program and now, Uber drivers only get something at par with what regular cabs get from their meters.
For the first type, their operation runs pretty much like a taxi service. Many taxi and transport operators easily got into the Uber game because they had the infrastructure. As for the drivers, I believe they’re compensated based on daily earnings not much different from the “boundary” system of taxi companies.
For the second type, they are essentially family drivers who take out their rides on a part-time basis. I generally oberve that they’re the happier ones among the drivers. Since they’re only needed to ferry their bosses and their family at specific times, they practically get to maximize their rides by driving for Uber during their downtime. They split the profit with their bosses.
For the third type, many of them decided to tried Uber to get out of the rat race. And almost all of these type I’ve ridden are actually quite stressed and saddened by their situation since they’re the ones hit by the changes in Uber’s incentive system. I encountered two drivers who got brand new cars on loans just to get into Uber. Uber requires cars to be 2013 models and newer. I felt quite sad when they shared their concerns of not even making their monthly payments with the amount they make from driving full time. And they have families.
For the fourth type are mostly yuppies who are just interested in the extra income. Many of them are fully employed and just give rides when they want to. A couple of cars I’ve ridden were driven by kids whose cars were sponsored by their parents. Their Uber incomes pay for gas and maintenance and for luho. Surprisingly, they’re the more polite ones and quite careful with their cars.
It’s quite interesting to see Uber driver’s and this actually prompts me to think about the viability and sustainability of Uber as a business. The system as it stands now (at least according to their accounts) seems to favor operators of 1, 2, and 4. Lugi si Type 3.