- A Uber and Lyft driver revealed the strategies he used to get more passengers to be given.
- His Ukulele and Electric vehicle have sparked conversations with knights, which can lead to tips.
- Driver’s drivers said oblusing makes a difficult environment even more difficult.
Gabe Ets-Hokin was struggling to get his re-customers to leave advice. Then he bought a Ukulele.
“It evokes a lot of questions, conversations and connections,” 56-year-old Business Insider told, adding, “sometimes I will play it for people, or better yet, I will give it a passenger to play.”
In January 2023, ETS-Hokin brought his Ukulele when he traveled for part-time Uber and Lyft to Oakland, California. That year, its average amount of type increased to $ 1.19 from $ 1.05 to 2022, according to its calculations. And it ranged up to $ 1.24 in 2024. The tips accounted for about 19% of its Ridshar profits in 2024, from 12% to 2022.
ETS-Hokin said that any small incentive for his income is valid. And while various factors affect clients, he said he is sure that his Ukulele has helped him win the hypnots.
Over the past two years, more than a dozen uber and lyft drivers shared Strategies they have used to provide advice – including focus on airport trips and directly seeking tips – often without much success. They also said that dealing with customers makes a difficult profit environment even more difficult. Data provided for Business Insider from Gridwise, an analytical data company that helps concert leaders trace their income, showed that last year, Americans were much less likely to run their Uber and Lyft drivers than drivers such as Dobordash, Instacart, Uberets and Grubhub. Gridwise analyzed 171 million trips to compile her findings.
Uber did not respond to a comment request from BI. Lyft led BI for statements made by CEO David Riser in the latest call of the company’s profits, in which he said drivers have collectively earned nearly $ 9 billion in 2024, more than every year in company history.
Having chatting with knights can lead to advice
Having a Ukulele in his car is not the only thing that helps ETS-Hokin. He said that having passengers can also increase the chances of a knight will leave a top.
“If someone gets into your car and treats you like a robot, there is almost no chance they will direct you,” he said, adding, “the safest way to get higher tips is to interact with passengers.”
After buying a Tesla in 2021, he said the knights began to ask regularly if they like it and where it loads the electric vehicle.
“This often leads to a kind of” connection “conversation, which often results in a tip,” he said.
After sold his Tesla in 2022, ETS-Hokin bought a different Eve last year-A Hyundai Ioniq 5. Ets-Hokin said the vehicle has aroused even more questions from knights than Tesla, which he thinks is because people are less familiar with this type of evo.
Despite his best efforts, ETS-Hokin said not every passenger is open to a conversation. And even when a good conversation happens, some knights forget to support.
Driving is only profitable during the specified periods
ETS-Hokin runs for Uber and Lyft about 15 hours a week and, in 2024, earned about $ 24,000 after calculating platform commissions and fees that do not include driving costs such as gas and vehicle maintenance. He runs part -time because his wife has a full -time job and the concert driving is only valuable financial over time.
In 2020, California passed proposal 22, which classified Uber and Lyft drivers as independent contractors than employees and founded a pay floor Of the 120% of the minimum wage in areas where drivers finish trips. For ETS-Hokin, this is about $ 20 an hour which is not enough to pull it to drive more than 15 hours a week.
When he makes a car, he prefers two specific three-hour stretches over the weekends-4 o’clock and 7 in the afternoon and 10am and 1 in the morning-which he believes are more profitable. According to his calculations, he can earn up to $ 40 per hour during these periods, after driving expenses.
This is partly because weekends also tend to produce more conversations – and better tips.
“Unfortunately, most AM or PM passengers are not interested in interacting with their leaders,” he said, adding, “the best pay per hour is during the weekend evenings.”
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Correction: March 8, 2025 -A previous version of this story mistaken the name of ETS-Hokin on one occasion. Is Gabe Ets-Hokin, not Gabe est-hokin.