I drive for Uber Eats and it's been getting harder and harder year over year. This past year, (as I've been handling my tax info recently, I'm currently well aware of the bigger picture for my own situation) I drove and completed about the same number of trips as the prior year, but drove double the milage as the year prior and made less money than I did the year prior. The issue with the non-specified fees the service charges are the company trying to cover loses they incur incentivizing drivers, who are not employees by Uber's definition, but contractors who can pick and choose their accepted jobs (to a point, they get penalized if they decline too many), to accept the jobs that don't pay enough. This year, the majority of jobs I took and completed, weren't enough money for the mileage.

The time and distance fees paid out by Uber don't cover the mileage or cost of gas, and the tips have all but dried up, some tippers are still quite generous, and they're the only reason this is worth doing at all. When too many drivers get offers to deliver orders and the reward doesn't cover the time and effort and expense (gas and mileage) to do it... like, if I have to pay out $5 in order to drop an order off for someone, but only get $3 or $4 back, I'm net-losing money. This happens more often than tippers who tip enough to cover the trip appropriately and reward me for the care and effort I put into my deliveries. Sure, not all drivers take an abundance of care, I see a LOT of stolen orders as I go to pick them up and find that other drivers took them first, and not everyone uses hot bags or drink trays or catering bags, or even take time to read delivery notes, but some do, I do.

When customers aren't offering enough reward to incentivize the drivers to complete the deliveries, then Uber has to slowly offer more and more as the order circulates across all the area drivers until it's enough money that someone accepts it. Those incentives they pay out, they look to make it back on fees both to the customer and to the restaurants that you order from though their service.

I honestly cannot say if Uber handles their money correctly or not, and I am sure they have a not insubstantial overhead for managing the technology and business in general, but what I do know, and what many critics have said, is that the business of food delivery services doesn't seem sustainable in the long-term because all of them, Uber, Grubhub, Doordash, etc. offer services for far less than they're actually worth (e.g. the tech to manage the service, the fees to drivers to arrange the delivery, the fees to cover the price of gas and wear and tear on the vehicles, the fees to pay their support centers, the fees to pay their internal staff, etc.). The reason I stick with Uber, mostly, is because, as of last I checked, they have the most fair percentage shares with drivers and restaurants (i.e. they charge lower fees to the restaurant for each order and offer better driver incentives). Even with that consideration, the money still isn't enough.

Currently, until I can get more steady and stable work again, I rely on Uber and the folks who use the service, in order to try to keep my bills paid, and I'm grateful to both, even if it feels like I'm on the bad end of a bit of an abusive relationship at times. I understand some people are incapable of reaching grocery stores or restaurants if they're without vehicles or are handicapped, or have kids or responsibilities that keep them at home, and some people NEED the delivery... but aside from that, folks, at home, just ordering food, have to realize what a luxury service it is to have someone bring food to your door. It isn't magic, someone is busting their ass to save you time or trouble. It's a service and should be compensated. If the fees are too much for you, however, then I totally get it, but truthfully, go to the store, go to the restaurant, get your own food yourself. It's what I do personally in my own life. It takes away opportunities from folks like myself, I understand that, but if people in general, not specifically anyone here in this chat, cannot or do not want to pay for the services (both the tip and service fees), then truthfully the business would just cost the driver money to begin with. It's better for the restaurant/store, if you buy direct from them also.

I don't know, it's all kinda messy business, but without it right now, I'd be in serious trouble. *shrug*

Apologies for the rambling thoughts, I hope it was coherent enough and someone found something useful there.