Uber?

Quote: Evenbob
Uber drivers must go by the tax rules because
Uber reports every dime they make to the IRS.
There are no rules an Uber driver can let
slide. I'm reading that many of them refuse
to pick up at grocery stores and laundromats
and because of the short fares involved. I
don't know how they get out of it, when they
accept a ride, they're required to pick it up.

Quote: AZDuffman

Uber tells them where the fare is so they can simply just not hit "accept."

What are the choices for someone who needs a short ride if the taxi's are out of business because of share rides?

I need to be able to depend on a pick up regardless of who it is and can't haggle much over price, I just need to know for sure someone will come?


I would like to add an addendum, here is as good of location as the hustling thread?

I recently learned of "Med transport". You see van's transporting people around and I at least thought it was severely needful people or some such. Like needing 02 or an IV bag or something? Not so.

What I and a friend or possibly other alone people need sometimes, is someone to pick them up at a hospital. I don't know anyone that can pick me up at the clinic, so I was SOL. After talking with the clinic they told me about med transport. What it is [loosely] is someone with decent creds that the hospital knows, who will come into the hospital and sign, and guarantee that they will take you to your place of sanctuary for the day, be it home, a hotel, or camp. The hospital won't discharge somebody who has had sedation, without the name of someone to blame, if the patient doesn't get home. I think they are in most towns with hospitals? It is a great service for lone people.

It may not seem like much, but if you don't know someone to check you out, even if you think you can drive, it is a great burden on someone having to take care of their own shit. I was surprised, in Phoenix there are two company's and plenty of drivers. It costs a more than a cab, but not much. It will get you to your door if you don't "have" someone. I thought this was a pretty cool niche "hustle" for a reliable person, and a service needed in smaller venues.

PS, Az. thanks for the link.

edit: IDK if they have the med transport in Anchorage or not. A one way flight to Anc. from Dutch Harbor [not the most expensive"] was 900.00 15 years ago. By the time a person can even get to town, plus rides, plus somewhere to sleep it is a thousand bucks just to get to the point of filling out the paper work. If you are just going in for a routine colonoscopy and they sedate you, you can't get out. The airports up there are more forgiving of people needing to sleep in them due to cancelled flights etc. So, if you had a ride from the hospital, you could at least sleep in the airport.

If you wonder how airlines [that also fly in Alaska] can stay in business with ultra cheap fairs. It is because they can extort exorbitant fairs in AK, on short flights when there is no competition. Kodiak-Anchorage, [130 air miles] walk on fair, can be 400.00, a 40 minute flight.

That is why people make more money up there. 2k, round trip to the dr. and that doesn't include the medical bill. It's so friggin expensive just to arrive at the hospital, many times that you could use some help, you travel alone, so you don't have anyone to check you out of the "horse pistol".

Quote: petroglyph

What are the choices for someone who needs a short ride if the taxi's are out of business because of share rides?

Share rides are here to stay, taxis will stay around as well. Some people will pay extra for a "real" cab. But taxis are going to have to do some adapting. For example, in Vegas they may have to go to a "zone" system as I suggested at WoV God knows when way back. One price strip to TI, one price strip after TI, one price downtown. End of worrying if your driver is jerking you around. Because I'll be honest, fast as Uber was, walking to the head cab in a line is faster.

I need to be able to depend on a pick up regardless of who it is and can't haggle much over price, I just need to know for sure someone will come?


I would like to add an addendum, here is as good as hustling thread.

Quote:

I recently learned of "Med transport". You see van's transporting people around and I at least thought it was severely need people or some such.

I thought this was a pretty cool niche "hustle" for a reliable person, and a service needed in smaller venues.

Neat hustle, not my gig as I hate people too much, but for many would be great. Good for someone maybe half wants to do nursing/health aid.

On this line, I never saw it done again but as a kid up the street some guy ran a "pet taxi." Take your dog to the vet/groomer and drop off or take you with him. Never saw that one again but wonder.

Quote:

PS, Az. thanks for the link.

YW!

Quote: AZDuffman

... not my gig as I hate people too much,

That's only because you know them, : )

Quote:

On this line, I never saw it done again but as a kid up the street some guy ran a "pet taxi." Take your dog to the vet/groomer and drop off or take you with him. Never saw that one again but wonder.

Here they have someone using an old motor home [about a 25 ft.], for a roaming pet bather? I thought the same would work for little old ladies roaving hair salon?

I have used a local service for car "detailing" in my driveway. Same thing, they have their own water, vacuums, buffer, etc. Not bad, did my f-250 in and out for 80.00.

