I guess it is safe to say that I am refusing to let this blog die. I still hold on to hope that one day I will be able to return to the streets in the middle of the night.
In my never-ending job search, I came across a job at Hertz for a Maintenance Manager. Obviously this is maintenance on vehicles and is not exactly what I have been doing for the past 35 plus years, but it may be close enough. I adjusted my resume to reflect my early days in hotels when we also had to manage the maintenance to the guest transportation vehicles. I also included my days of driving a truck and at working for the highway department where I also had to coordinate the maintenance for that. Of course I included my time as a rideshare driver as well, including the stats that are easily obtained from the Uber site. That was another reason that made Uber so inviting. Helpful data was there and available. Obtaining this same information from the other 2 companies I drove for while Uber was gone, Get Me and Fare, was limited. Here are the stats
- 4.5 years as an Uber driver so far. Technically, I am still activated on the platform. It is also important to note that even when Uber was "gone" from Austin, they remained active in the surrounding areas. I actually did several rides for Uber in the areas of Cedar Park and Round Rock during that time period.
- 1,369 rides for Uber
- 4.97 Satisfaction Rating. It stayed at 5.0 for a very long time.
- $14,436 driving for Uber
- $226.56 driving for GetMe. I knew it wasn't much but I thought it was more than that.
- $3,482.55 driving for Fare. I had signed up for GetMe and Fare at about the same time but was able to get processed through GetMe first as they did not require a review of the automobile by a mechanic. Immediately afterwards I received a call from Fare. The caller had a voice like "Puddy", the guy that played Elaine's boyfriend in Seinfeld (Patrick Warburton) and the conversation went like this.
Fare, "when are you going to start driving?"
Me, "as soon as I get the vehicle reviewed by a mechanic."
Fare, "can you do it soon we need some drivers?"
Me, "lol, okay. I am surprised to receive this call." "I will get going soon." (I am still laughing to myself because of who he sounds like)
You have to know the voice I am referring to or there will be none of the intended humor.
- 71.5 miles was the longest trip. Corsicana Texas to Garland Texas.
- $75.00 approximate highest earning single trip. The one from Corsicana was $73.76 but I believe there was one with GetMe that might have been a few dollars higher. The GetMe ride was a group of bikini-clad females leaving Lake Travis and going to the Residence Inn on 4th street. Just in case you were wondering who the riders were and what they were wearing.
Wednesday, July 22, 2020
Tuesday, July 7, 2020
07/07/20
I never took many pictures while rideshare driving. There wasn't time and many probably would not want to be photographed. Plus, the phone was already in use with the rideshare app. Here are the only ones that were taken.
The first one was a very common sight when going through downtown heading North on Congress Street.
The second one was mentioned in one of the posts. After dropping off the rider, I drove up on someone selling lemonade on the sidewalk and stopped to get some. This was out past Leander off of highway 183 almost to the intersection of 183 and 29 near Liberty Hill. There were only a handful of times that I made it out that far on that side of town.
Photo number three is also mentioned in a blog post. I do not like pets in the car but was always accommodating to the riders. This one was well behaved even when his owner left him with me for about 10 minutes while he went into the bank to get money so he could recover his car that had been towed. This was in the Lakeline area and the drop off was almost to the airport. I had to stop and clean the dog hair out of the car after the ride and THAT is why I don't like animals in the vehicle.
The last one was a picture of a property for sell in Round Rock or Georgetown, by a realtor friend of mine. I posted the photo on Facebook, prompting a brief exchange of pleasantries between us.
That is all. More than four years of driving and these are the only photos that I took.
The first one was a very common sight when going through downtown heading North on Congress Street.
The second one was mentioned in one of the posts. After dropping off the rider, I drove up on someone selling lemonade on the sidewalk and stopped to get some. This was out past Leander off of highway 183 almost to the intersection of 183 and 29 near Liberty Hill. There were only a handful of times that I made it out that far on that side of town.
Photo number three is also mentioned in a blog post. I do not like pets in the car but was always accommodating to the riders. This one was well behaved even when his owner left him with me for about 10 minutes while he went into the bank to get money so he could recover his car that had been towed. This was in the Lakeline area and the drop off was almost to the airport. I had to stop and clean the dog hair out of the car after the ride and THAT is why I don't like animals in the vehicle.
The last one was a picture of a property for sell in Round Rock or Georgetown, by a realtor friend of mine. I posted the photo on Facebook, prompting a brief exchange of pleasantries between us.
That is all. More than four years of driving and these are the only photos that I took.
Friday, July 3, 2020
07/03/20
I gave a friend a ride to down south of Austin yesterday and that was the closest thing to an Uber event that I have had since I stopped driving several months ago. It was, in a sense, a rideshare type of ride but it was not an "Uber" ride.
The latest update from Uber discussed earnings averages of the drivers. The information stated that they were averaging $20.00 an hour which I thought was pretty damn good especially considering the situation. There were a few nights that I only made it to a $10.00 an hour average but not very often. I usually ran more towards the $30.00 an hour range. The update also shared rider demand information. It was not a surprise but did further deepen the sadness felt about downtown as the information and the accompanying map showed that most of the demand was in the Round Rock area. No indication of any demand in downtown. Before, there would be so much demand in downtown that the area on the map in the app would be such a deep red color that it was almost black. Red of course indicating a very high demand. Its just sad. The soul of downtown Austin is gone.
The latest update from Uber discussed earnings averages of the drivers. The information stated that they were averaging $20.00 an hour which I thought was pretty damn good especially considering the situation. There were a few nights that I only made it to a $10.00 an hour average but not very often. I usually ran more towards the $30.00 an hour range. The update also shared rider demand information. It was not a surprise but did further deepen the sadness felt about downtown as the information and the accompanying map showed that most of the demand was in the Round Rock area. No indication of any demand in downtown. Before, there would be so much demand in downtown that the area on the map in the app would be such a deep red color that it was almost black. Red of course indicating a very high demand. Its just sad. The soul of downtown Austin is gone.
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