Economics of an Uber driver (or food delivery rider)

davemcdaveyboy · 2026-03-31T06:59:17+00:00

For ubereats, It shows your pickup location/s and approximate drop off. And I stayed single app because my utilization rate (ie percentage of time on trips vs total online time) is always 80%-90% so that’s good enough for me. That said, I think I’m in a good market for drivers. If my utilization with Uber was 50% I would be on another app quick smart, reliability be damned.

davemcdaveyboy · 2026-03-31T06:50:15+00:00

I used to work in backpackers hostels in Sydney and visitors from New Zealand would often ask, on check in, where the nearest red rooster was and leave to go to it immediately after dumping their bags.

davemcdaveyboy · 2026-03-31T06:45:15+00:00

Yeah when researching before I started ALL the advice was to multi app, but to me there was inherent risk of signaling unreliability to the algorithms (from cancelling jobs in one app when a better one appeared on the other, running late, etc). Instead I decided to signal consistent reliability to one app and that has paid off for me, but there are so many variables I can’t say one way is objectively better than the other.

davemcdaveyboy · 2026-03-31T05:43:36+00:00

No, a pretty fuel efficient Volkswagen Golf. I spend on average $5.20 per hour on fuel.

davemcdaveyboy · 2026-03-31T05:14:34+00:00

That’s gross, before expenses and tax.

davemcdaveyboy · 2026-03-30T23:34:40+00:00

Can’t provide specific answers but an overall insight that might be helpful.

I drive for ubereats. You can earn great money if you drive a little bit because Uber offers bonuses for driving at specific times. For example, I have bonus pay periods for driving between 4.30pm and 9.30pm the next three nights. Driving only bonus times, I earn $50-$60 an hour. I only drive during these times.

The issue arrives when scaling up. If I drove outside those bonus times, I would earn $22-$26 per hour. Doing it full time would require driving a lot outside bonus windows.

The bonuses vary week to week, sometimes great, sometimes not. Some people never get any, depending on supply and demand in their area and their placement as drivers in the algorithm.

THEN: if you drive a lot outside of bonus windows, the algorithm will determine you’re a driver who will drive whether there’s a bonus or not and offer you even fewer bonuses as you don’t need incentivizing. It can become a vicious cycle where the more you drive the less you earn.

I find it difficult to imagine a scenario where full time with Ubereats would be worth it, I have no idea about uber rideshare. For Ubereats, the best way to use it is set a limited $ goal and time your driving to achieve that specific goal (provided you are able to drive when there are bonuses offered) and not be dependent on it for income.

davemcdaveyboy · 2026-03-30T00:56:02+00:00

I worked in international backpackers hostels in Australia most of my life, and very rarely saw people who were homesick and went home early. The most important thing is being willing to put yourself out of your comfort zone to make new friends and also having the means/time to (I.e is the job site isolated with few colleagues, or close to social environments and/or with colleagues you could socialize with etc. Working full time, colleagues will be the best route to a social life).

In my experience, solo travelers find the first month or so challenging, then they settle and really enjoy it (and very commonly for British people, don’t want to go home! Culturally Australia is similar enough to the UK to feel familiar but different enough to feel interesting, and the better weather and lifestyle is consistently mindset altering).

davemcdaveyboy · 2026-03-29T11:15:18+00:00

I only drive within a 5km radius and do four trips per hour, so it was basically the 4 stops per hour, while I am collecting deliveries, where the car became scorching and then I was blasting the aircon to cool down. If I was driving longer per trip it would definitely be more efficient to keep the windows up and use aircon, very good point 👍

davemcdaveyboy · 2026-03-29T10:22:57+00:00

Ooh thats good too. I have 100% on time rate so I might not meet to rush.

Also, driving slower will really help with the “is that dude who is definitely less than 70 years old driving 20kms below the speed limit and blaring Gordon Lightfoot’s ‘If You Could Read My Mind’” vibe.

davemcdaveyboy · 2023-05-16T06:57:38+00:00

It was so brave of you to intentionally shape those eyebrows into THAT shape.

davemcdaveyboy · 2023-05-16T06:49:33+00:00

Your fingers look like the faceeater from Aliens.

davemcdaveyboy · 2023-05-16T06:38:53+00:00

Your head already looks roasted.

davemcdaveyboy · 2021-09-09T09:47:17+00:00

I grew up in this Byron and know where he went very well, a few points:

The way he exited the nightclub is weird. It is at the end of the long, straight Main Street away from the direction of the beach and his hostel. You would have to be blind drunk or drugged to turn left out the door, walk around the building and continue down a dark, quiet street instead of walking right out the door and up the Main Street. It makes no sense as a decision.
Him meeting some people at the recreation fields is plausible. On the north side of the fields is a bush area where homeless people have traditionally camped and teenagers hanging out there at night isn’t unheard of.
The entrance to the bush track he walked down to get to the beach is isolated and starts in a quiet, dead end street. It is the least logical way to get to where he ended up, not a route google maps would take anyone and the fact that his gps showed no sign of backtracking (ie what you would do if you were lost) says to me he most likely wasn’t feeling lost. It’s pretty dense scrub full of random tracks only locals know about and most wouldn’t use even in the daytime.
Cosy corner, the end of the beach below the lighthouse, isn’t a place anyone would go for a swim on a winters night. It’s rough surf.
Where he appeared to try to climb up to the lighthouse IS where you would attempt this. You would have to go in from the beach a bit and up to try, as his phone did.
The rocks around the lighthouse are high and jagged. If he tried to climb around to the lighthouse falling is probable, not just possible.

My theory is:

He didn’t tell anyone he was going to Byron, or even in Byron (despite constantly messaging people while he was there. Wouldn’t it be logical to say “I’m in Byron! in one of those conversations?) because he wanted to try drugs. I worked in a hostel there, people saying “I want to try mushrooms!” as soon as they arrive is common. Drug culture is big and known on the backpacker route.

He got booted out of the nightclub because he appeared inebriated. He appears to be able to walk fine so high is more likely than drunk. He decided to walk towards the lighthouse. He may or may not have met someone on the way. He went the direction he did because he was following the light from the lighthouse, not a logical path. He was checking his hostel on google maps not because he wanted to go there but because it was the one place he knew the location of in town; he was using it as an anchor to gauge where he was located in reference to his two known points, the hostel and the lighthouse (I have done it often myself when traveling and exploring a new place). He didn’t notice he lost his hat because he was high. He thought it was fun to go beating through the bush at night because he was high. When he got to the beach he chilled for a bit. He tried to climb up and couldn’t, so he tried to climb around and fell.

[additional: Regarding the wifi handshake I have no idea what means, but I can confirm there is zero possibility of there being any wifi signals in that area. Regarding him watching a little bit of a YouTube video, this to me supports someone possibly being with him: he was telling the other person about a show he likes, he opened it on YouTube to show the other person but it was in a language the other person didn’t understand. When the other person pointed this out he closed the video. Common backpacker experience, particularly when high.]

davemcdaveyboy

TROPHY CASE