One of the things Rideshare Drivers United, a self-appointed anonymous group claiming to represent all rideshare drivers, is demanding people driving for Uber and Lyft make a minimum of $27.86 per hour. That’s what rideshare drivers make in New York City. The city put rules in place on Uber and Lyft and a driver minimum wage is only one of them. Rideshare Drivers United is demanding drivers across the country make the same money drivers in New York City make.
I decided to calculate how much an hour I made from some recent drives. In particular, drives I made Friday. I calculated how many minutes a drive took me. I calculated the number of minutes it took me from when I accepted a ride request to when I dropped off the passenger. That represented the time I spent doing Uber’s bidding. I then added up all the minutes to the total amount of time I spent driving. Next, I took the amount I made for the entire day and divided it by the number of minutes I drove for Uber. That gave me the per minute rate. Finally, I converted the minute rate to an hourly rate.
This is the formula:
(Amount Paid / Number of Minutes) * 60 (Minutes in an Hour) = Hourly Pay Rate
On Friday, I drove a total of 144 minutes for Uber. They paid me $59.86. That worked out to $24.94 an hour.
Online Hourly Pay Calculator
To calculate how much driving for Uber and Lyft is earning you on a per hour basis, you can use this simple calculator. You can enter the minutes and the amount you were paid for a single trip or for the entire day of driving.
[hourly_pay_rate]
Should everyone driving for Uber and Lyft make $27.86 an hour?
One of Rideshare Drivers United’s most ridiculous demands is that Uber pay all drivers what drivers in New York City get paid. The cost of living in New York City is probably the highest in the country. It’s certainly higher than it is here in Hagerstown, Maryland. I cannot imagine any company paying workers here in Hagerstown what they pay in New York City. The job market just does not work like that.
Above all, as an independent contractor, it’s up to you to decide how much you should get paid for your work. It’s what I do with my website development business. I set my prices for my time and for the WordPress plugins I sell. It’s also true with other side-hustles. If the money Uber and Lyft pay to have you drive strangers around in your car is enough for you, great. Likewise, if you feel Uber is not paying you enough, then you should pursue other opportunities.
I like Uber the way it is. It works for me. I appreciate not being an employee. I enjoy driving when I want to and being able to stop driving any time I choose. The last thing I ever want to do is have someone rule I am an employee and then have Uber assign a schedule when I will have to drive for them. Besides, If you’re an employee, you would have to accept every single ride sent your way. You wouldn’t have the choice of accepting or declining rides.
I’ve had jobs before where I was an hourly employee on-call. I absolutely hated it. That’s what you would be with Uber if someone decided you were an employee, you would be on-call. Hourly employees do not get paid while they’re on-call.
In conclusion
I don’t know who’s behind Rideshare Drivers United. Whoever they are, they need to stay in their lane. One of the things they’re demanding is that we are all employees and Uber and Lyft to recognize them as representatives for all drivers and to negotiate with them. Wrong. I’m an Uber and Lyft driver and they don’t represent me. I don’t want or need anyone negotiating on my behalf.
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