LUED

Uber aren't taking on Exec drivers anyway - and haven't done so for the past 18 or so months. 

No point waiting at airports, just head back into town as soon as you drop off. 

The 0.75p a mile rate only applies FROM the airport, normal rates still apply TO the airport. 

Good. Ensure all drivers keep to the law especially with continuous hire and reward insurance required for the duration the vehicle is licensed as a PHV. 

If they like you, they'll ask for you again, especially if you take them somewhere like an appointment, theatre, restaruant etc., and are looking for a return journey, and would rather have the same driver they liked, to drop them off, as they know where they've picked them up. 

Uber already has something called Insights which tells you which areas are the busiest at different times. 

Yes, all drivers should have regular clients after doing the job long enough. 

Don't have to pay congestion charge if you're car is licenced with TfL as a private hire vehicle and you're on a booking. 

No to bus/taxi lanes during their hours of operation. 

They send an e-mail recently saying that if two drivers are both the same distance from a request, the driver who has been empty the longer will get the job. 

Yes, that's ok. 

Doesn't say anything about working for Uber, could be any minicab firm. 

If your S Class or A8 is not the LWB model, then you'll be put on Exec. 

Good points - flexibility to work when you like, no set shifts, usually required by traiditional minicab firms. Log on and off as you please.

work where you like - local area, which you know best, central London where the earnings are potentially the highest, or airports with the chance of getting a good run into London, though there is a wait in the queue of a few hours, and the risk of getting a local job.

pay is usually prompt, and cashless - less of a security risk carrying cash around. All trips are recorded, and is transparent, you know exactly how much you earn on each trip.

opportunity to earn more during surges.

fair distribution of jobs, with the job going to the nearest available driver (though this is in doubt).

Bad points - communication with the office is via e-mail. There is no one to talk to as there is no phone number to talk to someone if there is a problem.

rating system, could lead you to deactivation if your rating becomes too low - controversial whether this is a fair system or not.

more drivers are joining than leaving

No that looks like a survey on a new service doing deliveries. This survey is about Uber but the questions seem to biased towards taxi drivers. 

Car is given back (Its worth £35k by the way).

Leasing is like a long term rental, usually 1 to 4 years, so the car is given back. Sometimes you can buy the car off the leasing company at the end of the term. 

Financing often means the car is yours once you finish the payments, sometimes a deposit is required and/or a lump sum is required at the end.

40 minutes ago, Sterling said:

Are there many conditions that come with that? e.g. Max amount of miles etc.

45,000 miles a year. 

37 minutes ago, basescu said:

Lued, sorry but i dont understand, what does it mean "on 6+35 basis"

When you lease cars, the first monthly payment is usually a bigger payment than normal, in this case the first monthly payment is 6 times as normal, then there's 35 monthly payments after that (3 years). 

Therefore my first monthly payment was £3020.76 (£503.46 x 6), then 35 monthly payments of £503.46. 

Which averages out at £573.39 per month. 

I tried to complete the survey, but a lot of the questions seem taxi based, where most drivers working for Uber are private hire (minicab) drivers, rather than black taxi drivers. 

On 4/13/2016 at 2:45 PM, Sterling said:

Any chance of this changing any time soon?

 

I understand, they're invited some existing X drivers who drive Exec cars to join the Exec platform. Probably those with high ratings and who've been driving for Uber for a long time, will be asked first. 

On 4/13/2016 at 1:23 PM, Sterling said:

If you were offered a brand new E-Class that averaged out at £830 pm +VAT (£192 pw +VAT) over 3 years, would anyone be interested?
 

No.

I currently lease mine at £503.46 (incl. VAT) per month, on a 6+35 basis (equivalent to £573.39 incl. VAT per month).

I have also placed an order on the new model E-Class, which is going to be £653.00 (incl. VAT) per month, on a 3+35 basis (equivalent to £689,28 incl. VAT per month). 

Whatever oil they use at the service. 

I see, but you were able to see them anyway in the weekly summary sent out?

At least it's good you can see them in the app as well. 

All comments, and not just the 5* ones? 

If you reject a job, then request yourself from the passenger app, and accept, then cancel from the passenger app. That way you won't reject 2 jobs in a row. 

Depend on how efficient you run your business. It will improve over the years as you get better. As mentioned 40/60 is reasonable, but should become 60/40 in your favour as you become more experienced. 

Your mileage depends on the work you do. If you focus on just doing airport runs, maybe 200, or more during the day. You can do less than a 100 a day if you work in the centre of town. Also depends where you live. Live on the coast, rather than inside the congestion charging zone is going to make a huge difference..

Insurance, typical £3,000-£4,000 a year for new drivers. 

Vehicle servicing depends on the car, and where and how often you choose to service it. Also budget for tyres, MOTs and licensing. 

1. That's stupid. If the car is already there, which just happens to be parked up and waiting next to the waiting passenger: "sorry you can't get into my car, just yet. You have to wait outside in the cold and rain, for five minutes, that's the law."

2. Well that's fair enough. Besides on Uber, the nearest car may not accept the job anyway, and while the job is being requested, another car nearer to you than what's showing on the map, may have just cleared, and accept your job request. An idea is to do away with the map, and have a list of the estimated arrival times, of the 8 (as that's the number of nearest cars showing on the map currently) closest cars. Similar to what is being shown at bus stops (but instead of the bus route numbers, you could have the different platforms (X/Exec/Lux/XL)  showing instead, with their estimated arrival times. 

3. That's ok. Prevents other drivers using your account. 

4. No that's not ok. That defeats the point of self-employment. It would only benefit the operator.

5. Maybe. It will help, as a "going home" feature could then be implemented. However, passengers can easily change their mind midway e.g. a pick up from the Strand going to Paddington to catch a train to Heathrow, The passenger may change their mind mid way, and ask the driver to go straight to Heathrow. Also there could be multiple stops and the final destination may not be the final one. The job can also be an "as directed", and the destination could also be the pick up point.