Quote: petroglyph

That's only because you know them, : )

Maybe! But there was always this article went around when I was in college and they discussed career search. Article was about a guy said, "I just like people, I want to work with them!" Always drove me nuts! Give me some abstracting work where I am isolated 75% of the time, I am happy as a clam!

Quote:

Here they have someone using an old motor home [about a 25 ft.], for a roaming pet bather? I thought the same would work for little old ladies roaving hair salon?

I have used a local service for car "detailing" in my driveway. Same thing, they have their own water, vacuums, buffer, etc. Not bad, did my f-250 in and out for 80.00.

The hair salon thing is interesting, but my devil's advocate position is you would be limited in market to where you can do 2-3 at a time.

On the car detailing, saw similar. E-350 or even (E-450?) with a big cap instead of the factory-coach work. Saw her driving, we both ended up buying propane at U-Haul. Her propane was for the hot water heat. Asked how business was, she said they are not even taking new clients! Now, that looked like $50-60K to get set up, but I imaging $4-500 a day easy. So once you get your clients your cash flow takes it in less than a year. Probably similar to your detailing.

And this is what makes me almost sick. All these kids paying $80K for a college education of which at best half will really use. Same $80K and you can be in a killer one-man business. Nobody explained any of this to us growing up, my "good uncle" job is to explain it to the next generation.

My understanding is the closest Uber driver gets first opportunity to accept. If he declines or ignores, it goes to the next closest, etc. The driver also gets to see the passenger rating before accepting.

Quote: AZDuffman

Uber tells them where the fare is so they can simply just not hit "accept."

"No, Uber drivers cannot see the destination prior to pick-ups. This is to stop drivers from cherry-picking. (rejecting overly short rides or rides to remote locations, for example)"

If they could see the pickup, short riders
would never get picked up. They can
see the area of the pickup, but not the
exact address.

Quote: Evenbob

"No, Uber drivers cannot see the destination prior to pick-ups. This is to stop drivers from cherry-picking. (rejecting overly short rides or rides to remote locations, for example)"

If they could see the pickup, short riders
would never get picked up. They can
see the area of the pickup, but not the
exact address.

Good for them then, part of being a common carrier.

No cab driver likes grocery store or laundromat
rides. You have to load bags and bags and baskets
of laundry and go 3 blocks and they never tip.

Many Uber drivers are real prima donnas, I'm
enjoying the driver boards. It really makes them
mad when they drop off a fare and there are
5 other Ubers in the same area waiting for the
app to go off. Then you finally get a fare and
it's some old lady going to the liquor store
and back, 3 blocks away. lol

You've never driven a cab. Most fares, 80%, are
not great money makers. If you do your job
and know the town and hustle, you can do
5-6 an hour and make decent money. Make
no mistake, it's grunt work, but there in nobody
in the cab telling you what to do.

I owned all the cabs, but it wasn't my personal
car. I beat the crap of of them, things I would
never do to my personal car. You had to if you
wanted to make money. I wonder how Uber
will do when everybody babies the car because
it belongs to them. Part of cab driving was fun
because you could drive totally different from
the way you usually do. Slam on the brakes all
the time, accelerate very fast, run yellow lights,
it was like driving a race car and it was fun at
times.

When my dad drove a cab in 1960's, he worked night shift. Would go back and forth from bar to bar from Midnight to 2 am. Never threw the flag once . LOL
When they got new cabs, off came the upholstery, hub caps, trim, etc/. Then 3 years later, all was put back on, retitled in North Carolina, speedometer showed 20-30000 miles, actually 200-300K. Ah, the good old days.

Quote: Evenbob

I owned all the cabs, but it wasn't my personal
car. I beat the crap of of them, things I would
never do to my personal car. You had to if you
wanted to make money. I wonder how Uber
will do when everybody babies the car because
it belongs to them. Part of cab driving was fun
because you could drive totally different from
the way you usually do. Slam on the brakes all
the time, accelerate very fast, run yellow lights,
it was like driving a race car and it was fun at
times.

I got to do that for years on all the power line right of ways with other peoples 4x4's and all sorts of off road off the edge of the world stuff, and never had to do any repairs other than what it might take to get one started once in a while, or change a tire. That was before and after, I had my own construction company furnishing equipment for other people.

From repurposed tank retrievers to bulldozers, to log skidders with chained up all wheel 8ft. tires. And there were guys that raced professionally that would show some of the tricks to climbing. It was a blast. Ice rigs, snow rigs, swamp buggies, landing crafts, : ).

Like I used to tell the guys, " experience gained is directly proportional to the amount of equipment ruined". [tm, petro]